x-rays are fun!

I've had pain in my heel for a while and finally went to the doctor for it today.  The doctor thinks it is plantar fasciitis, but wanted to make sure there are no bone spurs so he sent me in for an x-ray.

 

That circled spot is awfully close to where Vaughn stabbed me in the foot with a pencil.


Too bad radiation is potentially dangerous, because I would love to have a whole lot more body parts x-rayed.  It's just fascinating. 

On another note

My good friend Sarah D. gave us her girls' dresser and desk they had out grown.  Aaron and I are having a great time personalizing them for Delilah.  
 
We aren't done with the dresser yet, so I'll just show you pics of what we have gotten done for her room so far.

This is one of Delilah's toy baskets.  Notice the Ombre effect Aaron so skillfully helped me achieve.

This is a lamp I picked up from a second hand store that will go in her room.  The yellow background is the dresser, but it isn't finished yet.  

I adore the colors we have chosen for her room - yellow, gray, black, and white.  I know the gray, black, and white sound like they could be dreary, or too grown up for a baby, but let me assure you that it will be one of the sweetest rooms you will ever see.

 

This is the color inspiration for her room.

The grand finale will be the head board Aaron makes for the full size bed we keep in her room for guests.  I am so excited for that.  I'll give you a little hint to how it will look: tufted!  Oh, I can't stand it!  I'm just so excited for it.

Our new mobile device

On Thanksgiving day we caught Delilah walking about 3 feet from the couch (of "sofa" for those of you that prefer the "proper" term ;) to the beanbag.  It took us a few days longer, but we did eventually get footage of her new trick.

Aaron and I have an awful habit of turning the camera sideways when shooting video.  Please forgive us, and I promise this little clip will be short enough and cute enough to make up for any kink you may get in your neck.

Our new Pup

We have gotten a new dog for our family. We've given it a lot of thought, and finally came to the conclusion that it would be a good thing for our family. The little guy is about 4 months old and came from an employee of Aaron's. He's a mutt, and we were told that he his part Chihuahua, part wiener dog...Chiwiener?



He's pretty cute, and the boys love him. Delilah, however, does not like the dog much, mostly because he won't stop liking her face when they are in the same room.

Now, we know that Deacon's name is not a typical dog moniker, and I will tell you how it came to be. Four and a half years ago Aaron and I were trying to decide on a name for Vaughn. I loved the name Giovanni, and Aaron loved the name Deacon. Neither of us could concede to the other's preference, and the only way we could move past it and try to think of other names we could both love was to agree that we could name future dogs Giovanni and Deacon. So now, obviously we have a dog and it came time to pick out a name, and neither of the boys had a strong urge to name him Bolt or Pluto (The stuffed animals they have loved for the past year,) and Aaron instantly remembered the name he wanted so much for his own son, and gave it to the dog :)

He's fun and we look forward to wet-nosed, fury love for years to come.

DELILAH: For the Hope of a Better Tomorrow!

On Friday Ethan found his super man cape and started staging these photos of Delilah. I'm so impressed with his vision. I took the photos, but Ethan put everything else together. I love them! I will cherish these photos forever.

"My bionic ears detect trouble!"

"Yawn, just a quiet, leisurely day as the world's most heroic infant."

Have you ever witnessed such incredible physique?

Muir Beach!

We went to the beach on Memorial Day. Man, was it fun!



Everyone got a git of sun, except Ethan (he was playing under a blanket when the sun finally broke through.)



We brought our friends Conor and his dad, Cordell.



Most of the time we don't have the stereotypical beach weather. 75% of the time it is overcast, and this time is was awfully windy too. But, we love going to the beach, we'd probably go every weekend if it were a bit closer.

Bleh....I'm overwhelmed again. It's almost to the point of being debilitating. For those of you who don't know, I have Bipolar Disorder II. So, I'm in an upswing and I'm feeling really creative and motivated, but there are so many things I want to do and my mind can't focus enough to complete any of them, so the result is nothing gets done and I'm overwhelmed and I feel guilty.

We are starting the ADD evaluation for Ethan. Things are getting a little out of hand at home and school. The pediatrician originally wanted me to wait until Ethan turned 6, but that's only two months away and by then he will be out of school for the summer. Part of the evaluation is done by the teacher, that's kind of hard to get done if you're out for summer break. I'm not sure what to think about it all. If he is diagnosed with it, that means there is something to blame for all the problems, a name for it. But it also means the possibility of medicating such a young, sweet little body. That scares me. I know how miserable it is to try different meds and deal with the side-affects and put so much hope in them, only to find out a few months later that they don't work, they aren't the "right fit," and you feel like you've wasted so much time. A child so young, that can not choose for himself, should not have to go through that. But, if/when we do find the right med it could mean a much happier, focused, well behaving boy. Life could be a lot better. What a risk to take.

Today the pediatrician told me that if Delilah gets one more bout of wheezing cough within the next couple of months it could indicate that she has asthma. Also, if she gets another round of ear infections she has to have tubs put in her ears. That means surgery! My little baby, just over 4 months. She can't have surgery, she's way too young for my liking to have it. But, I don't want to put her hearing at risk. You know, for a baby that has been sick so much, she is so happy and such a joy. I would've never known she was sick judging by her temperament.

Wow, what a downer. I guess that goes to show I shouldn't read sad blogs before I write my own. I'll try to make up for it by posting a super cute pic.


This is what the kids woke up to on April Fool's Day morning. Aaron had drawn the mustaches on with my eyeliner. Thankfully he didn't think I needed one too.

The kid is in kindergarten. Sheesh!

This is a conversation Ethan and I had while the family was outside weeding the garden.

Ethan - Mom, I'm going to marry Madison (a classmate.)

Me - Why are you going to marry Madison?

Ethan - Because she is my friend and I love her.

Me - Who taught you about getting married?

Ethan - Andre (another classmate.)

Me - Does Madison know you are going to marry her?

Ethan - No.

Me - Well, it helps if she knows about it.

Ethan - Yah.....

a few seconds go by.....

Me - You know when you get married you can't live with Mom and Dad any more.

Ethan - Never mind, I'm not going to marry Madison. I want to be like Uncle Russell and live with you guys when I grow up.

I love that kid so much. I take it that since he wants to be with us when he grows up, that he is enjoying himself now. I'm not sure when to break it to him that whether or not he is married he most likely will not be living with us when he is older. I guess I should just enjoy it before he turns into a teenager and starts yelling at me about "blowing this popsicle stand" as soon as he graduates.

Since visiting Oakland in November of 2008, I have noticed some things about this region that are very unfamiliar (like mowing your lawn in winter. ) I've lived the first 28 years of my life in Utah, so that is a big factor in why I have never seen them before (other than in books or t.v.) or why they just don't seem to be occurring in the right season.

Although I have lived here for nearly a year they still throw me for a loop.

I am going to start a little ongoing series called "I am a foreigner here." I hope to include pictures with each of these entries so that I can better illustrate why.

These weren't the only flowers I got on Valentine's Day, but they were the most unexpected. I wish you could smell them!

Both of these pictures are from our back yard.

Creeeepy!

So...I finally got a new camera and it has some pretty wild features, like "fish eye" and "radial blur" and "happy faces." This last one is just plain creepy, it modifies people's faces to appear as smiling. Just look what it did to my grumpy-but-still-cute son. The modified pic makes him look like he would be a registered offender of some sort.

Darling Delightful Delilah

Thank you all for your subject suggestions. Apparently people want to know about our new baby. I don't know why, she is a bit of a bore really ;)

Delilah (no middle name) Olson was born on December 15th, so that is 4 days after her due date. I was very annoyed about this and at the doctor for not inducing me two weeks early like what happened with my older two. So that meant I had to go into labor on my own, and feel all of the woman-making pain that goes with it. I won't go into the details of the labor, I'll just get to the good part - She was born at 9 lbs. 21 in. and seven weeks later she is over 13 pounds. Delilah is no longer on the growth chart and the pediatrician actually called her a "giant."

Delilah's brothers love her, Ethan a little more so than Vaughn, but that is probably because Vaughn got bumped from baby status and lost the name that goes with the position. We are all enjoying having pink, and dresses, and sugar and spice and everything nice in our house. The teeter-toter of testosterone and estrogen in our house is evening out a bit. Hooray!

I'm being summoned by her little voice, so I must go. But I'll get more pics of her and the boys later.

aaaah, so good to be back

So we finally got the internet at our house yesterday. We have not had internet for four years! I told that to the guy who came to install it and he said "nah, you weren't missing much." But I beg to differ.

I don't know what to blog about, so if any of you have suggestions or are wondering about anything in particular that has gone on since the last time I blogged let me know in a comment.

Like I said, SO GOOD TO BE BACK.