Ode to our deck

 
I had intended to give an update on the deck we built in our yard but never did.  Decided that it is time for that update.  Those of you who read this have probably already seen/enjoyed the deck but just in case, it still seemed appropriate to give a formal shout out to Bob for having the idea to scope creep our outdoor furniture plans into a deck and to Dad for making those plans a reality.

Now we spend the majority of our weekends on this deck enjoying either the warmth of the sun or the cool of the evening (as in the case of our recent heatwave!).  When you live in NorCal you pay a premium for good weather, so having an outdoor room is a great way to maximize your limited space.  

Prior to having a deck we had sloped, cracked concrete so this deck is a huge upgrade.
Today Bob and Jacqueline used the deck area for a new activity -- napping.  We've become complete nap failures since Jaq's operation.  She seems to revive herself at the smallest event and on the weekends having us all home there is always something going on she doesn't want to miss.  

This afternoon, Ashton and I decided it was time to use my mother's day gift certificate and get pedicures.  Bob and Jacqueline dropped us off and walked home.  Turns out that the walk home was sufficiently boring to put her to sleep.  

Bob wisely grabbed the sunday paper and enjoyed some quiet time on the deck with Jacqueline getting a nap.  What can we say, the deck rocks!

Thanks again Dad.  We love it.

Jacqueline's first Swim lesson

Today was the first day back to swim lessons.  While Ashton was also attending lessons (and did an amazing job!) this was the first "real" lesson for Jacqueline.  Needless to say we were not sure how it was going to work out since there were 4 kids in the class with only one teacher.  

As you can see Jacqueline did great job!  She listened and followed directions really well and for the most part waited her turn without jumping into the water as was my initial concern.

As you can see of the four kids, Jacqueline was one of the two who managed to follow the instructions to kick from the stairs.

And here are both girls with their swimsuits ready to go.  Ashton's class was an hour after Jacqueline and we were all very impressed with how well she is doing.  There were 2 other girls in her class who seemed very well matched in age and ability.  

Anyway, now the only downside is the need to be to the lessons by 9:30am on a Saturday.   What a relief that Jacqueline has been doing well and so far seems to not be suffering any additional ear infection risk as a result (fingers crossed here!).

Princess Tea

The Gym did a "Mother daughter princess tea".  The initial plan was for Ashton, Jacqueline and Mom to attend.  When the time came Jacqueline was sick again (stomach flu this time). So Mommy and Aston got some time to go together.
Here is princess Ashton ready to go.  Mom was especially pleased with her hair.
Ashton met up with her friends Madeline and Sophie for the event.  A princess came and entertained the girls with a very cute story.
Ashton, Madeline and Sophie decided to do some dancing on the stage before we left.
Ashton convinced me she is growing up when she decided that she didn't need to stand in the long line for the photo with the princess right away, but chose to come back later when the line was almost done.  Here she is getting the last photo with the princess before we went home.

Phoenix 2008

Right after Easter we all packed up for a fun in the sun visit to Phoenix to spend some time with the Ochse/Driscoll families as well as celebrate Stu's birthday with a surprise party.
Both girls had a great time in the pool but sadly Jacqueline was pretty sick this whole trip.  In fact, one could question her parents for dragging her on a plane with a high fever and a case of bronchitis (in my defense she did see the dr. the night before and was cleared to travel but she also did throw up 4 times before we left for the airport and spiked a fever of 103.  Thank goodness for Tylenol and Motrin!)
Daddy and the girls eating after the lazy river run.
Ashton was fast friends with Stu and Diane's dogs.  Although I think the big attraction was the pretzel chips.
Ashton, on the other hand managed to stay well the whole time and really enjoyed playing in the pool.

Easter 2008

Easter was an excellent spring day.  Of course not all family members were well (Jaq) so it was also a bit slow for us.  Although Jacqueline was struggling with a bit of a cold, she did manage to start her day out with jelly beans so she was happy.  Dad enjoyed some time in the sun.
The highlight of Easter was the visit from Natasha (the only family member that came through for the celebration).  While she wasn't able to stay for dinner, she did manage to play some with Buddy and do some time in the bounce house with Ashton.
Special thanks to Judy who not only came through with dinner even though she was sick but also got the girls these adorable easter outfits, complete with purses.
Ashton was very adept at the easter egg hunt this year.
Jacqueline also did pretty well, especially since she wasn't really felling 100% at the time.

Spring Ski trip 2008

As you can see the highlight of this ski trip is the snowmobile day.  Vic (and Co.), Chris (and Co.) + the Bear clan all took to the snow.  The day was beautiful, the girls loved it and only a few in our party tipped over (not me of course, I had the convenient excuse of the girls for going the slowest).
This was just a pose, we did not all three ride together.  Bob took both girls once but I was not confident enough for that!

This is Jacqueline showing off her new turtle fur hat.
We celebrated Bob's birthday while we were in Park City.  Papa Terry managed to get decorations and a cake which was a big hit with everyone.  Interestingly we didn't manage to get any photos with Papa Terry in them ?!  But he did enjoy a couple days snowboarding and got quite a reputation of someone who could easily be convinced to go for a Hot Chocolate run.

And finally a family photo.  You will notice that we all own helmets now which was the highlight of the season.

Jacqueline's Operation

We are finally home from the operation ordeal and I thought I had better get a blog entry out there to update everyone. First and foremost the operation was a success. The doctor said that her tonsils were not only enlarged but chronically inflamed and that the operation "couldn't have gone better". Adenoids and ear tubes were also done just to keep it real.




They moved the operation to 7:30am (from 8:30) so it was an early morning.  Adding to that, for some reason even though we got the girls to bed late on thursday night Jacqueline was in our room at 5am friday morning ready to go. Add to this I decided to get sick on wednesday night so I was up since 3am with fever which made for a bit of a rough morning. The operation went according to plan and we were in recovery with her around 9am.

She was pretty sleepy most of the morning and we were hopeful things were progressing along well but then she got a bit behind on her pain medicine.  

Sadly, she then decided to get sick every time we attempted to give her any pain meds which left us with only tylenol for her. Needless to say it was a rough evening/night. Later in the evening she decided to progress with a bit of an infection so fever and runny nose/cough were added to her fun.

Since this was my only non-birth hospital stay I realized that the back pain I had associated with epidural really was just an uncomfortable hospital bed. We kept her on the IV throughout her stay which was good as she was refusing to drink on her own and getting more challenging as the day wore on.

This morning, we learned that the surgery center closes at 2pm so we were going to have to either move her to the hospital or take her home and find a way to get her to drink.  We decided we'd risk taking her home and got the doctor to agree to let us give her some motrin in addition to tylenol for her pain.  Well as I'm sure you guessed that worked like a charm.  We got home and gave her motrin which she took without much protest and suddenly she was on the road to recovery.  

A few tv shows and some chocolate pudding later she was ready to play some games with dad while mom took a nap.  Now she is laying down, in theory taking a nap but she has willing taken a bottle and even managed a smile.  So I'd say we are on our way.  I'm planning to start her on the antibiotics this evening to clear up the infection.  We are told to expect a bit of a rough week but now that she is drinking we are out of the woods for any serious worries.

Ashton is happily enjoying a sleep-over with her cousins so hopefully we'll all catch up on our rest before she comes home tomorrow and be ready to start another week.  I'm on day 3 of the antibiotics myself so I'm also hoping to be feeling better by tomorrow.  

Thanks to all for the well wishes, cards, flowers and cuddly bears.  I will write a different post about our Disney Princess on Ice adventure as I promised Ashton I'd include some photos and this post was getting too long.