WIN AN IPAD!

No, this isn't a spam blog... My good friends, the Maddexes are giving away an iPad!  Its all for their hope in adopting Danil, a beautiful little boy living with Down Syndrome in an orphanage overseas.

There is a catch of course. You have to add to the cause by posting this link to your facebook and/or your blog and even better, give a few bucks!

So click on the link!  You can get over 80 entries! Click below to see how!

http://addingtothemaddness.blogspot.com/2011/03/madd-ipad2-giveaway.html

THANKS!

Corinna Hoffman Family Photo Shoot

Here's Alexsa's OFFICIAL Chair Picture for her first birthday:

We had a great time getting our pictures taken last week and Cori was great enough to have them ready for today, Alexsa's first birthday party!  Check out the rest of the sweet pictures here:
http://corinnahoffman.blogspot.com/

2010-12-19 Pic of the Day!

Today we celebrated Christmas at my sister's house.  Santa came a week early because her step son will be at his Mom's for christmas, so we had Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, opened presents and took some photos.  Most of the good pictures are on my sister's camera, but here's the best one I took w/ my camera:

2010-12-18 Pics of the Day!

On a playground in Clermont, FL during a visit with family - Aunt Idalia and Uncle Bob and cousins Charissa and Kenny.

Getting ready to go down the BIG slide!

Wish this wasn't blurry! Check out her closed eyes. :)

2010-12-16 Pic of the Day!

We don't have enough pictures of Alexsa and Barry's Dad... so we took one today. :)

Alexsa and Grandpa!

Pic of the Day Hiatus

Because of our unexpected trip to Chicago, the pics of the day got ignored...  And now I'm just not in the mood to post 1 each day, so i'm going to be lazy and just post all the pictures from last week to my FB...

I'll post about Grandpa when I get a few moments and I'm up for it... just not quite ready yet.

2010-11-28 Pic of the Day!

Alexsa scuplted a swan from her chewed puff bits. it landed on her nose. :)

Aubrey and Alexsa!

2010-11-26 Pics of the Day!

On Friday we travelled to Sarasota to visit with some cousins that were in town (Valerie, Aaron, Lyra Gabe, and Noni!)  We met at the Ringing Circus Museum where Noni volunteers and spend a few hours walking around and talking before all but Noni had to catch a flight back home.  I wish I had gotten some pictures of them and us together, but unfortunately it slipped my mind.

One of my new favs... On the way down there :)

Take the time to stop and lick the roses.

My attempt at a christmas picture for the Christmas Card... 

2010-11-07 Pics of the Day!

Sunday we spent the day with Rachel!  We relaxed in the morning, then headed to Acropolis in Ybor for some yummy greek food.  Alexsa had Babaganoush and ate her fair share of the yummy appitizer.  After we hopped over to Ikea for some always oh-so-awesome shopping. I can always find at least 3234645 things I like there. :)

Alexsa's watching Sunday Morning in her leg warmers :)  She's going to try out for Fame later.

At the restaurant. She looked so pretty in the natural light.

Giving "Aunt" Rachel kisses. :)

Didn't get any pics at Ikea, but we had a great time, then headed back to Jacksonville!

Biting the Bullet

We are so blessed.  We have a roof over our heads in a gated community in an area of town that is good for kids and close to pretty much everything.  We have family and friends that live within an hour's drive. Every time there's a crazy rain storm outside, I just breathe a little sigh of thanks that I am indoors and dry, watching TV on my flat screen, or doing dishes with hot water.  Our bills are paid on time, and I have gas in my car to take me wherever I want to take myself.  But at the end of the month, its been getting just a BIT too close for comfort, and frankly, I'm not used to saying "I can't" when friends want to do something fun that involves money.

So, Barry and I are biting the bullet.  We have set a target date of Jan 1, 2011 to move in to my parents house.  Its actually been talked about for a few months now, but daily life gets in the way and we've probably been ignoring the need.  I am so grateful that I have amazing parents that are not only willing, but seem genuinely excited about having 3 more mouths to feed.  My dad said something about "multi-generational" living or something like that.  Mom is excited that Barry will be helping her cook (our "Rent" is that Barry has too cook one meal a week.)

Its going to be challenging.  For silly reasons like being used to walking around in our skivvies (or less) and having our own space to lounge and kiss and play. For not-so-silly reasons like differences of opinion when it comes to where we should be spending our time on Sunday mornings.  But I need to remember that my parents are much more open than I ever give them credit for, and that they respect us as parents ourselves.  We'll need to remember that its only temporary, and will help us tremendously in saving money towards a house of our own.

Once we are moved out, our home will be going on the market for Rent.  We had a carpet guy come and measure today; as soon as we move the furniture they'll be in there replacing the carpet.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to get close to what our mortgage is, but at least it'll help.   I'm fairly confident that we won't have any trouble finding a renter.

UGH.  Its hard to ask for help.  But we're so lucky to have family that is ready and willing to lift you up.

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. 

2010-10-24 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!

2010-10-22 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!)

2010-10-17 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!

2010-10-14 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. :)

2010-10-09 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!)

2010-09-19 Pic of the Day!

Rachel has been visiting Alexsa since she was just a few weeks old and its amazing that although Alexsa only sees her a weekend every couple of months, she still takes to her like she's been around all the time!  We love her!

Culhane's Irish Pub

Our cousin, Rachel, came to visit this weekend! I always love it when she comes up - we get along so well, and she LOVES spending time w/ Alexsa.  We decided to go out to a place none of us had ever been before for lunch, so it was a great excuse to try Culhane's, which has been featured on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives. Take the time to check out the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOgIjKx_n_c 

I don't know if its because its in my home town, or if its because its an Irish pub, but I think Culhane's is my FAVORITE triple D place we've been to yet!!  I had the Dingle Fish Pie,

Barry had a cup of the Potato-Leek soup and a 'skinny' portion of Guiness Stew,

 and Rachel had the Lamb Sliders. 

Then for 'dessert' we shared a Ruben Egg Roll. I wish I had a picture of this thing - it was the best ruben i'd ever had (of course- it was fried!)  We all tasted everyone else's dish. The dingle fish pie was my favorite - i'm glad it was mine!  But the potato-leek soup was also amazing..

Alexsa had a spoon:

Oh-Em-Gee - this place is rockin.  Our server was Fan-flippin-tastic and the atmosphere is perfect.  Even though it's an Irish Pub, its very family friendly.  We will definitely frequent this place whenever we get the chance. 

Life Beyond Babies?

I realized I've been slacking on posting things that are non-baby picture related... So here's an update on my life outside of Alexsa.

Work has been interesting.  Back in May, it was announced that our institution would be purchasing another, effectively growing the Bank by 40%.  Our 'Legal Day one' is in October, then the merger will be complete in December.  Luckily I still have my job, doing the same thing I'm doing now.  My virtual branch has been very slow since we lowered rates, so I've been helping in other parts of the operations department, primarily handling wires. Nothing too exciting, except for when I mess up!

Barry is starting his next semester in school on Monday.  He's about 1/2 way to his degree in education.  We both are looking forward to that!  He goes full force and has only gotten one B since starting, making A's in all other classes.  I'm so proud of him for working so hard to realize his dream.  He's had his share of jobs, so its nice for him to be working towards a his dream of teaching.  It really is what he's meant to do.

My family is doing well.  My dad is currently in Bolivia participating in a language immersion program to learn Spanish.  He is a Maryknoll Deacon who's job it is to ask for money to support Maryknoll's Missions. His district includes Puerto Rico and S Florida so its very important for him to learn Spanish!  He is having an amazing experience outside of the classroom as well, visiting Toro Toro and other unique places.  He's there for three months and will be back in October. We miss him but we're able to keep in touch on Skype. I love skype.  Mom is loving retirement and keeping very busy helping with the grand kids and volunteering anywhere she can.  Right now she's up in Chicago helping my Grandpa (more on that below).

The cats are doing great adjusting to Alexsa.  Most of the time they stay away, but Hiro is especially good about letting her pull out his hair pet him.  They aren't fans of the gates, but they are dealing with them.

Lastly, the sad news.  My grandpa went to the doctor a few months ago to check out a pain in his leg.  They found cancer that had eaten his femur so bad he had to get a metal rod put in for support.  Unfortunately we learned the cancer was a secondary cancer, and it had come from his lungs. When they ran tests on his lungs, they found the cancer had travelled to his lymph nodes as well.  They classified it as Stage 4 and, because of the lymph nodes, its inoperable.  So he went through radiation, but it only kept the cancer from growing further.  His next step is chemo, which he may or may not do.  His 81st birthday is on the 31st.  He's had a full life and watched his wife of 60 years go through the crapiness of cancer 2 years ago.  I won't blame him for not doing the chemo.  I will be heartbroken when he leaves us though.  He's the last of my grandparents.   I have so many great memories with him.  Also, I am nervous to learn of the fate of their house.  It is a magical little house on the lake that is, after all my travels, hands down the best place on earth. I know 7 other grandchildren and 9 great-grandchilren that feel the same way.  Its been nice that my mom is there; We've been able to talk on skype and he's been able to see Alexsa laugh and crawl around.

So, even though my life (and heart) revolve around Alexsa, other things do go on. :)