Ending 2010 with a Bang

ER

Never can be too careful we found out this last week after our first visit to the Emergency Room with Tyler. Accidents happen and this was a big one. We woke up the day before New Year Eve at 7:00am to Grandma running around trying to find a key to the bathroom that Ty had locked himself into. When she opened it she found him standing on his stool that he uses to brush his teeth holding an open bottle of Grandpa's blood pressure medication. She yells to me and I immediately went to the refrigerator where I have all of our emergency numbers and called poison control. They said, "Where is your closest ER? I will call and let them know you are on your way!"

I threw my clothes on and Tyler's jacket and was out the door before Grandma and Dave could even say a word. When we got the ER they administered two full syringes of liquid charcoal into Ty's mouth. It looked like Black paint. They said that if he did not swallow it they would have to put a tube down his nose or throat. Thankfully he drank enough that they did not have to. It was not pleasant having to hold him while they did this. Then, we had to stay for 6 hours for them to monitor his blood sugar and blood pressure. Meanwhile, it was the day I had to fast and get my Glucose test done for the pregnancy, so I had to leave Ty, Dave and Grandma at the hospital for about an hour and get blood drawn. Fortunately, it was not effected by the stress of the events that day and results came back fine. I went back to the hospital and took Ty him Elmo and his little DVD player so he could watch movies. They released him at 2:30pm and we took Ty to Jamba Juice, one of his new favorites. There were no side effects to the meds he took. We think he only took one and if he did the charcoal absorbed it and it had no adverse effects. Only side effect was from the charcoal, he had some cramping and diarrhea(sorry to much information).

27 Weeks

Today marks 27 weeks on the pregnancy calendar and the start of the third trimester. Baby is about 2 lbs. and 14 1/2 inches. Lots to think about and prepare. We had our 26 week visit with the doctor this week. Everything measure right on schedule. Woke up to a violent leg spasm last night that felt like I had broken my leg...no joke. ..it hurt and still hurts today. It could be a number of things, but probably need to drink more water, relax and get more calcium. It has been a long few days with Tyler. He has had a fever for two days and not sleeping well. Which means we haven't slept well either.

Grandma and Pa Olson visit

Grandma and Grandpa Olson came for about a week over New Years. We had fun going to our favorite restaurants. Dave even got tickets to the Rose Parade in VIP seating from a frisbee buddy. We were right at the start of the parade about 100 yards from the NBC tower where it is televised nationally. Ty loved all the floats and special effects. We don't usually see the special effects of the floats where we watch the parade, so that was a treat. They spent quality time with Tyler as well. Mom helped me organize part of the house, shop for some much needed things around the house, rearrange Ty's pictures and some of my closets. It was such a big help and Lucus and Grandpa pitched in too.

Soot Bull Jeep, my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant

Grandpa and Tyler at the end of the Rose Parade

Our VIP seats at the Rose Parade

Castle floats with special effects

Ty the morning of the parade. He was half in the bed and half out of the bed when we went in to get him. Mr. Bear apparently was wrestling with him in the middle of the night.

Having fun New Year's Eve with Grandma and Mamma at Houston Steakhouse.

Ty really enjoyed cuddling with Uncle Lucus

Like father like son:) As I am writing this Tyler is sitting here watching and laughing hysterically at this picture.

Tubular Ty practicing his surfing with Uncle Lucus.

Ty's nurses at the ER right before we were released. They gave him all sorts of little toys to take home...an elephant, a stuffed fish and a power rangers bag.

This picture makes me want to cry everytime I see it. He was not happy after one of the nurses repeatedly came in to prick his finger and check his blood sugar.

This is after they gave him the charcoal and he had to spend 6 hours in the bed. We took turns sitting in the bed with him.

Daddy rubbing his back and head. If you notice, he is holding Elmo. Elmo had his blood pressure checked and vitals checked too.

Opening Christmas presents from Gma and Gpa Olson. This is a Thomas the train set.

Last year Mom gave me (Shelby) a couple pairs of underwear that were a few sizes too big. When I opened them I said, "Is this a joke?" They were obviously too big, but she thought they would fit:) This year the joke was on Grandma. We got her the largest pair of underwear we could find.

Christmastime

Thoughts on Christmas
I often wonder what it would be like to grow up without the tradition of Christmas. It seems like such an important part of our calendar year. Christmas means different things to different people. I think of it as such a joyous time of tradition, gathering, celebration, and the most importantly the Birth of our savior, Jesus. To some, that is not the case. It can be a time of mourning, a time of the mundane everyday tasks, a stressful and depressing time, or a meaningless time. It just wonder what it is like for those people. Really...I look forward to this time every year and I wonder, what if I did not. What would it be like looking at all of the decorations, the mean shoppers, the lights, the santas at the mall, the carolers and whatever else if Christmas meant nothing to me. I look forward to the traditions, the gathering of family, church activities, decorations, food, and remembering why this is such an important time of year to celebrate. I think about the time that Tyler is old enough to understand what this holiday is and what I want him to know about it. What do we want to teach him about Christmas?
I have to admit I really struggled this year thinking about what I want to teach him about Christmas. I even felt bad when I realized it was a few days before Christmas and I had not bought him anything. I don't feel bad anymore and I did buy him a few little things (he is not lacking in anything). For our family, I do not want it to be about the gifts. I want it to be about love, the kind of love that involves everyone. The kind of love that is not exclusive or personal, but love that is eternal and is for everyone, God's love. Anyways, I hope if you are reading this you feel that love right now and if you do, share it with someone who may not! If you do not, I hope you feel unanticipated love and joy in the weeks to come. Without the risk of sounding preachy, I will move on.

Our holiday's were blessed with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Knight. They spent quality time with Tyler doing various fun things and mommy and daddy got to spend time cleaning, organizing and working. While Tyler went tot he zoo and on bus rides, mommy and daddy worked at daddy's office doing taxes and organizing and cleaning out storage and closets at home. See pictures below of some of the fun things they got to do while Grandma and Grandpa were here.

Tyler opening presents Christmas morning

Dinner of Christmas Eve (Turkey, Mashed Potatoes or as Tyler says it "Mash the tables", Green beans and rolls)

Playing frisbee with Gma and Gpa Knight at Pasadena City College at sunset

Watching daddy toss the frisbee on the football field at PCC

Learning to blow dandelions with Grandma Knight

Ty got a balance bike from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas

Evidence that it does rain in California.

Tylers favorite animals at the zoo...Flamingos.

Christmas lights in front of the Balian Mansion in Pasadena. Ty just loves finding Christmas lights and you should have seen his face when we pulled up in front of this house. It was more lights than he had ever seen before.

Tis the Season

I look forward to this season every year. I know many people don't for varies reason, but I enjoy decorating the house, making things for people, holiday gatherings, hot cider, Christmas music, holiday crafts, cookie making, shopping and the time spent with friends and family. Yes, sometimes it seems a bit hectic and stressful, but those moments are far overshadowed by the joyous ones.
This morning at MOPS(Mothers of Preschoolers) a mom shared about unanticipated joy for the holiday season. She shared stories of her life and others lives that in the face of what could be seen as dark moments...joy and hope. She said that "our experiences are finite, compared to forever". That really struck me. Sometimes I feel like the moments are hard to endure and I do not welcome the challenges that I face. They are so finite though. This is spoken from someone who has experience extreme loss (two births- a single child and a set of twins at birth). She challenged us to not be surprised by God's plan and welcome new things, like Mary and Joseph welcome Jesus and then had to watch Him die for everyone including them. It was like a Christmas story that I had never heard. She told her story with such hope and joy that it makes me want to embrace that this holiday season. She also encouraged us to let people know they are not alone and that they are loved, whether it is a neighbor or a homeless person on the corner. That is what is most important isn't it? Sometimes I get lost o=in all of the other stuff!

These are a few joys of my holiday season so far...

1. Taking Tyler to a Christmas in the park where they had snow to play in. He had fun making snow balls or slush balls. He did not know the difference though.

2. Not sure if this is sak religious, but Tyler called the baby Jesus in the Nativity "Baby sister":)

3. Tyler points out all of the Christmas lights as we drive from one place to another.

4. Tyler sings Old MacDonald had a farm and Happy Birthday as he plays with his childrens nativity set. I don't think he knows how true that is:)

5. Tyler was in the cart at Target, when I hear..."Mommy...baby sister in my belly", as he is pulling his shirt up and smiles:)

Here are a few pictures of our decor:

Tour of the Midwest

Every year it is a tough decision to try to figure out what to do for the holiday's. I am sure every family struggles to make plans for the holiday's. This year we decided to make one flight, one long drive and see everyone we could see over Thanksgiving. We feel good about our decision and are thankful for all of the quality time. We flew into St. Louis and drove to Grandma and Grandpa Knights where we had a nice relaxing time with grandma , grandpa, Uncle tony, Aunt Christy, Carter, Uncle Steve, and Great Grandma and Pa Knight. The guys went hunting for a majority of the time and the ladies spent time with the little guys. Tyler enjoyed playing outside on the bika bike...or scooter. He was sick for part of the visit, but that did not stop him from having a good time with his cousin Carter.
After a great visit at the Knight's we piled into a loaded conversion van, thanks to one of Grandma and Grandpa's friends and drove to pick up Grandma Aten on our way to Indianapolis. It was short, but it was great to see her. Then, we met up with Aunt Lindsay, Breana and Laney for the next leg of the trip. Lindsay took us to Fort Wayne where we stayed for the night. The next mornign we drove to Michigan to visit Grandma and Grandpa Olson, Lucus, Lindsay, Breana, Delaney and Great Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. We spent about a week there relaxing, visiting with people and eating good food. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Grandma Olson. A highlight was when Wyatt, their dog ate half of the jello salad that mom spent half the day making. We couldn't help but laugh. There was no dull moment with all the kids there. We did some black Friday shopping and had a girls afternoon going to lunch and seeing a chick flick. It was a blessed time.
We were ready to get back to LA and hit the ground running though. Overall the trip was refreshing and fun! Tyler was a trooper on the way home. Our plane left an hour late (8:30pm) and he was awake 3/4 of the flight. He fell asleep right before the decent into LA and did not wake up until 2:30 LA time. We noticed he was cold. It was freezing in our apartment when we got back and I realized that we had his bed in front of the heater, so he slept with us the rest of the night. For those of you who don't think it is ever cold in LA...it was about 40 degrees. We rearranged his room in the morning. He was tired and took a 3 1/2 hour nap in the after noon and slept almost 12 hours straight that night. Thanks to everyone for hosting us! It was a special time.
Now, we are getting ready for the Christmas season and other adventures in LA... decorating, planning Dave's 30th birthday, shopping, organizing, planning for our little girl, taxes and more. The fun begins:)

Great Grandpa Knight, Uncle Steve, Great Grandma Knight, Grandpa and Ty
The Speck's (Dave's sister Christy's family)

He can still do it:)

Climbing Grandpa Knight's tree stand

We could not keep Ty away from this scooter or in his words Bika bike.

Tyler in his deer stand with Grandma and Cousin Carter. He loved climbing up and looking for deer while daddy, grandpa and uncle Tony were hunting.

Grandpa brought home a big one. I think it was an 8 point. He and Uncle Tony also got a doe.

Tyler had fun with Cousin Carter playing with all of Grandma's toys. Here they are in the field with Aunt Christy playing with bubbles and balls.

Tyler got to meet Dylan. He is Dave's cousins son. Not sure if that makes him a second cousin or not:)

One thing Tyler always looks forward to at Grandpa and Grandma Olson's is Y-Y or Wyatt the dog. This time Grandma and Grandpa taught him to ride on Wyatt's back like a horse. It was fun to watch him play with the dog. Wyatt loved it too.

All the Cousins...Delaney, Tyler and Bree with Daddy, Grandma, Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Lucus

We don't look like siblings at all do we:)

Uncle Lucus and LayLay. One of my favorite pics from the trip:)

Almost bed time and time to say good-bye to Bree and Dee.

Family photo op! Now a tradition in the Knight family.

Grandma and Grandpa Knight with the boyz.

Grandma and Grandpa Olson or Oson as Tyler says it....with the kiddos.