ALOHA!

Just thought that I would do a quick update. We are in Oahu, Hawaii visiting Jeff's brother Brian and his family. We arrived on Thursday evening and went to the beach where Hudson learned to boogie board. He has absolutely no fear. Friday we went snorkeling and rock jumping. We had a ton of fun. We saw lots of fish and Hannah dove down and touched a turtle. I was really tired and was already swimming to the beach so I missed the 2 turtles that Jeff and Hannah saw. Saturday we had to take Hudson to the doctor. He had a second degree sunburn and huge blisters on one of his shoulders. We had slathered sunscreen on him the day before but he is just so white. From there Jeff took me to the hospital. Turns out I had pneumonia in both lungs from being hit from the air bag in our car accident at home a week earlier (a whole other story). They pumped me full of antibiotics and sent me home with more. I am now feeling about 80% better. Today we went snorkeling and played on the beach. We saw tons of fish. I saw a turtle in the water from the car on the way to lunch. We are going to go back to that beach and snorkel before we leave. Tomorrow we are going the the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Hawaiian Temple visitors center. We love it here the weather has been warm but a beautiful trade wind breeze. Jeff and I went with Brian and Laura to a restaurant called Lei Lei's and had the best seared ahi tuna steak ever! It makes me drool just thinking about it. I know, Noel ate fish???!!! Enjoy the pictures. I have more updating to do about the last few weeks and I will do it soon.

Hannah on the West Sac Dolphins Swim Team

Hannah had her time trials meet 2 weeks ago and did very well. We had forgotten how much work the meets are and then add Hudson to the mix. Can you say CRAZY!!! It was 101 F that day so we were all just toast! Hopefully this Saturday won't be so hot. I can hope right. We decided to leave Hudson with my mom for this meet. The last one he threw his sandal and daddy's glasses in the pool in the middle of races. That's our Hudson!!

We are so proud of Hannah. We watch her everyday becoming a stronger swimmer. She has her first meet against Rocklin this Saturday. I know that she will do her best and that is all that matters. She is turning in to a beautiful young lady. I can't believe that she will be done with 4th grade next week. Crazy!

Hudson's Swim Lessons

Hudson just finished 6 weeks of Infant Swim Resource "ISR" lessons. Thank you Christina for emailing me their web site last year!! Thank you Stefani Norville! You are an amazing teacher! It was amazing to see Hudson learn so quickly how to swim and float to save himself if he ever fell in the water whether in a swim suit or full winter clothing. We worried about him so much with Jeff's parents living on a lake and being at the pool everyday for Hannah's swim practice. Hudson has no fear of the water. The tools that he learned are invaluable! This is our life insurance for our little guy! The pictures and video speak for themselves. Check out the link the I have put on down below.

http://www.infantswim.com/home.html

Just call me slacker!

We have been so buys the last few weeks that I finally looked at all of the pictures that we have taken since Easter. We had the annual Easter egg hunt at Grandpa & Grandma Blum's even though they were in Utah. We all had fun decorating the eggs. Most of Hudson's were his favorite color, blue. We also had a great Easter dinner just the four of us.

Our Sweet Baby Pascual

The last few days have been painful and difficult. We grew to love this sweet baby so very much! It has been an amazing experience for me personally and for our family. We learned that we are a lot stronger than we ever thought that we could be. We learned so much medically on how to take care of all of his needs.

Tuesday I went with Marissa and Pascaul, his biological parents and helped them pick out and urn and then today to the Holy Rosary Church in Woodland to set a memorial service date. His memorial will be next Thursday, March 26th, 2009. It has been a long drawn out and frustrating process due to the county involvement and lack of human compassion. My heart goes out to his parents! I know this has been a very painful and sad experience for them.

I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's insight in placing us all together through this experience. It has given me many opportunities to serve and help Marissa. I have grown to love her. She is such a sweet girl and she needs lots of love and acceptance.

I am so thankful for my sweet Jeff! He has been such a wonderful support and I love his ability to make me laugh and his ability to love. He is amazing! Hannah has shown so much concern, love and compassion not only for me but for Marissa as well. She is an amazing and sweet daughter of God! Hudson my hilarious, terrific 2 year old keeps us laughing and running. I know that he misses the baby. He will go to the crib and ask where is the baby periodically.

At the risk of sounding repetitive I am thankful for this amazing experience and that Heavenly Father entrusted this sweet baby to us. He had, has such a strong sweet spirit and has forever changed us and has helped our testimonies grow so much. I am thankful for the continued opportunity to serve and love his family. I hope that we can bless theirs lives as much and they have blessed ours.

I hope that you enjoy the pictures. A professional photographer offered his services to Marissa and Pascual while the baby was still in the hospital. He did an amazing job. Several of the pictures remind me of how peaceful he looked when he passed. Thank you for all of your prayers and love during this time. All our love!

Sweet Pascual

I know that I haven't updated our blog in a few weeks. Life has been crazy busy. For those of you who don't know two weeks ago we brought Baby Pascual into our home. He was two weeks old with Trisomy 13 which is a extra chromosome genetic disorder. He had a severe cleft lip and palate, a blood platelet disorder, a 6th pinky on each hand, heart and lung problems and his eyes never developed. Because of the cleft palate we had to line feed him through a gastric tube into his little tummy. He was an amazing baby with such a sweet special little spirit! He loved being held and loved on. When he cried we would carress his little cheeks and he would be instantly soothed. We grew to love him so much in such a short time. Sadly Pascual passed away early Sunday morning in our home. We miss him horribly but will always treasure the blessing of having him in our home. It is such a comfort to know that he is no longer in pain and that he went straight back to our Father in Heaven. This has been such an amazing experience for our family and has brought us closer together and reminded us to treasure the simple things. We have learned that service and love go hand in hand. I will add more about this precious baby and experience in the days to come. Thanks for the out pouring of love and support to our family.

Haille & CJ Come & Gone

On a side note CJ & Haillee were moved to another home on February 27 due to their crazy mother's accusations of abuse. CPS came in to investigate our home with in the first couple of days that we had the baby placed with us. They obviously found nothing to collaborate mom's story. She was crazy we had nursed her son through the worst case of chicken pox we had ever seen, clothed them, fed them, loved them and given them a safe and happy place to live. We are not willing to risk losing our kids because so mother who shows up to her visits high on who knows what saying that we are physically abusing her kids so we asked that they be moved asap! The sad thing is it is the children that suffer.




Here are pictures of Haille, CJ & Buster. Our home has been chaos this week but I think that everyone is adjusting and life will be a little calmer next week...I can hope right???

Scare!!!!

Hudson just gave us the scare of our lives! I went to lunch with my Mom and Grandma today. Jeff stayed home with Hudson, CJ and Hailee. When I left I locked the front deadbolt. We have a flip lock that is higher up the door but we have to lock that from the inside. Anyway Jeff was upstairs and Hudson moved his chair over to the door unlocked the deadbolt and went outside. When we pulled up from lunch Jeff was walking outside to look for him. We all started yelling for him. An ANGEL was driving down the street almost 2 block away and saw him without a parent. She got out of her car and started knocking on doors and called 911 just about the time Jeff saw her with Hudson! We are so relieved and scared to death!!!! It only takes a second. I bawled my eyes out it scared me so bad! Hudson knew he was in big trouble when we found him because he wouldn't look at us. When we got home we made him go to his room and sit on the bed. He has been in his room on his bed for about the last hour and not made a peep. I didn't even get the girls name that stopped. I am eternally grateful to her!

New Puppy and Kids

Just thought I would update everyone on the rest of our week. John, the guy that hit Jack, graciously bought a new puppy for the kids. We got a miniature Schnauzer and his name is Buster. He is a little doll. Although, just like a person, Jack can never be replaced, Buster has found a special place in our hearts and is helping the grieving and healing process. Hannah has him constantly and because he doesn't shed he has been sleeping with her also. He is really helping her through this. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much during this time for our family! He always knows our needs and our hearts!

We also have two new little ones. Hailee just turned 3 and her brother CJ just turned two. It sounds like they will be with us long term. We took all the kids to Costco on Friday and people kept asking us if Hudson, Hailee and CJ were triplets. They are all about the same size and all blondies. On Friday when I was getting CJ ready for bed I noticed some bug bites on his belly. This morning they had blisters on them...yep chicken pox. Poor little guy! He is miserable. He has about 30 new ones since this morning. Fortunately Hannah has already had them and Hudson has been vaccinated. We don't know if Hailee has had them so I don't know what to expect. Time will tell. We definitely have our hands full. Hannah has been so awesome with the kids and has been such a big help. Everyone seems to be adjusting fairly well.

Jeff and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary tomorrow. Actually we celebrated last night. My Mom & Dad babysat the kids so that we could go to dinner and a movie. What a treat!! We had such a wonderful evening! We went to The Cheesecake Factory sat at our table for about 2 hours and just enjoyed talking and spending some alone time together. Then we went and saw a movie. We didn't get home until 12:45am. I think we were out past curfew. He he! Thanks so much Mom & Dad!!

Memorial to Our Jack

For all of you that knew Jack, our beloved, crazy dog I have very sad news! This evening Jeff and I took the kids and Jack for a walk. As we were walking a guy driving a Heineken Beer van came flying down the street at about 60mph. There were several kids on their bikes plus our own kids so Jeff stepped out into the street to slow him down. Sadly Jack followed him and the guy didn't slow down and ran right over Jack crushing him. What a horrible, unforgettable sight and sound! Not to mention that it happened right in front of Hannah and Hudson (and the neighborhood kids). All the kids were crying and upset. He was gone with in a minute. I am so glad that he didn't suffer any longer than he did. I am also so thankful that it wasn't one of the kids! It will be forever burned into our memories. The guy did stop and he felt horrible not that that made any of us feel better. Hannah is heart broken. I have never seen her cry like that. Actually we are all heart broken.

We have lots of great memories of Jack! He loved chasing balls, lights and jack rabbits. He loved jumping in the air for hours trying to get the tennis ball off the string (I think that his feet were spring loaded)! He traveled cross country twice with us. He loved the kids and was so patient with them. He was a great family dog. Last night Hudson was laying on Jack's bed loving on him and saying "Acks coot!" At least he knows that he was loved! He was a crazy, spastic dog! We love you and will miss you so much Jack!

Food Critic

This morning I made Hudson scrambled eggs. He took a couple bites then scrunched up his face and said "I no like!" and that was that. He wouldn't touch them. He loves chocolate milk and calls it "coke". The funny thing is we don't drink coke. Go figure.

Hudson the Mischevious

Okay! I have a new respect for mom's that have more than one son!!! How do you do it???? Hudson keeps me CONSTANTLY BUSY! He is too darn smart for his own good. He is so persistent he will keep working at something until he figures it out which usually leads to some form of disaster. In my last post I told you that he got a hold of my make-up..it gets worse! The make-up pictures by the way are on my facebook page (scroll down to photos).

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=588979028&ref=name

• In the last week he has finger painted with 3...yes 3, tubes of toothpaste. Jeff and I had to clean tile and carpet.

• He is the messiest eater I have ever seen! I don't care what you feed him, he is wearing it before he is done.

• A couple of days ago he found a red sharpie pen, from where I do not know and colored on the wall.

• Today he found the Aspercream tube ( I slipped on a piece of card board in the garage...need I say more?) and proceeded to smear it all over his chair and blanket. I always keep that kind of stuff locked up but it was put at the back of the bathroom counter last night thinking that he couldn't reach that far back. I swear the kid has gorilla arms that and he has discovered how to use the stool.

• Jack got a new bed for Christmas. Hudson thinks that It is great fun to lay in Jack's bed. EEEWWW!!!!
  

If it's quiet we all branch out and start looking for Hudson. You laugh but I'm not kidding! All those times that I said "my kids would never do that" is coming back to bite me. I told Hudson today that he is lucky that he is so darn cute and that I love him so much!

On the flip side he is such a joy! He just started saying I love you this last weekend. That completely melts my heart. He is always giving hugs and kisses. He loves taking a nap with mommy. I told Jeff today that that is one of my favorite, cherished times of the day! We were all playing Rockband last night and he was dancing with a stuffed fish like there was no tomorrow. He is so funny.

Anyway my point being hats off to all mommies and daddies!!! The kids are as blessed to have us as we are to have them!

PS. Sadly I didn't get a picture of the toothpaste art so you will have to use your imagination!

Christmas Vacation

We had a great time over the holidays! Jeff got about a week and a half off from work (forced winter closure, thank heavens he hadn't used his vacation time)! We spent our "vacation" at Harold and Renon's, which I think is funny since they only live about 15 minutes away. We had a ball though! We went to see the Stockton Thunder play hockey. Hudson loved the fact that he could scream and yell and no one would tell him to be quiet. He even joined in with the crowd saying "BOOO" when the other team would score. One of his current favorite words is "hockey". The mascot came up and gave him a high 5 twice, which he thought was very cool. The mascot also stroked Hannah's hair, I thought Jeff was going to sock him one. It was so fun to watch the kids have so much fun!

New Years Eve day we went bowling at a new bowling alley in Elk Grove. Renon stayed home with Hudson so we wouldn't have to worry about him running around (he's all boy!). I think that is only the 3rd time that I have ever been bowling. We had a great time. I think Jeff won, but I am claiming that I don't remember.

Hannah got a Wii from Santa for Christmas and we all had a blast playing on it! We got MarioKart which is the best game! Jeff and I would stay up way too late playing and laughing our silly heads off. Once again I think Jeff usually won but I am still claiming that I don't remember!

Funny story...I had to go to Vallejo to have my new crown put on. Hannah went with me. On the way home there were car accidents from Fairfield to Davis. When I got to Vacaville we got off the freeway and did some shopping in hopes that the traffic would subside. No such luck. Jeff told me to put in the GPS to avoid all freeways, thinking that this would take me on the side roads and the fact Hannah and I were talking I wasn't really paying that much attention until...there was a sign that said we were in RIO VISTA. Boy did it avoid all freeways!!! I would have been better off sitting in the freeway parking lot! I would have gotten home sooner! Jeesh, like I need HELP getting lost!! Also while we were gone Jeff and Hudson took a nap. Unfortunately, Hudson woke up before Daddy and was able to reach to the back of the dresser where Mommie's make-up was. You can imagine!

I'm sure that I have missed so many other details but the most important detail is that we spent time as a family. Hudson was a very sad little boy when Daddy and Nannie went back to school and work. He cried his little eyes out when they left that morning. I think that that says it all!

Hudson's New "Ruck"

Hudson got a new "ruck" for Christmas from Grandma & Grandpa Blum. He LOVES it (so does Hannah & Jack)! He still needs a little help steering from "Nannie" but I'm sure he will have that skill mastered no time! Hannah is such an awesome big sister!

Hannah & Angel Baby

Where does the sweater start and the puppy end? We were cracking up when Hannah tried on her new sweater from Grandpa & Grandma Kriser and then held my Grandma's puppy.