Friday, February 27, 2009

My camera is back!

I'm so happy. They returned my camera today! They replaced the mother board and a connector (that I think is for the power). Anyway, it works now. They gave me a 3 month warranty from the date of repair which is only one extra month over the one year factory. I'm kinda bummed by that, but so thrilled to have it back!

Anyway, next week is spring cleaning in the kitchen. I'm not too excited about that because it will be hard to keep Miles occupied. That may in fact be the hardest room. I'm excited to have it done though. I guess that's what makes it worth while for me...getting it finished and enjoying the results.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Game Room Done!

Miles playing in the Den with the trains he got for his birthday.


I'm so excited. I've finished spring cleaning the Game Room (also my sewing room). I pulled all the furniture out from the wall and scrubbed the baseboards,then rearranged everything. It looks so much better. We still have to get rid of a really heavy desk, but before that can go, we need to buy a new microwave. When we moved back to this house the lady who had been renting it didn't bother to tell us that the above the stove microwave was going out. We kept the little microwave we'd had in San Francisco, and put it on the desk we needed to get rid of in the game room. Now we need to replace the vent-a-hood microwave and get rid of the desk.

Next week is the kitchen. I'm really excited about this too. I want to order pull out drawers for at least one of the shelves in the pantry. That will be the shelf for my baking goods. I'll just end up adding that to the list of to do and to buy things I have from all of the rooms for now, but it will be near the top!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Spring and Spring Cleaning

Well, I think we are reasonable safe to be around now! Jared and I are all feeling pretty well. We both still have ear infections, and an almost constant ringing. Nicholas seems to be doing well. He was still coughing this morning, quiet all day, then a little coughing this evening. I'm still thinking about skipping playgroup tomorrow to be in the safe side.

Enough about my health, or lack thereof. I've started spring cleaning today! I love spring. I'm using the Grand Plan Challenge. I'm altering it a bit for my home. I figured that since I had to change the dates, I would change the order of the rooms too. I'm starting in the game room. That means beginning with both Miles' toys and my sewing machine and fabric stash. I haven't really ever really culled through Miles' toys. I've donated a thing or two, but that's about it. This time I'm trying to take a discerning eye to the items he has. Does he play with them? Are they age appropriate? Will this toy grow with him? I'm only saving a thing to two "in case" we have another. Just a couple of things that I don't want to have to buy again or were unique. It's a fun exercise.

I was going to wait to go through my fabric stash until tomorrow or Wednesday, but I accidentally spilled an entire cup of coffee on it today! Oops! I washed everything, and it all came clean. I'm horrified by how many projects I have most everything for, and just need to sew. I think tomorrow I'll really get down and dirty with this. My mom is going through hers now too. I imagine we'll have quite the get rid of pile when we are done.

Saturday, February 21, 2009



I think the quarantine is near being lifted. However as I type this I am in a NyQuil haze. Miles seems to be getting better, although his cough is worse. He's now been to the doctor 3 times. Jared and I both went on Friday and the whole family is happily on antibiotics. We are really hoping to be better by the end of the weekend. Jared's mother was talking to the pastor of the church we all attend, and he kindly invited us not to attend on Sunday. :) Some people. Anyway, here are some pics of the Valentine's Day party Miles & I took my grandmother to on his birthday (which I think is where he picked up this nasty bug). The lady in the blue jacket in both pictures is my grandmother. She is so fantastic and loves Miles so much!




So I'm off to sleep (yes, I know it's only 9pm). Health to you all!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Another day another doctor's appointment

I think we are on the downhill slide of this illness. Miles has had a fever every day for 5 days, and I took him to the doctor twice. Does that make me one of "those" moms? Yeoch! I hope not. Anyway, the weekend was not pretty. We did have his party on Saturday, but there was not much partying to it. It was just family and we built the play structure. I did get the card reader and I'll post pictures soon, but I broke my camera. Right now Miles has only been down for about 45 minutes and he's already up crying. He was more sick this weekend and was having copious amounts of mucus secretions through his eyes! Come on now, who's hungry? He has pink eye, but the doctor said that is basically just irritation of the eye and can even be caused by an allergy. Anyway, this is basically a cold or something viral, and we are getting better. I can't wait. He thinks two or three days should do it.

Anyway, I'm going to go lay down with him (the only way to get him a decent night's sleep when he's sick) and spend my minimal sleep time dreaming of when he's better and sleeping through the night again (and I have my camera back)!

Ahh, sweet dreams dear blog land!

Friday, February 13, 2009

What a day

Yesterday Miles had a runny nose all day. Then around 5:00 he developed a fever. Poor guy. I waited until bed time to give him Tylenol. He coughed a couple of times in bed and woke around midnight. He was very upset and we brought him into bed (we usually try to wait until 5am to do this). He developed a fever about every 3 or 3.5 hours and we kept him up on Tylenol. We had scheduled haircuts for this morning. We called the lady who cuts our hair and updated us on the situation. She said to come in. We also called a peditrician (we don't have one currently as she closed her office) who was highly recommended by friends and got an appointment for this morning. After making both appointments and getting a little work done too, I was pooped! We put Miles down for nap time, but after a short while he woke due to fever. I went in and cuddled with him and read to him until we both fell asleep. I think we were out for about two hours. This afternoon we just vegged out and watched TV and played trains.

He was put to bed about two hours ago now and is up crying. Hope tonight goes reasonably well. His party is planned for tomorrow. Everyone knows that he's sick but I think everyone had decided to come anyway. It's only family and no children. I really hope this doesn't last.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Birthday and missing card reader

So, Miles' birthday was yesterday. I have a bit of mixed feelings. I'm happy, but my little guy is growing up. I would have what I hope are some good pictures, but Jared's brother borrowed our card reader last week "for a day" and I haven't seen it since. I'd like to say that is why I haven't had many pics recently, but really I suck at taking pictures every day (or really frequently) but I'm working on it.

Instead of having a very photo heavy post, I'll just tell you about his birthday. On Monday I finally got confirmation that my grandmother was coming to town this week and would be here for the party we are throwing Miles on Saturday. She's staying with my parents, but they both work during the day. I had to go to the grocery store and get a couple of things for the party. Miles and I went up to pick her up so we could run errands together. It wasn't very exciting, but there you go.

As part of the errands on Monday, I got a Coffee Cake (which Miles loves). So, on Tuesday (his actual birthday) we started the day with oatmeal and coffee cake. Jared had to go to work which was fine. He's trying to get Friday off or at least work from home to help prep for the party so it was no big deal. Knowing that Jared would be going to work, I wanted to do something to make the day special. Our playgroup was throwing a Valentine's Day party. We went up to my parent's house again to pick up my grandmother and took her with us to the party held at the recreation center. I think she had fun just watching her great-grandson run around and play with all the other kids. They had a little craft for the kids and a "heart healthy" snack first. Then in the gymnasium they had a bounce house, a slide, they pulled out a bunch of bouncy balls, basket balls and soccer balls, a couple of scooters, and some tumbling mats. It was super fun! Miles really had a great time. He got a little over stimulated at the end and when my grandmother, Miles and I came home, he refused to eat and tried to scream through his nap. I don't usually do this, but knowing how tired he must be, I went into his room and held him and swayed with him until he fell asleep. He only slept for an hour, but I'll take it!

While Miles was asleep, I called my parents, told them that I had brought my grandmother to my house, and invited them over for dinner. We are having a heavy dessert on Saturday for the party so I asked mom to bring something light like berries and angel food cake. She did, and we had pasta with veggies etc (it was on the meal plan before I invited them) and some veggie bread I made. It was pretty good, and we all had fun. My sisters had sent Miles a present, and Jared and I had gotten something for him too. We told everyone that they shouldn't bring gifts on Saturday, so we had him open the few things after dinner. I hope we got some cute pictures!

Anyway, today I didn't go see my grandmother. I probably should have, but the playgroup had a meeting with a guest speaker that I really wanted to hear. So, we went to that this morning, had another rough nap, and watched one of his new videos in the afternoon.

Thursday we are getting wood delivered for the play structure so we'll be home at least until that comes. Friday we hope that Jared will have a light day, and be home all day but we'll see. We all have haircuts in the morning and he'll at least be able to make that (we all REALLY need it). After that we'll be getting ready for everyone to descend on our house the next morning. And to top it all off, Jared wants to take a bike ride almost twice as long as we usually take on Saturday before everyone shows up. At least he plans to have my mother and grandmother watch Miles so we don't have to pull him in his trailer.

Sorry for no pics. I'll try to get the card reader back on Saturday.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Busy making a book

I thought last week while Jared was gone that it would be fun to put together a photo book of Miles' first two years and have it at the little party we are throwing for him this Saturday. I was both right and wrong. It's fun to put it together, but also a pain! I should have done more research before I started, but I assumed they were all basically the same. I started with Shutterfly.com. I think I switched because I was irritated that I couldn't order the uploaded pictures by date (in their defense the pics were exported from another program and no book program got it right) so I started looking at other sights and found a book cheaper at Snapfish.com. I had trouble getting the picture in the right order here so it took some time to make a photo book. After Jared got home I finished up the book and went to show him. I was pretty disappointed that by the time I got done it had so many pages it was over $40. Jared gave me a place to look for reviews (a private message board he uses with very picky photographers). After looking through I found Blurb.com. I think their book layouts are much more artistic. Their binding is also more "bookish" in that they have a hardcover that they can print pictures directly on or create a dust jacket (cheaper).

Blurb.com has software that you install in order to create the book then upload it to their site. The software is a little cumbersome, but I think it'll make a great book. I had problems with it crashing for a while but I think that was on my end.



I had hoped to have the book at the party and even considered presenting a copy to my mother and mother in law (and probably my grandmother who will also be there). Sadly because it has taken so long start to finish, I will not be able to receive the book in time. I think what I'm going to do is order a bunch of prints locally and have those at the party. Then after it's over I'll add a page or two with pics from his actual birthday and the party and order the book after. There is no discount on Blurb.com for ordering more than on book (discounts start at 10) so I may order one and wait for any additional. All in all I think I'm happier that the book will eventually have pictures of his birthday in it so that it will be a complete two years in review (more or less). Anyway, I'll post pics when it's done and here! I can't wait!

Oh, about the cost, they GROW on you! I think all the books with the length it will take to get the two years in there will be $40+.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Four days down, and he's finally home!

Whewh! I'm so glad it's over, and he's home safe and sound. We had some fun this week and tried out a few new things. Yesterday we just hung around the house, and didn't do much. It was a reasonable day, but Miles was a bit like Jekyll and Hyde. Fine one moment, and screaming for no reason the next. I think he was a little over tired from the nap boycott. He napped very well yesterday too which was a relief.

I saw this on Woot this morning. It's a sympathy card for someone's New Year's resolutions. Funny! Just print and fold.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Three down, One to go!

Ok, it's actually lunch time on the final day, but I didn't get a post done yesterday. It went well yesterday though. In the morning we went to pick up Miles' Aunt Jessica and took her with us. We went to an indoor play place that has several of the inflatable bounce houses. Miles had fun. He always takes a while to warm up to new places, but once he did he had fun. After that we dropped Jessica off and went home for lunch and a nap.

Jared's brother came over to pick up something about 5 minutes after I got Miles down. He never fell asleep. Grr. Then, his brother had a friend meet him here, and I think Miles heard the noise and wanted out. He started screaming. Blah. I ended up getting him up and deciding to try again after they left. They were here about an hour, and we tried again. He never fell asleep the second time either. Blah.

Anyway, in the evening, Jared's mother invited us over for dinner. On our way out of the neighborhood we ran into the neighbor that I was trying to get in touch with a couple of weeks ago! She apologized for not emailing earlier. We had a nice little chat. I hope that we do end up getting together some time soon. Dinner went great and we visited and came home for bed time. That's it! Pics tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Two days down, two to go

Well, we have a return date. He'll be back late Thursday night. I have to figure out what I'm going to do. It is far enough after Miles' bedtime that I want to put him down in his crib normally. But then I have to get him up, take him to the airport, drive him home, and put him back in bed? He's been sleeping terribly for several days. I hate to do that to him. Jared's flight isn't too late. I may see if my parents or his parents would pick him up. We'll see what the next couple of days bring for his sleep.



Today went ok. I heard about a playgroup that meets at the rec center near our house. It is supposed to be for preschool only, they close off the gym, throw out some tumbling mats and balls and let the kids go at it. It sounded like fun but when I called to get the time, I was told that it started some time after 9. When I pressed for...you know, a time you could find on a clock, I was told 10:30. Well, yes, 10:30 is after 9, so you have to give him that.

Anyway, we took our chances and showed up. I peeked into the gym and didn't see anyone. I asked at the desk and they said, yes, the playgroup is now and there is one mother and kid in there. Great! We go in and I start playing with Miles and the basketballs and two other mothers and kids show up. I never got the scoop, but I think that the first mom and one of the ones who showed up right after me are usually the only ones there. Their kids were a little older (3 and 3.5) but not terribly rough. The mom's knew each other well so I didn't talk to them much. The other mother had the only girl and she seemed nice, but the girl was timid and didn't really want to play with the other kids.



After playgroup we had lunch with my mom which was great. My parents are good with Miles too and really love him. After lunch we just headed home for nap and regular afternoon activities. Nap time didn't go so well, so the afternoon was cranky. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I would have expected after an hour and a half of crying in the middle of the night and about 20 min of nap. :) I can't wait until Jared gets home. Here's to hoping that the sleep issues are caused by daddy being gone.

Monday, February 2, 2009

One day down...


I'm so glad it's February! I've been crazy busy working, but the major deadline has passed. Yay! Now it's just the cleanup, follow up. In fact I was so busy that I missed the date for our first playgroup. (oops) Yeah, I was almost done working on one part and told myself it was the next day. We drove over to the house it was being held at, and I'm thinking "it should have started about 5 minutes ago, there are no cars, and the shutters are closed." I even had it right in my day planner.

I feel a little bad that I'm so glad that it's February. Jared had to leave town on a business trip! Yikes! He left on Sunday night, and he'll be back Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Yeah, I know. He was going to come home on Friday, but accidentally got the tickets for Saturday. Now that he has to switch them anyway, he's going to try to come back on Thursday night (late). So, one day down, somewhere between three and five to go! The day before he left, he told me that his boss wants him to take a training class. For three weeks... In Seattle. Hmm.

We have activities planned for every day. That way Miles and I have the option to get out of the house every day if we need it. Today was going over to Jared's parents house. They love Miles and love spending time with him. If too much time goes by they call and say that they need their fix. It's really cute. The day was fun and not very stressful.