Dinner at Bubba Gump

Our little "Forest"

Jackson, Mike and my Mom

After being in the house all day with the tsunami warning, we decided to go out to eat at Bubba Gumps. Jackson has a wonderful time, they have lots of kiddie toys for the kids to play with while you are waiting for a table or food. It is a great restaurant for kids because it is loud and lots of things to look at :)

Tsunami in Hawaii

We found out about the tsunami at 2 in the morning on Saturday, February 27, 2010. Thank goodness for technology because they were able to warn us many hours before the actual tsunami came. We were lucky because the tsunami came in the form of a 5 foot swell instead of a wave. They had predicted a 10 foot wave but I am just fine with a swell. So in the past 10 years of living in Hawaii I have been through a 3 week teaching strike, an earthquake, and now a tsunami. The last two events from mother nature have occurred on the weekend and would have been great if it was on a work day :) We just spent the day with our eyes glued to the tv watching the swell come in and let Jackson play in the water. When the alert was over at 2pm, we decided to head out of the house to dinner downtown.

Jackson's first time at Chuck E Cheese

Jackson with Chuck E. Cheese

Jackson on the Merry Go Round all by himself. He loved giving us high 5's when he passed us.

Hailey the birthday girl turning 4 with Chuck E. Cheese

Jackson eating pizza at the party.

Jackson driving the car and holding on tight.

Jackson trying out his first ride with Barney. He wanted to put the coins in all by himself.

Chinese New Year

At the swap meet and Jackson was so excited to see these dancing lions.

Look at him he just watched them dance around the whole time.

A random picture of Jackson wearing his birthday Elmo hat and playing with his birthday horn. We went to Border's to celebrate Elmo turning "3". The party would have been so much better if Elmo actually had made an appearance.

Time for a haircut

Jackson's hair grows very fast, it has been about 7 weeks since our last haircut. One thing that he gets from his daddy is definitely his hair.

Jackson right after he was finished with his haircut enjoying his treat of animal crackers. What a happy boy riding in the fire truck.

Jackson is 19 months today

Jackson loves to stack blocks, pepsi cans, anything that he can make into a tower.

Jackson and Brooke dancing to the music.

Yep, 19 months ago I delivered Jackson and he weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces. Wow! Time sure does fly by!!! Today, we are going to his 18 month well visit because it we had it scheduled on Martin Luther King day and somehow Mike and I both forgot about it. I guess we have a lot on our minds, that or we better start taking some Ginko Biloba for memory loss :) I am excited to go to see just how much he weighs and his height. About month ago we took away his sippy cup bottle that he loved to have his milk in because it was time for some big boy cups. He decided that was fine but he wasn't going to drink milk out of any cup. For about a week we tried every sippy cup you can imagine and then finally watered down the milk and now he takes it. I have been supplementing his diet with lots of yogurt and cheese because he loves it and to make sure he is getting enough calcium. Here are some cute pictures of Jackson

Happy Valentine's Pics

Happy Valentine's Day 2009, Jackson was 7 months

Happy Valentine's Day 2010, Jackson is 19 months

It is hard to believe it has been a year since Claudia started watching this crew, she started January 2009! I personally think we should put these kids in the next Pottery Barn Kids catalog or Children's Place!!

This is hard!

Well, I am not myself and realized that today when I walked to Claudia's house to see Jackson. It's been hard not being able to care for him this past week. I can't lift him, I can't drive him, and I can't take a walk anymore without getting out of breath. While the normal walk to Claudia's usually takes me 10 minutes, today I was out for 30 minutes and still wasn't there. Thanks to Tiffany who drove me the rest of the way because she passed by me and said I looked like I was going to pass out. I guess I'm still realizing my limitations, but it was a mother's determination to spend time with her baby. Next time, that same determination will make me pick up the phone and ask for some help instead. ; )

Jackson loved having me there but he sure did make me tired. I'm beginning to realize that its going to take me more than a couple of days to get my strength and energy back. My mom is coming out to Hawaii on Wednesday and staying till March 1 to help out and spend time with Jackson :) Thank you, Mom. In the meanwhile, I am going to relax, enjoy some home cooked food from wonderful friends, read my get well soon cards from my students and friends, and enjoy the aroma of the flowers in our living room :)

Lesson learned don't ever take anything for granted!

Medical costs

I was just glancing at the medical bill from the hospital, which has a big red stamp printed ESTIMATION only! Huh, they better be pretty accurate, I thought when I had my c-section and got the bill for 22,000 and only had to pay I think 2,000 when it was said it done because of the elected things they charge you for, those lovely maternity huge underwear, menstrual diapers, an epideral, etc. Well, I about had a panic attack looking at how much things cost. Just to be in the ICU a day is 1,350. Tylenol is a 1.00, I had to have a blood transfusion so that was I think 5,000 and the list goes on for 8 pages of every little thing. So our estimation bill is 28,000 for 5 days in the hospital at Queen's and that isn't even counting the ER visit on Monday night. However, even though we chose to have HMA insurance we only had to pay 2400 and now anytime I get sick or maybe have another baby my 2500 copay is already paid! On a good note we found out that our insurance isn't sucky but it does have more work or strings then HMSA did. So, Lesson learned never go without insurance! Can you imagine not having insurance and this happens to you.

How can something so small be such a problem?

What a couple of days! On Monday evening, I had begun having really bad cramps in my lower left abdomen till 2:30 am. At that point I had thrown up all the pain killers I had taken and finally decided it was time to go to ER. It was a fast trip but frightening. I have never been to the ER and this was my first time. I have always been afraid that maybe I am making something up or the pain is in your head, etc... Well, the results were in and I wasn't making this up. We took Jackson with us because I was in so much pain and he was a trooper. Mike took him to Claudia's after I was checked in and they were working on me. Lesson 1, Morphine causes me to puke. The poor nurse, she asked me if I got sick with morphine and I told her I wasn't sure. When she did put the morphine in I asked her if I could get a cracker, then said a bucket and before she could even get up... I hurled all over her and myself... opps, she said it happens all the time but if it did I think she would have been more prepared. Lesson 2, if your back hurts and at times you have pain that you can't pick up your son... you may have a kidney stone. Well the ct scan said that I have a 6mm kidney stone that I probably won't be able to pass. Therefore, I left the ER with plenty of scripts and a number of the urologist to call in the morning. I call the urologist and go in for an appt on Tuesday for a consult to see what we can do about this. We decided to do a stent as the first procedure...

A kidney stone stent is a flexible plastic tube inserted between a
kidney and the bladder to facilitate the passage of a
kidney stone.

I was ready for the procedure and scheduled it for that same evening at 6pm. The procedure went well, but the urine that was being blocked and then released was very concentrated with bacteria which ended up putting me in the hospital. I ended up being diagnosed with "Sepsis"

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness. Your body's response to a bacterial infection usually causes it. Your immune system goes into overdrive, overwhelming normal processes in your blood. The result is that small blood clots form, blocking blood flow to vital organs. This can lead to organ failure. Babies, old people and those with weakened immune systems are most likely to get sepsis. But even healthy people can become deathly ill from it. A quick diagnosis can be crucial, because one third of people who get sepsis die from it.

Sepsis is usually treated in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). IV antibiotics and fluids may be given to try to knock out the infection and to keep blood pressure from dropping too low. Patients may also need respirators to help them breathe. This is from the internet and pretty much sums it up! For the next 4 days of my life I have been in the intensive care unit at Queen's Medical Center being not allowed to eat or drink anything. I was hooked up on oxygen which after looking at the item analysis bill costs 500 bucks for 9 hours! The nurses kept warning me that if I couldn't breathe well I was going to have to be incubated with a tube and then couldn't talk... I was determined I was not going to be one of those patients with a tube down their throat from Grey's Anatomy... My white blood cell count was over 30,000 and a normal persons is 10. Yep! You read that right, I am currently down to 13 and getting back to normal. I even had the luxury of being the patient that had a central line put into them not once but twice. Yeah, that was fun and I am not looking forward to the bandage coming off of my shoulder/chest...

So what happens next... I am going to be on antibiotics for the next 10 days because the urologist wants to make sure all the bacteria is completely cleaned up and then I will go in for the next procedure where he uses a scope to break up the kidney stone and then he collects them and I will not have to pass the stone anymore.

Furlough Friday #10

Monica and I decided to give each other a break on Furloughs. I watch Brooke on Friday and she watches Jackson on Saturday. Today, was the first time we did it and it is going well :) It is so much easier because the kids play together. Don't get me wrong, they do have their moments and you have to make sure no one is biting or hair pulling or hitting but the day goes so fast!! Here are some pictures that I was able to get :)

Jackson's new sleeping quarters...

For the past month, Jackson has preferred not to sleep in the crib and just wanted to sleep on the floor. Last weekend we decided to change his crib into a toddler bed and he just loves it! The first night he slept in it we found him like this and quickly put him back. After a week we haven't had any problems. He stays in it :)

Jackson's new kitchen

Mike and I debated whether we should get Jackson a kitchen or not. The kitchen is the most played with toy at Auntie Claudia's. Jackson loves to open and close all the doors. This past week, I found this kitchen that has a grill with it for 15 bucks on craigslist. It is little tykes and still in good condition. Jackson just loves to open and close the doors and grill. The kitchen even still makes sizzling sounds for the grill and teapot noises on the stove! Jackson was so funny with the kitchen, we were looking for his water bottle and guess where it was? It was in the fridge of his new kitchen :)