Pics of Daddy's birthday and our cousins' visit

Pictures from Daddy's birthday. Yep, 41 candles!










My cousin, Lance, is in the Iraq war at the moment. His wife and her family are living in California with her parents while he's gone. He will be back home in June thank God!!! We had a very nice visit today and I should have taken more pictures than I did. Kathleen, her daughters Morgan and Beth, her Mom, and son Dylan all came over for a visit this afternoon. It was so good to see them! Maddie had a big time with all of them. She kept trying to get Dylan's toys, shoes, and backpack. She "inch-worm crawls" right now, but can get around pretty well.





Kathleen




Kathleen and Dylan (6)





Beth, Morgan, Maddie, Dylan, Kathleen

Happy Birthday Daddy and an interesting week.

Monday was Jason's 41st birthday. OR, as he puts it, it is his 12th anniversary of his 29th birthday. We made him a cake, yellow with chocolate icing, and tried to recreate the birthday cakes of years past made by Petra. He had some cards to open and got some cash and a couple of iTunes gift cards. We didn't go out since he didn't get home from work until it would have been too late to try to go somewhere with Maddie. We'll try to do that next weekend. This weekend he's in Georgetown and won't be back until Sunday.

A very interesting week it has been (I sound like Yoda)... Friday I had an outpatient surgery and was out of commission for the most part. It wasn't bad at all really and I feel a lot better. Surgery is never fun of course, but it's always good when it does what it's supposed to do! Then, the fun begins... Mom sneezed Tuesday morning and did something awful to her lower back. She had already strained it before she flew out here and then the airplane ride made it worse. She was getting treatment for it in Frankfort, but I don't know of any reliable chiropractors here. Anyway, when she sneezed, she doubled over in pain and couldn't hardly walk. She got to a chair and was stuck there. She had no strength in her legs at all. She said the pain was worse than childbirth if that tells you anything. I ended up calling 911 to get the paramedics to take her to the hospital. There's no way I could have gotten her there since she couldn't walk. The ER at Torrance Memorial is the most useless piece of crap I've ever seen. We were there for several hours which is normal for ER, but they never did anything to help Mom. The doctor never examined her back, never got a xray, no MRI, nothing..... Pitiful! They ended up giving her three prescriptions, one of which we told the doc that she couldn't take. They do not listen to you at all, nor are the interested in actually helping anyone. I heard several interesting stories while there though. The guy next to us had been shot 6 months ago and now is bleeding internally. There was a little girl there who kept complaining of pain in her leg, then her shoulder, then her ankle... Sounds like she wants some attention to me and I can't believe her parents took her to an ER to wait for hours instead of her pediatrician. Another young guy came in because he was hung over and kept puking. No wonder ERs are so busy. People use them for every day care.

Mom is doing better, but still has trouble getting up and down. We're going to a pain management and rehabilitation group today to see if they can help her. She's supposed to fly home April 3rd, but I think we'll need to push that back somewhat. We've been in contact with her chiropractor at home, Dr. Nicole Sullivan. She's the absolute best if you ever need treatment. She's really helped Mom because she's so gentle and doesn't hurt more than help. She also treated me while pregnant and really helped my sciatic pain problem.

Well, better go for now. I just wanted to post an update since it had been so long since the last one. I guess you understand why...

Have a great Palm Sunday!

Teeth and other things....

If you click on this picture, I believe it will open to a larger size and you can definitely see these teeth I was telling you about previously. It took some attempts, but I got a picture of them. She sure likes to use them and bite down on her spoon when eating her cereal or other delight. She also likes to chew on about anything, especially fingers (her hand or ours).

I also finally caught a picture of her sleeping with her little booty up in the air. She sleeps this way most of the time now.

That lovely time change has messed her up a bit. Why on earth do we have to do this twice a year????? It messes me up as well and I can tell time. Poor kids really don't understand. They (the government) have also decided to make this time longer. I can't ever remember what is daylight savings and what is standard. I just know to remember "spring forward, fall back." Let's just "stay still."

Jason found an older memory card from my camera that I hadn't downloaded the pictures yet. There were several pics of Mama Kitty and her kittens, Jack, Stripey, Stormy, and Gray (otherwise known as Tater). I had a good cry about seeing them again. I took a bagillion pictures of them intending to make them a scrapbook, but I get so sad still I can't seem to do it. Never mind that I have a seven month old who isn't quite patient enough for Mommy to scrap. I'll attach some pictures of them. The kittens will be right around 2 years old very soon. Stripey and Gray are pretty easy to pick out, but Jack is the black kitty who has one eye (one-eyed Jack), and Stormy is the other black kitty. Mama is the slightly bigger long-haired black kitty with gorgeous green eyes. I think everyone who would be reading this blog knows this, but Mama Kitty died last spring when I took her to get her spayed. She had a heart attack from the anesthesia and they couldn't revive her. All the kittens are adopted out. Striped went to Johnny Depp's farm in Paris, KY. One of his horse handlers adopted him. Stormy and Jack went together to a family in Scott County. Gray/Tater went to this terrible home in Scott County with three ADHD kids who I regret letting him go to this day! If I EVER see him outside, I'm snatching him..... Anyhoo, here they are... My sweet babies who kept me company for many months.

Sunday was really beautiful here. It was record highs in the upper 80's and 90's in some places. We walked a trail at the Trump National Golf Course that is a couple of miles down from our house. It was some pretty steep walking trails to get down to the water. There were tons of dogs out with their owners playing in the water. Lots of families there taking in the sun. There really weren't any fat people there so I felt very self conscience! We just walked on the beach with Maddie in her stroller. I had to take a few breaks while climbing back up the trails. Stupid me didn't take the camera so we'll have to make the trek again sometime so I can take pictures. We've actually been watching Trump's show "The Apprentice" this season to see if we could recognize any land markers. They've done two shows at the golf course. I had never watched it before and really don't care for it much since it's just twenty-somethings stabbing each other in the back constantly.

Well, I better get Maddie's cereal ready. Today is apples and she really likes them. She may be getting some more teeth soon because she's been a little more cranky than normal and seems to want to sleep more.

For those of you who told me you couldn't leave a comment on this site, I'm not sure why. I checked the settings and I can't figure out what's going on. I did a test on the last post and there are a few people who are able to leave comments. I'll keep trying to figure it out... Sorry I'm not a computer whiz!

Take care!!!!!

Whale of a Day!

Saturday was a beautiful day! It was in the low 80's and sunny. We walked down to the lighthouse and Point Vicente Interpretive Center again where they were having the "Whale of a Day" activities. It was very nice and kid friendly. The Coast Guard had their helicopter and boats on display. They were letting the kids get up in them and explore.

They had a lot of games, face painting, sidewalk chalk drawing, and exhibits. We saw several dogs, some raptor birds, starfish, and one lizard on the walk.




The Interpretive Center, which I really don't know why it's called that, has a lot of whale information, as well as what the land used to look like many years ago. It's very interesting how the land has slowly changed because of erosion.



Evidently they have this annually so next year, Maddie will really enjoy it. She liked seeing all the people and the animals. Of course, next year she'll be walking/running all over and we'll be trying to keep up with her. I probably won't have as many pictures after her mobilization either! It was a very nice activity to do and I look forward to many others while we're out here in Looney Land. We might as well take advantage of the situation, right?



Sunday we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Jason showed me the clubhouse where the pool, tennis courts, and gym are located. There were two kids in the pool getting swimming lessons. How strange for the first weekend in March to be swimming outside! We put Maddie's sunglasses on for the heck of it and it only lasted a few seconds. They're still a little too big for her, but I doubt it would matter if they fit or not. They ain't gonna stay on until she's a lot older and actually wants them on her face!!





Ta-ta for now!

7 months already!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!

My sweet girl is 7 months old today! She's usually got her fingers in her mouth since she started teething. Those cheeks just make me want to squeeze 'em. I can't believe that we're on the downhill march towards a year old. Time sure flies!