Sami's World

Tuesday July 8 was Jaime’s birthday. She got up early, showered dressed and left the house with Scott by 7 am. Scott had promised each kid that on their birthday he would take them to work for breakfast and a tour. She has been excited about this for months. Finally the day arrived and she was on cloud 9. She chose to share her birthday breakfast with Nina, the foreign exchange student living with Joey and Gayle for a month. So they drove to her house and picked her up and then went to Google. Scott has a co-worker that is French and so they met up with him and had breakfast. Jaime had an omelet and fruit and chocolate milk and an It’s-It. She said she was so full she couldn’t finish her ice cream. After they ate Nina and Scott’s co-worker went on a French tour of Google while Scott and Jaime went back to his office for a tour and some dad time. She had the chance to lay on his new couch and play on his computer. It seems that they had a great time. I went and picked her and Nina up at 11. I dropped Nina off and then ran a couple of errands and was back home by 12:30. I put the little ones to nap and then spent the afternoon trying to stay cool on a VERY hot day. Since Scott spent his morning playing he had to work late and so I was a “single” mom for a day. Alix was still super sick. More sick than I have seen a kid in a long time. She was running a 104-105 degree temperature all day. She hadn’t eaten since Sunday evening and she just laid around moaning and groaning. But she would drink and eat Popsicles and she even took a cool shower. I put her to bed with the knowledge that it would be a long night.

Wednesday morning came too soon! Keri slept her usual but I was up with Alix every hour. It was a miserable night and I had decided I needed to call the doctor. They said that as long as Alix was drinking and there were no other symptoms besides the fever, there was no reason to see her until the fever had gone on for 5 days. So we had much of the same day. Alix totally sick and miserable. Me running up and down the stairs to take care of her. Me trying to keep all the other kids away from her so they wouldn’t get sick. And, since it was suppose to be the hottest week of the year so far, trying to keep everyone hydrated and cool so that they didn’t get sick too. Scott came home and took his shift with the kids and we finally got them all to bed. Again it was another rough night. Except this time Alix slept in our bed and I slept on the chair in the bedroom (I didn’t want to risk getting sick too). Keri had a rough night and so did Alix. I went to bed with a slight fever and a clogged milk duct (for anyone who has had that, you know what pain I was in). I was hoping I would be able to pass it before I got VERY sick. Needless to say, it was an AWFUL night.

Thursday morning I informed Scott that he could not go to work. I needed him to stay home. I still felt awful and I couldn’t take care of Alix or Keri. Alix seemed a little better in the morning, but within a couple of hours her fever was high again and she was miserable. I laid on the couch for three hours going in and out of sleep and being down right miserable. I finally got up and tried to eat and drink something and got dressed. By noon I realized I was feeling well enough and so Scott left for work. By late afternoon I took the kids swimming and then back home for baths and bed. Jaime had been SOOOO helpful during the week that I told her she could stay up late and watch a movie. Scott and I cleaned since not much of that happened during the week. We all got to bed by 11. Alix once again had a rough night. A REALLY rough night. Fortunately for me I was feeling better and Keri was sleeping pretty good so I was able to focus on Alix. The whole night I kept trying to figure out who I was going to get to babysit for me since Friday would be day 5 of this and I’d have to take her to the doctor.

Friday July 11 Alix woke up perky and happy. I woke Scott up on time and told him he had to get up and dressed and give me an hour of sleep where I didn’t have to worry about any kids. He agreed and I got an hour and 15 minutes!! Alix ate pancakes, her first bite of food in 5 days and was happy go lucky. The bug guy was coming to do an in house spray and so we all got up and dressed and cleaned up a bit and left the house by 11am. Alix was totally fine all day. She ate a hamburger and french fries and a free slurpy (because the date was 7-11, 7-11 stores were giving out free slurpy’s), she ran errands with me and not once had a fever or any complaints. After we got home the younger kids took an hour nap and then I woke them up and we went swimming again. A friend from my ward, Carrie, opened up her pool to anyone who wanted to come swimming. She said it was such a hot week she realized that it would be fun to have playmates in the pool when her and her son went swimming. It was nice and the kids really enjoyed it. Milo even got in the pool and swam with his swim jacket on. Niah is an old pro now and was jumping off the steps into the pool and dunking her head and everything. It was fun to watch her have so much fun. She has never had fear of the water. Since we were all out anyway, Carrie told us about a park in Mt. View (the city Scott works in) that was having a live play in the park. So I packed up the kids and we picked up Scott and went. It was fun. It was a jr. theater production but it was well done and the kids all enjoyed it. We had a picnic dinner and then played for a while. We got home about 9pm. We put all the kids to bed. I insisted that Alix sleep in her own bed, which she did. She slept the whole night through! Keri slept for 6 hours straight and so I had 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It was awesome! I could feel the difference right away in the morning. The Lord knew what I needed and he blessed me with it. I felt very grateful the next morning!

Sunday was a busy day. We both had to teach, Scott taught Sunday School and I taught two Sharing times. Both of our lessons went well and Keri once again slept through all of church and woke up as the closing prayer was being said in primary. Speaking of closing prayers, Afton HATES nursery. Worse than any of our other kids ever have. She starts crying as soon as the closing song is being sung in Sacrament meeting. I feel bad for her, but with both Scott and I teaching first hour, we don’t have much choice. She seems to cope though and the leaders say that she only cries for a few minutes and then calms down. I sure hope they are right. Scott stayed over to firm up the details about Keri’s blessing in Fresno. I brought the kids home and got them changed and almost fed and then went back and picked up Scott from church. Once the little ones were napping and Keri was content, we started the jam. We made on batch of apricot and one batch of plum. Both seem to have come out good. We haven’t tried one yet, but I’m sure they are awesome! We spent the rest of the day trying to stay cool and getting cleaned up for the arrival of Joy and kids. It was such a hot day made 10 times worse by the jam making but that was ok. We did have fun. The kids got to bed super late, but it was too hot to put them to bed sooner. We stayed up a while longer to get a few more things done and then I crashed with Keri. Scott was finishing up a few more things and Joy arrived.

Monday July 7, was a fun day for all. The kids were very excited to see each other. They played really well. Then we went to one of my friends house to play in her backyard and chat. That seemed to go well. Unfortunately Alix woke up not feeling to well but seemed to play ok. Then she just got worse. By the time we got home she was awful. She didn’t say anything hurt but her head and she was running a fever. She didn’t want to eat or drink. That was a little scary but she seemed content to lay on the couch and sleep so I just let her. After we got home from our friends house we had some quiet time. I actually slept a bit. Joy went to the store. Then I started cooking dinner. Jen Hansen in our ward just had her baby and so I was taking dinner to the family. We had decided to eat Mings, the best Chinese food place in the area. But unfortunately they were closed. We didn’t realize this till it was too late. So I took dinner to the Hansen’s and we ate some burgers and fries. That was ok though, they were good and we were all hungry!! After dinner and after Scott got home, Jaime got her first birthday celebration. A joint party with her cousin Kenneth. They both blew out a candle, opened presents and made themselves sick on brownies and ice cream. It was a great party with a happy ending. The kids stayed up late again since it was so hot but that was ok, they won’t be seeing each other again for a while I presume. They all get a long so well it’s fun to see them together. Joy decided to crash “early” with her kids while Scott and I stayed up to do some much needed chores and take care of Keri till she decided it was her bed time! We managed to get to bed before midnight….

What fun we have had since we last met….

July 3rd was our first official swim of the summer season. It was also my busiest day since Keri was born. We were all up and dressed and out the door by 7:45am. I dropped Milo off at Toby’s house, then picked up the Hooks (a cute couple in our ward) to take them to the airport. We didn’t hit any traffic and I was back home by 9 am. I had arranged to pick up Milo at 9:45 and Jessie Bennett so we could go swimming. We did just that. We went to Jaime’s piano lesson at 10 then got to the swimming pool by 11. My friend Laura just opens up her pool each summer and invites anyone who wants to to come swimming. Swimming went really well. Actually we had quite the adventures. Afton was first. She thought she could swim by herself and so in she went. Luckily she did have a vest on so she kept swimming circles (back to front) and gasping for air each time she was up. Jaime pulled her out for me. Then Milo decided he could swim and jumps right in (no vest on) once again Jaime was right there and rescued him. Except he decided to do it again when Jaime wasn’t there, but Niah was and he pulled her down too. Jaime and I joined in efforts to pull them out. Other than that, everyone was safe…. Neither Milo or Afton would get in the pool again though!! I hope they are not ruined for the rest of the season. Keri did pretty good. She slept in the beginning and end, but was awake in the middle but was good so that was fine. We left by 2 ish and were home by 3. We did some chores and got ready for dad to come home. Yay for us!!

Friday July 4 was a great day. It started out with an 8 am breakfast at church. We got home by 10 and were going to clean the garage but realized the inside needed some attention so we focused on that instead. By 12:30 though I was spent. I guess everything finally caught up with me and I petitioned to Scott that I go take a nap and he finish the house with the kids. He very kindly agreed and I went and crashed. I slept from 1 to 3:15 when Scott came in and hesitantly woke me up. We were suppose to be at Joey and Gayle’s by 4 and he knew we needed to get ready. It was hard to wake up but 30 minutes later I was down stairs ready to go. The house looked awesome, I really appreciated that! We got to Joey and Gayle’s house by 4:30 and got to meet Nina, their one month guest. It was fun to meet her and learn all about France (where she is from). The kids seemed to enjoy her too although they were a little shy at first. We had a wonderful meal (it always is!!) and then watched a Jerry Lewis movie. I have never seen one before and the first one we watched was pretty funny. Unfortunately he reminded me way to much of Jim Carey and I don’t like that guy. Anyway, after that we shot off some fireworks (they live in Newark and we can do stuff like that). There were fireworks going on all over the place. We could see ours plus two of their neighbors were out in the street too! We could also see someone having an air fireworks show which brought the police down the street to see if it was us. Not sure if they ever got caught cause the “show” went on for quite a while! Niah didn’t go out to the street she was too scared. Keri was asleep and Afton insisted that I hold her the whole time. No we don’t have any pictures, we left the camera at home. We did sparklers too, the kids seemed to enjoy that. After fireworks we had dessert and one more movie. We got home by 11:30 pm and we were all pretty tired, but it was well worth it.

Saturday July 5, we spent the morning cleaning the garage. It was a hard job but it had to be done. We emptied the garage, swept it out and then organized everything. We filled the back of our car with D.I stuff and were happy to rid ourselves of some of our junk. It’s so easy to accumulate stuff and so it feels good to get rid of it. The garage is so much better now and easy to walk in and easy to find the stuff we actually use!! The kids mostly played with the neighbors while we cleaned and all had a good time. It wiped us all out though. Mostly because the night before was such a late night. But we got it done. The kids did a few chores that needed to be re-done (funny how that works, chores need to be re-done….). We have a lot of fruit that has been given to us by ward members. We can eat a ton of fruit so I make the kids have self control and I make jam with some of it. However I needed pectin and so we decided we’d do the jam making on Sunday afternoon. So Jaime and I went out Saturday night after dinner in search of pectin. It was harder to find than I had thought and it was EXPENSIVE!! For the last three years I’ve been using pectin that I bought at Albertson’s when it was closing out. I could buy a 2 pack for $2. I’ve never had to actually buy it for the real price, ouch!! Anyway, we also got Jaime’s free ice cream from Baskin Robins for her birthday. She enjoyed that VERY much! The rest of the evening was spent handing Keri back and forth as we both tried to finish our lessons for Sunday morning.

It’s been way too long since I have updated anyone on our life and happenings.

I left off on Monday June 16. The 17-19 were spent getting used to the baby! Scott took the week off and he became Mr. Mom. He did a great job and I butted in every once in a while to put in my two cents, but mostly I just took care of Keri and Scott took care of the rest of the gang. It was a warm week and so we spent a lot time trying to stay cool. Lots of water activities and staying inside.

Friday June 20 we decided it was time for our first family outing. I planned the perfect afternoon with a time table. Not sure what I was thinking, new borns don’t do time tables very well. We were suppose to leave at three. Keri woke up at three and wanted the works. So we changed fed, changed, fed and finally left by 3:30. We had some extra chuck-e-cheese tokens and so we went and used those up first. The kids had a great time for an hour. We then walked across the parking lot to Chevy’s. The kids were awesome and we enjoyed a nice dinner. We were suppose to be at Milo’s last sports class by 6pm but didn’t arrive till 6:20pm. He still was able to have fun and participate in a game of soccer. He scored the first goal and was really good about getting in the crowd and trying to kick the ball. It was such a warm evening that we stayed and played at the park. We left at 8pm and headed home. We put the kids to bed and sighed with satisfaction that our first family outing went so well! Keri did eat once while at chuck-e-cheese but slept the rest of the time. What a gem!!

Saturday and Sunday were both very low key and easy. Scott took four kids to church with him and Afton and Keri and I stayed home. It was fun to play with Afton one on one and boy was it quiet!!

Sunday evening after all the kids were in bed, Scott and I were discussing how the last week went and how the kids seemed to need more that what we had done and on and on. I thought about it all night and Monday morning, June 23, I woke Scott up at 6:30am and informed him that if we wanted to accomplish something wonderful that week we should replace the downstairs flooring like we have been wanting to do. He looked at me like I was an idiot. I told him all my reasons why and finally he agreed. We had breakfast, our morning devotional and then we told the kids our plan. Monday would be rip up day, Tuesday and Wednesday new floor day and Thursday & Friday clean up day. They were all VERY excited and jumped right in to help. The first thing to do was to move all the furniture. So we used kids’ rooms and the garage and the play room to move all our books, computers, furniture etc

Monday went as planned. We even did a little more than expected. Tuesday started out great. We had to clear all the flooring of nails and other debris so we could lay the new sub flooring. Unfortunately that took a little longer than we had expected it too. We got a little bit of sub flooring laid and then we had to be done for the night. Wednesday was VERY slow. It took longer than expected to lay the sub flooring and we barely finished before it was too dark to continue. That was ok, we could have the flooring done by Thursday late afternoon and still start moving furniture back. Nope!! By Thursday morning we had all lost enthusiasm for the project! Keri decided to have a rough day that day. The other kids were all done being ignored (at this point there wasn’t much for them to help with anymore) and we had to go to Home Depot 4 times before 11 am because we kept forgetting that one thing! Needless to say, Scott got ditched and ended up finishing the project all by himself while I took care of the kids. Lucky for us Google is so generous with their employees and we were able to eat out every night for dinner. We had cereal every morning on the picnic tables outside. The kids said they felt like they were camping!! :0)

We started moving in furniture Saturday afternoon. We did enough to have a table and a couch. Sunday we moved a bit more. We’ve been slowly moving things in and it has been slow!! But it looks GREAT in here. Scott did an AWESOME job. We are grateful for such a great owner and I am grateful for such a great husband who is willing to take on these silly projects of mine. The next project…..the backyard!!

Besides the floor project we have done a few other things.

On Saturday June 28 we went to a wedding reception for Robyn Hutchings (no longer Hutchings). It was fun to see their family again and see how much they have grown and changed.

On Sunday I decided to go back to church. Because of the principle of the matter, I stay away from church for at least 4 Sundays, but I feel so good and am doing so well, I couldn’t see any reason why I should stay away. Keri is doing really well too and she slept the whole time so no one touched her or asked to hold her so I didn’t have to worry about germs or anything. It worked out very well.

Monday June 30 Keri had her 2 week appointment. That seemed to go well. She is a happy healthy baby. She now weighs 11 pounds 3 ounces. They still have her height at 22.5 inches. Her head grew an inch and is now 15 inches. She is in the 98% for all her stats. I’m sure she’ll even out eventually, all my girls do. Monday was also my first day ALONE!! I think it went ok, I guess you’d have to ask the kids! We worked on the house a little bit but mostly we just tried to get a routine going that involved Keri too.

Tuesday July 1 was a fun day. My friend Erika from Brentwood came to visit in the morning. They got here about 10 am and stayed till 1. That was fun and helped to fill the morning. Then my friend Li-Li came over at 3 and we made egg rolls together. That was fun and YUMMY!! Since it was kinda late it served as our dinner which was AWESOME! No cooking for me! Yay!

Today, Wednesday July 2 I was suppose to go to an appointment for Milo in Oakland. It was just a routine speech appointment. They just want to reevaluate him every year to make sure he is still progressing. I got a call about 2 hours before the appointment telling me that it was “canceled and by the way we will no longer be seeing Milo here. The craniofacial team has been eliminated from Oakland Children’s hospital. Goodbye and it was nice to know you.” Well, that’s not what they said exactly but pretty much. I guess if he “qualifies” he’ll be recommended to a new team in San Francisco, or Stanford, or somewhere, otherwise we are on our own. We have to wait for some letter to come in the mail before we’ll know for sure what’s in Milo’s future. So for now we just live life and wait for the letter to see what our next step is. We’ve always said that part of our desire to stay in this area and keep Milo’s insurance as it is is because we liked his craniofacial team so much. I guess we are being forced into change. I’m sure there is something better out there for Milo and we will need to find it.

Things seem to be going well. The kids seem to be adjusting well to our new life. I’m hoping to get more done around here and get more motivated to start doing some outings. The weather is so beautiful. The kids do spend a lot of time outside riding bikes and walking and playing with our neighbors.

Guess that’s all for now. Much love to all and we hope you all are doing well too!