2010-10-31 Pics of the Day!

 Glinda the Good Witch!

She's a sleepy witch, even before we went trick-or-treating!

2010-10-30 Pic of the Day!

Taken by my sister at Aubrey's baptism :)

2010-10-29 Pic of the Day!

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*I wish this came out clearer.  She was having so much fun with the doors. I love how she discovers new things... and opening (and then closing, then opening, etc.) the door is something she loves to do!

Small Joys

Its the little things in life that bring me joy.  One of those things I thought I lost was Starbucks coffee.  When you're on a tight budget, Starbucks is one of the first things to go. 

I found out last week that the cafe across the street sells pour-yourself Starbucks coffee, complete with flavored syrups!  I splurged a $1.69 and got one. YUM.  (PS The coffee they make here at work is like black water - weak!)  Then a co-worker gave me a coupon for a free coffee YAY!  So the next day I went back for FREE yummy coffee and when I checked out the cashier handed me ANOTHER coupon.

WHAT?

So now, every morning I go and get free starbucks: half-caff, 3-pumps hazelnut, 2 creams, 2 sugars coffee. And the cashier hands me a coupon for the next day.

Yay!

2010-10-27 Pic of the Day!

Umm... Alexsa?  You got a little something... nevermind.

No More Treatments

I mentioned a while back about Grandpa and his cancer.  Well he went through his radiation only to slow the cancer down.  After that he decided to try chemotherapy in 3 doses, 3 weeks apart.  The first dose (about 3 weeks ago) really knocked him on his ass and hasn't been the same since.  He's been in and out of the hospital, and finally came home last week.  He's been on different drugs for various things (fluid in his lungs, pains in his wrist and shoulder, etc). He's started to get confused by the time.  He wakes up in the middle of the night thinking its morning, or tries to take his evening meds an hour after taking them, not remembering that he's already taken them.  My aunt, who's been staying there with him, thought it might be the percocet, so they switched to vicodin.  The pain management got better (which is good) but the loopiness didn't really go away. 

Grandpa with his 3 kids

They had an appointment last week to discuss options, and Grandpa and the doctors decided not to continue with the treatments.  For the first time, the doctor gave a timeline: 1-9 months.  They brought up Hospice, and today, he reluctantly signed up.

I've been reading the daily email updates from my aunt and talking about it with my family, and I've been pretty calm about it.  It wasn't until I read the last email, with the subject "No More Treatments" that its really hitting me that I'll never see him alive again. I'll never feel another bear hug that almost squeeze the air out of your lungs.  I'll miss our card games with the "Ik - Ik - LaBOO!" curses after being given a bad card. 

At Grandpa's 80th Birthday Party


Grandpa has always been the stone foundation of our family.  The house on the lake has been the place to be for anything from July 4th celebrations to Just-Because bonfires and summer parties.  What's to become of the house?  Will it even be the same without its heart?  How do you say goodbye to your last living Grandparent? 

I wonder how he's feeling.  Is he sad to be leaving all of us behind? Is the thought of being with Grandma again comforting at all?  He loves life more than anyone I know.  Is that love so strong that the thought of death terrifying?  I worry about him. I want to hug him and tell him its OK, but at the same time, I'm being selfish.  I haven't talked to him in a few months.  During the end of my Grandma's life, we went to visit for Thanksgiving.  She wasn't the same person.  She didn't talk, and due to the steroids was about 50 pounds heavier.  Will Grandpa be the same? They have skype, but again - will he even look the same?  I want to remember him as the smiling leprechaun that gave us $10 whenever we went to walmart and bought me my first bikini behind my Dad's back. 

2010-10-25 Pics of the Day!

"I'm sooo scared..." (Blair Witch, get it?)

BIG SMILES!

Notice her snaps are un snapped? That's because daddy put her in a size 3 month onsie and it was too small!

2010-10-24 Pic of the Day!

It was my church's annual bazaar this weekend!  Denise and I took the girls down their first slide ride.  The Moms freaked out a bit - it was WAY faster than we thought it would be.  The girls didn't seem to care one way or another!

2010-10-23 Pic of the Day!

I have been trying to get a picture of this for weeks!  This is how she holds her binky sometimes. Upside down with her bottom lip sticking out.  Its flipping adorable :)

2010-10-22 Pic of the Day!

Check out her track suit! HA!! Aunt Nichole bought that for her - its size 12 months!!!  ahhh!!

My sweet neice Aubrey Grace.  This was right before I made her cry... :( (in my defense she was hungry!)

2010-10-21 Pics of the Day!

I haven't taken a picture of Alexsa in her car seat recently.  She's getting so big!!

After her bath, beautiful as ever :)

2010-10-20 Pics of the Day!

Alexsa insists on feeding herself!

Heehee...

2010-10-18 Pic of the Day!

I've finally started bouncing in my bouncer!! (Not that you can tell from the picture, but still...)

2010-10-17 Pics of the Day!

Sunday we had breakfast together before Barry, Alexsa, Grandpa and Abuelita went to MOSI for a bit (again - free with our MOSH passes! yay!)


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Alexsa loves her "Aunt" Rachel!

 This is just one of the hundreds of things for the kids to do. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything for Alexsa to roam free, but the Adults defintitely had a good time! And she enjoyed looking at everything.

2010-10-16 Pics of the Day!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today!  Alexsa wasn't very interested in the camera at all... I could barely get her to look towards the camera.

Alexsa, Mya & Max

Cousins!
Rachel, Mya, Stephanie, Max, Barry, Mandi, & Alexsa

Happy Halloween from the Swedlows!

2010-10-15 Pics of the Day!

Most of the day today was spent with The Gallers! Have I mentioned that I'm so glad they now live in Florida and are only a few hours away? :) First we went to The Lucky Dill Deli for lunch.  It definitely has Triple D potential.

Alexsa is working on her pincer grip at lunch

Afterwards we went to Great Explorations Children's Museum.  Because we have the year passes to MOSH, we got in for free! YAY!  It was awesome!  They had a fenced in baby area and Alexsa was able to crawl around and explore and socialize with other kids. 

They had a music hour. Alexsa mostly liked to chew the tambourine.

Row Row Row your boat!

Leah's insides!

Adam on stage (I love this picture! :))

She's testing out the "bernoulli effect"

Barry being a good sport so i could get a cute shot of Alexsa :)

It was great to spend some time w/ Angelle, but as always it went by too fast.  Luckily we'll be back in a few weeks for Adam's Bday.  :)

2010-10-14 Pic of the Day!

We travelled to Tampa to visit with friends and family for a long weekend on Thursday!  For some reason, I only took this one picture today. I guess I was so excited to see everyone. :)

On the left is Alexsa's cousin Mya, and "Grandma Sharon" is feeding Alexsa.  Sharon is Barry's Aunt. :)

2010-10-13 Pics of the Day!

Alexsa looks like her Aunt Denise here :)  So pretty!

I gave Alexsa her first puffs today.  she did pretty good with them :)

2010-10-12 Pic of the Day!

Look at how tall she's getting! Remember here when I first caught her standing in her crib?

2010-10-11 Pics of the Day!

Alexsa met a new friend today!  A co-worker's daughter, Sarah, is 11 months old - exactly 3 months older than Alexsa.  We went to lunch then went to a park!

 It was Alexsa's first time in a park swing and she loved it! She laughed and laughed :)

Sarah climbed 1/2 way UP the slide! Go girl!

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It was impossible to get them to BOTH look at the camera.

I really liked the park's "grass". it was some sort of turf w/ small tire pieces.  I was comfortable letting alexsa crawl around on it and not worried about ants.

Thanks, Ashley, for introducing this park to us! We'll be back!

2010-10-10 Pic of the Day!

Unfortunately this was the only picture I took of Alexsa on Sunday!  She has 2 new favorite 'toys'. first - her diapers. She loves them.  and second - plastic bags! She collect them from the floor and carry them arround then sit and shake them like pom-poms!  And yes, I make sure to keep a close eye on her when she plays with them. :)

2010-10-09 Pics of the Day!

Happy 8 months Alexsa!

Waiting for Papa at Cracker Barrel :)

We had lunch with Papa today, back from Bolivia! (Doesn't he look like a mountain man? I like the scruff!)

Sleep Update

I finally thought, with these ear plugs, that if I go lie in bed, maybe I'll not hear her.(I'm farther away)  I crawled into bed and buried my head in the pillow when Barry put his hand on my back.  I lost it. I broke, started crying.  Luckily, shortly after I started talkinig to barry about it, she fell asleep.  It was about 1:30.  We (Barry and I) woke up shortly before 8:30 thinking that we should wake her up when she started waking up. 

I was happy to see when I walked in her room and she was smiling.  She still loves me... that's good. :)

8 Month Sleep Regression

After being an angel sleeper since she was 8 weeks old, Alexsa has decided to rebel at full force.  For about a week now, she's been waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes its for a few hours at a time, sometimes it was just to be rocked back to sleep.  Some nights are better than others.  Well, I thought the night before last was the worst.  Up from from 11:30 to 1, then from 2-3:30, then again at 5.  The last night was just a play hour from 12-2... Then she slept until 10:30!!!!  So i was afraid tonight would be bad.  Well, here we are, 1:04 AM, and she's only slept in 2 small spurts since 3:00.  She went down at her normal time, around 8:00, but woke up at 8:45.  I decided to take her with me to go to the airport to pick up my Dad (back from Bolivia!) so she was up the whole time, and finally fell asleep on the way home, which was about a 30 minute ride.  We got home at 11:45ish and she's been crying ever since.  I read that this is called Sleep Regression.  They're little bodies and brains are going through such a hugh developmental push that they just can't take it and don't sleep.  So what do they suggest to help? Sleep.  Well no shit. If i could get her to sleep we wouldn't be having this conversation, now would we? 

I'm sitting here with ear plugs in my ears and I still hear my baby wailing.  Its breaking my heart.  I need her to sleep and i can't think of another way except to let her tire herself out - i've tried everything else: We rocked, she won't take a bottle, I gave her teething tablets, we took a lavender bath, I gave her tylenol, i just let her play.... nothing soothed her for more than a few minutes.  She doesn't want to be held, yet she doesn't want to be too far from you...  I feel like a horrible mother with these plugs in my ears, but its the only way i'm not walking in there every 5 minutes.  its now been 13 or so and i think she's finally calming down, then she goes for round 2.  Its a good thing you can't hear this blog...

*sigh*

2010-10-08 Pic of the Day!

The ducks were ready for some bread today!

And one took a nibble of Alexsa's toe!  I screamed a bit, but she didn't even notice. :)

2010-10-07 Pic of the Day!

Thought we'd try out the sippy cup tonight!  She kinda gets it...

But we still have to work out some kinks...

And here's another 'new' outfit from the closet.  I had to get a picture of her little feet and tushy covered in all those hearts. :)