Thursday 31 December 2009

Seeing Out 2009

With the family together on New Year's Eve, it was a nice way to say goodbye to the year. The younger children had all woken up at 3:00am this morning, so they had to go to bed at their normal time rather than staying up late for the New Year, but I snuck some photos of them asleep in their beds anyway.

So here are some of the last photos taken in our family in 2009.

New Years Eve14 2009

New Years Eve15 2009a

New Years Eve5 2009a

New Years Eve6 2009a

New Years Eve2 2009

New Years Eve1 2009

New Years Eve 2009

New Years Eve14 2009a
(Incidentally, the shirt I am wearing in this photo is one designed by Angelica and can be bought here in a variety of colors.)

New Years Eve16 2009

New Years Eve12 2009a

Thursday 24 December 2009

Merry Christmas (tomorrow)!

Here's hoping everyone has a magical Christmas tomorrow! I know I will, because children always make Christmas magical!

Cameron Christmas Eve 2009

Stories About The Old Days

Today, we all had our first visit with our dentist. We recently bought dental insurance, and we had to get registered with our new dentist by having the first visit.

On the walk over there, the children were slipping and sliding all over the place because the path was covered in ice. Kayla and I held onto Isabella’s hand to keep her from falling, and Robert held onto Gabby’s hand to keep her from slipping.

As they walked, Robert talked to Gabby about friends he had when he was a kid and things that he liked to do when he was young. She listened and asked questions and was really interested in what he had to say.

Suddenly, she said, “I can’t wait until I have children of my own! Because then I can tell them about the olden days when I was a kid too!”

Sometimes I really adore the things that my children say.

Walking With Gabby

Walking With Daddy sm

Today, while Robert and I were walking with the girls, the ground was covered in ice and very slippery. Because of this, Gabby held her daddy's hand to keep from slipping and Isabella held mine.

While we walked, Robert chatted with Gabby, telling her about his childhood and some of the adventures he had with his brother.

After a while, I heard Gabby say, "I can't wait to have children of my own! Then I can tell them all about the old days too. You know, like when I was seven!" (She is seven now.)

These kids never stop being wonderful and making me laugh!

Thursday 10 December 2009

I Almost Passed Out!

My doctor thinks I might be anemic.

Yesterday, still not feeling well, I walked the 3/4-mile to go pick Connor up from school while pushing Cameron in the stoller. We were out of diapers and formula, so, on the way home, I had to stop at the shops. My stomach kept cramping up badly, but I was doing okay, if moving a bit slowly. I got to the shops and went to the ATM to draw some money out. That's where everything went screwy on me.

Everything started to spin and go dark on me. I felt my legs giving way under me, but I fought it. (I had both small boys with me, so I COULD NOT pass out!) I grabbed onto the ledge at the bottom of the ATM machine to hold myself up thinking I just have to get home, then I can collapse. I turned around, leaning my back on the machine and gripping onto the stroller to hold myself up, but it was a losing battle. I couldn't see anything as everything was swirling around in front of me.

Some ladies walking towards me noticed something was wrong, asked if I was okay, and I answered "no." They helped me inside (one of the shop employees came out to help too, because I could barely stand up). One of them pushed the stroller inside and made sure Connor came in with us too. The must have gotten me a chair because, just as they let go of me and I thought I was falling, I felt a chair underneath me. I could feel sweat on my face and I was breathing hard, but I didn't feel like I was having any trouble breathing.

After about ten minutes or so of sitting, everything started to clear up. By then, the paramedics had arrived. They were going to call an ambulance, but I became steady enough to get up and walk again. Robert, because he's been home sick, came to the shops and brought our teenager who was also at home sick. She took the little ones and went to pick up my other two girls from their school. Robert stayed with me.

As my condition was improving, the paramedics agreed to let me go home. They drove me home, and did some more tests while I was there. Both at the shops and at home, my blood pressure was really, really low. Other than that, everything was fine. No fever. Blood sugars were normal and so on. They called and spoke to one of the doctors at my practice, and got me an appointment to be seen at 5:00pm (an hour later). I took a taxi there and back. My blood pressure had returned to a normal range, if still a tad on the low side. The doctor thinks I'm anemic, so I have to go in for more blood tests later this month.

Because my 1 year old and 3 year old were with me, that was one of the scariest moments I've been through. And it was so sudden!

I pretty much slept from getting home from the doctor appointment until about 6:30am this morning. Other than a splitting headache and the same tummy troubles, I feel okay today.