Kristen’s Blog

I know it has been a while since I posted, but I haven’t really wanted to post until I had something concrete to write. Jeff’s contract is coming to an end and he has about 1.5 months left in the current role he is in. We have been watching this day approach and have been making preparations for what is next.

We are in limbo right now- we know we are moving but we don’t know where. We are trying to sell our house, but it isn’t going well. Jeff is in the process of interviewing for new positions, but we are still waiting to find out if he will be offered at least 2 of the 3 positions he has interviewed for. We know that he has a job in San Jose if he wants it, but we don’t know if the other San Jose position will be his or not. We are pretty sure we are moving to San Jose, but we don’t know if the first San Jose position will go away by the time the 2nd position is able to respond. That is where we stand now. We are hoping to know more early this week (tomorrow). We are trusting God has a plan for us and have faith he knows where we will be in a couple months. I have had a tremendous sense of peace about all this uncertainty that I know is only God given.

We also had a consultation with Isaac’s cardiologist and he has recommended we consult an electrophysicist to discuss future surgery at UCLA. We are waiting to find out if we will be in San Jose or not and may request a Stanford referral instead of UCLA.

We just returned from our trip to Washington for my cousin Amanda’s wedding. It was a relaxing trip and We drove to San Jose and then flew to Seattle. Isaac was a great traveler and tolerated all but the last hour of driving to Lynden well. The co-pilot saw Isaac enter the plane as we were boarding and asked if he wanted to ride in the pilot’s seat. We passed Isaac up to the front and the co-pilot put his hat on Isaac. Then the co-pilot asked if we had a camera! (Must be married to a scrapbooker!)

We had a nice time and it was fun to have all the cousin’s kids together to play. We stayed with my cousin Loren and his wife Jeannie. They have a little boy 1 year older than Isaac and his name is Owen.

Owen and Isaac

One night we had dinner with Shona’s family, Loren’s family, us, and all the kids. They had a great time and this picture is of the 3 boys “racing”.

And we let the kids roast smores!

Micah and Owen enjoying smores.

I couldn’t resist this picture. We went to dinner one night at the “Homestead” in Lynden and this is the restaurant we went to– Barnyard Bistro!

Kara was the maid of honor at Amanda’s wedding.

My Grandma Rhoda (Dad’s mom)

Amanda and Cory listening to Kara give her toast.

They had kids’ tables set up with activities for the kids. This lasted about 20 minutes! Score!

Isaac and Papa

Isaac sprained his ankle at the reception. It wasn’t hurting unless he tried to walk on it, but he never complained about it. He would take a couple steps and then fall over. Poor kid. So we held him. It was convenient since his Mom wanted to dance with him.

I always cringe when I get sick. I pray that the days fall on days I am not working. I have had to take so much time off this year that I will try to do everything in my power to make myself as well as possible when I have to work. Thankfully this time, I came down with this cold on Saturday. That gives me 3 days to get over the hump and get on track. Unfortunately, it is now going into my chest and even on cough syrup, I can’t stop coughing. Yuck. I hate being sick on the Fourth of July. Hopefully I’ll be over this by then.

We just returned from my cousin’s wedding in Washington. It was a great trip and it was fun to stay with my cousin and his family. Our boys are 1 year apart and they played together well, for a while. Isaac needed his space every now and then… he is, after all, an only child and used to his space.

I would love to share some of the funnier things he has said and done lately:

Right after Jeff and I returned from our trip to the east coast, Isaac and I were spending the first full day together in 9 days. He had stayed with my parents for 9 days and was finally home with mom. He said, “I want to go to Nana’s house.” I said, “You do?” He said, “We don’t spend enough time there!” (Did I mention he had been there for *9 days* straight?)

Last night I was on the phone with my mom and she said that her friend had sent her a picture of a lizard and she wanted to forward the email to me. I put the phone on speakerphone and gave it to Isaac while I went upstairs to get my laptop. He put the phone up to his ear, all the same, and was talking to Nana. When I came downstairs, Jeff told him to tell Nana about golfing earlier in the day. Isaac told Jeff, “(Ex)’scuse me, Daddy, I am talking to Nana.” Ha! Then he told me, “I am talking to Nana, Mommy.”

Today we went to the park. I was feeling a little better and thought Isaac could use some fresh air. We went for a walk around the duck pond and he fell and scraped his knee. I carried him the rest of the way around the pond and when we were rounding the last turn, he squeezed my neck and whispered in my ear, “I love you, mommy.” Aww, melted my heart right there.

One picture of Isaac and Indy, Kara’s cat. They love each other. Indy tolerates Isaac carrying him around and Indy will rub his head on Isaac when he cuddles him. So cute!

Mommy!

It is 9:50pm and Isaac is still awake and chatty! Did I mention this is the second night in a row of this? Ugh! Mommy needs sleep Isaac!

Jeff (and Isaac?) have taken up golfing recently. One warm day Daddy took Isaac out to the putting green and they had a great time. Isaac loves being out there with Daddy. He has his own kids size club!

Now that I remember how to update photos, maybe I should get a few up?

Here’s a few photos of Easter:

Isaac, Grandma, and Julia (Jeff’s cousin)

Hunting Easter Eggs with Nana after church

Kaden and Isaac, buddies

Kaden and Isaac have been enjoying Mondays at the park together. It is great that they get along really well!

This weekend was an incredibly beautiful one on the Central Coast. We went on an adventure to the Avila Barn and enjoyed seeing the animals and playing with the toys inside.

It is a rather long story, but Isaac is back on Digoxin. We are actually relieved. This medication works- this we know! I was never sure about the Atenolol and while he is still on both medications, I just feel better now that he is on the Digoxin again.

We received a call from the cardiologist last week saying they wanted to get another 24 hour Holter monitor on him, so we did it last week Thursday through Friday. He had 3 episodes of tachycardia, one of which lasted 4 hours and we didn’t even know it! He was playing and carrying on as normal. The one thing that was different was that it took him a half hour to settle down in his bed that night. He came out and wanted me, so I went back in and held him for a little while and put him back down. The tachycardia lasted another 1/2 hour beyond me putting him down again. I keep saying that this kid needs an instruction book- I just never know what is going on with him until hours later.

He told me tonight “Pay, Mommy.” I said, “No, it isn’t time to play. It is bed time.” He said it again, “Pay, Mommy.” Again I said, “No, go to bed now.” Then he said, “Dear Jesus.” Hah! He wanted me to PRAY not PLAY!

Isaac and I went to the park today to fly kites. It was SO windy and COLD! We tried to get out there, but we ended up just playing on the playground. We haven’t been good at taking pictures lately, but we will try to get back on that bandwagon and get some new pictures up soon.

I am getting better, but still not 100%. I don’t think I am 75% yet, either. I am supposed to work tomorrow, but it is already late afternoon and I literally haven’t moved the last couple hours. I know it is going to take time to feel up to chasing Isaac around and I am starting to feel sorry for the poor kid. He has watched Little Einstein’s “The Golden Pyramid” so much lately that he can actually say the words “Great Sphinx” and he is only 2!
He had 2 chocolate chip cookies last night after dinner and he didn’t fall asleep until 11pm and he was up around 6 am! Ugh! Just when I forget why we don’t let him have much sugar after dinner, this happens. When will mommy learn?