Blog Party...In my head.

Okay I swear I am coming back on somewhat of a regular basis soon. I have a lot of blogs in my head right now that need to get out...Soon. So that I don't forget what I want to write about I am making a list:

1. Father's Day
2. Jackson's Birthday Party
3. Firework stand/4th of July
4. Turning 30...Yes I am turning the big 3-0
5. Some funny things Jackson is saying lately...this kid is forever cracking me up.
6. Free Stuff....this is a good one.

Get ready...They are coming soon...I promise.

Photo Shoot...Or something like that

I really enjoy taking pictures and I especially love taking pictures of my husband's band...I don't know why, but I usually get some cool shots at nightclubs when Lou's band is playing. A few weeks ago Lou's band, King Sugar, played two nights back to back. Most of these pictures are from our friend, Donelle's wedding.

My handsome husband...

King Sugar...Markus...I've never heard anyone else this good...

Eric...

Here's Donelle...she's not in King Sugar...she's in Monkey. They played at our wedding a couple years ago...

Here's another one of King Sugar....

Lou and Me snuck in one of ourselves...

Nothing to say, but I feel like blogging

I have been away from the blog for quite some time now. It feels like a long time anyway. I really don't know how long it's been. I haven't read the blogs I follow in such a long time. I started to read a few tonight and enjoyed getting caught up on some of your lives. I am going to make an effort to get back into blog reading and writing...I really do miss it.

Like my title says, I really have nothing to say. I've just been going with the flow lately. Lou is out of work for summer vacation. Not "Out of work" like he doesn't have a job...being a teacher means - summer vacation is part of your job. It's nice having him at home. Even though I am at work all day I find it comforting to know that Lou is home if I need anything. He's been getting a lot of hang time with Jackson and I think that's good for both of them.

We are going to be selling fireworks again this year. Lou's running the stand for his Debate club. I am looking forward to it a little bit...It was fun last year. I'm sure I won't be saying I'm looking forward to it once this next week actually comes. It's only for a week long...It won't be so bad.

Jackson is turning 6 next Wednesday. I can't hardly believe it. I think I have said that every year, but really he's getting so big. We are having his birthday party this weekend (before we start the firework stand).

Anyway, I didn't really plan to blog, but since I logged in I just felt like saying a little something. I'll get back on the ball soon and the blogs will be (hopefully) less boring.

Love to all.

Fire Fighting

Today on the news I heard that the Fresno Fire Department was going to be giving away bike helmets. I told Jackson to tell Lou about it and maybe they could go by the fire department, but he forgot. So tonight we went to dinner at Panda Express and while we were at dinner some Fire Fighters came in to eat. It reminded me of the bike helmets and so after we ate dinner we asked them about the helmets and we headed off to a Fresno Fire Station. When we got there, there was a sign on the door that said they were all out of bike helmets and we were bummed. We walked around back to take a closer look at the fire trucks (since we were right there), and a REAL fire fighter came out and started talking to us. We asked him about the helmets and he told us they didn't have that many to start with, but he showed Jackson all around the station. Jackson even got to sit in the driver seat of a Fire Truck and turn on the lights.

Even though we didn't get a helmet, we did get a great tour of the station and got to play on a real fire truck. Jackson wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up!

Kindergarten Celebration

I can't believe Jackson has finished his kindergarten year already. It seems like we just started kindergarten, and now the year is over. Today was his Kindergarten Celebration and I am so glad that I got to go.

They sang some of their favorite songs that they've learned throughout the year...

Jackson's teacher made each child a scrapbook of work and pictures of them throughout the year. She called each kid up and said a little something about each one. Here is Jackson with his book...

After Miss. K. presented the books to the students and gave s little talk about how much she would miss them all, we had cookies in the backyard. Here is Jackson and two friends comparing pictures in their books...

This is one of Jackson's good friends, Anakin. I know Jackson will definitely miss Anakin this summer.

Jackson, we are so proud of you. You have just grown so much this year...You have learned so much and are growing into a sweet young man. Great job in kindergarten. We love you.

Our family is changed.

Note: I contemplated putting this post up on the blog. It is not upbeat, not funny, not silly, nothing like the things I normally blog about. When I started this blog I meant for it to document our day to day life. Fortunately, we've had a lot of lighthearted stuff to post about. Unfortunately, this post is sad, but it's part of our life and this event has changed my family.

A week ago yesterday I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked, but so happy. Up until now I have not blogged about our fertility struggles, but we have been seeing Dr. S. for fertility treatments for a little while now. So the news of our pregnancy was definitely happy news. I found out first (obviously) and called the doctor right away. His nurse sent me over to St. Agnes Hospital for some lab work. I was only a little bit concerned because I had been spotting for about three weeks. The nurse assured me that that was not uncommon, and told me not to worry about that right now.

About an hour after my lab work was done, the nurse from Dr. S's office called me and said that I was indeed pregnant and that based on my levels I appeared to be 4-5 weeks along. Lou and I both had doctor's appointments (with our family doctor) that afternoon so I met him at Dr. G's office. I handed him the pregnancy test that I had taken earlier and he was shocked and excited too. We both were so happy and felt excited to share our news with our family. Even though we just found out we felt like it was something we couldn't keep from our family. They all knew how long we had been trying, and we knew they would all be so happy for us.

We told all of our family our exciting news over the weekend. I was feeling good and the spotting stopped totally so that made me feel better. We felt wonderful!

On Monday morning I went to the hospital for some more lab work to make sure that my hcg levels doubled. The lab work was quick and easy and now I was just waiting for the doctor's office to call me. I wasn't too worried...I felt great. At about 4:45pm the nurse from Dr. S's office called and said that my hcg levels didn't double. She said they went up, but they only went up a little bit. I asked her what this meant and she was reluctant to tell me anything. She said that she would talk to the doctor and call me back by 6:00pm.

I rushed home to Lou and cried the whole way. I knew by the way she sounded that this wasn't a good sign. Lou and I talked and came to the conclusion that as of right now...I was pregnant and I was going to stay positive and take care of my body. The nurse called us back and said that Dr. S wanted me to retest next Monday. So until then...I was going to be positive about this pregnancy.

The next day I felt a little worried and decided to stay home from work. I rested most of the day and didn't get out of bed or off the couch too much. I was feeling this unusual pain in my right side and no matter how I laid or sat it would not go away. At about noon I called Dr. S's office and told them about my pain. The nurse asked me a lot of questions and told me that I could take Tylenol for the pain. She sent me to the lab for a urine test to rule out a bladder or kidney infection. By 4:00 that afternoon I had not heard back from Dr. S's office about my lab work so I called them. The nurse asked me how I was feeling and if the Tylenol was helping. The pain was still there, but the Tylenol did help a little. She told me that my urine test results had not come back yet, but that she would have them in the morning. If the pain got any worse or went down into my abdomen I needed to call the doctor's office right away.

That night I got into bed with Lou about 9:00. As we were getting comfortable I just had this feeling that something was wrong. The pain was down in my lower stomach and I really wasn't getting much relief. I told Lou that I thought I should call the doctor. Luckily, Dr. S. was on call and so I was able to talk to him directly. He didn't hesitate to send me over to the hospital right away. We made arrangements for my mother-in-law to come and stay with Jackson (he was already asleep).

Lou and I got to the hospital about 9:45pm. We checked in and sat in the waiting room. Scared about what the lab work and exam might reveal we tried to prepare ourselves for what we might find out. We waited over an hour before we even got called back. I was called back about 11:00 and we were seen by the ER doctor, Dr. Claypool, fairly quickly. I told him all of my news and what my symtoms were. He told me that I would go for an ultrasound and they would take another sample of blood.

We were sent back to the waiting room. It was more crowded by that time. I didn't have to wait long before they called me back for my ultrasound. Unfortunately, Lou couldn't come. He was worried and I felt vulnerable to go without him, but we knew we had to find out what was going on. The ultrasound took a while...well longer than any ultrasound I had had in the past. I went back to the waiting room to meet Lou. We waited for what felt like the longest stretch so far. Probably because we were exhausted by that time.

About 1:15am they called us back. We walked past all the holding rooms and we were put into a room with a bed. I was given a gown and told to put in on. We asked what was going on and the lady told us that DR. Claypool was on the phone with our doctor, Dr. S. and he would be right in.

We were worried. I knew something was wrong.

Dr. Claypool came in quickly and let us know that I had a ectopic pregnancy. Dr. S. had told us this might be the case. I was being admitted to the hospital and Dr. S. would come in the morning to do the surgery to remove the pregnancy.

Lou broke down right away and when we were left together in the room we both began to cry. I felt awful. Sad, mad, hurt, and exhausted. Dr. Claypool came back to answer some of our questions and we learned that since my pregnancy was in my fallopian tube, it had to be removed quickly or it may become life threatening for me. He said that it was fairly routine surgery and that our doctor had a good reputation (we knew that...it's why we picked him).

I told Lou to call my mom. It was about 2:00am, but I wanted her to know what was happening. My mom came and stayed with me while Lou went home to get some rest and get Jackson off to school the next morning. I went through the past few days events with my mom as we sat in the ER waiting for me to be assigned a room. I thought of everyone I would have to tell this horrible news to and I hated the thought of having to talk about it over and over again. It was heartbreaking to me.

At 4:00am I was assigned a room and by this time I was just exhausted. My mind was running so quickly, but my body was a wreck. My nurse, Maryjane made me as comfortable as could be and told me to get some rest. I closed my eyes, but didn't really sleep for the next hour. At 5:40am I asked my mom to close the door of my hospital room and that helped a little. Without the noise of the nurses station I was able to sleep about an hour.

At 7:00am Dr. S. came in. I felt my face light up when I saw him. I have developed a good relationship with Dr. S. over the past few months and I trusted him totally to perform this surgery. He sat on the edge on my bed and looked at my tummy. He told me that he suspected my pregnancy was in my right tube, and that he would go in through my belly button to remove it. He said even if the pregnancy was not in the tube, it was not a good pregnancy and it would have to be removed. I asked him all of my questions and he left to make arrangements for my surgery.

About 8:00am Lou came in and about 5 minuted later things were moving quickly. Someone had come to take me to surgery. I didn't really have too much time to prepare myself. They needed to take me right away. I got down to the Outpatient Surgery Center and was taken to prepare for surgery. Lou and my mom had to wait in the waiting room and I felt scared. About 45 minutes later I was able to have visitors again. My mom and Lou came back to be with me while I waited for Dr. S. and the anesthesiologist to come in. My sister Brittany came to see me and that made me feel good. She made me laugh a little while I waited for my surgery.

Lou and my mom had begun making phone calls to family members and letting them know what was happening. Just before noon, I went in to surgery. I was more sad than scared. We had een taking fertility drugs for a while now and I thought to myself, "I thought the hard part was over."

My sugery didn't last long (a little over an hour..I think). Everything went fine and I was okay to go home. About 15 hours after I had been admitted to he hospital I was on my way home. I got into bed and slept a few hours. Not too long, but it was restful. Getting back into bed later that night I fell apart. I felt like it was so unfair. I had wanted this so badly and so quickly it was gone. I had been happy and excited for just a few days and now I was back where I started. My heart was breaking.

Over the last few days my family and some of our friends have been so supportive. I have recieved phone calls and visits from so many people that care about us. I haven't felt like returning all the calls yet...It's still hard to talk about, but I appreciate them all. I have a lot more strength today and am starting to move a bit more.

I don't really know how Lou is doing with all of this. I don't think he's really let himself process it all yet. He has been so good at taking care of me. This has changed our family and made our desire for a baby only that much stronger. This event has been so completely hard for me, but has brought me even closer to Lou. (I never think that we can get any closer, and something like this happens and my love for him grows so much.) Lou, I love you. Thank you for taking care of me through all of this. I know this is hard for you too.

Thank you to our family and friends for all your support and love.

Ride A Bike, Look Good Naked

This is from Lou...I totally forgot about this conversation...

So...I have a few shirts from when I worked at Tri Sport. My particular favorite says "Ride A Bike, Look Good Naked" on the back.

Jackson :"Daddy, I can read that",

Lou: "It just means that your body will look good if you work out, son."

Jackson: "Then why do they use THAT word?"

Lou: I don't know buddy, they just did."

Jackson: "Dad, that's hideous."

...I laughed really, really hard.

We Lie To Our Dogs Regularly

We have two dogs, and they are very much a part of our family. Anyone who knows us knows that we love our dogs very much. Sometimes we even do crazy things for our dogs (like throw them birthday parties).

This is Benji...She hates having her picture taken, but occasionally you get a funny one. Jackson actually took these with his camera. The quality is not great, but he does capture some good pictures.

This is Simon...He is "the bad one." He is so sweet, but boy does he get into trouble. He's a pain in the butt most of the time, but we do love him. He absolutely loves Jackson these days and usually wanders into Jackson's room and cries when he's not here.

Our dogs are inside dogs, and anytime we go anywhere we kennel them. The picture below is of our old house (they used to be kennelled in the kitchen), but now that we've moved they are kennelled in the hallway and laundry room. When I first met Lou (Benji was his dog), Benji was kenneled in a little tiny cage type kennel. She went right into it when we left to go anywhere. Simon (was my dog) and was used to being kenneled in the kitchen. When we first merged and brought the dogs together we didn't kennel them at all. It wasn't too bad at first, but Simon ate a (two actually) couches while we were out and so we had to decide quick how we were going to kennel them.

For the most part, they don't mind it. But when we leave we always tell them, "We'll be right back!" It's just what we say. Anyway, the other day Lou, Jackson and I were leaving and we kennelled our dogs like usual. Lou said, "Okay, we'll be right back." and we left. We went to a friend's house and so we didn't come "right" back. We were gone a few hours. When we got home, Jackson said, "Dogs I'm so sorry daddy lied to you. We weren't really coming 'right' back."

The next time we left and one of us said, "We'll be right back." Jackson said, "They're lying to you."

Confession Time

You know you like to watch. You do it alone. In the dark. You don't talk about it with your friends. No one has to know. Well today I’m confessing. Here you go….

Hi, my name is Shannon and I watch "The Hills." I am a reality TV whore. It's my total guilty pleasure. I still love marathons of the Real World, The Bachelor, The Real Housewives of Orange County (not so into New York, but Atlanta was fabulous too). I loved Tori & Dean Inn Love (and Home Sweet Hollywood)…Wish they would do another season. I watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The City, High School Reunion, and Oh My Gosh…”The Hills.”

All the drama…Lauren, Audrina, Justin Bobby, Brody, and Spiedi! I love watching the train wreck relationships unfold, those “long” days at work (seriously who gets jobs like that…Teen Vogue and People’s Revolution…Really?), and those impromptu trips to Mexico and Hawaii….Oh forgot to mention after this blog Lou and I are hoping on a plane to Cabo for the weekend. Yeah…everybody does that right!?

Okay! Okay! These “reality” shows are NOTHING like reality. I totally know that they are manipulated and probably scripted, but who cares…It’s my guilty little pleasure. So for right now…Monday nights in the dark with my dogs (Simon and Benji watch “The Hills” too…I can’t seem to stop them) I’ll be watching “The Hills”. I know some of you will be watching too, even if you'll never admit it...you know who you are.

It’s my job to Freak-Out

Note: This post should really be dated 4/28/09

The other day Jackson brought home a book to read as part of his homework. He has been bringing books home everyday to read for homework since the second week of kindergarten. Well, he’s getting quite good REALLY good at reading and sometimes he brings home books that are too easy. So the other day was one of those days, and Lou and I both said, “Don’t bring this book home again for reading…It’s too easy.” Well, tonight Jackson brought home THAT book. Lou freaked out (not really freaked, but it goes with the story)! I didn’t really make a big deal about it because my mother-in-law had already told me that Jackson read to her today, and so in my mind the reading part of the homework was done. I didn’t really care that he brought that easy book home. Well, Jackson got to giggling about the whole thing and said, “I brought it home so that Shannon would freak out.” I said, “Well Dad is the one that freaked out about it this time.” And Jackson said, “Dad, why did you steal Shannon’s job?”

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Well, Jackson started T-Ball again! We have already had three games and this year his team is actually pretty good. He's on the Athletics and he gets to wear his favorite color...Yeah that's how he picks teams. Here he is in action...Sticking his tongue out helps make that ball go just a bit further I think. Actually Lou used to do the same thing as a kid...Lou's coaching again this year...Here they are playing outfield. My friend (and former roommate), Kelly's sons are on Jackson's team this year. Here is Jackson and Jacob in the outfield....And here are the three boys after the game. It's been fun having them on the team because that means Kelly and I get to sit on the sidelines and catch up a bunch. And the Laing boys...

We have a cute cheering section...

And of course what game wouldn't be the same without Aunt Brittany. She's been to every game. Jackson just loves having her there. Anyway, next week is the official picture week...so I'll try to take more.

Uncle Bobby and the Color Changing Hot Wheels

Jackson got these cool Color changing Hot Wheels for Easter. They are really neat...when you put them in hot water the color changes and then we put them in ice cold water and they change back. Well Uncle Bobby (my brother) came over last night and Jackson wanted to show him how they worked. They had a great time making designs with the two different colors and even managing to have a little water fight.

Some time through the course of their playing they both picked up nicknames...The Bob and The Jacks is what they were calling each other for the rest of the night.

Bobby, thanks for coming and playing...Jackson was still talking about that today. He thought is was just so cool that you had never seen those cars before.

Having fun with the camera

A Prince sized bed aka Twin Size

Today Jackson is sick. He has had a fever since I got home from work yesterday. His spirits are up, but that's just Jackson. He rarely acts sick...In fact there were times when he was much smaller that we had no idea he was sick until his eardrum ruptured or he came down with a fever. Even last night with a 102.2* temperature, I asked him if he felt crappy, and in a stuffy voice he just said, "kind of."

So we decided to stay home today. He slept very well through the night, but this morning he woke up with a slight fever and I just didn't want to push it. The first thing he said when he woke up today was, "I'm so excited for my first T-ball game tonight." Lou and I just looked at each other and smiled. We had already told Jackson that if he still had a fever he might have to miss his first T-ball game of the season. He then asked for the "thermoditor" and we took his temperature. He's been laying in my bed for about an hour and a half now and I think he has taken his temperature about 32 times. He has convinced himself that if he can keep his temperature down, he can go to T-ball. We'll see.

So while we are laying in my bed watching Disney XD this morning Jackson says how happy he is that I have a King or a Queen (it's a Queen) size bed so that we can lay together and the dogs can even lay with us. He said, "We just don't all fit in my Prince sized bed." And he is right...we don't all fit. Simon is such a Bed Hog!

Gotta go...the thermometer is beeping for the 33rd time this morning.

Happy Easter

We finally have our camera up and running again (our new battery charger came in the mail yesterday)....So that means...We have PICTURES!

Today was a nice day. Jackson was so eager to get into his Easter basket.

After we checked out the Easter basket, we started coloring eggs. Concentrating...He wears the same shirt every year...It's one of Lou's old shirts. We never wash it so it is full of Easter egg dye from each year. Lou and Jackson coloring eggs...He got a coloring book with the Easter egg dye kit. He is working hard on a maze....After speding some time together (just the family), we went to our friends, Jeff and Jamie's, house for some more Easter fun! Their nephew, Chance was there too...
Thanks Jeff and Jamie for having us over this morning. We had a nice time. Jackson was so happy to see you guys. And he loves this airplane gun thing you guys got him. He told us he has big plans for that thing in our "new" backyard.
Overall, a nice morning. It was good to see some of our friends. It had been way too long since we saw them last. Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter!