Portland or Bust!

In February, my mom, Kaylie & I got to take a girl's trip to Portland to visit my brother, Greg, and his wife Kristen and celebrate Kristen's baby shower! It was Kaylie's first plane ride and first trip to Portland - as well as only my second trip to Portland! I'm so glad we were able to go, since immediately following our trip Greg & Kristen made the move down to Oceanside, to start their new family here close to family (among many other things)! Here are a few photo mementos of our trip, what a great time :)

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At the airport, excited and ready to go!

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We made it! First meal: Food truck - some sort of fusion....mexican korean?? It was spicy, but delicious! :)

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We found SNOW!!!!! Wow! Maybe even enough to build a teeny, tiny snowman! If we had only arrived a week earlier, it would have been a whole different story :)

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Waffle Window! Probably the BEST meal of the entire trip. I'm still craving those waffles....one sweet, one savory....sugar pearls...omgoodness....

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We got to spend a lot of time with Kristen's family that is in Portland, which included her Aunt Joyce & Uncle Steve, as well as her sister Jessica and husband David, and their niece and two nephews: Avery, Jack & Max. One of our fun outings was seeing Frozen in the theater - such fun :)

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And the original reason for the visit - Kristen's baby shower! It was so beautiful, and really a lot of fun. Baby showers are the best :) 

Kaylie & Avery with Auntie Kristen, the guest of honor :

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Uncle Greggy & Auntie Kristen with 4 our of 5 of their nieces and nephews - Kaylie, Avery, Max & Jack (clockwise) - they are such an amazing aunt and Uncle, their little Brooklyn is a lucky girl to have them as her parents :)

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Wait.....I thought this was a girl's trip? Well, towards the end of the trip, Josh flew up to join us for a few days (while Matthew stayed with Grandpa down in Carlsbad) so that he could make the trip with Greg from Portland to Oceanside in a big moving truck!

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The picture doesn't do it justice....just as we parked to go for a walk at a river we heard a very large crack and crash.....we walked down the path a ways to find a giant tree limb had fallen from a large tree into the creek. Kaylie was fascinated!

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And I include this picture for 2 reasons.....1, I think she's beautiful :) 2, this was one of 171 selfies she took one night we went out to dinner in Portland. Yep you read that right. 171 selfies. Silly girl :)

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Portland is gorgeous - but very rainy! It rained the majority of our time there, which I actually really enjoyed! Now that we live in the desert, we don't get to see much of that....wish they'd share with us! :)

The Happiest Place on Earth!

For Christmas this past year, my parents gifted us a two day trip to Disneyland - one day at California Adventure, one day at Disneyland. We had taken Matthew to California Adventure for the first time on his 5th birthday (remember that here.) So while California Adventure was a only a first for Kaylie this time around, Disneyland park itself was a first for both kids! We were all so anxious to go, the countdown began in January for our early February trip to the Happiest Place On Earth. Day one, at California Adventure, was a lot of fun - although it literally rained on our parade - the Pixar parade as well as a few of the other things we were looking forward to were rained out, but overall it was worth it and loads of fun :)

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Found parking, loaded up, and headed our for CA Adventure, Adventure :)

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Bug's Life Land, first ride of the day!

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Downtown Radiator Springs is probably our favorite part of CA Adventure, it is really neat!

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Kaylie didn't want to pose for the pic, lol, but really loved Toy Story Mania!

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I know, you don't have to say it, we're trendsetters. Next rainy season you'll be seeing these all over town ;-D 

Sure did help keep us dry though!

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Up until this trip, the kids had been really into Phineas & Ferb! They've watched all three seasons on Netflix multiple times - they were so excited to get to meet them! If the rain hadn't stopped it from happening, they were looking forward to the Phineas & Ferb dance party :)

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Day 2 - Disneyland!!! Our first ride was the train that went around the park. Why you might ask? Because the ride goes through a scene of Dinosaurs, of course! It was a fun start to the day :) Then off we went to explore the rest of the park!

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Me and my girl, waiting for Buzz Lightyear :)

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The kids loved meeting their friends from movies! First up was Tinkerbell!

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Next was Tinkerbell's friend, Fauna, she was very nice!

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Rockets with Grandma & Grandpa!

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Trying their hand at pulling the sword from the stone - Kaylie's turn!

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As buff as Matthew is, he just couldn't quite pull it from the stone this time :-/

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For whatever reason, Kaylie was VERY excited to meet Princess Tiana! Probably because she was the first princess we saw. Nothing against Tiana, we've just never seen the Princess and the Frog before! She was very nice, Matthew and Kaylie both loved her :)

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What an amazing trip to Disneyland - love our family, so blessed :)

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More princess meetings, such fun memories!

Aurora/Sleeping Beauty!

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Next up Ariel (with legs!)

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And finally, Cinderella. She was a lot of fun, very sweet, talked to Matthew about being a true prince :)

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Grandma and Kaylie enjoying some tea in Minnie's backyard :)

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And finally, waiting for Mickey's Soundsational Parade, what a lot of fun :) Not pictured is the fireworks spectacular that ended our evening - really incredible and a perfect end to our first visit to Disneyland. 

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Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for such an amazing trip to Disneyland - they are memories the kids (and we) will have for a lifetime. Wish we could go more often....but then again, it really is magical when it's only now and again :) Until next time!

The Whirlwind...

Well. The past 4 months have been......challenging/exciting/not-so-great/wonderful/prayerworthy/praiseworthy, all at the same time. A whirlwind, one in which the dust in finally settling.... *takes deep breath* 

Warning: I'm feeling particularly long-winded today....

Shortly after I wrote the last post, after we closed on our new home, we took our daughter in for surgery on her spine. Lets take a step back.

When she was only 12 months old, while bathing her, Josh noticed that one side of her back stuck out just a little bit further than the other. Just barely, really, but I had been thinking for a while that she walked just a little crooked, or silly I thought, tended to balance herself by holding up one of her arms. I thought maybe it was just her learning to walk, just something that would correct itself, but as I looked over her in the bath, I agreed with Josh, and we brought it up to her pediatrician at her year appointment. The doctor didn't see what we were seeing, he really didn't think there was anything wrong - but he referred us to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Rady Childrens, more to ease our minds than anything else. We made our appointment, and a few months later we were there. Even the orthopedic surgeon didn't see anything at first glance - not until we pointed it out specifically as she walked. And of course the x-rays confirmed. She had congenital scoliosis - she was born with a hemi-vertebra (partial vertebra), in her spine, basically a triangle in the midst of a bunch of rectangles, which would cause her spine to grow crooked.  

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At a year it wasn't something that needed to be taken care of right away, she was so small, but we were to keep up on annual appointments. The thought was she'd probably have surgery between 3 and 5 years old, the prime age for this type of surgery - whenever her vertebra were large enough to support the screws and rods, and before she hit too many growth spurts - the more growth that happens, the more curved her spine would become. We saw them again at age 2, not a significant change in curvature, so back at age 3. This time there was a change in the curvature, enough so that they thought having surgery on the earlier end of the 3 to 5 range was best. After more tests and exams, and lots of prayer and wise counsel, we decided that having her surgery before our big move to Menifee, and before another major growth spurt, would be best. 

I don't think anything can quite prepare you for your child going through surgery, no matter how minor or major it might be. We tried to prepare her as best as we could (think hospital/surgery themed coloring books, books like Maisy Goes to the Hospital, and lots of little conversations) - but at 3, only so much could get through. So we prepared ourselves as best as we could, and we prayed. We arrived very early on Monday September 30th, checked her in and sat with her in the prep area, with her cute little gown on, all smiles as usual. She walked back on her own, so proud. If only she really understood, but really sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

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 I held it together until we got to the waiting area, and then I had a minor melt down. Surgery went amazing, it was quicker than expected and no complications, praise God! She has two screws and a rod to fuse her spine - and interestingly enough, the hemi-vertebra is still in her spine! They needed a spacer to put in between the vertebra that were above and below the hemi-vertebra. It's always better to use a person's own bone versus something artificial, so they were able to remove the hemi, flip it on it's side and fuse it in there. Incredible.

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 The first few days of recovery in the hospital were rough. Lots of bloating, finding the right dose of medication, nausea, sleepiness and general crankiness. Mixed in with some highs off of some of her medications that made for some pretty hilarious made up songs (see video at end of post). Even in the hospital she was determined, however, to be as normal as possible. Once her catheter was removed, she insisted on using the potty - and was able to! No diapers for this one! Yay! It's the little things.  There were definitely hurdles we had to get over, and a 6am fire alarm test that was oh so wonderful, but overall everything went about as well as could be expected. We were discharged on Friday and sent home with our daughter in a cast from under her armpits down to her hips on both sides, down the leg to her knee on the left hand side (to offset the previous curvature as she healed). 

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Shortly after the surgery, view of the cast, after the meds kicked in...there's my girl :)

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Particularly loopy, chocolate pudding mustache!

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Sweet girl with some comfort from home, a cuddle from grandma, and flowers from sweet friends :)

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More visitors, hospital gifts and wheelchair rides - getting the hang of it.

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Overwhelming. But really, the first week at home was tough, but she rebounded so quickly. God has shown me throughout this experience how faithful he is, and how truly resilient and amazing kids are. She wasn't bothered much by any of it, it was more ME learning to deal with everything!  After a week at home, she no longer accepted life in a wheelchair or on the couch - she began to walk, ever so crooked, leg cast be darned. By the time they removed the leg cast, 6 weeks in, she was able to "run" in it. And thank goodness, once the leg part got removed, life got so much easier, we no longer had to balance her backwards on the toilet to go to the bathroom, woohoo! There wasn't much holding her back once the leg part was removed, the only real reason I noticed she still had a cast was the smell, lol ;-P Another 6 weeks later, after 12 FULL weeks, on Christmas Eve, the remainder of her cast was removed and x-rays were taken - she was healing wonderfully, and shouldn't ever have to have a surgery of this kind ever again!! So thankful for all the prayers and wise counsel, we know we made the right decision having the surgery when we did. It wasn't fun to get through, but I can now look at it in the rearview mirror - and it should barely be a distant memory for Kaylie the older she gets!

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The transformation, which happened over a weeks time really, from wheelchair, to couch, to standing, walking (painting!), running, to NO leg cast and FINALLY the cast FREE!

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**** I want to take a moment to thank all the AMAZING, WONDERFUL, TERRIFIC people that helped us out during this time - for the meals, the gift cards, the childcare, the thoughts and prayers, the encouragement, dealing with my frayed nerves and emotions, we truly felt (FEEL) so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives - we can't thank you all enough. Thank you cards were just one of the things that fell by the wayside among the whirlwind :-/ So, Thank You from the bottom of my heart :) ****

.......So that was the bulk of the 4 month whirlwind.....pair that with a MOVE to a location an hour away from our previous home (post in the works), all of the holidays (maybe a nod in a post to come), multiple sicknesses (including the ever-dreaded stomach variety - refuse to post), uncertain business opportunities, settling into our new neighborhood and starting a new school (post worthy), you get a mishmash of challenging/exciting/not-so-great/wonderful/prayerworthy/praiseworthy :) As mentioned, I have a few other blog posts stirring around in my head to keep you caught up, so those are soon to come (hopefully....it's the thought that counts, right?!) Until next time!

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As promised, one of Kaylie's "Silly Song" videos....

Heart Transplant

If "Home is where the heart is" then our heart is about to get transplanted....out to Menifee, to be exact! Are we crazy?! Maybe. But also very excited - and a little bit terrified - about this new chapter in our lives!

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Why Menifee, one might ask? Isn't it way the heck out there? And HOT? Short answer: Yes & Yes. But there's more to it, so here goes.....

We've been beyond blessed to live in a home my Grandma owns in Oceanside for the past (nearly) 6 years! We moved in the week Matthew was born - in fact, our last boxes were moved from our apartment the day before he was born - moving is great for starting labor :) There are so many memories in this house, in fact it's hard to imagine our family anywhere else. But over the past few years, as our kids have grown, we realized we wanted a little more space, and a lot more backyard, for the kids. 

After months of having "when we start house hunting" conversations, we decided to go ahead and get pre-approved. First step. Find out whether or not we could start looking. And really, that snowball tumbled fast. Before we knew it we were talking to a realtor - 2 realtors in fact - and lining up houses to view. We knew we wanted to look in North County, but we also knew that we were interested in Temecula (hence the 2 realtors). Josh's brother and his wife live in Temecula, and there are really some beautiful areas out there. It's also much more affordable. So here's what happened.....for what we were comfortable paying, and what we were looking for in a home, we had a grand total of ONE viewable home in North County. One. And that one was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. Temecula had quite a few that we viewed, but when it came down to it, they were all at the top of our comfort zone with lots of work that needed to be done. We started looking at the wrong time, apparently, just as the market got craaaaaazzzzyyy competitive.

Besides Josh's bro living in Temecula, his sister and husband live in Menifee, as well as his Mom and step-dad who just recently purchased a home out there. Menifee. Hmmm. No harm in looking at some brand new model homes out there, right? 

And that was it. Hook, line, and sinker. I'm a sucker for nice and new. I'm also a sucker for changing things up - and a move to a new location seemed right. We'd be near Josh's family and get to be closer to the cousins as they all grow up together, which is something I didn't have growing up and really hope my kids enjoy. 

 After lots of prayer and wise counsel, and after considering several different neighborhoods, we fell in love with Summerhouse at the Lakes in Menifee - such a fun community, a place we can really see our kids growing up! It has 3 man-made lakes that are stocked with bass & trout to fish. Walking paths around the lakes and throughout the community. Clubhouse that does community events and activities, a Gym, an AMAZING pool area (complete with WATERSLIDES - no joke). And we were able to get a beautiful home in a cul-de-sac, perfect for our family. This was all back in APRIL! I won't bore you with (any more) details - but we have felt SO blessed along this road - from prayer warriors, wise counsel, an awesome realtor, lender advisor, and even our escrow notary was a God-send! There have been bumps, twists and turns, tears, and lots of smiles along the way - as of FRIDAY we have keys in hand - it's truly ours :) Due to some family circumstances, which I'll be blogging about in the near future, we won't be moving up immediately, but we can't wait! We hope to have lots of visits from friends, BBQs & pool parties at our place!!!!! :)

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Ok, enough talk - PICS!

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The day we found out we won the bid, the lot was ours!

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From the ground up!

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The width of the backyard!! Josh on one end, me on the other!

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 The "finished" backyard - or "mulch factory" as we like to call it. Well, finished except for grass - the dirt where Josh is standing is now grass.

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Last, but certainly not least, the POOL! We had SO much fun there this summer, and we weren't even living there yet - can't wait until next summer, and many summers to come!