It's been over a year since John and I have had a "professional" family photo (if you call Sears "professional"). I think the last time we had pictures taken was for Manny's first birthday, so it was about time we hauled our butts in, and had updated pictures. I knew it would be a bit difficult to get Manny to cooperate (he's a free spirited child), but I had NO idea how difficult it would really be.

First of all, the photographer we had wasn't fast enough. Manny did really well during the first group photo, but I could see his attitude starting to unravel about 5 minutes in, however the photographer insisted that we try another pose. I wanted to move onto having Manny's solo pictures taken, but we tried a different family pose....bad idea, by the time it was Manny's turn, he was ready to leave.

Halfway through our session, the photographers switched, and I could tell our "new" photographer was much more experienced with kids. She made it a game with him, she gave him props to play with, and wouldn't wait for the "perfect" pose, she just snapped when she saw him looking at the camera and smiling. It was definitely a battle, but we ended up getting some super cute pictures.

Needless to say, it will be a while before we attempt to do that again. Here are some of our faves:



We also went to the Scottish Games in Pleasanton on Saturday. I must say that I miss going to those events on a regular basis. I look back on those games with fond memories.

At the games I found out that one of my former competitors had won second in the world (that same weekend). When I heard the news it made me wonder what type of dancer I would have become had I continued with my lessons. I knew that my mother, and my teacher had high hopes for me, but by the time I had stopped dancing I had been competing for9 years. I was ready to move on and try new things.

I sincerely hope that my children show interest in taking part in the games when they get older. I think it would be awesome if Manny and Christian were in a pipe band. I think it would be a great experience. I saw so much of the state during my competing years, met so many different people, and learned valuable lessons - only time will tell.

This was posted on my myspace blog, but I thought I'd post it here as well for those who are interested.
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Yay, I'm finally home!

The "fun" began Friday afternoon, when my gall bladder was removed. They had me stay overnight for observation, and I was discharged Saturday. All in all an it was an easy procedure. I wasn't really prepared for how painful the recovery would be, but I "soldiered" through it.

Saturday I felt awesome. I was so happy to be home. I left the hospital at 11:00 a.m., went home and took a nap, then went to my buddy Edgar's 4th birthday party. I had plans to go to a memorial service later that evening, but started feeling sore, so I just went home and slept.

Sunday morning I woke up and felt great. I only ate some toast for breakfast because I hadn't really eaten a real meal in over a day (was on a clear liquid diet Friday and Saturday) so I was nervous about filling up my stomach too much. I decided to take a nap around 10:00 a.m. and when I woke up at 12:00 p.m. was in excruciating pain.

I took some vicodin...nothing. A couple of hours later I took some Motrin....nothing. I decided to take a warm bath, and my pain was eased a bit. I rotated the vicodin, motrin, and warm bath for the rest of the afternoon. Around 6:00 p.m. (6 hours of pain) I decided I couldn't take it anymore, and went to the E.R.

How do I spell relief? M-O-R-P-H-I-N-E.

The surgeon who performed my gall bladder surgery met me in the ER and told me that they were going to hold me overnight for blood work. There was a possibility that a stone or some "sand" got loose when my gall bladder was removed. If I did have a stone in one of my ducts there was a possibility that I would pass it in the night. If not, I would need to have a procedure to "fish" out the stone.

So, I had to stay overnight. I wasn't necessarily happy about it, but I was happy that I would have the pain medication needed to keep me comfortable, and I was optimistic that I would pass the stone during the evening.

Monday morning I was woken up at 6:00 a.m. with blood work, nothing like waking up to a needle in your arm. Monday after noon Dr. Chin came to visit me. I can't remember the exact title he held, but I did know that if I was seeing him, it wasn't good.

Dr. Chin informed me that the "levels" of the blood in my liver weren't "sufficient" (I really had no idea what that meant, but it all spelled out something really bad). I would need to have an ERCP or an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (big word, eh?). Basically, he would shove a huge tube with a video camera attached to the end, down my throat and fish out the stone.

He informed me that I would need to stay the night and have the procedure on Tuesday. If the procedure was successful and I wasn't in anymore pain, I would be allowed to leave on Wednesday (I could feel the tears welling up). He also told me that I wouldn't be allowed to resume breastfeeding until Thursday (I couldn't hold the tears back anymore and started balling).

I would not be able to see my boys for another 2 days. On top of that I wouldn't be able to nurse Christian for another 3, making that a week without nursing. I was devastated.

As soon as the doctor left, I called John, hysterical. He came to visit me, as soon as he could, and I immediately felt better when I saw him.

John left, and I tried to get some sleep. Since I was having the ERCP the following day, I wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight. It's not like chicken broth and jello fills you up, so I was STARVING by the time 12:00 a.m. rolled around. The hunger pains were so intense that I needed morphine to fall asleep.

Tuesday morning came with ANOTHER needle in the arm (how many damn blood tests do they need!?!) I was wheeled down to the Gastroenterology section of the hospital at 10:30 a.m., and the procedure was performed at 12:00 p.m.

They used valium and demerol to knock me out for the procedure, but the worst part is, IT DIDN'T WORK. I remember waking up halfway through, and I started to freak out. I felt like I was going to vomit. I couldn't breath. I was begging, crying, pleading for them to take the damn tube out of my throat and give me a break. They wouldn't. The last thing I remember was reaching for the doctor's hand to push the tube out, when I was literally pinned down (my head, and both my arms), a second later, I passed out again.

When I woke up my throat was extremely sore. I was wheeled back to my recovery room, and got a FULL liquid diet (instead of chicken broth I got tomato soup, instead of jello, I got some nasty custard crap....big step up **rolls eyes**).

I was discharged today at noon, but not before (yep you guessed it) ANOTHER damn blood test. Let's count that...since Friday I've had 2 IV's **shivers** and 4 blood tests. I feel like a pin cusion, and look like a junkie....haha

Seeing my boys was the most beautiful thing in the world. I missed them so much. Manny greeted me with his huge dimples. Christian smiled at me with his big doe eyes, and beautiful toothless grin.

I am so happy to be home. I still won't be able to nurse Christian until tomorrow morning, and I can feel my supply starting to diminish. I'm hoping things will go back to normal after a couple of days, he's been on a bottle for nearly a week, so I'm sure I've got some work ahead of me.

Otherwise, I'm doing okay. I'm still a little sore, but sooooooo much better than I was on Sunday.

Since Christian's birth, there's been this big debate about whether or not he and Manny look alike, some people say yes, others say no. I was looking through old photos of Manny today, and found some that look rather amazing.

We took Manny to the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday, and to be quite honest, once you've been to the San Diego Zoo, nothing compares. Luckily, Manny didn't notice the difference.

All of the exhibits look run down. The animals look sad. There are several exhibits that were closed, boards covering broken windows. The entire elephant exhibit is closed. The playground is old and broken as well. I really hope that they get the money to fix things up. It's such a shame that things have gotten so bad.

The weather was really bad as well, it was about 56 degrees, and overcast. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought it was November, not August. I was so cold, that I had to buy a scarf when we got there. Christian was bundled up in his beanie, long sleeve shirt, and sweater.

On the upside, Manny had a blast! He was in 5th gear the moment we stepped onto the grounds. He kept saying, "run Daddy, run!" At the rate we were going, we were sure that we would see everything in about 2 hours. Lucky for us, about an hour after we got there, he started to slow down. What was unlucky, was that the more tired he got, the crankier he got. The countdown to a melt down started shortly after we ate lunch.

We saw monkeys, gorillas, tigers, lions, giraffes and zebras. My favorite animal that we saw was this little monkey that had a mustache like Yosemite Sam. He was so cute! There was a sign out in front of the exhibit that said loud noises made them shy, but I don't think that rule applied to these little guys.

There was one monkey (if that's in fact what they are, there wasn't any information about them posted anywhere) that was really curious. John was trying to get a good picture, and needed to use his hat to block the glare of the window. Once John put his hat near the glass, the little guy was so curious, that he pressed his face against the glass.

All in all it was a great day. We ended up leaving around 1:30 p.m. Manny was starting to get cranky (and so was I for that matter). Luckily we only live about 15 minutes from the zoo, so we can go back any time.