THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

I was in the Labor and Delivery level of our hospital from 9am - 8pm last Friday. I was doubled over with front lower abdomen pain, 100' fever, lower right side back pains, and my whole right side of my neck was swollen and tender to the touch. My OB was worried that I had appendicitis. And that would cause the baby to have to be delivered. Thank heavens it was not appendicitis. My white blood cell count was 18,000. And the normal is 14,000 when pregnant. After a few ultrasounds, they found 2 cysts on my right ovary. But everything was fine with the baby and the placenta. My fever was 100'. I was also severely dehydrated. I was given a few bags of Iv fluid. My OB originally wanted to keep me over night as a precaution. The high white blood cell count was worrying her. But I really just wanted to sleep in my own bed. And I promised that we lived 3 minutes away, and I would be right back at the hospital if the pain worsened. I can be pretty convincing. (I keep telling Dan I sho...

This birthday was nice and relaxing. It was just as a birthday should be. I spent time with my hubby and boys. They spoiled me and made me feel like a princess. And, I have beautiful flowers that I can't stop looking at. I got to pick out my special birthday cake from Costco. Dan made his homemade Buffalo wings and a CPK pizza. And after dinner and cake we played the game Operation(I totally won) and then the best was yet to come. Wii Glee Karaoke game. Zachary and I sat back and enjoyed the performances. Dan sang Defying Gravity from Wicked the musical and Benjamin sang Gold Digger by Kanye West. What made it even better was the fact that Dan knew how badly I have wanted to see Wicked the musical. And Ben knew that Gold Digger is my favorite song. Then after Dan put the boys to bed, Dan and I played Phase 10( I won again!) while watching one of my favorite shows Greys Anatomy. It was such a great birthday. Me striking a belly birthday pose Our best ...

Dan and the boys really spoiled me today. It was the best day ever. It started with me getting to sleep in. Dan took the day off from work. Dan made me a yummy croissant breakfast sandwich with Nesquick chocolate milk. I was then showered with presents and beautiful flowers from Dan and the boys. The day continued with some " me time" at the salon . I went from blonde to "more like me" color. We then enjoyed some cake and ice cream with friends at our house. And, I was spoiled with some fabulous body wash and a loofa from Victoria's Secret! Thank you Jenkins Family! My day ended with Dan putting the boys to bed. And then some Wii game time with Dan . I am SO happy to have Dan home this year. He told me that he spoiled me this year since he couldn't last year. But the truth is, he is always this great. He is a spoiler! Happy 30th Birthday to me! My beautiful new birthday quilt! I love Dan so much. He always makes me feel like a princess. Dan got this ...

About a month ago, I had a health scare. According to the Dr, I had a blood clot go to my brain and I had a mild stroke. I was in the ER. They ran a brain scan. I have been to my primary DR a few times. He ran a whole bunch of blood tests. My blood pressure, and cholesterol are great. I will be seeing a neurologist on Monday. We still do not know what caused it. About a week following, I was exhausted and sleeping for 6-7 hours in the afternoon. My responses were still slow. But, I am totally fine right now. You would never know anything happened looking at me. It began at the end of my playing BUNCO with friends. My vision became blurred. I couldn't read the dice. Then a few minutes later I couldn't add up my score. Then a few minutes later when trying to write a check, I couldn't remember how to write the letter J. I couldn't even remember how to write a check. Then driving back to Heather's house my speech became slurred. (Heather was driving.) And as time went ...

I LOVE photography. I love taking pictures. I love to edit them. Print them out on our printer with photo paper. And then display the favorites in our home. My step dad made me a wooden shadow box for my Christmas present a few years back. He gave it to me to use for my leis since I had preserved most of them from Hawaii. My Mom gave me some fabric with a Hawaiian pattern. I am going to use the fabric as a background in the frame. Then put the picture at the top. (I blurred out the background in black and white. And tried to bring out the bold color of the leis.) The leis will hang around and in front of the picture. I can't wait to show you the final product! In this picture I tried to accentuate my prego tummy. And also give the waves some definition. In this wedding picture of Dan and I, I made the temple the focal point. This type of photo editing is called a black and white focal point. I also softened the sides of the picture. I love the end result so much, that I printed i...

The pictures don't do this cut justice. It's late, I have no make up on, and I am taking these pictures in bad lighting. But, I wanted to give you an idea of what the cut and color looks like. More pictures to come soon...... The color is a softened brunette with caramel in it. I originally planned on going red. But that would have taken 7 hours and multiple processing. So for now, I went for a subtle change. The cut is my favorite. The bulk that was on the sides were thinned out. And a few shorter layers were added to the side. The bangs were trimmed for a swooping bang look. All in all - I am thrilled with the outcome! Kelly - YOU ROCK! Thank you for cutting my curly, wild hair so well! And Momma Megan - I owe you big time! Thank you for watching Ben and letting me have me time to get my hair done!!!!!! These past few days, I have been able to have me time, and then some! I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends that help out with Ben and ask for nothing in return....

Back in San Diego, Benjamin accidentally stepped on my glasses and cracked them in half. I figured since it had been 6 years since I switched frames, it was time to get new glasses. I am still getting used to them. Maybe it's the pregnancy but I feel a bit nerdy...... I think I will like them better when I get my catepillar eyebrows waxed...... Hmmmmmmm they are growing on me more and more...........

So for being a VERY accident prone person, I am pretty amazed that so far......(knock on wood and cross fingers) the only accident I have had with this pregnancy, is a burn. The evil oven bars attacked me on Saturday as I was taking a pizza out of the oven. It blistered and caused a second degree burn. But, at least it was only a little side of my right pinky. It's now quite happy in neosporin and gauze. Note to anyone who burns themselve - never put ice directly on burn!!! Lesson learned! It only looks like a tiny cut, but man did that sucker sting and burn for 2 hours after I burned it! Trying to take a picture of your right hand when you are right handed...is quite difficult......

I am LOVING being in a Bunco group. This month, I won a portable pop up cooler and magnetic notepad for fridge. Thank you mucho mucho James for watching the Benji!! This was the first time I had some "me time" since Dan's been deployed! It was much appreciated and much needed. :) So the picture came out blurry. We'll have to do a re-take in June, now that my camera is no longer on the fritz from auto zoom! :)