30!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep! Im about 4hrs away from turning the big three-oh! I have been thinking today how far I have come and all the things that have happened to me in the last 10 years. LOTS of good and of course a little sad, but such is life. I decided to write about a few of them and make some goals for the next 30! On a side note, I have been being really dramatic about turning 30...really really dramatic... (this is my formal apology to all affected! ha!)
SO, here are some of the biggest and most memorable moments in my life good, bad and ugly!

December 15, 2000
I was about to turn 21 and Jeff and I had been seriously dating for 2 whole months! He took me on a really awkward hiking trip (if we would have been dating more than 2 whole months he might have known that I hate hiking and wouldnt have chosen to do that!) and proposed to me at Red Rock Canyon. Poor Jeff, I couldn't have made it harder for him to do...
April 2001
We bought our very first house! It was all of 1200 sq. ft. and only 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms! It had a huge back yard and we loved it! Plus, it was affordable...and that was important. Still is! Some of my favorite memories from our first years of marriage are wrapped up in that house :)
July 7, 2001
Our Wedding Day!!! It was fabulous! Over 300 friends and family to celebrate our special day with us!
August 11, 2003
This is the day we had our first baby: Brooke. I went into labor in the early morning and sometime between the early hours of the day and when I got to the hospital, something went horribly wrong. We never did find out what happened to her, but she was born a stillborn. It was and continues to be the worst day of my life. So far at least. I dont talk about it not because I cant bear too, but because no one can ever say the right things...they try, but its such a personal loss, that unless you have ever been through it yourself, there is no way you can even remotely relate to it or begin to sympathize with me. One week later we had to bury Brooke. I was insanely jealous of everyone I knew with children. I have 2 cousins that had kids within weeks of Brooke and to this day I have a hard time watching those kids...it just hurts to think of what could've been.
August 2004
I discovered I was expecting again...and I was really, really, really scared.
April 2005
Our sweet baby boy Hunter arrived! I was elated! He was 4 weeks early and weighed a whopping 5 lbs. 14 oz. He looked just like his daddy and still does. He brings joy to my life every single day.
July 2005
We packed our house and our 4mo. old baby up and drover for 3 days to Bellevue, Washington. What would be our home for the next 20 mos. I had a love/hate relationship with Washington. I loved the cities, the greenery, the culture....but I missed home and friends like crazy! It took a long time to get into my groove and as soon as I did, we were moving back to Vegas and I wasnt as excited about it as I would have been months earlier. I am really happy for the experiance we had in WA. I learned a lot about myself, my husband, my marriage, how I felt about God and so much more. I grew a lot there and made some friendships that although may not last my lifetime, were so important to me, its hard to ever forget those women.
April 2007
Hunter turned two while Jeff and I were driving our cars and bare essentials from Snoqualmie to Vegas. And I do mean bare essentials. I clearly remember calling my neighbor to mail me some more of my clothes! We lived with Mike and Debbie until June, then moved into my parents house until Debbie's rental house became available, sometime in September 2008. And, what was going to be a short term rental has turned into not knowing when we will be in someplace of our own...
May 21, 2009
Our little girl Allison was born! What a horrible delivery! So much stress!! But, in the end we had a wonderful, smart doctor and Allie made it safely! She is a fun, spunky little girl and so much fun!
Present...I am so thankful for all the things good and bad that have happened to me so far in my life! I am thankful for a husband, the house I rent, not own, my kids, my family and the best girlfriends I could ask for! I cant wait for the next 30 years and where life takes us! Wherever it may be I hope its as good as its been so far!

We cant stay of out the E.R.!!

Ok, maybe I mean I cant stay out of the E.R.!! I feel like I have been there a lot lately what with Allie being so sick, but now its Mama's turn! Thats right, I am the sick one now! I have been having pains in my back for a couple of weeks on and off. I just dis-regarded it and moved on with life. But, yesterday it became a lot harder to ignore and I just had a feeling; something wasnt right...I should get this checked out. So, when Jeff walked in the door at 9:15 p.m. from school I walked out to the E.R.
At first the doctors thought I had kidney stones, and after a CT scan came up negative for them, they got the results back from the lab from a urine sample and I in fact did have a kidney infection. Im telling you, this is NO fun! Its really painful, lots of stabbing pain in my back, right under my ribcage. At first it was only on my right side, but today it has started in my left as well. Im giving the antibiotics a couple of days to do thier magic before I run back! The last thing I need is to be admitted to the hospital to get I.V. antibiotics...especially since I have my big birthday dinner on Saturday! Im really excited about that! Its going to be a lot of fun and Kandi has put together a really cool picture video that Jeff doesnt know about yet, and I think he is really really is going to like. I know Kandi has worked really hard on it, so I cant wait to see it. Thanks Kandi! And thanks for watching my kiddos all day today while I recuperated, you rock!

Stuff and updates

Life is getting back to normal around here since Allie was sick. Shes back to tantrums and screaming!! As much as it makes me insanely crazy, it was what I prayed for when she was in the hospital, so I got what I asked for! Thank you God. (Note to self, pray for a soft voice next time!)

Jeff and I are reaching the big 3-0 mark much sooner than later and I have a little surprise in the works! Thanks to Kandi, it should be really awesome! We are having a birthday dinner at my Moms on Feb. 27, so thats when the surprise should be ready! As for what I am going to give Jeff as a gift, I am kind of at a loss...

Hunter is about to turn 5!! Wow! Time really is flying! He starts kindergarten at the end of August and we are all really excited!

Jeff is taking a class at CSN, and it turns out, I miss him a lot every Monday and Wednesday. Kids are hard to deal with all alone. Its amazing how another adult around helps so much!
My job stinks...I think the department heads are trying to consolidate our department to as few techs as possible...not so good for me.
Im slacking a little with my Project Life project...missing a few days here and there taking pictures and slacking on getting them printed out and journal'ing them. Its not too bad, im only a couple of weeks behind.
Thats all for now!!

RSV+Pnenomia = One sick baby

Allie has been sick since 1/31! Fever, ear infections, congestion and come to find out RSV and Pneumonia! I couldnt believe it. My poor baby girl was and is soooo sick!
On Tuesday night she started breathing really funny, almost like she was sighing every time she took a breath, so I took her to the E.R. We were there from 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m.! After giving her 3 breathing treatments and a chest x-ray they decided that she would be o.k. to go home. I wasnt so convinced...her blood saturation levels were really crappy. Sustaining at only 90-91 and dropping to 86 at times. Plus, her fever hadnt stopped in 4 days! But, I went home and later on Wednesday night I took her back. She hadnt really progressed and I was scarred. They re-checked her chest x-rays from the previous night and took another set and decided that she had Pneumonia that had been overlooked. On top of that she had RSV. They started an I.V. in the E.R. and admitted her to the pediatric floor. We were told to expect her to be in the hospital anywhere from 24-48 hours. I was so scared for her! I have never had any dealings with RSV and didnt know anyone who had. I didnt know what to do or what to expect. I broke down and cried quickly in the E.R. when no one was around.
The staff were wonderful! We couldnt have asked for more. Everyone was so great and gave us lots of information, so we knew what to expect.
As it turned out, Allie responded very well to the treatments (Breathing treatments every 3hrs., i.v. antibiotics, and steroids) and only stayed 24 hrs! We are so glad to have her home! She is happy too! When we pulled in the driveway last night she got really excited and when we walked in the house she started shuffling her feet really fast all over the place and tried to jump! She kept circling all her toys and touching all of them! It was nice to see her so perked up and full of energy!
We are doing lots of breathing treatments at home and will be for a loooong time! She hates them and fights us, but they help. She is on antibiotics and steroids and I am confident she will be well soon! Thanks to everyone for your help and your thoughts and prayers! We have soo many wonderful people in our lives and its times like these that I really appreciate all of you!!! Below are some cute pics I got of her while she was in the hospital!


Getting some love from Daddy after the I.V. was put in.


Reading some books in bed when she started to feel better!

Mommy Tip #2

You know the old saying: "Mom knows best"? Well, Im here to tell you to always trust that instinct. Mom always knows when one of her children is sick and something is wrong. I always knew this, but didnt believe how true it really is until Allison got sick this past week.
Trust yourselves Moms! Your worries are always VALID!!!