Our New Toy

My sister has had a 14 ft. trampoline sitting in storage for about a year now still in the box. We decided that we would set it up in our backyard. The kids absolutely love it! They come home and do their homework without fighting just so they can bounce on it before it gets too dark. Riley Jo won't get off it unless we climb up there and pull her off. Well, it's been up for two weeks now and we didn't put a lot of rules on it. We just expected the older kids to watch out for the younger kids when they were all on it together. Some friends came over tonight and were a little too rough. We had our first injury tonight. Kyle got knocked down and his knee went up to his mouth and nose. He lost a tooth that wasn't even loose yet. OUCH!! After a call to the dentist to make sure we didn't need to go to the emergency dentist office (is there such a thing), he said everything should be fine. Luckily at 7, he's only lost 2 teeth, now 3. Funny thing is, his front top two teeth are both VERY loose, and neither one of them fell out. And tomorrow is picture day.

Chase Update

Last Thursday I took Tyler over to see Chase. We haven't seen him in about 2 1/2 weeks. He was really excited to see Ty. We stayed for about an hour and half, Tyler played Wii with Chase while I got an update from his mom. Chase's dads co-workers at Chevron pooled money together and bought Chase the Wii for something to do over the coming months. Chase started Chemo Monday September 8th. He was able to go to John Muir in Walnut Creek as an out-patient. He went Monday-Friday and then finished this round on Tuesday the 16th. He did experience jaw pain, joint pain, and loss of appetite. He even had to go to the hospital on Saturday and Sunday to get IVs. On Thursday night while we were there he seemed himself. It was so nice to see him happy, laughing, and joking around. He was supposed to be admitted into Stanford today for the entire week for Phase 2 Chemo, but because of a cold over the weekend his white blood cells were too low and they couldn't keep him. Hopefully his numbers will be up on Wednesday when they check again and they can start the Chemo on Thursday. They also found out today that there are two more lesions on the back of his knee. Apparently they were on both of the previous MRIs but somehow didn't get mentioned until today. Chase's mom told me that they are still growing too. They also know they are not the same thing that is on his leg, they have to do another biopsy to find out exactly what it is and what they are dealing with. They would like as many good thoughts and vibes sent their way.

Labor Day Tag...Sort of

I am about 3 weeks behind in reading your blogs and I just came across this one and thought it sounded fun!
We all love to share our war stories of Labor...and delivery. I found this post on a friend's blog and thought I would do the same.
How Long were your labors?
#1-8 1/2 hours
#2-2 1/2 hours-I think this was a scary delivery for me!
#3-I was induced at 8:00 or 9:00 and she was born at 1:51 pm

#1-Tyler was born 4 days early at Walnut Creek Kaiser. Yes Epidural/stitches/tearing. The epidural worked so well that I couldn't feel a thing. I didn't even know when to push, the doctor had to tell me. I even had to have my mom holding one leg and my sister hold the other leg.
#2-Kyle was 5 days early at Walnut Creek Kaiser. I went in to the hospital and I was at a 4 told them I wanted the Epidural. I had the Epidural with in 45 minutes and feeling great. They decide to break my water, I think I am at a 5 now. Instantly Kyle's heartrate drops and they can't find it. They flipped me from side to side, there were so many doctors in there I just rememer praying my baby was going to be alright. They rush me down the hall to OR, I was on my hands and knees praying the whole way their that I wouldn't need a C-Section. They prepped me for the C-Section and right as they were about to cut, Kyle's heartrate was going back up and they said I could deliver naturally. Good thing they didn't cut because I actually had the sensation I needed to push and they were shocked I could feel it. Yes Epidural, 1 stitch. #3-I was induced 11 days early. My body kept going into labor but they kept giving me shot of morphine to stop the labor. Finally my 3rd trip to the doctors the next morning they were getting ready to release me when Riley Jo's heartrate started dropping. After the 3rd time in 15 minutes they said they needed to induce me. I was induced at 8:00 or 9:00 (I forget) I got the epidural about 11:30 (I'm a big baby when it comes to pain). Riley Jo was crowning about 1:40 they saw that my water hadn't been broken yet so they broke my water and Riley Jo came out with it. Little miss 6 lbs. 5 oz. It was the easiest delivery and recovery for me.

Birth Stats:
#1 7 lbs 8 oz. 20"
#2 8 lbs 5oz 20"
#3 6lbs 5oz 19 3/4"

Trip Down Memory Lane

Lets play a memory game? Here are the instructions:

1. Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Since this is our family blog, feel free to leave a memory about any of us. This will also let me know who is out there that is reading my blog? I’d like to know how many of my friends have found me on cyberspace?

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you too.

Birthday at the Lake

We went to the lake with the Crawfords and Dolls for my birthday. We had so much fun. Tim brought his sister and her husband and Tara brought her brother, his wife, and their baby. The weather was perfect and there wasn't very many boats on the water near us. We had lots of fun watching everyone on the tubes. Chris loves to torture Tim and this time Caden had a little torture too. We took a ton of pictures and videos because lets face it, sometimes a picture doesn't give it enough justice. Enjoy the pictures and videos.

Labor Day Camping

I took the kids camping for Labor Day while Chris was at a race. My mom, Cindy, her boyfriend Frank, and her two girls, Steve, and Jeannine all came with us. We decided to go to Placerville KOA because it was close and they had a lot of fun activities for the kids. We spent a lot of time at the pool and the KOA had an inflatable bounce house and water slide set up on Saturday. We didn't get up there until 8:30 pm Friday night because of traffic and stopping for dinner. So, setting up the tents in the dark while keeping track of the little kids was a fun experience. Especially since our campsite was right next to the playground, they weren't very happy when we told them the playground was closed because it was dark. So Saturday we swam and played on the inflatables. We played card games, the kids played at the park, we ate, and swam some more. Then Sunday morning we packed up and headed home. It was a short camping trip but we were all tired and had a lot of fun. All the kids slept on the way home!

RIley Jo Starts Pre-School

Riley Jo started pre-school on September 9. She goes to school 2 days a week from 9-11:30 am. So now for 5 hours a week I am kidless. I took Riley Jo on September 4th to meet her teacher and new friends, I think she was concerned when we got there and realized that none of her friends were there. She had been so excited to start school until then. Riley Jo's teachers name is Miss. Honey. Friday the 5th Riley Jo told me she was not going to go to school. Riley Jo seems to have a shoe fetish and I know that I can get her to do just about anything for a new pair of shoes. I need to watch out for this as she gets older. Riley Jo has started to grow again (just barely) but enough to need a new pair of shoes. So of course she was all over getting the new shoes and she hasn't complained about going to school since. When I asked her what her favorite part of school was, she said it was holding onto the rope to walk back to the classroom from the park. I showed up early this past Tuesday to watch her play at the park, and as soon as Miss Honey told the kids to line up, Riley Jo ran over to her so she could hold onto the rope!

Back To School

Michayla, Tyler, and Kyle all started school On August 26. Michayla started the 7th grade at Stanley Middle School in Lafayette. Tyler started the 7th grade at Sequoia Middle School in Pleasant Hill, and Kyle started the 1st grade at Wren Avenue here in Concord. `I am fortunate that I only have to pick up the older kids in the afternoon so my morning schedule is really easy but the afternoons are LONG! Michayla is enjoying her schedule and goes to each class everyday. Tyler's school has block scheduling where they go to 4 classes each day. He is not enjoying the schedule very much but is enjoying his classes. He has 1 day of 2 electives, PE, and History, and 1 day of 4 academic classes, at least he has 2 days to complete the homework! Both Michayla and Tyler are taking Spanish this year. Hopefully they will be able to help each other with their homework over the coming years. Kyle was lucky to have both his best friends from kindergarten in his 1st grade class again so he is really liking 1st grade so far. His teacher must not have known they were such good friends because she sat them all by each other. At back to school night I asked how Kyle was doing (it was on the 5th day of school) and she told me he was doing good but he turns around and talks to Porfi and Joey a lot. Big surprise there! My kid talk? I don't know what she is talking about. Kyle still gets pulled out of class for speech and Occupation Therapy. The whole class goes to different classrooms for English. They are separated by different levels and it not only helps English as a second language but helps with vocabulary. Hopefully this will continue for reading groups.