Thursday, July 19, 2012

This Old House...

Over the past few months, this little old house of ours has been getting a well-deserved makeover. New tile and a new sink faucet in the bathroom, new carpet in the bedrooms, new laminate flooring in the family, middle, and back rooms, a new fence, a little touch-up paint inside, and new exterior paint. Here is a collection of before, during, and after photos of all the changes with our little home...

The bathroom...
 
 
 
 
New carpet in the bedrooms...
 
 
 
 
 
New laminate flooring...
 
 
 
 
 
Exterior patch-up and re-paint...
 
 
 

There are still a few things that we need to take care of inside, and I need to snap a few after shots, but all-in-all I would say she's looking pretty good for being 87 years old!!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

A Sunday Stroll...

Something that has become a regular occurrence with our family, but seemingly more this summer, are our evening strolls along the beach. We love our time at the beach, feeling the wind in our hair (sorry Doug), hearing the waves, and feeling the cooling spray of the crashing waves. We feel so very lucky to live where we do and try our best not to take it for granted!
 
 
 
Along with collecting our usual array of seashells, tonight we were rewarded with finding this pretty amazing sand castle. It was awesome...the girls couldn't get enough of it.
 

Friday, July 13, 2012

BHS - Breath Holding Spell...

So, imagine this. You and the family are outside, cleaning up from the day's activities in the front yard. When it's time to go in, hubby picks up the little one who lets out a small cry in protest. She looks like she is going to cry again, but no sound comes out. Hubby takes her in the house and puts her down on the floor. Still no sound. No breath. Hubby calls out to you that the baby hasn't taken a breath. Just as you come around the corner of the porch, you see the baby go limp. Hubby immediately picks her up, hands her to you with a look of panic in his eyes. Baby is limp, unresponsive, eyes semi-closed and rolled towards the back of her head, and she is the scariest color of pasty grayish white you have ever seen. Still no sound. No breath. Trying not to panic, you tell hubby to go get your neighbor who happens to be a nurse. Go, just go. Thinking she may have choked on something, you flip her over and upside down, do a few back pats. Nothing. Open her mouth, look for something obstructing her airway, do a finger swoop. She gags. Inhales. Coughs a little and begins to cry. Color immediately (though not fully) returns to her little face and she snuggles into you. You realize you are crying because you have just had the scariest 30-45 seconds of your life.

Now, two days later, same baby girl is playing in the house. She is opening and closing the movie drawers as she does every day but one of the drawers closes suddenly and startles her. Again, she lets out a small cry and then nothing. No sound, no breath. That same pasty-grayish-white color comes back and baby starts to go limp just as you reach her. Knowing nothing was in her mouth to choke on, you put your mouth over her mouth and nose and breathe. After 4-5 breaths, baby girl jerks slightly and comes to, her color partially returns. She breaths, then cries, then snuggles into the safety of your chest. Again, no more than 30-45 seconds has passed, but to you it felt like an eternity.

This has been our week. This is why MacKenzie went  to the ER this week...and to a followup appointment 2 days later with her pediatrician...and why we are now waiting on the insurance for an EEG authorization and some blood work to make sure everything is okay with our littlest one.

Here is what I have learned/read/been told so far. These episodes are called breath-holding spells and there are two types - pallid (related to a decrease in blood-flow) and cyanotic (related to a decrease in oxygen). A breath-holding spell is an involuntary reflex, usually appearing between the ages of 2 and 4 and typically resolving by 5 or 6 years of age. There could be a tendency for breath-holding spells in families, but neither Aiden or Reilly have ever had one. Some BHS symptoms mimic seizure-related characteristics, but seizures do not have triggers (like getting upset over having to come inside or getting startled by a closing drawer). Based on MacKenzie's reactions, recovery, oxygen readings, etc., everything looks fine...except for the whole breath-holding thing. Here are some pics from our ER trip...little Mac has no clue how much she has scared her parents this week.
 
 
 
To top it off, Aiden started throwing up today and has a fever. Reilly seems to be healthy at the moment, but our family always seems to get sick together. I know I haven't been the best at updating this blog lately, but if you happen to have been wondering where we have been/what we've been up to lately, consider yourself updated on the not-so-fun happenings of our little family!

MIA

Yes, I know...I know. I am a little behind with my blogging. A little...who am I kidding? I'm months behind. And to be completely honest, blogging isn't the only thing I feel like I am behind in...but rather than go on and on about my feelings of inadequacy, I will simply pledge to get caught up on our little family blog by journaling about all the exciting happenings from these past few months.

Scrap Haps...{Finally}

I started this page months ago...months, I tell you. And I finally just finished it...today. I love the fun, festive, summery colors of the kit I used - Up, Up, and Away by Sarah Jones Designs (available at The Digi Chick). Also love the fun patterns...especially that cheerful yellow chevron! My favorite. Hope I did the photos of my cute little Mac justice...and I hope to get a few more pages completed relatively soon.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Independence Day 2012...

Our 4th of July started off great with a festive donut breakfast and a drive along the beach (we had gray skies and drizzle, so we decided to bypass the local morning parades). Darkness and fireworks couldn't come soon enough for our little twins, so they settled for getting an early start raiding our stash of poppers (and a fun time hanging out with our neighbor Pete). 
 
 
 
I kept myself busy in the kitchen (gasp!! Yes - Becky in the kitchen - you read that correctly), preparing food for some friends who were coming over for an evening BBQ. I made pasta salad, bacon & potato salad, sliced up some watermelon, shucked corn on the cobb, sliced up the fixings for the burgers, etc, etc...it was all pretty traditional fanfare, but (luckily) the food spirits were on my side and it all turned out to be pretty tasty. While I was busy in the kitchen, Doug and the girls got started with the fireworks...
 
 
 
It stayed chilly and overcast for most of the day, so we pulled out our makeshift fire pit and had our own little bonfire going on.
   
Yes, I am THAT kind of mother who shamelessly dresses her children up in festive holiday attire with the sole purpose of snapping a photo or two...but in all honesty, Mac's sisters are responsible for picking out the little Uncle Sam hat.
 
As you can see, Doug and Uncle Dan stocked us up very well for the night (boys will be boys).
 
 
 
 
Our street is officially the COOLEST street ever. So many fireworks, so much fun, such a wonderful way to celebrate this country, our heritage, and our freedom.
Hope your 4th of July was every bit as wonderful as ours!