“Lord, please keep my little guy healthy!”

Mom came over this morning at 6:30 to watch Gabe at our house. When I went down stairs I saw that it was SNOWING A LOT. What is up with this weather we’re having? I now see blue sky and the sun is peaking through the clouds. SO random.

Gabe is finally feeling better. He went in to see Dr. Mary on Monday and she prescribed him Amoxicillin because he was on the brink of an ear infection and she wanted to try and head it off with the medicine before it became a full blown infection. Coughing has died down and the runny nose is pretty much gone. YAHOO!

We decided to have mom over at our house because Jaden is still deathly sick. Poor thing. My heart is breaking for him and for mama. They took him to emergency on Easter Sunday and they ended up admitting him. His oxygen was way to low and he was dehydrated. He also had Pneumonia. He had an IV and had to be on oxygen. Julie and my mom said that he would just lie in their arms so weak and frail. They figured out that because he was about 13 weeks early and his lungs weren’t developed completely that there is scaring on his lungs and that he has trouble breathing due to Asthma. He has to have an inhaler for at least a year and they’ll reevaluate. Julie called me yesterday pretty calm but I just can’t imagine what she must be going through physically and emotionally. Jaden was up all night Wednesday night throwing up and then yesterday Jaden walked away from Julie and she noticed that he was all wet. Every time he eats he has a blow out and mom told me this morning that he’ll walk around a little bit but has to lie down for a while to gain some energy back. I guess the throwing up and the diarrhea is from the meds. He’s lost a pound and looks horrible. :o( I just want to snuggle him.

So Easter has been pretty uneventful in our household the last couple of years. Last year I was in the hospital and this year was sick.
Bryan left for church on Easter and had called me while I was trying to get something out of Calie’s mouth in which she accidently ended up biting my finger, Gabe was crying/screaming which ended in me crying. We were all a total mess so he actually came home instead because he thought we might have needed him more. It was just one of those moments that you just lose it.
My mom and I combined an Easter basket for Gabe this year. He got 3 books, some bubbles, strawberry and apple puffs and a pair of shorts with a shirt that goes with it. He loves the bubbles. The other night he was in hysterics because when I blew the bubbles Calie was jumping everywhere eating the bubbles. I think I lost a few ounces from laughing so hard. Bryan had to come investigate what was going on too since he wasn’t with us and could hear us laughing. How can you NOT have fun playing with your kid’s. I just LOVE it! I don’t think I have ever laughed SO much. I love the little personality that he’s getting. It reminds me a lot of Bryan.

Our turn for the date swap (sounds like a TV show HA)! We were supposed to go out last Saturday, but Gabe still wasn’t 100% so T and I talked about tonight instead. I think we’re going to Olive Garden for dinner. I have a GC and also someone gave us $20 to go on a date together. (((thumbs up)))

T just wrote me an email and told me something funny that Kambrie said today. haha

Kambrie is so funny she said "tell aunt Jenny what I need to eat" I said
"actually she isn't babysitting you, we are babysitting Gabe" and she said
"well, thats CONFUSING. I want her to babysit me" I said "she will next month"
she said "tomorrow?" I said "no next month" she said "tomorrow?" I said "I'll
let you know when it gets here"

The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter…

2 finals down 2 to go!
Bryan WHO’S Bryan? OH he’s that random guy up in the office who I see pop out every once in a while.
Finals are over today and Bryan has two weeks off before he starts his last and FINAL term at The Art Institute of Portland. He has three classes, two on Tuesday and one on Thursday.

I have already started my “honey do” list for him. HA

oops

I was getting Gabe's bath ready tonight and Bryan carried him into the bathroom after undressing him. Gabe decided that daddy needed a shower too. hee hee

Date Swap

Teresa came up with this cool idea to do a date swap with us. I watch Kambrie once a month so that she and Nate can go out alone and they watch Gabe once a month so that Bryan and I can go out. Last night after work I met Janell at my parent’s house. She watches Gabe every Tuesday at our house and usually takes him over in our car to my parent’s house around 3:30-4. She had brought me a change of clothing so I quickly changed and then left for Nate and Teresa’s. I got there around 5:15 and K had just woken up from her nap. She looked excited to see us. Teresa gave me the scoop and then they left for their 8th year Anniversary date night. In the past I think I have watched Kambrie every year but one on their Anniversary. Last year they even brought us home a treat. K got a cool menu from the restaurant they went too and I got a book of matches. K and I asked if they were going to bring us home another treat this year. haha
After they left K showed me the new layout of her room. T rearranged some stuff. We got some toys for Gabe to play with and then we sat and read some books. Around 6:30 we got ready for dinner. Gabe finished before K so I let him get down…bad move. He can stand up at her little table and at first I thought oh he won’t try and get anything, but Kambrie was freaking out that he was going to get her food. Sure enough he got a hold of her peaches and dumped some of it on the floor, on Lee and on himself. I hurried and took the peaches out of Gabe’s hand, picked up Lee and put him in his kennel while I stripped Gabe down and tried to clean up the mess. K had finished eating and so we went upstairs and put on her nightgown and she and Gabe were playing in her room. K shut all the doors to the other rooms and I shut the gate and went down to get Lee cleaned up. I told K to call me if she needed me. The monitor was on so I could hear everything they were doing. Sheesh I kind of saw what it feels like to have 2 kids during a crazy time. K did great with Gabe…she’s a little helper. I went back up after cleaning Lee up and we read a few books up in her room. Gabe was standing near her bed…it was just the right height for him. It was really funny…all night with certain things K would say “that is really special to me” meaning she didn’t want Gabe to touch it. At one point I was rocking him in T’s rocking chair and she has this bowl of decorative balls in it and Gabe wanted them. I told Gabe NO that those were No touches and K said “because those are VERY special to mommy” heehee
When Nate and Teresa got home Gabe and I left. Gabe fell asleep right away in the car and didn’t wake up when we transferred him to his bed.

Now Bryan and I have to figure out what we’re going to do for our date night!

We had a fun weekend!

After being sicker then I have been in a long time and using my personal days to stay home, I was back to work Thursday and Friday. I had a lot of catching up to do. Thursday and Friday flew by. After work on Friday I rode Max transit to Gateway and met Moo there. She picked me up and we left to go to dinner at Claim Jumper for our birthdays! I must have really been into my work Friday because when I got to the lobby of my building I noticed that it was pouring outside and was shocked. Thankfully I had my umbrella with me.
We drove the back roads to Claim Jumper. The freeway was NASTY just like it always is on Friday’s. I had made a reservation because otherwise you have to wait a long time. We made it just in time. We had to park in the boonies though. I had opened my umbrella and Moo said “Let’s run!” and started to run…all of the sudden she was gone! I looked down and she had fallen. There was a pretty deep hole in the road and Moo stepped right into it. Her pants were all wet and she thought she might have skinned her knee. Wasn’t expecting that hole to be there that’s for sure. We made our way to the restaurant and almost got hit by a van that was pulling way too fast out of his parking spot and finally made it in. We got seated right away. As we were walking in I saw my sister’s friend Christina. Hugged her and said hi. After we sat down Moo saw some friend’s of Travis’s so she went and said hi to them. Our waitress ended up being Tiffany Gosvenor. Her family used to go to our church so Moo and I have known her since she was little. We ordered and just sat and talked. We ended up seeing Debbie from our Sunday school class too. That place is popular! Moo and I were making fun a few things on the menu. One of them being the world’s smallest chocolate sundae. Well Moo ended up getting that for dessert and I got this humongous ice cream sandwich (which by the way I took maybe 5 bites of and Bryan was more than happy to share the rest with me later haha). We ended up going back to Moo’s house and hanging out there for a while. We had a really good time. We didn’t go out last year for our birthdays so this year more than made up for it. HA
Bryan and Gabe came and got me and we went home. I got to snuggle with Gabe and put him down for bed and I was going to stay up and putter around on the computer but I was wiped out so I ended up going to be too.

Gabe woke up around 6:30-7 on Saturday morning. I fed him breakfast and then he played in the living room while I cleaned up the kitchen. Bryan left to meet with our tax preparer and I played with Gabe and started cleaning up the house. Gabe went down for his first nap around 9:30. Usually if he gets up kind of early he goes down 2-3 hours later. I took that opportunity to get in the shower and get ready. Bryan got home around 10:30 and he put away his bedding stuff that he’d been using since he hadn’t been sleeping with me. We left and got coffee’s with a SB gift card I got for my birthday and went to watch Kaleb’s basketball game. Both his team and the other team were undefeated so it was a fun game to watch and Kaleb’s team won! Gabe did really well he watched the game in my lap and he liked it when the ref’s blew their whistles. He clapped. He got passed around to everyone. He would not smile for Genny and Michelle. Genny tried really hard but he just wasn’t going to give in. I like going to Kaleb’s games. Michelle had mentioned to me when he started but it just slipped my mind. I think next year I will try and go more if we can. He’ll be in HS next year (HOLY COW) and the games will cost, but be a ton of FUN! It was pouring when we left. It started hailing on our way home too. It was crazy.
We got home around 1ish and after I put Gabe down for his afternoon nap I went to Safeway to pick up a few things I needed for dinner. Terry, Mel and their boy’s were coming over. Kind of funny we had a “Steele” day. It was fun!
For dinner I made Foil-pack Taco Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 tsp. taco seasoning mix
1/2 lb. red potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup Thick 'N Chunky salsa
3/4 cup shredded four cheese mexican style cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees sprinkle chicken with seasoning mix. Place 1/2 cup of potatoes on center of each of 4 large sheets of heavy-duty foil; top evenly with chicken, salsa and cheese.

Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and both ends to seal each packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Place in 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove packets from oven. Let stand 5 min. cut slits in foil to release steam before opening. Serve with sour cream.

And for dessert I made Chocolate Peanut Butter bars (I hadn’t made these in a while. They are very fattening but to die for. I make A LOT of Chocolate Peanut Butter desserts. I think because I know Bryan will love it.)

They showed up around 5:30 and we talked while the boy’s played. Gabe was trying to show them all of his fun toys. Dinner was ready soon after they arrived and we ate. The dinner was a hit. Sammy ate his entire plate plus some of Josh’s. When the boy’s finished they got down and played and we talked more and ate dessert. They left around 8-8:30 when Josh wanted to crawl into Gabe’s crib and sleep. He said “Sleep” and Mel knew that it was time for night-night. It was really fun getting to spend time with them.
After they left I gave Gabe a bath and got him ready for bed. Bryan played some video games and I puttered around on the computer till midnight. Too late probably…I need all the rest I can get. I still don’t feel “normal” yet from this stupid sickness. BLAH!

Sunday we went to church. Bryan had someone cover for him in JR high and we both went to our class. A while back our group did blessings for everyone. We picked one or two couples over a few Sunday’s and we blessed them plus if there was anyway to help them out with anything that happened. Example: they had a work day for Travis and Moo. Well Bryan and I hadn’t been blessed yet…mostly because Bryan teaches JR the same hour our class meets so I’m there alone. Moo arranged with Bryan a Sunday that he could come to class and we got blessed. It’s very different being the one getting blessed. So many people said so many kind things…it was very overwhelming and I started tearing up when Teresa talked and when Moo talked. We definitely felt much loved. We stood around and talked for a while and then we went up to church. There was a couple from Multnomah there for the first time that are considering helping out in JR High so we sat with them.
After service was over I went and got Gabe from the nursery introduced myself to the new couple (I forgot their names oops) and Kambrie came running up to me and showed me the craft she did in her class. Gabe tried to crawl outside…one of the side doors was opened so I closed it and we all ended up over by some stairs up to the balcony. Kambrie was climbing the stairs and sitting on them. Gabe was watching her and just very into her. He wanted to touch her and do what she was doing. It was cute, but at one point he fell down two steps. We’ve been working on showing him how to scoot down the stairs on his tummy but he wants to turn around and show the world that he’s on the stair. I felt HORABLE! He screamed and screamed. I hate that hurt cry that he does too. I hugged him for a bit and calmed him down and pretty soon he wanted back down and crawled back over to the stairs.
After church we went home and ate lunch. Gabe went down around 2 for a nap and both Bryan and I took about an hour nap too. It felt SO good. Bryan worked on homework the rest of the day and when Gabe got up I took him and Calie for a walk around our neighborhood.

OH I forgot PRAISE -- Sunday we got our tax paperwork and signed it for Kelly and we’re getting A LOT back. I am shocked at how much we’re getting. We’re trying to decide if we should use it for a new roof or if we should put it away and build up our savings again. We need a new roof so I don’t know?