Christmas 2009

I love this picture. It's not at all in focus, but I just think it's so precious!!

So I know this is over a month late, but.....

Anyway, we stuck to our normal Christmas traditions this year: Christmas Eve with the Gill Family, Christmas morning with our little family, and Christmas night with the Allan Family. I always love seeing Declan play with his cousins, he LOVES them all so much. And I'm always saying "he needs to see them more!" Perhaps that can be a New Years resolution....what? It's February? Ok, it can be a New Month resolution! :)

Ethan and Bella tearing into their gifts.

Such a beautiful girl!

Helping Dec open presents. Trev, thanks for telling me to look up. The ones where I'm looking down.....not so pretty! :)

Cheeseball!

So Ethan got a "Thomas the Tank Engine" book. Declan caught a glimpse of it, and then none of his presents mattered. All he wanted was the "choo choo".....I had no idea he had gotten so attached to Thomas.....uh....hmmm.....

Declan's first Elmo. An Original Tickle Me Elmo!

Our annual Cracker Crown picture.

What cute pj'd cousins!!!

After a rearrange, Ethan took Declan's hand! So sweet!

And Dec put his arm around Bella...

Um....and began choking her....?

And finished with a good tackle. Or steam roller. Did I say he loves his cousins? :)

Christmas morning. We got D a computer since he was always trying to use ours. He started playing with it right away, and it was SOOOO adorable!!

Now I bet you're wondering why I put a picture of Danny and Grace (yes, that's Grace with the monkey head on) dressed up as the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George. Well, the answer is three-fold:

1. Danny has always loved Curious George. He was sick a lot as a kid, even went into the hospital several times, and George was integral in getting him through that time. So what better way to pay tribute than to dress up as the two main characters for Halloween! (2005, by the way....that's pre-kids.)

2. To show you how awesome and dedicated my brother and sister-in-law are when it comes to Halloween costumes!! During their lives together they have been El Nino and La Nina (grey sweats with cotton balls attached, sombreros, a mustache for Danny, and squirt bottles to "rain" on people), Daisy's (green sweats with GIANT flowers head pieces. Danny got an award at work called the Daisy award....thus...the costumes.), Penguins, and Chickens. Grace is so amazingly creative and has made the costumes each year, including the paper mache George head you see her sporting in this photo. Seriously. Dedication!

3. (The reason that ties this all in, and yet shows what a very random tangent this is) Hopie put a "Man in the Yellow Hat" hat on at Christmas. Yup. That's it. :)

The kids and Danny playing the Ladybug Game.

Uncle Danny! Did you turn it into a drinking game?!?! :)

WOOO! Declan wins!!

Ok, I put this picture in because I was so amazed at how my son ate that night. I'm thinking this is after his first serving, but his plate looked the same after a SECOND piece of lasagna! That is a true miracle for Declan. Seriously Randy, it goes against nature...it is from God! :)

Sadly, that's all I got from the night. Once dinner was over and we started on presents, I wasn't real "on" with the camera. I was opening a lot of D's presents, so I didn't have time to take pictures. I assure you though, fun times were had!

Thank you Families for all the gifts! It is fun to see Declan play with his new toys, read his new books, and cuddle his big Frog! Yeah, Dec got a big frog stuffed animal that is "life size"....for him. He wasn't as big a fan when it came out of the bag, but now he LOVES it! And so do Trevor and I! Seriously, that thing is great to cuddle! :)

I leave you with our Christmas Card display. We totally felt the love this year, and I want to say thank you to everyone who sent us a card! Yours was (and still is) lovingly displayed! :) If yours seems a little buried.......then send it later next year! I learned the later you send a card, the more prime spot it gets! :)

(Yes, that is our card in there too.....and a picture of Jack Allan.....and a picture of me, Chantel, Bri and Megan from 1998.)

Our First ER Trip

Oh what a day! As you can see by the title of this post, we went to the ER today. :( And here's why...

Yesterday, Declan had a fever. It started about 11 am, and was high and low throughout the day. He wasn't very keen on eating for most of the day, but had a little bit of applesauce at dinner. We gave him a quick bath, got him a dose of Tylenol, and sent him to bed in footie pajamas and his blanket.

This morning he woke up crying, and all he wanted was to be held and to cuddle....which of course I LOVED, but at the same time, I'd much rather he not have the fever. I checked his temp and it was low grade, so I didn't worry too much and didn't give him Tylenol. I'm a believer in the "if the fever is low and the kid is in good spirits, let the fever burn off on it's own" theory. He wasn't his normal self, but he wasn't as bad as he had been either. He ate two Gogurts, and had some water, so he was taking in some food.

Then at about 11:30, I took his temp (in the armpit) and it was 104.3! Ooh, kinda scary. Time for Tylenol FOR SURE! I figured at this point, it wouldn't hurt to call and ask the advice nurse what I should do, if I should do anything. I've called before and they suggested to take him in to Urgent Care, but that's all. No "go to the ER" freak-me-out kinda advice. Until today. Me: "Really? The ER? Not even Urgent Care?" Nurse: "With a temp that high, it's kind of concerning." Oh dear.

I called Trevor to let him know, and D and I took off to the Kaiser ER in Irvine. Trevor met us there, and we checked in right away. They took us into triage pretty quickly, and his temp was already down to 99.6, also in the armpit. However the nurse told us that armpit temp is about 1 degree less than the real temp...so make that 100.6. Still, that's WAAAAY better than 104.3, or rather 105.3 if the armpit temp thing is real. Sooooo, going to the ER was probably a really good idea.

The whole triage experience REALLY upset Declan: getting the hospital bracelet, having a strange wire taped to his finger to take his pulse and BP, having his temp taken. And then we were told his PJ's should come off, they were keeping the heat in and not helping with his temp. While we were taking his PJ's off, he got so worked up, he started gagging, and finally, threw-up his Gogurts....all onto daddy. :( Yeah, it was really quite gross. Poor kid!

A few minutes later, we were called back. And then it wasn't long until the doc came in. The Doctor. Hmm. He was really nice....but boy did he like to talk! (I know-I'm not one to judge.) He just talked about random things....I really can't explain well, but let me just tell you one thing he said: "It's like a fart in a windstorm." I really can't even remember the context. Weird guy. But good doctor.

He checked Declan out, and that was one of the worst things I've gone through as a parent. Declan's feeling like crap and here's this guy, putting some cold thing on his back and chest, getting mom and dad to pin him down and having something poking in his ear and then some stick stuck down his throat, practically gagging him. It took two tries to get a good look down his throat, second time around with the doc laying on top of him. He got so worked up, he almost threw up again. It was really difficult to watch it all and know I could do nothing to stop it, and had to actually help it happen.

But his ears were clear, his throat was good, and his chest and stomach sounded fine. So. That left the blood and urine to check. Dang. This leads me to THE actual worst thing I have gone through as a parent. More pinning down, but with needles involved. :( Thankfully the doctor didn't believe in making him go through the experience of getting a catheter put in, and just had a bag taped around his diddle to collect pee. (TMI? Oh well!) He needed a couple blood tests and a urine test to rule out other infections. Those tests took about an hour and a half to run, so that's where most of the time was spent. Dec mostly laid on dad and dozed a little, but he was still really miserable. During the bag-attachment process, his temp was taken again, rectally (DEFINITELY TMI!) and it was back up to 102.5. :(

This was the only picture I took today. That's the IV taped to his hand. What you can't see is the flat board taped to the underside of his wrist to keep it straight. What you can see is Declan not having a good time. :(

All tests came back positive....or um, negative....what I mean is there were no infections found! So then what's with the fever? Well, there are two more tests being run, blood cultures, which take 48 hours, so we're still waiting for those results. Until then, he could still have an infection, so the doc recommended we give him some antibiotics, through a drip, using the IV that was put in his hand during the blood draw. And while we're at it, let's give him some IV fluids, just to be safe. Ok, you're the doc, you know what's best.

Oy, another hour and a half. Me to the nurse: "You guys don't happen to have a TV we could watch?" Nurse: "Actually we do." He leaves and a minute later comes back with a TV, a VCR/DVD player, and a PILE of Disney movies!! Fantastic! The Lion King got us all the way through until we were discharged! Weeee! And while the movie was on, Dec totally perked up. Even ate some Cheerios, Animal Crackers, and drank some water! After he finished his meds, they checked his temp again and he was at 99 or 100. Not bad and he's in GREAT spirits!

So home we went, with the instructions to give him Tylenol every 4-6 hours, and have a follow up with a pediatrician tomorrow. The doc is about 90% sure that it is Roseola which is a high fever, followed by a non-itchy rash. It's not really dangerous, unless the fever gets REALLY high, and it's treatable at home. So, now we're just waiting for the fever to completely go away, and we're on the lookout for the rash. He's already gotten a few weird spots on his legs, but they've gone away, and the rash usually hangs on for several days. We'll see I guess.

Since being home Dec has gone from being miserable and not wanting to eat, to VERY sleepy, to bed, to wanting to be held, to being in the bath, back to wanting to be held, to laying on dad and then getting up and walking to his bed to go to sleep, to being woken by the fire alarm (apparently my shower steam got to the alarms), to wanting to eat crackers and drink milk, to playing and laughing and dancing around, and finally back to bed! Crazy!

I had a hard time when we first got home and he was not doing good. The nurse told us to keep him as uncovered as possible, for him to be just in his diaper. If he got the chills, still keep him from being bundled. The more you bundle the harder it is for the fever to drop. Makes sense. But I really can't watch my son shiver and shake and be COVERED in goosebumps. We put a onesie on him, and he still was shaking like crazy! He was laying on me, face down, with all his limbs tucked in and my arms around him and he was still shivering. I couldn't handle it and I put a blanket on him when I laid him down. I got the thinnest blanket we had, trying to not break the rules too much. :) After his bath, he was doing a lot better, temp wise, so we just put him in some loose pants, and he's been fine ever since.

We'll see how tomorrow goes. His fluctuation tonight doesn't make me feel too great, but we were also told that if his fever spikes again to take him back to the ER. Great. Hopefully that won't happen and I won't have ER Trip #2 to write.....I don't know if I have the stamina to write another saga! :) But, I will keep you posted!

Belly Book Reveal

When I was pregnant with Declan, I was lucky enough to have 3 maternity photo shoots with 2 VERY talented photographers. For one it's a hobby, and the other, an experience to build her portfolio. Both are dear friends of mine, and I was more than happy to help them out. ;) Now, just a mere two years later, I finally compiled my favorite shots into a book! I did my best to recreate a few of the pages for the blog, picking my favorites of my favorites. The pictures here are a little small, so hopefully you can click on them to get better view.

Dawn was very helpful with the title page, and I LOVE it!

Park and "Studio" shots taken by Jake Reinig



Beach shots taken by Jessica Brown

Outtakes-yes... we are very goofy people. :)

And the last page said this -

"Coming Summer 2010"

Yes, that means what you think it means.....we're having a GIRL!!! Our sweet little Abby will be joining us this summer and we are SOOOOOOO excited. I cannot believe it still. We had the ultrasound to find out two weeks ago, and a normal appointment today where we double checked, and up, it's still a girl! :)

So why Abby? Yes, I know she will be Abigail Gill. Or Abby Gill. And for some, that's a little odd. But here's the story that goes with it:

Back on the first day Trevor and I were officially boyfriend and girlfriend (which was 10 1/2 years ago), our friend Jessica (not the photographer) was hanging out with us, and teasing us about our "officialness." She asked us what we would name our kids, and after sharing some boy names we liked, the girl name was discussed. I said "I've always wanted to name my daughter Abigail Joy. I LOVE the name Abigail, and Joy is after my mom, Joyce." Trevor then chuckled and said "That's interesting. I've always wanted to name my daughter with the initials AJ because those were my mom's initials." At the time, it was a sweet coincidence. Now I know it was God and He was doing a little "nudge, nudge, wink, wink". :)

So no matter how awkward her name may be now, the story behind it makes it all better! And of course, she'll get married some day and that will take care of it! :)

Mundane Musings

I had a bunch of random thoughts and facts going through my head today, stuff that I thought would make good Facebook updates, but I couldn't choose one. Actually, I did choose one but whatever. Anyway, I thought I'd post them all here too. They all pretty much have to do with mommyhood, so it fits. :)

*When I originally planned to write this blog today, I thought "I'll call it Monday Musings, cause it's Monday!" Right....it's Tuesday. Thank you pregnancy brain.

*Why am I just as tired after getting 9 hours of sleep, as I was after 4 hours? (Yes, this one made FB, the lucky winner.)

*I need to remember that I am pregnant and eating until I am more than full will make me VERY uncomfortable! Which leads me to.....

*A message from Debbie Downer: "Hey all you first time preggers out there! Enjoy this pregnancy!! It turns out that being pregnant a 2nd time (and I assume 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and so on) is LESS comfortable than being pregnant the first time. Live it up ladies!"

*I'm going to say it's been a successful attempt at weaning Dec off the pacifier. He has not cried for it since day one. It has been a little over a week, and though he asked for it the first couple of days, he doesn't even mention it anymore. I can't say we used any tricks, no "broken pacifier", no "sending it off with a balloon for another baby to use", just stopped giving it to him at night. I did try to show him at first that he could use his thumb if he wanted to suck, but he didn't really care for that. I know it's only been a week, but I feel good that he's over it. (Cue him waking up right now and crying for hours until I give up the location of the pacifier.) The downside to all this though? He wakes up earlier. He use to be able to nap for about 3 hours....now we are lucky if it's 2. He used to sleep until 8am or later.....it's been about 7-7:15-ish for the last few days. Trevor actually said to me this morning "Wanna give it back to him?" I asked him if he was serious, and he said, "Kinda." Oh what stellar parents we are! :)

Um, I think that's it. There might have been more, but I can't remember. I blame the pregnancy. Speaking of, I am 19 weeks along, as of yesterday. We have an appointment to find out what we are having soon, and hopefully he/she will cooperate! I'll let you know when we know.....and have told all our family! :)

Since those musings were a little on the whiny side, I thought I'd leave you with a happy thought and story.

*When I was pregnant with D, I had the great fortune to have 3 maternity photo shoots! (It helped that I didn't have to pay for them!) I'll get into it a little more in another post, but I finally got around to making a photo book of the pictures. Here's a peek at the cover page, designed by my super talented sister-in-law Dawn:


*Speaking of pregnancy brain and forgetting things, here's a funny story from my first pregnancy:

A very thoughtful friend and co-worker of Trevor's, Jamie, asked me one day what I had been craving. I really didn't have a lot of cravings, but I was really wanting yellow cake with chocolate frosting, like Duncan Hines box cake yellow cake! A couple days later, Trevor brings home a 9x13 inch Pyrex cake pan, filled with cupcakes that were.....you guessed it, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, from Jamie! I don't know if it was Duncan Hines cake, but whatever, it was perfect!! I ate 3 that night, a couple the next day, and the next night, and then a few more the next day. But that night, there were 6 left, and I really felt bad for keeping the cake pan for so long, but couldn't eat 6 cupcakes in one sitting. 3, I could totally do, but that left 3 more. Where could I put the other 3 so I could give the pan back? I stood in the kitchen for about 5 minutes thinking, "what could I put these in that has a lid" and then CLICK! I believe I even raised a finger in the air as I said "A pot!"


As I placed the last cupcake in the pot, I looked at them and said out loud, "Or Tupperware would have worked."

Handmade Christmas

Last year for Christmas I got a sewing machine. I had been wanting one for years, even though it had been about 17 years since 7th grade Home Ec....the last time I had really used a sewing machine. But I was being inspired to sew from Grace and my friend Adrieanna, and a machine was needed to do so. Thankfully my parents had one that had been bought with the best of intentions, but rarely used. So I would become the new lucky owner!

Since then I have done 2 big projects that require their own blog post each, and MANY little projects. Sadly, I have yet to do anything for me really, but that's ok, I love seeing my stuff being enjoyed by others. Which leads me to Christmas...

Adrieanna, my quilting mentor, introduced me to a book that has become my sewing bible. It's called Denyse Schmidt Quilts and it's by, surprisingly, Denyse Schmidt. :) (The link is just to her website, the book is on there somewhere.) In it there are 20 small-ish projects and 10 quilts. From those 20 projects, I was inspired....to make Christmas presents! I was able to pick projects for all the females (sans Mom, I want to make her something big and I'll need LOTS more time. Oh don't be surprised mom, you know it's coming....eventually!), the brothers and baby Jack on the Allan side. Ethan, Jack Lindley, and Luke got big boy presents. :)

So here is what I made, pictures and all. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of some....I didn't quite finish them all in time, in fact I still have a couple yet to complete. When I am COMPLETELY done, and have all the rest photographed, I will update and let you know. Because I know you are DYING to see it all. ;)

For Bella: A purse and coin purse

Zigzag Bag and Zigzag Zip

It's named after the original design which I changed up a bit, along with adding lining to both bags.

For Jack Allan: flannel blocks

This project doesn't have a name because it didn't come from the book, I kinda did it on my own (by peeking at another one of Adrieanna's sewing books!)

For Gemma, Hope, and Ruby: stuffed animal cats

Three Faces of Steve

I actually made 3 of these, for all 3 girls of course, but with different fabrics. Poor Ruby got the wonky looking one, but I figured she wouldn't mind as much! :) I only have a picture of this one, which doesn't even have the tail attached, but you get the idea!

For Grace: an apron

Shimmy, Shake, and Bake Apron

I felt kinda bad making an apron for Grace. I didn't want to seem like I was saying "get in the kitchen, woman!" But I felt that she would really appreciate it, and she did! She said it's what she's been needing! You can see in the second pic, the front pattern is actually a pocket.

The un-photographed:

For Avery: a scarf and a muff

Scrap Wrap and A Muff is A Muff

I didn't think about it when I was making it, but the pattern is meant for making an adult size scarf and muff. So they turned out a little big....but they are still really cute! (You'll see!)

For Dawn: a closet sachet

Closet Case Sachet

Do you know how hard it is to find cedar chips?! Ridiculously. So when I couldn't find them, I adjusted the pattern and added Velcro. Now Dawn can choose the scents she likes and replace them at her leisure. I'd say that worked out for the best! :)

For Jason, Hugo, Chris, and Danny: juggling blocks

Cares in the Air Juggling Blocks

Dried lentils were A LOT easier to find! :) I know my brothers juggle, but I don't know about Jason and Hugo. If they have ever wanted to learn....here's their chance!

For Danica: an eye pillow

Eye Will Revive Eye Pillow

Danica suffers from migraines more often than she, or anyone, should. I figured this would be perfect for her. Now I just need to find Buckwheat hulls.....

For Larissa: a scarf

Scrap Wrap

The first time I saw the picture of this scarf project I thought of her. And I was thrilled to be able to pick out the fabric, hoping to find patterns that she would love. And I hope she does....cause I do! :)

Early in December, I was telling Grace and Larissa about all my handmade Christmas presents, and we all decided that we would all make handmade gifts. I was totally on board cause I had everything planned out. (By the way...planning it all out doesn't matter as much if you don't follow through with the plan. You would think after almost 30 years on this earth I would know this by now.) But I was nervous for the girls cause they both have 2 kids, and waaaaay less time than me to make something. Well, I shouldn't have been because they both pulled through....FANTASTICALLY! Larissa gave a pre-mixed soup of fresh ingredients (just needs to be cooked and enjoyed!), burned CD's, hand written Bible Verse flash cards, crafted photo-magnet frames, and for us ladies, she went to a place where you pick the scents and they make a perfume. And Grace made a photobook, one for each family, of the cousins in 2009. I am IN LOVE with that photobook! Both girls, in their own way, handmade the Christmas presents! Such creative girls! :)

Christmas Cousins

April 20th, 2007, brought us Gemma Rose. July 13th of that same year, Hope Elizabeth was born. These were the first 2 grandchildren on the Allan side, and Declan's 4th and 6th cousin. (Isabella Rose, #5, from the Gill side was born in May of that year.) That Christmas, Larissa and Grace started a tradition that has grown in popularity and difficulty, but most definitely is most cherished among all the gifts Grandma and Grandpa get at Christmas: The Cousin Picture.

Here is year one, Gemma - 8 months, and Hope - 5 months.

As you perhaps noticed, both girls were pretty stationary at the time. You put them somewhere, they stayed. So taking the pictures at Sear's wasn't so bad! However, the next year....not so easy! Declan of course, being only 7 months, was super easy. But VERY mobile girls, with agendas of their own....yikes. This was the best shot we got of all three of them. Hope is probably reaching for goldfish, or Pablo (a Backyardigan doll).

Year 2, Gemma - 20 months, Hope - 17 months, Declan - 7 months

After that Sears session, we vowed to do something different the next year. Enter Mel. Stay with me for a moment while I go on a tangent about my wonderful friend Melissa.

This beautiful girl started out this past year (2009) in terrible, terrible back pain. Pain that had plagued her for years. Pain that kept her from working or going to school. But, did that keep her from pursuing her passions? Heck no! This TRUE artist did what she could to make a living, she painted, and she created BEAUTIFUL jewelry. She also discovered a love (and amazing talent) for photography! (Ahh, my tangent makes sense!) Thankfully she was able to have surgery early in the year, and has recovered VERY well! So well that she has gone back to school! And her photography business has grown, and continues to grow! I love seeing all her posts and watching her abilities blossom. This is going to be an amazing year for Mel, mostly because in August she will marry the man of her dreams, Branden, who shares her love for photography. I am so excited for their wedding, I can't wait to beautify her locks! :) And it's in Big Bear, so you know it's going to be GORGEOUS!! Ok, my tangent is growing....all this to say, my dear friend and her fiance helped us tremendously this year for our Cousin picture:

Year 3

What an amazing shot, huh?! All FIVE kids, looking in the same direction! Bear in mind, the mommies were jumping and singing and doing silly dances behind the photographers, but whatever, it worked! :)

Jack - 6 months

Ruby - 8 months

Declan - 19 months

Hope - 2 1/2

Gemma - 2 1/2

One final shot, a tiny little sample of what the other group shots resembled. :)

As you can tell, the number of babies have grown over the years, and of course there will be at least one more next year. Us mommies have decided the dad's will come help out next year, one parents to each child...that should help with the wrangling! :) Until next year, Merry Christmas from the Allan Grandkids!