The Saddest Site that You've Ever Seen

Thanks to those of you've who've noticed us missing and wondered if we are ok.  The answer is yes and no.  The biggest reason that we've been missing is that we just went on a two week vacation, but let's rewind to the day before we were supposed to leave.  I was talking to a friend on the phone.  I picked up Ollie when he was getting fussy.  I was holding him, trying to calm him when he had a seizure.

My world stopped.

One moment he was fine, and the next his body jerked to a weird angle and went rigid.  His eyes rolled back, and he stopped breathing.  I screamed for Larry while Ollie turned purple.  I know it sounds dramatic, but I had no idea what was going on, and I felt like I was watching his life slip away and there was nothing that I could do.  After about what felt like an eternity, but was probably a minute, Ollie started breathing again, but went limp and would not respond to anything.    

Larry called 911, but then we decided we could probably get the the hospital faster if we drove ourselves rather than wait for an ambulance.  We dropped a poor, bewildered Creed off at Tai & Kersten's down the street (thanks for running out to meet us at our car to get him).

At the hospital Ollie finally started acting a little more like himself. They decided to do a scan to make sure he didn't have a brain injury.  This was the saddest scene that I have seen in a very long while.

 Thankfully, everything was clear.  They think that Ollie did indeed have a seizure, but they don't know why.  Seizures are a misfiring of the brain, and can be common in small children since their brains are just developing.  It might be nothing.

 After following up with our pediatrician and a neurologist the next day, we were cleared to leave on vacation because there is nothing they can do unless he has another seizure (in which case they will cover him with electrodes for 24 hours to see what they can see).  Hopefully it will not come to that.

So we were off on our vacation, and all the while every tiny cry, cough, and wiggle from Ollie made my heart skip a beat while I watched for any sign of something wrong.

So far, so good!

One Year Older and Wiser too!

Did I mention that I turned thirty? I wasn't expecting anything big, but I was in for plenty of surprises.  It turns out I was in for more of a birthday week than just one day.  First off, my mom came and spent the day with me.  We played, she watched the boys so I could go out to lunch with friends.  I got to pick a restaurant that I've been wanting to try (Blue Lemon Bistro). You know how I love exploring the city.

I have really pretty friends and I take really blurry phone pictures.

My mom and I got to stop by our favorite consignment shop (Emilie Jayne) and even made a photobooth run with the boys (although the photobooth was too full of money to accept any more). Then my dad flew back into town and we all went out to dinner at another restaurant Larry and I had been curious about (Nacho's Libre.  It's hot pink and the owner's name really is Nacho).  It was a pretty fantastic day.

The next morning I was spoiled with gifts.  Cake plates and baker's twine from my mom.

Bowls that I've been wanting for ages for cooking with Creed (we only had glass mixing bowls).  Aren't they the prettiest colors?

Then tons of Martha Stewart crafting supplies form Larry.  That man knows me well!
We had a great with lunch and then a hike to Donut Falls (A hike that I've been wanting to take the boys on, but Larry was not so excited about because I was raised camping and hiking and he was not). Larry told me that I could do anything that I wanted to do as long as I was ready to go to dinner by five so that's what I chose.  It was gorgeous, but more about that later.

Dinner at Tasty Thai.  Oh, I love Massaman Curry and pretty much everything that I've tried on their menu.

Then Larry rushed me out the door to go on the Ferris Wheel at Liberty Park (I've been saying all summer that we should do that some time and he listened). Poor Larry, this is the point of the evening that his planning fell apart.  The rides were closed.  It was the first day they closed at 4:00 instead of 7:00. He'd even called the week before that they said they would be open.  And he was surprising me by having many of my friends from the neighborhood meet us there.  Luckily, they were mostly late and we were able to call them to tell them to head straight to Tai and Kersten's where we feasted on cake.  Kersten makes really good cake, and the company was even better.I was really happy.  I don't think I could have had a better birthday, and I had no idea that there was more in store later in the week.

I'll tell you about it soon.

I promise!

How we spent our summer vacation

Between having an infant, job hunting, and moving; this summer has flown by.  Fall is my favorite season, so after the Fourth of July, I usually crave fall.  Instead, this year I'm savoring what's left of summer. 

 Larry and I had a list of things we hoped to do this summer (do you make lists like that?).  The past few weeks we've been busy trying to check some things off the list.  

So here are a few ways we've been savoring the end of summer (some from the list and some pleasantly unexpected).

Riding the rides at Liberty Park

Picking our fill of blackberries at the Davids'.

Playing with cousins as much as possible.

Wearing our selves out with much anticipated adventures (like seeing Toy Story Three)

Riding bikes.

Hanging out at the park.

Visiting the farmers market (weird that I only took a picture of the boys at the farmers market, but I guess I was busy buying and eating delicious things)

Introducing Creed to Drive-in movies (It was a big hit)

Adopting new pets.

Growing some impressive thighs!

Escaping the heat with road trips/adventures in the mountains.

With this guy at the wheel when he's not working at his two jobs.

Stopping whenever we spot something we know someone in our family will love.

And now we are trying to think ahead and prepare for our next trip with a little help from our friends.

A few of our plans for the summer have been foiled (no camping at Payson Lake due to aggressive bears in the area, no Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City due to lack of babysitters and time off), but that just gives us something to look forward to in summers to come, right? Truthfully, I like to have my summer to-do list a bit too long to actually accomplish because I wouldn't want to run out of things to choose from whenever we have a spare moment.

Now my mind is spinning with possibilities for next summer's list and ways we might cross a few more things off our list this summer.

Oliver at 6 Months

I have so many cute pictures of Ollie this month.  His personality is emerging and it's so fun to watch him try new things.  The latest development is that he's sitting up without assistance

He loves watching Creed as much as possible.  Creed is the best at getting grins out of him.

He doesn't stay still for long.  He's rolling all over the place and working hard to crawl.  He's moved forward a few times, but I think it's mostly on accident.

He does not like being in his bouncy seat.

He hates being in the car seat.  He starts screaming at the sight of it, which makes me hesitate to go anywhere.  But then we're you're out and about, he's awfully cute.

We started him on solids.

So far he is not a big fan.

He's already living up to his middle name, Danger; he loves to growl, and he loves to be tossed in the air (which terrified Creed until a few months ago)

We're pretty sure he is the cutest baby in the whole world!