The Sandbox

Karen and I took the kids to this cute children's museum in Hilton Head called "The Sandbox."  I guess it's less of a museum and more of an interactive playground with different stations for exploration.  James and Laken had a blast and enjoyed every minute.  There was a pirate ship, an airplane, grocery store, work shop, sand box, puppet show, craft stations, princess palace, train table, toddler room, library, doctor and vet's office, dress-up, and climbing wall.  It was awesome and we'll go back for more fun soon!

Destin Trip

Last weekend we had a few extra days off for Columbus day, so we planned a little trip down to Destin with the Hubert's and Legaspi's.  Lisa was supposed to join us too, but she had an unexpected visitor and couldn't make it....Erik came home from his Iraq deployment 3 months early!!!  We missed her, but we were all so happy for them! 
We had a great time, it was very relaxing and so nice to catch up.  I miss my friends so much....
We stayed at this awesome condo called the Redfish Village in Santa Rosa Beach, FL which is just between Destin and Seaside.  It was perfect.  We had a private access to the beach, a beautiful pool, playground for the kids, and most important....great company.  We visited Seaside, the pier at Ft. Walton Beach, the Donut Hole (best breakfast ever), cooked at the hotel, played at the beach and pool, and kept the kids entertained, played Right, Left or Center, decided on the name of the Hubert's baby boy due Dec 10th, and just relaxed.  Great Vacation!

Military Ball

Thursday night, Oct. 6, we went to the Division Ball at Club Stewart.  We had fun getting all dressed up and hanging out with some of Steven's friends/co-workers.  We ended up having a good time, but the ball itself was pretty disappointing.  We had all RSVP'd, but only Steven and I had seats, all of our other friends were without, so we jumped on the bandwagon and went seat-less so we didn't have to sit with a bunch of folks we didn't know.  We ended up feeling like the 'ball crashers' standing at the back with no seats when the program started, while trying to convince the waiters to set up a table for us.  It all worked out and we got a table, unfortunately, the entertainment didn't get much better.  The keynote speaker was a guy from the Ft. Stewart museum, and he gave a long and very dry monologue on the lives and accomplishments of a few 3rd ID historic heroes.  I really shouldn't complain, it was free....however, after so many fun Balls, it was a little bit of a let down.  Oh well, we still had a fun date night and a good time with some new friends. 

 Pauline and Charlie Brown....yes, his name is Charlie Brown!  They are a super fun couple!

 Wesley and his girlfriend, Shawna.

 Ian and Brandy

Update: 21 months

For the record......

Steven James Fundingsland

• 33 inches tall, 31.5 pounds, size 3T-4T shirts, 2T pants, size 7 shoes
• Loves his matchbox cars and tracks, trains, and anything that goes "vroom"
• Favorite foods: sweet potatoes, eggs, toast, milk, pasta, PB&J, cheese, bananas, meat, crackers
• Boycotts all veggies except peas...loves those!
• Can throw a serious (and I mean SERIOUS) tantrum.  screaming, stomping, kicking, and has no stop button...the kid can go forever...stubborn.  where did he learn this?? He must get it from Steven :)
• Still loves his binkey and pillow.  We have the "binkey and pillow stay in bed" rule, but enforcing it is the root of every tantrum.  every stinkin one.  ugh. 
• Likes to 'bounce' or jump, which is bending low then shooting up, getting one foot off the ground, sometimes two, but at least tiptoes, and then serious giggles. 
• Plays chase, peek-a-boo, loves to read, build towers, push the stroller and bike, talk on the phone, put things in his pocket, brush his teeth, help unload the dishwasher, climb, jump, dance, open doors, put keys in keyholes, color, feed Lacy, play outside, go down the big slide, swing, play
• Loves to watch our home videos and begs for them!  He points to the camera or computer and says "James."
• knows almost all of his body parts...we're still working on ankles and wrists, but we'll get those soon.
• repeats the last word of everything we say, or attempts to.  He loves yes and no questions and can answer them!  his 'yes' sounds like "yessss" and No is his favorite word...still.  :(
• He knows his name, but he pronounces it "Base."
• Words that actually sound right:  Daddy, Mom, no, please, peas, toast, eggs, mouse, bounce, cars, choo-choo, dog, bath, cheese, hi, bye, juice, ball, night-night, yes, door, shoes, moo, baa, roar, neigh, woof-woof, meow, the elephant sound, throw, flag, bus,
• Words that don't sound right but we know what they mean:  binkey, pillow, milk, chase, thanks, Lacy, James, stairs, picture, pig, truck, tall, blocks,
• Jabbers constantly.  He's talking in full and long sentences except he makes absolutely no sense.  It's all gibberish.  He is not putting together actual words yet...hoping for that soon.
• Sleeping is going pretty well.  He stays in bed and only gets up once if any, just to get an extra hug, then is happy to go to bed.  He's sleeping from 7:30 to 6:00am.  6:15 if we're lucky.  We've tried moving around his bed time to try to get him to sleep a bit longer, but nothing has worked.  He's down to one nap per day, usually 11:00-1:00ish, but that's flexible.  He always sleeps 2 hours no matter what. 
• Child care has been a struggle. We thought we'd pushed through the separation anxiety a few weeks ago, but then James got sick and hasn't been in a few weeks, and now we're back to square one.  frustrating.
• Pouts and gives the strangest looks with his eyes. 
• Whines and puts on a show like a master....where do they learn that stuff? 

We love our sweet big boy and have so much fun watching him grow, change, and learn something new every day. 

Our DIY Shelves

I have gotten some amazing ideas from this blog I follow....  http://ana-white.com/  She posts great DIY ideas with all of the directions and shopping lists.  awesome!  She has plans to make everything from shelves and picture frames to entertainment centers and dining room tables.  It's pretty much the best blog ever if you're a crafter!  This year we made a few shelves for our house and are really pleased with how they turned out. 
These first ones are made from shipping pallets.  I cut them off, added a piece to the bottom to make a shelf, sanded just a little, stained and hung them up!  They are my absolute favorite!  The mirror in the middle is a project I did last year, made from an old window where I replaced the glass with mirror, painted and distressed the frame.  It's my 2nd favorite thing in our house :)

The original pallet I found cast away at the house construction site next door.  I could see its potential....

 I love character this one has with its blue paint, cracked planks, and gouges.  I added a 1x4 to the bottom to make it a shelf, and used a 'saws-all' to cut it off to the height I wanted. 
 Finished product.  love love love these and how they're all different.

 These white shelves are hanging in our loft upstairs which is James' playroom.  I wanted to display pictures of our family, and these shelves provide the perfect place.  We made them from a 1x3, 1x4, and 1x2.  Just screwed and nailed them together, then screwed directly into the stud on the wall.  Quick, easy, cheap, and I think they're pretty! 

This beige couch is not my ideal coordinating piece..but it does look a little better in person, and the curtains have beige in them.  It's not quite the sore thumb in the room as it appears here, but oh well.  :)  Love my colorful curtains though! 

 I can't remember if I already put the pictures of our Riddling Rack up or not...so here it is again.  I wish I had a picture where the candles are lit and flowers are in the little vases, but you get the idea. 

Date Night

Yes we did...finally had a date night!  We haven't been out together without James for over 2 months.  ugh.  we were desperately in need of adult conversation without being interrupted by spilled milk or runaway peas.  We got dressed up and had plans to go to a local Irish pub, but we got sidetracked by a Mexican restaurant and couldn't pass up some chips and dip!  :)  We talked for three hours about everything...except James!  Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our son more than life itself, but when it feels like that's all you ever talk about, you need to take a break.  We had such a great time!  Our neighbor stayed with James....we let her puppy out while she's at work during the day in exchange for babysitting once in a while.  awesome!  Of course I forgot to snap a picture until we're in the driveway returning home...but hey, at least we got one! 

James' 2nd Hospital Stay...

Long Post Warning.....
We have had a stressful week, to say the least!  Two weeks ago, Sept 15, I noticed a little bug bite on James' stomach.  It was no bigger than a mosquito bite, and I really didn't pay it much attention.  The next day, Friday, James threw up 5 times out of the blue.  He was feeling great all day, but evening came and he started running a fever and was quite sick.  Saturday he felt much better but started coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and his bug bite was looking a little red and infected.  We decided to take him in to the doctor that Monday. 

She saw the bite, gave us antibiotics, and also diagnosed viral pneumonia after seeing a chest x-ray.  Viral is way less drastic than bacterial, so it really wasn't a big deal.  He was acting happy so we really weren't too concerned.  Well, a few days pass and his cough gets much better along with his bug bite, the red circle around the bite basically disappeared. 

Well, Saturday morning we noticed a little read streak coming from the bite area, but we thought maybe he just was pressing up on the table and it was just a little irritated.  Well, the next time we looked at it, it had turned into a large red circle and become tender to the touch and hard.  We were advised to just watch it overnight and if it got worse then we should take him back in. 

We took him to the ER at the closest hospital Sunday morning.  (Military insurance covers ER visits way easier than Urgent Care centers, so that's where we have to go on the weekends)  Let me just say, we wish we would've driven the extra 25 minutes to take him to the Army hospital ER....we did not have a good experience...but hindsight is always 20/20.   We should've taken cues from the dirty waiting room and the bloody rag on the floor of the triage room...but no, we soldiered on.  James was seen fairly quickly and they knew right away that it needed to be drained and cleaned out.  Here's where it got ugly...and I didn't realize how bad it actually was until a few days later....

They brought in two nurses along with Steven and I, and we held James down while the doc gave him a shot of Lidocane to numb the area.  He then pierced the skin and squeezed out the pus and goo that was in there....there was a lot.  Poor James was a wreck, screaming and kicking, it was not pleasant.  Poor little man.  We felt terrible, but we thought he was mostly scared because Lidocaine really does numb the area quite well.  Come to find out....the acid levels in the abscess basically cancel out the Lidocaine, so little James was getting squeezed and punctured without any pain relief.  We are still so upset...we'll never be going back to St. Joseph's ER! 

Anyway, we got out of there and went home, scheduled our follow up appointment with our family doctor for Tuesday and got James on stronger antibiotics.  It really didn't get much better, and by Tuesday the abscess was hard and red again.  Our family doctor took one look at it, picked up her phone, called the general surgery department at our Army hospital, and got James an emergency surgery scheduled for that afternoon!  She couldn't believe that they didn't give James any more anesthetic than Lidocaine, and thought that he needed to be put under general anesthetic for a procedure like that!  ugh.  we felt and still do feel like bad parents for putting our little guy through such a dramatic procedure at the ER.  You think that the doctors know best and you trust them...that's why you go!  I didn't have a clue that acid cancels out the effectiveness of Lidocaine....poor James. 

So, we got him checked in, met with the surgeon, and they took good care of him.  Thankfully Steven was able to be there too.  They made a small incision in the abscess, drained the infection, cleaned it, then packed it with this cool gel stuff that liquefies after a few days...no stitches required.  The whole procedure lasted just 15 minutes, and James came out of anesthetic pretty well.  It's so strange to see your kid drugged up though, his eyes were all crazy and rolling around.  Very weird.  We stayed the night in the hospital so he could get strong antibiotics through his IV, and they sent us home Wednesday afternoon.  Much much much better experience!  Cleaner, nicer, more attentive, less pain and less drama.  Love WINN Army Hospital. 

Sigh....it's all over.  They know it was a staph infection and possibly MRSA, but there's no way to know how he got it.  Could be from the wal-mart shopping cart, another little kid at day-care, or anything.  We just don't know and frankly, it doesn't matter.  He's doing much better and he's healing up quite well.  He's still a little traumatized from it all, so he doesn't like to have his bandage changed.   We know it's not hurting him anymore though because when we get a little sneaky and touch that area, he has no reaction at all.  Thank God!  We have a follow up appointment with our surgeon on Monday afternoon, so we'll see what he thinks! 

long post.  sorry.  :)
Pictures:  This is his abscess before we took him to the ER on Sunday.  We circled the infection with pen to see if it grew overnight...it did.

 James sleeping after his surgery.  The little dinosaur bandage on his hand was to cover his IV...he HATED it!  :)