Dixie's Blog

Updates from the past year

2012-02-12T20:17:00.001-08:00

Updates
I am going to add pictures here when I get a chance.

My girls this morning.

2012-02-12T20:17:00.000-08:00

Happy girl :)

2012-02-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

Feb-March 2011

2011-04-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

One of the teens at Gen's childcare taught her, "You got it dude".

Got a pedicure, asked for a baby related design like a rattle or something.

This is what I got. Too funny.

2/7/2011 - Morning of Alexandra's birth.

Getting prepped for the C-Section.

Alexandra Zoey Willwerth was born on February 7, 2011.
She weighed 6 lbs, 15 oz. and was 18.5" long.

The doctor said she only had one tougher C-Section. There was lots of scar tissue and organs were not where they were supposed to be. They said it's a good thing she didn't go into labor and end up with an unscheduled c-section because it would have been much rougher, and probably would have involved a general surgeon to help repair other organs.

Genevieve was so excited to hold baby Alexandra. She's a great big sister already!

First time home.

My girls.

We love the double stroller!

Spring break, we spend a lot of time at the mall. Gen loves the carousel at the Supermall.

Gen and Sebi went to the horse races to see She's My Favorite train.

These cousins love each other!

Peek-a-boo

Little Gym

Smile!

2011-01-21T23:10:00.000-08:00

The due date of January 29th is almost a week away. As we get closer to baby Alexandra's arrival we grow more and more excited. We all can't wait to meet her. Sure Chad and I have a few things that need to get square away at work first but we'll be ready by the 29th. Hopefully Alex can hold off just a little bit longer! I have felt better lately than I have ever felt this entire pregnancy. Sure I'm a little tired and have a sore throat that doesn't want to go away, but I'm just happy I'm not nauseous anymore. The Gestational Diabetes seems to be managed well but I am looking forward not having to poke myself 4 times a day. It is so surreal that our family is going to have a new member. I have cherished the time that we have had we Genevieve as an only child, but I am looking forward to the new adventures we will have baby Alex as well.

The view from our Kitchen.

Thanks Grammy!

Chuck E. Cheese's for TJ's birthday

The mama's belly. Getting close.

Work baby shower. Thanks so much ladies!

There were even gifts for Genevieve. Thanks for making her feel special too!

December

2011-01-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

The holidays have come and gone way too fast! Tom and Jean came and visited. Although Genevieve was shy at first, it didn't take long for her to warm up to them. It was great having them visit. Genevieve also enjoyed spending time with all her cousins this Christmas.

Puppet Show at the Bonney Lake Library

Sky High Sports in Bellevue

Genevieve taking pictures with her giant camera!

Genevieve reenacting the puppet show.

Christmas Eve with the Tremblays.

Alana Dickson

Dayna Dickson with Aunt Jennifer

Dayna and Dax Dickson

Jon and Janelle Dickson

Dad and Memere

Thierry, TJ, Gen, Dayna, Sebi, Dax and Alana.

Travis, Dixie, Jennifer and Janelle

The Sisters

Travis, Theirry and TJ

Christmas Morning

Photo taken by Gen with her new camera.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Gen's new camera

Bunco the day after Christmas at our house.

Dad sporting the traveling Bunco hat.

Luh-hoo-sa-hers

At Woodland Park Zoo

Gen's first time Ice Skating

Hot tubbing with the cousins at grammy and poppi's house.

At the Seahawks game.

Rachel Concert, Let it Snow!

2010-11-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the Rachel Coleman Concert to start.

Rachel Coleman from Signing Time!

Genevieve was so cute. We were waiting outside the gymnasium doors but could see inside. She said, "I don't see her, I don't see her." Then she saw here and got all excited and said, "I see her, I see her." She was very, very excited to see Rachel. During the concert Rachel asked the audience what the sign for silly is. Genevieve knows the sign for silly, but for some reason she thought Rachel was asking her to be silly. She was jumping around and making silly faces. Cracked us both up!

We had a ton of snow the week of Thanksgiving. Monday morning school was two hours late and then kids were sent home early too. Tuesday and Wednesday school was cancelled. We already had Thursday and Friday off. Not exactly the way I like a week off of work, but I'll take it.

Gen ready to go out in the snow.

Gentle daddy, gentle!

Gen informed us several times that we have to be careful while driving in the snow.

Thanksgiving 2010.

Waiting in line for Santa pictures.

Last year Genevieve went completely catatonic for Santa pictures. This year she was able to get out that she wants a Diego backpack for Christmas and wasn't quite so catatonic. She still didn't smile or make a silly face despite our efforts.

In other news I was recently diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and am dealing with how to manage this. I am hoping I can manage it with food and exercise and don't need to have insulin shots. So far, so good. Fortunately, it seems my nausea and vomiting have tapered off. Good timing.

Halloween

2010-11-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Gen is ready for school!

She loves to wear her coat backwards!

At Aris' 2nd birthday party.

The Pumpkin Patch

Gen was so proud of her Cookie Monster Pumpkin.

I look like a pumpkin myself.

It was a happy accident that
they both ended up being ducks.

She loves her cousin Sebi!

Busy, busy, busy

2010-10-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Gen loves her "pajama

Gen at Northwest Trek with Daddy, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Jean.

Hanging with the Lemers at Point

Silly faces

We both loved babysitting Sebi this summer!

The artist at work

Signing time!

Helping Poppi with the deck

Cheese!

Genevieve loves going to the horse races and yelling go Zydecko! When you ask about the horse races she goes into this story about "go to the races, everybody excited, really loud, wear my headphones and the trumpet do do do do". We've tried to get video of this, but have not been successful as of yet.

Yeah! She's bad.

That's more like it!

Think we were at the zoo too long? Got in the car, she was eating goldfish. In less than 5 minutes this is what I saw in the backseat. Poor girl, too tired to eat!

Gen and cousin Sebi heading to spend the day in Seattle with the family and Aunt Denise and Uncle John.

She loves her cousin Sebi

Ice cream with Poppi

Hair by Genevieve

A day at the beach with Aunt Denise and Uncle John

Someone was kind enough to lend us their kite!

Building a sand castle with Poppi

Went to the library for story time and discovered that Puyallup

has a public wading pool. Who needs a swimsuit?

Another day at the horse races

Fishing with Grammy, Poppi, Daddy, and TJ

The goat that butted Gen in the chest.

Riding ponies at the horse races

In the winners circle with Poppi!

Chad's new ride.

At Woodland Park Zoo

At the fair

We lived with Billi's family for two weeks. Gen loves their dog Missy.

Gen loves football. She says, "I watch football and say 'Go Hawks' daddy say 'oh darn!'"

We moved into our new house September 18th.
The next morning we were rewarded with this stunning view from our deck.

The slide at Point Defiance.

On a clear day we can see the mountain from our living room.

Eating on the deck.

Gen and mommy pretending to sleep.

In other news, the pregnancy is going very well. Baby seems healthy. It's a girl! We are so excited. Still working on names. We are toying with Alexandra Zoey or Alyssa. Both would be Ali for short. I am very physically tired and still fighting with nausea. Some weeks are better than others, but it makes it very hard to eat healthy.

Genevieve has adjusted to the move nicely. I think she appreciates that she gets to see daddy more. He helps out in the morning where she didn't get to see him in the morning in the old house. We are looking forward to enjoying the Christmas lights, fireworks and our amazing view from our living room. There is a lot of work to be done though. The entire upstairs needed painting. Chad is currently working on the second coat in Gen's room, then she can move into it. She's been staying in the baby room. We had some friends help us pain last weekend. It was so touching to me that people you wouldn't necessarily expect have stepped forward and offered to help. I think they are taking pity on a working pregnant woman in the midst of a move, but I'll take it!

Doctor check-ups

2010-07-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

I had an 11 weeks doctor appointment. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Pretty cool. The doc said, "now don't worry if we can't get a heartbeat today" plopped the Doppler on my belly and she didn't even have to search for the heartbeat. It was loud and clear. Everything looks good so far.

Genevieve had to two year wellness check this past Friday. She is doing well except for that she is not on the charts in weight and hasn't gained in 6 months. I'm not too worried about it, just something to keep an eye on.

Birthday's Galore!

2010-07-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since my last blog entry, it has been difficult to find time to myself for blogging or scrapbooking. My last blog was May 8th so I'll start since then.

May 13th I had a frozen embryo transfer. This was our last hope for baby number two. If this didn't work we were going to move on. Fortunately, we found out that I am pregnant on May 23rd (at Thierry's Birthday Party). I am now 11 weeks pregnant and doing well. I have officially graduated from Seattle Reproductive Medicine and have my first OB/GYN appointment tomorrow. The nausea has been terrible but tolerable. I have vomited only a few times which is markedly better than when I was pregnant with Genevieve. Geneveive has caught on to my gagging and will sometimes gag at toe jam (which she actively seeks out)...lovely. Fatigue comes and goes. For the most part I am no longer taking naps, every now and then I get exhausted and need to nap when Gen does. I have been a little bit emotional as well. I wasn't emotional at all when I was pregnant with Genevieve so this has caught me off guard. I have cried because a couple offered us their seat on the bus, because I was proud of a colleague of mine at a roller derby match and for various other silly reasons. Below is the picture of our little blastocyst on the day of the transfer. It is truly amazing what they can do these days.

Janelle's husband Jon graduated from Dental school and they were able to come visit. They were here for Sebi, Thierry and my birthday parties and they celebrated Dax's birthday before they left town.

Sebi's birthday party was at the zoo on May 22nd. The kids had lots of fun on the carousel and got to see an armadillo up close.

Dax on the Carousel

Thierry's birthday was celebrated on May 23rd at South Prairie hall. I forgot the camera so there are not any pictures.

For my birthday party we had an adults only dinner at Mama Stortini's. It was nice to spend time with my family without have the distractions of any children around.

We also go together for a Bunco night without the kids. This was a lot of fun, we should do this more often!

June 5th we celebrated Dax's birthday at Jon's parents house. Janelle put together a great Superhero training camp and had creative training sessions planned for the superheroes. They also had the opportunity to ride a pony. Gen had a ball.

June 13th we had Gen's 2 year old photo session, a rainy BBQ for father's day (put on by Gen's childcare) and then went to Gen's first Mariniers game. Busy Day!

Gen's 2 year old photo session. (Photography by Angie Penrose)

We really tried to get her to dig into her cupcake, but Genevieve just wasn't having it at all.

She took dainty little bites.

From the BBQ in the Rain

Gen's first Mariner's game. She had a ball and stayed awake, even though it was a very late night after a very busy day. She liked the Mariner Moose from afar, but was not so fond when he was nearby. One time she went to sign moose and had a box of dried cranberries in her hand and tossed dried cranberries onto the guy sitting next to us. Oops! Genevieve became very concerned when someone broke a bat and talked about it for several days afterwards. The Mariner's won and we didn't regret taking Genevieve at all.

The next big event was my last day of work which was also the day of Genevieve's birthday, June 22nd. We tried to get her excited about her birthday so we talked about it a lot. The day of her actual birthday she woke up asking if it was her birthday. Grammy and Poppi came over after work to bring Gen their birthday presents and we finally got her to dig into a cupcake!

Tom and Jean came to visit later that week to help celebrate Genevieve's birthday.

Genevieve shared her Little Gym birthday party with Claire Smith, a girl from her childcare.

After the party Genevieve went home and took a nap. Then we opened presents.

Genevieve enjoying the art easel Grandpa Tom and Grandma Jean got her for her birthday.

Other random pictures

Genevieve at the zoo.

I have been babysitting Sebi (Jennifer's son) for 2-3 days a week.

It's a good thing, but it is a lot more work with two! Whew! They keep me busy.

We spent the fourth of July with Melissa, Tony, Aeris, Melissa's mom and Melissa's sister's family. I don't have any great pictures of this but it was fun. We went to the Freedom Fair on the waterfront in Tacoma and then went back to Melissa and Tony's house for a BBQ. The following day Genevieve and I went with them to the zoo.

We thought summer weather would never get here. It seemed to finally kick in just after the 4th of July.

May 8,2010

2010-05-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

otherGenevieve loves to help around the house.

She says, "I helping" a lot!

She always wears the headphones when we are vaccuuming.

She decided she wanted to vaccuum the stairs for me.

Getting ready to go to the Mother's day tea party put on by Tiny Sparts (Gen's daycare).

Thanks Lisa and Stacey (the teachers).

At the tea party.

Chad put on a baseball hat. Genevieve decided she needed a hat too. Not a sun hat but her winter hat. Of course, you need the mittens that go with it. Silly.

Geneveive getting ready to go on a bike ride with daddy.

She was so excited!

Success!

2010-05-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Genevieve is doing very well with her potty training! Her first accident-free day was yesterday. It looks like I'll be a single mom this weekend and most of next week. Chad has a major project due on Friday and he will be spending a couple nights at work to get it done. It's really taking a toll on him living so far away from where he works. Embryo transfer is scheduled for May 13th. Wish us luck!

The Potty Train and First Ice Cream

2010-04-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

We started Genevieve with potty training this week (April 19th). The first 5 days were really frustrating and we had difficulty getting Genevieve to sit on the potty. After excellent advise from Gen's teacher at Tiny Sparts Learning Center we are having an amazing amount of success this weekend. It's 2:00 on Sunday and she hasn't had an accident all day. Woo hoo! By the way the advice was give her a choice of what treat she wants, put it in a dish, and as soon as her bottom hits the toilet give her the treat. The initial goal was just to get her on the toilet without throwing a fit, however she will hang out on the potty and even go potty if she needs to. This seems to be doing the trick for her. She isn't always thrilled about sitting on the potty, but then once she sees the treats she is ready to go.

Tuesday someone came to see our house (been on the market for close to a year now) so we decided to go to Little Gym early and check out the Baskin Robbins next door. This was Genevieve's first ice cream cone. It was Rainbow Sherbet. Probably laden with corn syrup, but it seemed they all were. We are going to try challenging the corn allergy this week anyways, so long as we can keep her healthy enough.

Gen surprised us this week. She is really into the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and while she was sitting on the potty one day she turned it to the front where all the letters are. She started pointing to the letters and telling me the letter names. I was shocked. I guess that Signing Time DVD is really helping. This month we have rented the ABC Signing Time DVD. It's safe to say she is learning her ABC's from it and can also sign a lot of them too.

Spring Fair

2010-04-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

April 18th, 2010. We went to the Spring Fair.

Giant wall mural for coloring.

There weren't many rides Genevieve could go on.

Gen could ride the horses!

The petting zoo.

Having fun with my new photo editor.

Genevieve and daddy.

It was a long day for all of us, but Gen was especially tuckered out.

Ohio and Easter

2010-04-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

During my Spring Break (March 28-April3rd) Chad and Genevieve went to Ohio to see the GG's. Chad's parents and his brother were able to meet them there as well. I stayed home and enjoyed some mom time. Unfortunately I spent most of my time doing projects, really should have taken a day or two to relax. It wasn't easy being without my little girl, but I survived.

Here is Genevieve and Chad in the airport security line.

Genevieve loved watching the planes. She signed and said, "more" when they went out of sight.

On the plane.

In the rental Ford Focus.

At Uncle Jon's and Aunt Janelle's house.

Chuck E. Cheese.

Cousin Dayna.

Cousin Dayna and Cousin Alana.

Cousin Dax

See, Chad looks great with a lot of kids. He could handle 3.

Cousin Alana.

When I talked to Gen on the phone she said, "Mommy, I'm swinging".

At the GG's house.

Chad and Genevieve went to Little Gym in Ohio.

Gen and her Great Grandfather.

The GG's, Chad and Gen.

Genevieve with Uncle Tim.

The flight home Easter morning.

The Easter bunny left a basket for Genevieve.

Ohhh socks!

Gotta put them on.

Gen wore the bunny ears for about 5 minutes, it was cute while it lasted.

Looking for eggs.

Dinner at Grammy and Poppi's house.

Uncle Eric, Aunt Jennifer and Sebi.

Cousin Sebi

Cousin Thierry.

Catching up

2010-03-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Chad took Genevieve to the Tacoma Children's Museum so that I could have a day of alone time in the house.

We went through our second round of IVF. We actually had 3 eggs fertilize which was entirely unexpected given that none fertilized the last time around. Two were transferred end of February and the other developed for two more days and then was frozen. Sadly, I did not get pregnant from the two that were transferred but the good news is that there is one left to be transferred. That embryo transfer will be at the end of April. If that doesn't work Chad and I are done with fertility treatments. It's time to move on with life.

We saw Legally Blond the Musical. Great show, I recommend seeing it if you get a chance.

We lowered the price on our house....still waiting for the perfect match for someone to buy it.
In March I had a Conference at the Alderbrook Resort in Union, WA. The conference itself was boring, but it was nice to get away for a couple days.
On March 25th I Jennifer came over and we had a Creative Memories consultant bring some software to show us. I had been talking about becoming a Creative Memories consultant that specializes in digital scrapbooking for a while so I did it. My first goal is to make enough money to become a Signing Time Instructor ($400). Then from there the goal is to support my digital scrapbooking habit with things like a lap top and a nice photo printer. We'll see how it goes, I'm excited to learn more about it. I am planning an all day scrapbook event for mid-April. This event really isn't a Creative Memories event, but some people want to see the digital scrapbooking software so I'm taking this opportunity to show them. I'll have a couple catalogs along as well. :)

March 29th is the start of my Spring Break. Chad and Genevieve are going to Ohio to visit his grandparents. His parents will be meeting them there. Chad and Genevieve will also be going to Kentucky to allow time for Genevieve to visit with her cousins Alana, Dax and Dayna while he helps pack the Dickson's up for there move. It was my choice to stay home, but since I made that decision the trip has evolved a little. Part of me would like to go too, but the other part of me knows I need some down time. As the departure date quickly sneaks up on me I am left with mixed emotions. I will probably cry all the way home from taking them to the airport. I will miss Chad, but I will miss Genevieve terribly. How am I going to do it?

The good news is that I have a lot to do during the week. I received a complimentary week at the local gym. What better week for me to do a week at the gym? I plan on going shopping with my sister, scrapbooking, learning about being a Creative Memories consultant, learning my new Creative Memories software, cleaning out Genevieve's closet, getting my hair done, getting a massage, a dentist appointment and if there is any time left I'd like to try a project I've been wanting to do involving making jewelry by knitting with wire. As for the scrapbooking I have 2008 to finish, 2009 to start and finish and would like to start 2010. We'll see how much I'm actually able to get done.

A lot has changed for me in the last week or so. I have finally decided to stop living for what might happen in the future and start enjoying today. We have had three things that have been in limbo for quite some time now, wanting to have a baby, wanting to sell our house and move up north, and wanting to get a hearing dog through Summit Assistance dogs. Well at least one of them now has a timeline of when it will all be over with the last embryo transfer being end of April. For the time being I just need to accept things as they are for now and move on. Doing so has really helped my emotional well being and I've noticed that I haven't truly been myself for this entire school year. There are people that this is there first year working with me and I feel like they have no idea who I am because I've been so wrapped up in my own little world for so long. My motto for now is, "It''s time to move on". What better way to kick this off by spending some time at the gym and getting projects done?

Genevieve on the bus with Chad on the way to the Tacoma Children's Museum

At Tacoma Children's Museum

Genevieve's Valentines Day

Making faces with mommy.

This is the typical response she notices the camera is out, "Cheese"

Gen's class picture

Washing dishes with mommy

Genevieve and I went to the zoo by ourselves for the first time.

We saw a shark talk

Genevieve's class on St. Patrick's Day

The little leprechaun always comes to visit.

Grammy and the local Grandbabies on her birthday

Inner tubing

2010-03-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

It was my suggestion that we take Genevieve to see some snow since we had very little snow this year. Chad's great idea was taking her inner tubing at Snoqualmie. I have since decided that any and all future snow related activities will be a great father/daughter bonding activity. Gen liked going down the hill but not going up the rope tow. She yelled, "no, no no" all the way up the hill. Chad had to walk the inner tube up the hill.

February 6, 2010. It was a beautiful day, we went to Bradley Lake Park. She loved it.

Tim was in Arizona and couldn't get home to Washington D.C. due to snow. We had a impromptu visit from Tim the weekend of February 6 - 8. Genevieve finally was starting to get used to him when he left.

Genvieve at Little Gym. She has graduated from the Birdie class and is now in the Beasties class.

Gen with her ribbon.

Chad sent me beautiful flowers for Valentines day and we went to eat at the Melting Pot. Our take on the Melting Pot? We were glad we have experienced eating there, but we never need to eat there again. Way too spendy for food you have to cook yourself.

January

2010-01-23T23:18:00.000-08:00

Genevieve eating with baby.

She even shares.

What's in the box?

Ohhh a parachute!

Thanks Uncle Tim!

Swimming with daddy.

Still love my headphones. Daddy is vacuuming.

Tried on my new gymnastic outfit...but really wasn't in a good mood for this.

Hi daddy!

Proof that I'm not always happy (some people don't believe it).

Little Gym

Hanging with daddy.

Bubbles!

End of 2009

2009-12-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

Such a sad way to end the year of 2009. On the 29th I had surgery for the IVF egg retrieval. On the 30th we got the call from the doctor that stated that all of the eggs harvested are poor quality. From the sounds of things it looks like chances are pretty bleak for us to have another child. I don't have the follow-up appointment until the 7th of January so I will know more then.

We have been in limbo in a lot of ways this year. We still have our house on the market, I have been on the wait list for a hearing dog for quite some time and we have been trying to conceive for over a year. Hopefully the year 2010 will be kinder to us.

Fortunately, we have wonderful friends and family that have been supporting us tremendously this week. This too shall pass.

It was our friend Aylene's 27th birthday on December 29th.

The birthday girl.

Birthday drums

Genevieve and Chad playing posing for the camera.

Our friend Kymberlee joined us for Karaoke on the 30th.

Christmas

2009-12-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we went to Woodland Park Zoo. I was sunny, but cold.

Eating Mac and Cheese at the Zoo...and getting it everywhere!

Want a kiss?

How about Peek-a-boo?

Christmas Eve with the Tremblays (and Francis').

Genevieve and her new baby doll.

Genevieve and Sebi

Christmas morning

Genevieve was so funny. She would tear off a small piece of wrapping paper, hand it to you and say,

"Thank you", repeating this until the entire present was open. It took a while.

Chad loves his Avenue Q Karaoke Disc.

The first time on her rocking horse, Genevieve wasn't so sure. She loves it now!

Daddy signing horse.

Of course, she'll always love...the box.

November / Beginning of December

2009-12-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

So much has happened in the past month, it will be hard to catch up. Early November Genevieve was diagnosed with Influenza A which was most likely Swine flu. I caught it too. I took a long time to get to the point where energy levels were normal again. Because I had swine flu the IVF cycle was postponed. It was postponed a second time when they discovered a cyst and that my follicle reserve count was low. We are finally back on board with the IVF process. We took Genevieve to her follow up appointment with her allergy specialist and we are now able to give Genevieve foods that contain corn every third day. Providing she continues to do we we will increase that until she is eating corn everyday. If, not we will take a step back and go back to every third day until the congestion clears. Genevieve has started swimming classes again. My mother has been battling Kidney Stones and has been in a lot of pain since November. She finally had surgery mid-December and had her stints removed lthe 4th week of December but she is definitely still not at 100%. Our house is still on the market and we just lowered the price again. We are hoping that will draw some more potential buyers.

Genevieve loves her hat and mittens.

Thanksgiving pics.

Genevieve and Sebi.

Bottle openers? Yep, in storage.

Genevieve prancing around in her coat and diaper.

Just before the santa pictures. Running around in her jammies.

Genevive's first picture with Santa Claus. She went catatonic. Wasn't sure what to make of it.

Santa Claus kept saying her name....she finally looked at him.

Kids denifinitely imitate their parents.

Rocking out on the microphone.

Puppets Please! Puppet show at the library.

Zoolights with Travis, Sarah, Thierry, TJ, Adam and Hayden

Chad took Genevieve to an open gym time at Roach Gymnastics. She went for three days in a row.

She had a blast.

Genevieve on day two at the gym.

November 02 - At the doctor's office

2009-12-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 1st, 2009.

Genevieve was confirmed with Influenza A, which is most likely Swine Flu. She got a persciption.
I'm also having some symptoms and will be calling the doctor on Monday.

November 01 - Catching up

2009-12-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Again it has been quite some time since I have blogged. I am in the mist of IVF shots. Right now Chad has to give me one shot a night. A week from today it will be 3 shots. I'm starting to feel like a human pin cushion. I also had my regular flu shot on Thursday and waited in line 2 1/2 hours to get the swine flue shot on Friday. We are very excited about the IVF process but also a little anxious. The best case scenerio would be that we end up with one or two babies. Worst case? 3 or 4 babies. And not as bad as that would be none. It's scary thinking there is a possibility I could have 4 babies at once but I just keep thinking positive and hoping that won't happen. Genevieve is going through another teething spell. We think it's her canines. We had a really rough night and some difficulty eating foods, but seems to be doing well. Sadly, she has been going through a biting spell at child care as well. I got an e-mail on Wednesday saying she tried to bite three times in the last hour and another on Thursday saying she tried to bite twice. Friday I didn't receive an email so I'm hoping no news is good news. Genevieve is so much fun right now. She is walking and talking non-stop. Sometimes she says entire strings of words that I think I'm just not hearing well enough to understand what she is saying. It so much fun to watch her learning. She has even started identifying the colors blue and purple. She is more consistent with purple than she is with blue. She is up to 40 signs and at least 19 spoken words. Her spoken words so far are hi, mama, dada, hat, hot, woof, moo, up, more, cheese, please, Dixie, shoes, banana, juice, baby, purple, and blue. Her signed words are more, daddy, please, help, hat, dog, baby, ball, cheese, milk, grapes, cracker, up, water, hungry, food/eat, all done/ finished, juice, book, brush teeth, comb hair, motorcycle, shoes, bird, flower, home, mama, bed, gorilla, goat, airplane, down, bear, boat, tiger, socks, train and hurt.

One of Gen's friends from child care had a party at Super Jump Party Zone in Sumner.

Gen is waiting at the gate.

Playing Peek-a-boo with Lilee (the birthday girl).

This ladder was very difficult to climb with Genevieve in your arms.

This slide was much steeper than it looks. Chad and I enjoy roller coaster rides and other extreme rides, but this slide gave my stomach butterflies.

This was the obstacle course. Genevieve wasn't too sure about it the first time around, but grew to love it.

Gen loved the bouncy house.

This is Genevieve's way of telling us she wants to do a forward roll.

We call it "hands down, touch the ground".

She also spent a lot of time in this little car.

Unfortunately she couldn't get it to go by herself.

Reading with daddy. She wanted all these bows in her hair. Too funny.

We took Genevieve to Golden Ears (a hearing dog training class) to meet all the doggies.

She's in her jammies because it was a late night for her.

Go Hawks! Watching the game at Shelly's house.

At Little Gym last week.

Genevieve loves the air track.

She was loving being wedged between these two blocks.

This is at Aeris' birthday party. Gen seemed to look away everytime I tried to get a picture.

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and decided pumpkin patches are overrated,

but we got some cute pictures.

Here Genevieve is signing train. I saw her doing this and then asked Chad if there was a train whistle in the distance. Sure enough there was.

I finally got the pictures from my cell phone.

This picture was taken at an end of the school year party on June 9th.

Here is Genevieve helping Tari work the phones in the Special Services office (taken June 10th).

We went to Zoo Boo on Oct. 17th. Genevieve rode the Carousel for the first time and loved it.

I took Gen to a Fall Harvest party at Little Gym.

It was difficult because all the big kids were on the equipment as well.

This is the best picture I got of her there.

Gen went trick or treating in the high school with the babies and toddler in her class.

She loved it. She was grinning from ear to ear the entire time (except when I tried to take pictures).

Genevieve, dressed up and ready to go.

Trick or Treating at the mall.

Waiting in line at the costume contest. She won third place and a doll that is for kids 3 and up.

The age category was 0-2 years old. The winner was a lion in a rolling cage and sibling lion tamer. Too cute!

After we left the mall because we felt Genevieve was too tired, she ran around the house!

Even when it is not sugar induced Halloween makes kids act crazy. :)

October 11 - Long time no blog

2009-12-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

It has been almost a month since I have blogged last. Lots of pictures and videos to share.

Gen in her Seahawks gear. Taken from a bad angle, no her legs are not that short.

At the horse races

Playing on the piano. She even plays with her feet.
She likes to watch the hammers on the piano as someone presses the keys

Gen loves to color.

Run, Genevieve, Run.

At the fair. Gen loved all the animals.

We went to the fair in the morning, came home took a nap and then went back.

We took the shuttle the second time around.

Here

The seahawk cheerleaders Thierry and Genevieve.

Think she is too big for this?

Chad, Genevieve, my niece Thierry and me.

Video clips.

September 19 - Little Gym

2009-12-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

Knocking at the door.

Cheese mom!

Love the sparklies!

Shake them shakers.

Here you can see the owie on her head from last night. Little scrape on her forehead.

She fell outside on the the concrete.

September 18th

2009-12-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

Gen's Swimming Lessons. Sadly we will have to take a break from swimming.

Pictures of Gen eating and talking on her carrot phone.

Yeah! That was good!

Genevieve sometimes likes to use her spoon as a comb!

September 9th - Rock Band

2009-12-21T09:05:00.001-08:00

We have been going to the Black Star Pub for Rock Band / Karaoke. Last Thursday was my last time for a while as I have started back at work. Our friend Kymberlee was able to make it out with us.

Kymberlee rocking the mic.

Group Photo. This is the group that gets together through Meetup.com

September 9th - School has started

2009-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Gen loves to play in this box. I pull her around. Every time I stops she signs "more".

Great Smile!

This is the smile I get when I say "smile".

Extreme Close-up

A good picture of her new haircut.

We went to the zoo on Saturday! It started raining just as we were getting ready to leave.

Genevieve loves to push the stroller.

See the fish Mommy.

She loves the budgies too.

Genevieve has started child care again. It took her a while to get used to the drop off. As soon as we walked in the door she would cling to me. When I left she would cry. She seems to be doing better now. Being in the toddler room is definitely different than being in the infant room. I do not get sheets everyday that tell me what she ate and when she napped. Ah well she's a big girl now. I'm trying to find foods that I can provide that are the most like the child care food so she doesn't want what everyone else has. It sure is tricky to find chicken nuggets and tortillas without corn in them.

Yesterday when I picked her up from child care they were playing outside. I could hear her screaming as soon as I walked out there. They said she had a rough afternoon. Her eyes were all puffy (probably from sunblock), her nose was running and she was crying. She looked miserable. At the time I was thinking this isn't like her. Weird. When I got her home I noticed spots all over her back and chest. I called my doctor they said it's probably chicken pox but there is nothing you can do for it. We went to convenience care just because we wanted to be sure that's what it was. They said it's probably chicken pox. We kept her home today and when she woke up I noticed that her spots had faded to a light pink. I brought her into my doctor's office. The doc there said it's not chicken pox after all. Apparently she had some other type of virus (though he couldn't tell me which one for sure). He also said she can go back to child care as with these "other" viruses once a rash occurs they are no longer contagious. Oh well, at least she'll have her chicken pox vaccine in a couple weeks. It's back to work for me tomorrow and back to child care for Genevieve tomorrow.

August 14

2009-12-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I blogged last! Chad's parents visited and it was a wonderful visit. We throughly enjoyed having them here. We went to a dog fest, Ballard's seafood fest, Scottish Highland Games, Rock Band nights and Reneissance fair. We were busy, but it was fun! It was very, very hot whild they were here. After they left it cooled down immensely.

Genevieve at the Dog Fest. She sure loves dogs.

Wicked Tinkers at Scottish Highland Games.

Chad and I have discovered a group through Meetup.com for Rockband / Karaoke.

Here were are at Bob's Java Jive.

Sunday nights all ages are allowed until 9:00. So Gen got to come along!

Kinderswimmer. She loves swimming class.

Play area at South Hill Mall. Of course she loves the dogs!

Gen at Little Gym on the Air Track. She loves this thing! They get to sit on it as it infalates with air.

Chad and Genevieve rolling down the airtrack.

Tom and Jean got Genevieve this Elmo, she not quite sure what to make of it yet. I'm sure she'll grow into it.

Gen swimming in her pool on a hot day.

We had the family over for Chad's Birthday.

Renisance Fair at Maris Farms, Buckley, WA.

Gen loves this blanket!

Chad singing at Rock Star Pub Karaoke / Rock

Sam singing Karaoke.

Our Rock Band buddies

I ordered theses ear protection ear muffs shortly after the loggers rodeo. They just recently arrived in the mail. Genevieve thinks they are funny to wear.

Trip to the zoo

2009-07-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Genevieve has finally become interested in walking. She is up to 7 steps now! I have even caught her walking a little by herself without our prompting to do so. It won't be long until she is running all over the place. Of course, crawling is still her preferred way of getting around. She is very fascinated with dogs. We have this CD that we often listen to with her and one of the songs says "Hear the little doggie, listen to him say, woof woof woof woof woof all day" and it does other animals as well. I had the playing in the car and realized she was woofing along with the music. She does this all the time now. She even signs "dog". Of course, she thinks most animals are dogs but she'll get there. We went to the Puyallup Farmer's market a couple weekends ago and there were lots of dogs. She loved it. She was wildly signing "dog" and woofing. Another new sign she has is "Cheese". This girl loves her cheese. When she is done eating her cheese she wants more cheese. She must get this from Chad because it certainly didn't come from me! On the 12th we went to the zoo with My dad and TJ. Travis is in recovery from his knee surgery so it was helpful to get TJ out of the house. We had lots of fun. I think Genevieve loved the aquarium the most. She could see things up close at the aquarium. TJ got tuckered out pretty early on. He just sat in his stroller and said, "I done". Gen got to the point to where she was tired but was fighting it.

Going to the zoo.

TJ and the Lemurs.

TJ going down the slide.

Hey look at that!

I think this is Gen watching the parrot intently. He squawked, she cried. Later he squawked again and she cried again, so we left. Gen is really sensitive to loud noises.
The bird the squawked.

Genevieve got to be up close and personal with sea life.

TJ looks distracted.

Huge Sharks would swim right in front of Gen.

The new Budgie exhibit.
I had two on our stick at one time! Gen tried to pet the birds with her finger.

The walrus would swim right up the glass in front of Gen.

Tons of Pictures!

2009-07-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

But first some news about Gen. Genevieve now has 4 new teeth. Two on top and two on bottom for a total of 10 ten. These are what I would call molars, but Janelle corrected me and let me know these are actually primary teeth. At any rate Gen's got a ton of teeth. Genevieve has been doing very well since we discovered her corn allergy. We are slowly challenging the other allergies. We first took a week to take her off Flovent. Next we challenged wheat. Thankfully she seems to be doing well with wheat. After meeting with the digestive health specialist we decided to take her off of her acid reflux medicine. There is new research out there that states Acid Reflux can be caused by allergies. This did not seem to be the case for Genevieve. So back on the meds for her. The good news about this is that she loves taking her Prilosec and actually asks for it as soon as she sees the medicine. This week we are challenging beef, next week will be rice and then the last thing to challenge is oats. After Chad was gone for a few days in Ohio he walked in the door and Genevieve looked up at him and said something that sounded very much like "hi dad". She now signs "please" and "baby". She is still trying to figure somethings out with this. She often signs "more" to request what she wants and we often don't know what it is that she wants when she is signing this. It's too cute. She will crawl up to her toy chest, stand up to it, lean on it with her chest so she can get her hands free and sign more. She is a climber. The other day I was in the kitchen cleaning up some things and I see a little head peek over the top of the counter. She had climbed her high chair! Since then she has been able to climb into the seat with very little support from me. Anything that looks like it can be climbed she tries to climb. She also has taken to climbing up on our center cup holder in our couch. She climbs up to this, sits on it and then tries to climb up the back of the couch. It amazes me how well she can climb when she can't even walk yet. Chad says he was a climber when he was little, so his parents will get a kick out of seeing her being such a climber.

I've been keeping busy this summer by taking Genevieve to story times at the library, swimming and little gym. I'm also hooking up with a group of mom's from Meetup on Tuesday. Her general schedule is do something in the AM and stay home in the PM. We have something planned for everyday of the week. I've also set up a little swimming pool in the yard so she sometimes takes a dip in that.

Friday we tried to hike to Carbon Glacier, but when we got there the rangers told us that the road is washed out (and has been for a few years now) and that what used to be a 7 mile hike is now a 17 mile hike. So we just went for a little mini hike that took us on another trail that was very steep. We didn't make it to the end but it was fun anyways. I'd like to go hiking again, but this time I want the pay off of a view at the end.

We went to John and Debbie Francis' as per usual on the 4th (yesterday). Gen seemed to really enjoy swimming in the lake with Chad, Poppy and her cousins.

We all got together for Sebby's Open house. All the grandkids to date.

Gen and I went to Grammy and Poppi's for the Logger's Rodeo Parade.

Getting ready for the parade.

After a bit we decided to watch the parade from inside Grammy and Poppi's house. The trucks were just too loud!

I want more!

Gen's Pool

Hiking

The 4th of July at John and Debbie Francis' house.

Sportin' daddies hat.

Playing cornhole

Gen's Daycare gave us a CD of pictures from throughout the year. These are in completely random order.

Gen and Sophia holding hands.

The Leprechaun visits every year on St. Patrick's Day.

They sometimes go for walks.

Eating with friends.

They just had to take a picture of Gen eating her french fry so formally.

Pictures from Gen's Photo Shoot. Pictures taken by Alicen Lum.

Reflection on Genevieve turning one

2009-06-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

When Genevieve was a newborn I would look at her and teasingly say, "Are you one yet?" Now that she is one I understand how I should have cherished the newborn stage a lot more. I vow to do so with baby number two. Gen really is growing up fast. Before I know it she'll be off to Kindergarten, driving a car and then off to college. I'm doing my best to be sure to truly value every moment I have with her. I can't get enough of her snuggles and giggles. She is a very happy, easy-going baby. I couldn't ask for more. I love you, Genevieve.