March Madness

Long time, no blog! Once again, we have had another busy month and I have lagged on updating our blog.

We started the month by making a trip to Redding to visit Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly. As usual, we were spoiled with Shelly' s cooking from the time we arrived until we left. Even picky Mia ate and ate! The highlight of the weekend was the day we spent at the softball fields watching Papa Peter play. They had four-one hour games and Mia lasted through 3 1/2 of them. She had a fabulous time playing in the bleaches and eating the orange wedges that were really meant for our pitchers on Blue Moon! Mia was lucky enough to go onto the field to throw the ball around with her Papa. We were all sad to go home!!

The next week, Grandma Sandy came to the rescue! Since CA kids is still closed, we have been relying on Mia's wonderful babysitter to watch Mia when Dan is working and I am sleeping, but unfortunately she is not available on Thursdays. Our problem came when I had a dentist appointment, Dan was working and we didn't have anyone to watch Mia. Thank goodness, Grandma Sandy's project in India ended early so she was able to come home for a break. She so graciously agreed to drive up to Roseville to watch Mia for the afternoon. Mia was so lucky to have her Grandma take her to the park and play with her while Mom escaped to the dentist.

We had busy weekend throughout the month, one of which stated with Uncle Kevin's b-day party on Friday night at Chicago Fire Pizza in Midtown Sac. The pizza was really yummy and we had a great time celebrating with Uncle Kevin.

The weekend Saturday with Dan bottling the beer her brewed with his friends in February at Brew It Up in Sacramento. For his friend, Chris Hunter's, birthday, they brewed beer in mid February and the time had come for them to bottle it. Dan is very excited and proud of his creations! Following the bottling session, we join Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, Cousin Kaiya, Grandma Sandy, Auntie Steph and Auntie Michelle's parents Suzanne and Brent for another dinner celebration for Kevin's b-day. As if this wasn't enough for one day, we then met up with my work friends for a night of bowling. We had a great turnout and it was great to hangout and relax with my coworkers, especially considering the stressful type of work we do! Mia had a great time running around with all the other kids and playing with the bowling balls!




As if that weren't enough for one weekend, we went to the Baxter's Annual St. Patrick's Day Party. The Baxter's are Grandma Shelly's brother and sister-in-law. We NEVER turn down an invitation to the Baxter's because they all come from Shelly's same gene pool, meaning they are all amazing cooks! Mia had fun playing with all her step cousins and her cousin Kaiya. We all enjoyed eating the corned beef and cabbage and I had my favorite green jello salad that Grandma Connie made. I look forward to Grandma Connie's jello at every holiday!

March has been filled with basketball for our family. We spent 2 evenings at basketball watching parties with neighbors. We love the NCAA basketball tournament and have had lots of fun following it and cheering for our brackets.

They say March is supposed to go "in like a lion and out like a lamb", but for our family it has been a lion all month and is exiting in that manner!

Today, I had my oral surgery that I have been putting off for 4 years. The bridge I had placed when I was 16 has a average lifetime of 10 years and I'm pushing 14 years with it. It says a lot for my old dentist, Dr. Simmons who placed it years ago. Anyways, the time has come to convert to a dental implant as the bridge is starting to show signs of wear. After elaborate scans and consultations to prepare for the procedure, I went today. Gram came up last night to help with Mia while I recover so Dan was able to take me to my appointment. In order to place my implant, the doctor first put me to sleep then surgically placed a titanium rod into the bone above where the tooth will be placed. I was super groggy and loopy for a few hours and took a big nap when I got home. I have some facial swelling and will probably have some pain when the local anesthetics wear off. Main problem right now is that I am missing a tooth! I go to the dentist tomorrow to have my temporary tooth placed...can't wait for that!!

Visiting the Boschetti's

Ryan Boschetti is one of days oldest friends. Dan and Ryan grew up together from the time they were infants through their teen years. I have always loved hearing "Boschetti" stories and have felt empathy for their parents that put up with their shenanigans throughout the years. I'm sure their parents are relived that Dan and Ryan have both grown into fabulous men and amazing fathers! Ryan and his wife Somer had their first baby, Kali, in November of 2008, three months before we had our baby Mia. They recently had their baby boy, Jaiden, the beginning of February. Since Ryan has been playing football on the East Coast, we were able to have our first playdate for the kids in February. Mia and Kali had an instant attraction and played so well together. Kali was very generous sharing her toys with Mia.

Our Big Scare

Before you read this, I will let you know that Mia is better now and is back to her normal happy self! I wanted to tell you that before you read because what we went through with her was very scary......

Last week, Mia was doing great! She was playing with all her new birthday presents and using lots of her new "words". Mia had her 12 months well baby check up on Feb 10th and all was great. She got her scheduled immunizations and was doing fine. On Thursday morning, she was a little bit fussy when going down for her morning nap, but was fine in the afternoon. She went out to lunch with her Daddy, Uncle Kevin and Kaiya, and Uncle Huntskies (Chris Hunter) and her boyfriend, Dylan. According to Dan, she was happy and playing with Dylan throughout lunch. When they got home, Dan put her down for her afternoon nap. She woke up 20 minutes into her nap screaming. I picked her up and rocked her in her glider and she fell right back to sleep. I rocked her for 45 minutes and I noticed she was breathing really fast. The nurse in me kicked in and I started monitoring her respiratory status- she was breathing 48-52 breaths per minute (normal would be somewhere in the 20s to low 30s). I listened with my stethoscope and everything sounded fine, but when I touched her chest, she was buring up. This was Mia's first fever and it was a good one...103 degrees. I gave her Tylenol and called and told work that Mia was sick so I would not be coming in that night. Her fever slowly came down, but was still 100.5 2 hours after the Tylenol. At that point, I gave her Motrin to help bring down the fever. Two hours later, she was finally down to 100 degrees and was acting normal and playing with her toys. She went to sleep at 8:30, but woke up crying at 9:30 and her temp was back up to 101, so we gave her more Tylenol and put her in our bed so we could keep a close eye on her. At 10:30, her temp was up to 102, but it was too early to give more Motrin or Tylenol so we stripped off her jammies and had her sleep in a diaper without any blankets. She was fussy over the next few hours and I got up to give her more Motrin at 12:45 since that was the earliest she could have it. I got everything ready for her and Dan sat her up in bed so we could give it to her. At this point, our nightmare began...

As Dan held Mia up, her head flopped back, her eyes rolled up, and she began to seize. For about 30 seconds, Dan and my world came to a standstill as we watched our unresponsive baby shake uncontrollably! I immediately called 911 and Dan just held Mia close. After the 30 second seizure, Mia was limp for about 5 minutes. I was able to get tylenol in her once she awoke. The ambulance came and we arrived at the Sutter Roseville ER at around 1:30 am. Her temp was 103.4 when we arrived and her heart rate was 180-190! The staff in the ER were awesome (I think I might have mentioned in the past that I am convinced Sutter provides the absolute best healthcare in the region...I know I am biased...but it is TRUE!) After urine tests, blood tests, and a chest x-ray, they really couldn't find a real source for her fever. The only strange thing was that she had a large red welt on her right thigh which had not been there earlier in the night. Mia got a dose of IV rocephin (an antibiotic) and Zofran (an antiemetic to prevent her from puking up her motrin). When we left the ER at 5 am, Mia's temp was down to 100.3 and her heart rate down to 110-120s.

We went to see Mia's pediatrician, Dr. Sorgea, at 11:30 in the morning so she could follow up on Mia's condition. Mia's fever was still down at that point and she was starting to perk up a little bit. Dr Sorgea's diagnosis shocked me, but totally makes sense. Apparently, with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, reactions can occur 10 days after the immunization is given. The combination of the fever and the large welt on her thigh where the vaccine had been administered led her to this diagnosis...she is so smart! I had just assumed that it didn't have anything to do with the vaccines because I was unaware of this delayed reaction. Another interesting thing that we learned when talking to Grandma Sandy was that Dan had a similar experience when he was around Mia's age. He also had a high fever and had a febrile seizure after his immunizations! Like father, like daughter...apparently they have even more in common that we thought!!

When we got back home, Mia's fever returned and we battled the fever from 12:30pm until 2:30 am. The Tylenol and Motrin helped to keep the temperature from going too high, but we also had to put her in the bathtub to cool her down at one point when the medications weren't working and we had to use wet wash clothes at another point.

So where are we now...
Mia has not had a fever for 36 hours, so we think we are through the woods. Now we all, mostly Dan and I, and totally exhausted and need to catch up on our sleep. It has been a VERY LONG few days! We are just so, so thankful that our baby Mia is OK and back to her happy, cheerful, playful self!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Mia is 1 and her Mom is 30! We've had so much excitment we've been too busy to blog, so here is our way belated birthday blog!

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate our big birthdays! The highlight of our celebrations was our joint birthday dinner at Cabos, which is a Mexican restaurant down the street from our house. We filled their banquet room to the max with our 55 guests which included our family and friends. We were lucky enough to be joined by Mia's great-grandparents, (GG Fay and Boppa Wayne) her grandparents, (Doc, Gram, Grandma Sandy, Papa Peter, & Grandma Shelly), her aunties (Mika, Michelle, Steph, and Shawna), her uncles (Roger, Mark, Kevin, and Dan), and her cousins (Ellie, Nisa, Maile, and Kaiya). We also had extended family, friends, and neighbors join in the festivities! The food was great and we all had a wonderful time. A special thank you to Gram who made special birthday cupcakes for our party to our exact specifications! They were beautiful!!

After the birthday dinner, we arranged for a babysitter to come over to our house to watch Mia and Kaiya so the adults could continue to celebrate Michelle's 30th birthday! Thank you to Roger for being our limo service and to Mika for providing our preparty beverage...GoldSchlager! The Boxing Donkey is the bar in old Roseville where we chose to continue our party. It was so much fun to hang out with so many of our friends...I can't remember the last time Dan and I went to a bar!

On Sunday, which was Mia's actual birthday, we went to the bowling alley with Gram, Roger, Mika, Ellie, Nisa, and Maile. We had a wonderful time bowling and Michelle bowled the best game of her life (4 strikes in a row, 6 strikes total!!!!) After bowling, we dropped Roger, Mika, and the girls off at the airport and we went to sleep!!!

Thank you Gram!

This post is a belated thank you to Gram! As Mia's daycare is still closed while they move locations, Dan and I were without anyone to watch Mia for 2 days last week. Thank goodness, Gram came to our rescue! Gram drove up on Wednesday and even arrived in time to make us some yummy enchiladas for dinner. Since I worked Wednesday night and Dan worked and had a meeting after school on Thursday, Gram woke up with Mia in the morning and put her to bed that night. They even made a trip to see GG Fay and Boppa Wayne that day. When I woke up, I played with Mia for a while and Gram made us another awesome dinner. It was hard for me to go back to work Thursday night because I just wanted to stay home and hangout with Gram! I did go to work Thursday night and Dan went to work Friday morning, so once again, Gram watched Mia while I slept. On Friday night, Dan, Mia and I took Gram out to dinner to say "THANK YOU". Mia enjoyed showing off her walking skills and reading with Gram. Mia and Gram read so many books and Mia discovered her new favorite book...Animal Sounds! I think we read that book about 20 times a day! Mia now even tries to "Moo" when she sees the cow! We are all so lucky to have our Gram!!

Mia's on the move!!

As I mentioned in the previous post, Mia took her first few steps on Christmas Day. Since then, she has been becoming a little more stable each and everyday and now she is officially walking on her own. For the last week, Mia has been walking across the room and now around the house. As you can imagine, she is so proud of herself! It is pretty funny to watch her walk around because she is still so tiny! She doesn't look big enough to be able to walk, but as we have discovered throughout the last year...amazing things come in small packages!!

Mia's 1st Christmas!

The Christmas celebrations continued on Christmas Eve as we traveled to Discovery Bay to have dinner with Grandma Sandy and Bill. Mia was able to meet Uncle Ray (Bill's brother) and Donita (Ray's wife) for the first time. We were also joined by Uncle Kevin/Michelle/Kaiya and Auntie Steph/Dan/Louie. Mia enjoyed teaching Kaiya how play with the toys on her new Baby Einstein Saucer, but her favorite activity of the evening was going up and down the stair to the kitchen. Mia climbed the stair with ease and discovered many ways to go down the stair...feet first, head first, army roll, etc. For her present, Mia got Elmo Live, which is an Elmo doll that talks and makes gestures. After presents, Mia changed into her Christmas jammies and we drove home.

We were so excited to have Mia wake up on her first Christmas morning in her own crib. Doc and Gram arrived at our house before Mia woke up so they were able to see Mia when she came downstairs to Santa's surprises. Mia finally started understanding the idea of opening her presents as she unwrapped her stocking. In her stocking, Mia got a book, some ribbons for her hair, and many other little presents. Santa's big present for Mia was her ride on bumble bee. It is a really cute little bee that is on casters so she can push it or ride on it around the house. It has already provided hours of fun...she loves it!! Mommy and Daddy got Mia a Pottery Barn chair that she loves as well! She has enjoyed climbing into the chair to play and then climbing back out of it on her own. Something very exciting happened on Christmas morning...Mia took her first steps!! Dan and I sat on the floor a few feet apart from each other and Mia was able to take a few steps going back and forth between the two of us. It was very exciting and we even captured the moment on video!!



For lunch, we headed to GG Fay and Boppa Wayne's house to celebrate the holiday. Mia was the only baby there that afternoon and she enjoyed all the attention of her relatives! After lunch and presents, we headed home for naps and relaxation. Our Christmas celebrations lasted a week and we traveled over 10 hours, but it was great to share Mia's first Christmas with everyone!!