2010-11-02 Pic of the Day!

OK, well this is from Sunday, but it was on my sister's camera and she just sent it to me.  Its worth the wait! HA!

2010-11-01 Pic of the Day!

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.

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. :)