Ok, I have to say it...

I didn't want to be one of 'those' parents that is always saying how adorable their children are, but with Sterlings' new 'loaner' wheelchair, how could you not agree?

I went to Children's today and Sterling got fit for his new wheelchair. I have never seen a wheelchair this small. The vendor who came to fit Sterling said this was a little big but they don't make them smaller than this. Yeah, super cute!!! The top of his head now sits at about 2 feet tall when he is sitting in this chair. He gets to borrow this one until his comes in or another child needs to try it out.

We put Sterling in this midget wheelchair so he could take it for a test drive. He was all over the place. It was incredible and seriously made me so happy because Sterling was having so much fun. He has never been able to get anywhere real fast and he was cruising up down and all around the halls at the hospital. The vendor (Al) told me that he has seen children that have had their wheelchairs for three months not be as good as Sterling is now and that he would love to see him in a month to see how crazy good he is with his wheelchair. Oh yeah, my son is a natural at the wheelchair. SO FUN!!! Now that I am done bragging I will conclude with a video of Sterling a couple minutes after getting his first wheelchair!

What the ...

So I leave the house this morning in my little sweater for work because at 6am in the morning it is 0 Degrees Celsius out, and of course I am way too lazy to watch the news because that means that it is 5 minutes earlier I have to wake up and I am pushing it as it is. I am soooooo not a morning person. I am grouchy and unpleasant to be around. At 2pm the head honchos at work decided it is pretty crappy so they let everyone go home early. Yeah...got on train. Train sardine packed. Barely fit on train. Train goes 10 feet and then stops for 20 minutes. "What the heck?" Train starts again and more people just keeping piling on in downtown. "How many more people can fit on already full train?" Apparently more can. So now the train is so full that no one can move to get out on their stops. Haha.....That part was kinda funny actually (but only because I am the last train stop in the NW at crowfoot). So I get to crowfoot at 3:15pm. That should have only taken 30 minutes not over an hour, wow! So, yeah it is really snowing out there. Barely make it up the Crestmont hill to get Sterly beans and then slide right back down after he has been picked up. I finally make it home at 5pm. "Is it really 5pm, I left work at 2pm?" It really is 5pm. I park in the 3 foot snow drift behind our house because I have no other options. Get Sterling out of the car. Walk to the door. "Oh Crap!" There is a snowdrift on our porch that goes almost all the way up the door. If I open the door, I will have a huge pile of snow in my kitchen. Instead of doing the smart thing and walking around to the front door. Grab and shovel and shovel porch. Get in house. Home at last! And it is supposed to keep right on snowing all night and day tomorrow. Sounds fun, really excited to have the corner house as all the snow creates a huge drift right at my house entrance.

On other news: Sterling is getting fit for a wheelchair on Tuesday! I am pretty excited for him to own his own little moving mobile. But I do believe that I am only going to get stopped 'that much more' when I am out with him (which isn't a good thing because I am pretty anti-social).

Lastly: I really need to think of some way to earn money from home or my own business. I am not made to be an accountant and sit at a desk all day. Plus I super miss my Sterly. I am trying to think of a way to take what I love, refinishing furniture, painting, interior design and photography in order to make some fundage but not getting anywhere. I wish I was one of those people that wasn't so responsible and have enough nerve to just go out and start a business. Maybe one day! Anyone have any ideas for me? Probably not, but worth a try!

-Alauna

It was good and then it was over...

Sterling being a wierdo....Look at his shunt tube on his neck, looks like he is a muscle man!

Wow, I don't remember that whole weekend happening! It happened so fast that I didn't really get to enjoy it, maybe next year. Sterling had a blast at the Banff Springs Hotel. We let him roll around in his wheelchair the whole weekend and he jsut had a really good time. Bad thing about doing this is that it took us about 1 hour to get from our room to the ballroom downstairs. He got distracted so easily and never wanted to go where Trevor and I wanted to go. He usually wanted to go and torture whatever Christmas Tree was nearest him (which seemed to be endless Christmas trees all over the hotel).

Sterls favourite part about the whole trip seems to be the outdoor heated pool. He absolutely loved it! We had to go everyday to the 'bath', (which was what he called it).

This is Sterls outside being grumpy because he was forced into his winter wear. He hates wearing winter clothes and tries like a maniac to get them off the whole time he wears them. He will sit there with a grumpy expression for hours and wont even smile (that is a rarity for Sterling to not smile if you are being silly) until you get his winter clothes off. He instantly is happy again, wierdo baby! He WILL NOT wear mittens. I am not sure what I am going to do when it really gets cold here. It was pretty nice in Banff being 5 degress Celcius but pretty windy so it made it cold....At least there wasn't any snow there.

"I dunno"

He loves his lights!

So all in all a good trip. Sterling had a really good time with the sitter the hotel hired to watch him while we were at the party. She drew with him and played all sorts of games. That was the first time family hasn't watched him, so we were a little nervous but of course he wasn't. No tears and he had tons of fun!

-Alauna

Banff Springs, here we come!

So it is my favourite time of the year! Every November during the last weekend my work, Progress pays for everyone to have a 2-night stay at the Banff Springs Hotel! This is my 4th year going and it never seems to get tiring to have a free vacation there. I posted some pictures for all our American readers that don't know what this hotel is looks like. It is a super rad old hotel built in 1887 (of course it has been expanded and remodeled since). My favourite part is the outdoor hot pool. I could just lounge in there all day long,especially when it is around zero Celsius. They also feed us these amazing breakfasts that I swear add 10 pounds to my frame in just one weekend. Yup, super freakin' excited...We even get to leave work early in order to get there at a decent time.
But on some not so good news. Sterling just started showing symptoms of the cough that I have had for weeks last night. He woke up every 10-30 minutes coughing himself awake and then crying because it hurt so much! I feel so bad for him because NyQuil is the only thing that has kept me sane and helped me get at least a few hours of sleep. He just has to suffer the good old fashioned way. As well, he has an eye infection and is rather inconvenient. When he wakes up from naps and a night of sleep, his eyes are glued shut from all his eye boogies. When I picked him up on Tuesday from being watched his eyes were all red and puffy. Just thought he was tired, then on Wednesday morning he couldn't open his little eyes. Bad news, poor little Sterly beans.

Sterling went to his monthly PT/OT appointment on Tuesday. It took him a little while to warm up but then we was being his normal little adorable self. Well, almost....I think this mostly took him so long because he was starting to get an eye infection and he wasn't feeling too well. This was going somewhere eventually, oh yeah, they are going to set up an appointment with a vendor to get him fit for his first real wheelchair. Not that the one his has right now isn't real, but he will actually fit this one. So cute! I took him to his appointment in his old wheelchair and he loved it! After the appointment he wheeled down the huge hallway by himself. In order to make it so we weren't at the hospital for the next hour I started pushing just a little. His hands were going around so fast on the wheels and he totally thought he was moving himself so fast. He was giggling and wheeling faster and faster. I just couldn't show him that I was the one pushing him because he was enjoying himself so much. We decided we are going to take his wheelchair to Banff because there is just endless hallways and ballrooms and whatnot in the Banff Springs for him to wheel himself around.

Will post some pics. after this weekend.

-Alauna

The great chicken's room is almost done....

I am almost done Sterling's room...I just finished painting his room today. Here is the finished painted project. I think I am stoked with the end results but sometimes I wonder if it is too much. Seems like a good idea to do stripes because it makes it more interesting than just one colour but he won't grow out of them so fast. I haven't put in the furniture and hung all his stuff but I will post more pictures when I am completely finished his room. I am pretty happy because it is twice the size of a normal bedroom, so we were able to give him a play area in half the bedroom. What do you all think?

-Alauna

Halloween and Gettin' Around

Took Sterling to his first non Spina Bifida related hospital visit. yesterday. He was playing and hit his head on a metal toy semi truck and split his head open. It happened at 10am and didn't stop bleeding until they glued him back together at 1pm. What a little trooper, he didn't even cry when they were scrubbing it clean and pressed it together to stick on his little goose egg. So Finally decided to get around to posting some Halloween pics. I was waiting because I wanted to get some of him in the garden in his gnomie costume, but I am procrastinating. So here Sterling is in all his gnomie glory.


I have had requests to post some footage of the Sterly beans gettin' around the house. Here are three different clips showing his different techniques. In the last one you can see how flexible he is at the end when he goes from his tummy to his bums while doing the splits.

-Alauna

Colbert makes me happy!

I saw this awhile back. but Trevor reminded me of this video. I like watching the Colbert Report and this one was such a gooder, especially since I am so sad that the old hockey night in Canada theme is no more.

-Alauna

Photos

I had to steal these photos and share a couple of them that my sister-in-law, Dana took over this last month....I super love them and I haven't posted any new Sterly pics as I have been busy moving and getting things ready in my new place. The first is of Josh (Sterls' cousin) and his cutie. Josh calls Sterling 'the cutie'. I love it! Wow they could be brothers, eh?
We called this 'baby row' at Thanksgiving dinner. This is all the boy cousins all born around the same time...Everette (21 months), Owen (26 months), Corbin (24 months) and Sterling (15 months). Chloe is also another cousin that is 21 months old but she lives in Saskatoon. Also Trevor's sister had a little guy a few months older than him, Tyler. What a lucky little guy to have so many cousins so close to him!

-Alauna

Quickie

Here is my quick post to let everyone know things....

First, the move went alright...I had a super bad sore throat and so it was pretty painful to do any hard labour that made my throat dry. Not to mention we picked the worst day to move ever. It pretty much was a super blizzard the first half of our move and then the second half was just tons of slush. Only in Calgary could it snow tons and tons and be super cold and then at noon instantly change to bright and sunny and 10 degree Celsius. Luckily, my husband who procrastinated calling someone to help us move got lucky. My brother and sister-in-law came to the rescue to help us move without being asked! So pretty much nothing is put away because I was sick until yesterday and my body was 'sick tired' and didn't want to move. What sucks is that I took Monday and Tuesday off to get unpacked and it never happened because I was sick. What a waste of days off....

Halloween is here and I have been a super procrastinator myself (After complaining to my husband for weeks about him doing the same thing). I bought everything to make Sterling's costume 2 months ago and I didn't even start it until last night. He is going to be a garden gnome complete with pointy hat, beard and watering can (to hold his candy when trick-or-treating). I finished the hat last night after I put Sterling to bed, so hopefully it fits his melon. Will post pictures when I get back to work on Monday. Turns out that we don't have Internet or tv or phone. I am waiting to hear back from the townhouse board about their take on satellite and can't get the others until I have that figured out...-Alauna

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One More DAY!!!

So pretty excited about the big move starting tomorrow! Here is a google map link of where the house is (If you don't touch it for a minute, it will show a street view of our place as well).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Royal+Oak+Way+NW&daddr=51.153159,-114.213814&geocode=FSB6DAMdyzEx-Q%3B&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&dirflg=w&sll=51.152452,-114.214425&sspn=0.002954,0.00515&ie=UTF8&ll=51.149417,-114.216614&spn=0,359.979401&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=51.149333,-114.216481&panoid=0jmoA8KrW6zKI0t6esAhIg&cbp=12,223.95,,1,-3.53

I am happy that it is finally here after all this packing. I still have a long night of packing after the flu made Sterling a very unhappy little boy. He was up all night three nights in a row and just cried all night long no matter what you did to calm him down. In the day he would nap on and off all day but he wanted you to hold him all the time. So I lost three days of packing because I was stuck holding the Midget (it was either that or listen to him cry non-stop). Must say that I am relieved that he is almost feeling completely better, minus he is still pretty clingy.

Took Sterls to his PT/OT a couple of days ago and it was pretty good news. They told me that he is above average for speech and hand/eye coordination and comprehension. They gave him a money jar with an opening just big enough to fit poker chips inside and he instantly started putting them into the little hole. Must say I was impressed! Anyways, this is good news because alot of people with Spina Bifida have learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. These usually show from the time they are babies and it looks to all the hospital workers that this little guy is not going to have to deal with that on top of his physical one.

I will try and remember to take before and after pictures for everyone of the new abode...It might take a while because I have lots of plans and things to make but it will happen!

-Alauna

Yea!

My money has found it's way home today! I am so happy because it really sucks to have no fundage when you are trying to get ready to move. After much arguing with the bank about them not making an effort in returning my money they have learned from a investigation (after me telling them a million times that I wasn't where the money was taken from) that 'yes' it was a scam and 'no' I was not in Quebec last week (which was where the money was taken from). So I am a happy person.

Second week of Sterly beans being watched by my sister and sister-in-law. It is really nice to not have to worry about some stranger looking after your only son! Ang watches Sterling Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Dana watches him Tuesday and Thursday. I thought he was going to throw a huge fit about being left but it has come to my attention that he is too busy causing trouble (in the form of making huge messes) to miss me! Ang has a son that is 9 months older than Sterling and Dana has a son that is 6 months older than Sterling, so I think he has fun being a little hooligan with them!

So I have the pickiest son with food. He will not eat anything I offer to him, unless he decides that it is exactly perfect. He will only eat baby cereal, apple sauce, pudding, yogurt and anything that is a treat. He eats everything when he is being watched! I don't understand why I try to give him a million different things when he is home and NO WAY will he eat it. He was sitting in the playroom at Ang's house when a ladybug was crawling up him arm. He picks up the ladybug and eats it! Unbelievable...the kid will eat a ladybug and not even cringe but NO he won't eat any vegetables or rice or anything else. My little weirdy baby.

Went to Edmonton and visited with my brother and his family this weekend. We stayed at this hotel downtown and I have determined that I am a jinx in Edmonton. The last 3 times we have gone there for different reasons and every single time the hot tub is closed for renovation. This is at three completely different hotels. Not to mention the hotel claimed to be a 4-star hotel and the pictures of it looked amazing. Get into our hotel room and....it is done with rose pink 70's wallpaper, pink drapes, worn out pink chair, old pink blankets and even pink carpet. YUCK!!! One of the most hideous rooms that I have ever seen with midget, really uncomfortable double beds (I sleep on a King so it felt super tiny). Also, I asked about if they charged for parking and they tell me don't worry and just fill out your license plate so you don't get a ticket. When my bill comes in the morning I got charged $15 for parking. Lamecore!

Plus crazy people live in Edmonton. We are going out to dinner with Colin and Stacey and the parking lot is packed. The aisle is empty and we see someone pulling out, so we turn on our blinker and start going when they are out. This crazy little man comes whipping around the corner and jumps out of his car. He stands in front of our car and says 'this is my spot, i wait here long long time'. We are like 'no way little man, you weren't here a second ago'. He says 'You mess with the wrong person' and then proceeds to yell at us. We tell him to 'get out of the way so we can move spots' because obviously he wants this spot really bad and it isn't worth it to us but he won't move for 10 minutes. So Trevor finally just starts inching forward anyway and he finally moves because he doesn't want to get hit. But then he follows us around the parking lot while we look for another space. Why on earth would you yell at someone about a spot, not move when they say they will get a new spot and then not take it when they move for you? So I took down his license plate because I wasn't sure if he was going to kick our door in when we went to eat because he parked beside us. Yeah, weird.

Yup...That is my life...Moving in 2 1/2 weeks!!! Moving is at a standstill....I am not getting anything done. I swear I have the same amount of things packed as I did a week ago.

-Alauna

What a Little Goat Baby!

Sterling's new favourite pastime is to chew on his toes. He managed to get off his shoe and sock while in his car seat and proceeded to eat his little feet, which he has no feeling in his legs. When I went to get him from his car seat he was covered in blood from head to toe. What a little goat! This is after it had healed a few days, so it isn't nearly as bad as when he first did it.

I went to the physical therapist today with Sterly beans. They did the regular hour of torture with various devices but we came home with a new contraption. Sterling got a new standing frame today!!! This is the first time that he has ever stood and I think he looks rather cute doing so. Also, I never knew he was so tall! Yeah, what a little cutie!

On really annoying news. I got a message yesterday from the bank telling me to call a number that they left and change my pin number. I thought that sounded rather fishy to change my pin on the phone. SOOOOO, I headed to BMO to change my pin on the ATM instead. After I changed my pin I decided to look at my account balance and found that it said I had -$400! Yeah, rather pissed off about that one. So I go into the bank to see where all the money went and it turns out that someone drained my account sometime during the weekend. So the bank said that someone must have got my information from a store that I went to. So they told me that the money would be back into my account this morning because the East coast branch was closed yesterday. Of course nothing ever happens when they say it will. It is now 7:20pm and still no money because it is in transit. So I am poor and I really needed to get boxes so I could pack during my days off this week. LUCKY ME, I would get all my money stolen by bank fraud! Hopefully tomorrow is the day that my money returns to me!

Lastly, I gotta say the government is pretty rad. They give me $300 a month to pay for extra costs that having a disabled son incurs. ALso, they started this new RDSP program. WHen I contribute the $1500 a year they will contribute $3500 each year on top of my money that goes to a special account that he can use for anything. We calculated that by the time he is 18 he will be able to buy him and his papa a porsche. No, we are super stoked because life is so much harder for him and he deserves to get something for his troubles. Sterls is cranky so I must go...

-Alauna

We're Moving!!!

Yes, the exciting news is in...We are moving in a month! We are moving to Royal Oak in the NW of Calgary and are super excited. Will post some more pictures after we have moved in and decorated. The location is killer...We are a 5 minute walk from Wal-mart and Sobey's and a 10 minute bus or 20 minute walk to Crowfoot LRT.

In other exciting news....Trevor got an auto-body apprenticeship. He starts on Monday and is super excited about it. On Monday of this week he got called for 2 interviews, one in the SE and one in the NW. Went to both and got both jobs so he was able to pick the shop of his choice. He choose Concours auto-body in Crowfoot. It is so close to where we are moving which is a super good benefit and they are a really great company. His manager is super nice and said that they make sure that everyone gets the schooling part of the apprenticeship done, which isn't always the case. Most shops don't want to let their employee's go because they are always so busy and don't have time. We have had a really really good week in terms of getting where we want to be.

Sterly beans is going to have to start being watched full time now. Kinda sad because when Trevor has been watching him I was able to talk to Sterling all day long. This will be better for Trevor and I though. First, it is more money and second, Trevor was working 5 nights a week so we had very little time together.

Trevor, Sterling and myself have had a devil cold all week long. I haven't been able to go into work because I was so freakin' sick. It wouldn't have been so bad if I was actually able to enjoy myself while off. So finally coming off the endtail. Still sick but not sick enough that I am unfunctional.

-Alauna

So this is my new favourite picture! Here is Sterling's new free wheelchair that he received from my Mother's pharmacist in Utah! We are so grateful and lucky to have people willing to help us out. We put him in it, even though it is a little big and he started wheeling around the house. I am so lucky to have such a smart and happy little boy. He is always in a happy mood and even tempered.

This year I got into refinishing old furniture and repurposing it into new furniture. I think it probably had something to do with the funds issue and then after my first project, it turned out that I really actually liked to do it. I am one of those people that hates to just sit around but I need new projects because I can't just paint a painting twice in a row. I have to paint a canvas, make a necklace, take some photos, paint a dresser, make a scrapbook page, paint a rocking horse into a zebra, make Sterling a star car and so on....so this turned out to be good for me. My first project this summer, I took an old antique door that I got for $40 into a kitchen table. I am not 100% done but the won't happen until I am moved. This table weighs a ton and I don't want to set the tiles until it has been moved to cut down on the weight. Here is the before picture of my antique door:Here is my table after I completely took the door apart, sanded and refinished it. Wow that was a freakin' task and a half. Here is the almost finished product. Still need to set in one of the board and set the tiles.My favourite part of this table is the key hole. I don't know why, but it makes me happy!

Than we bought a new king bed and I decided since I needed to buy a new bed-frame that I would just do a whole new set. I bought this door from Home Depot for super cheap and painted it black and then sanded around the edges and lines so that the white primer showed through. Used it as a headboard and it was super cheap compared to the $500 I was looking for similar ones.

Took these boring Ikea lamps we had and painted them with a design similar to our bedspread.

Lastly took this $15 sitting stool and painted them the same way as the headboard for a side table. Pretty stoked that you can actually do a bedroom set for almost nothing. I still need to find an old dresser big enough for the two of us to refinish and a bench or trunk for the end of our bed. Will post when I actually find what I am looking for and for a good price.

Now I just need to find a place to live so that my furniture actually matches my walls and curtains in our bedroom. I still have 3 side tables that will match the kitchen table to do for the living room. Just got burnt out after all this, so it will have to wait. I bought some antique cupboard doors for those side tables. Pretty excited for those because they will be tiled and I won't have to worry about ruining the wood. Anyways, if anyone has any other great ideas, I am all ears. I love to do anything that is creative and work with my hands. I told Trevor that I eventually want to open a small store to do things like this...We will have to see.

-Alauna

Yesterday we went to Alberta Children's Hospital for Sterling AFO (Ankle Foot Orthotic) appointment. They spent three hours forming this aquaplast perfectly to his feet and ankles to make sure his foot was at the proper angle. They said he was the only person in Calgary with green boots because they are supposed to use white because it is cheaper, but Sterly beans is a pimp baby so they splurged on him. At first he wears these little 'boots' for 40 minutes a day. But we have to slowly work him up to wearing these all day long. They help to make sure that his feet do not grow improperly and deform. They also help that while he is in his standing frame and other things that he does not break or jam his little ankles. He is kind of harsh on his legs because he doesn't have feeling in them. When I do not pay close enough attention to him, he will bite his toes so hard that they get huge bruises or even bleed. It is hard because he absolutely loves biting his toes for some weird reason. At any rate, he got really mad by the end of this 3 hour fitting session because they kept making him go in weird positions and take them on and off on and off. I think they are super cute though! How many little babies have super cool 'moon boots'. Here the sweet boots are:
He can still wear normal shoes but he has to wear them a size too big. Which isn't really an issue because he was still in newborn size shoes at a year old. Now I have to go find socks that fit perfectly and go up to his knees. If the socks have wrinkles in them, he will get pressure sores on his legs and feet. I love his chucks with his AFO's!

When Sterling turns two they are going to make him these sweet new AFO's. They cast his foot and then make these custom afo's that fit perfectly. They cost the $1000 to make and he has to have them made frequently because he is constantly growing. Luckily, we only have to pay the first $500 a year and the government takes care of the rest (this is for all his equipment that he uses).

I will eventually get to taking pictures of the table, headboard and side tables I made. I just do all the work and then don't feel like making an effort to take the photo.

-Alauna

New Bed!!!!

So not much excitement going on these days. I have been back to work for almost 3 weeks now and it kinda sucks! I miss Sterling tons.

We went to the Spina Bifida Wheel and Walk event in Edmonton a couple of weekends ago. It was alot of fun but kinda of far to drive just for that. The picture is us coming across the finish line. Notice the little rat baby is being carried across and not in his stroller. He will sit in his stroller in a mall or busy place but not outside. He hates it! The run was at least informative and will help us plan next years run in Calgary. Plus it was nice to see what the Northern Alberta Spina Bifida association was up to.

We bought a King bed last week!!!! So exciting. I never thought I would want one but the little baby is such a bad sleeper that sometimes I just have to bring him into bed to get a night of sleep before fighting with him in his crib for a week. However, we moved our queen bed into his room and now he has a whole queen to himself. Lucky little goat! We had a headboard and nice set for our queen but not for our new bed. So I decided instead of paying $500 for the headboard I wanted to make one myself. Actually turned out looking really good and was only $50! Killer! I took a solid wood 5 panel shaker door like the one pictured below and painted it black. Our new duvet set is black and white...Also a picture of it below. So I wanted black furniture to compliment it. We added a frame to the bottom so it could bolt to the bed and voila! Instant headboard and for a good price. I will post a picture of this when I get a chance. I will also post a picture of the table I made way back when and keep forgetting to post pictures of.

Anyways, on lunch at work, so I should get back.

Oh yeah, in other super good news. My Mom's pharmacist adopted 2 children with Spina Bifida and had an extra wheelchair that their children had grown out of. He heard about us and has given us this extra wheelchair. That is great news because most people say that you need 2 wheelchairs but the government is only really willing to help you out with one of them. So my brother's wife's aunt who lives in Calgary took it all the way from Utah here for us!!! There are so many great people out there willing to help us...I am really grateful to everyone.

-Alauna

SOOOOOO TIRED!

I am so freakin' tired this week. Sterls got croup last Saturday, yes when he had his birthday! I think that Trevor and I have gotten about 2 hours a sleep a night since then. Trevor had to take Sterling to the hospital at midnight on Sunday night because Sterling was having a really hard time breathing. He was crying because it hurt too much to breath. So they gave him some steroids to open up his lungs and luckily he slept with only waking up 4 more times that night. I would have went but Monday was my first day back at work. Yuck! Last night was about the worst night of the whole experience. Sterling woke up every 15-20 minutes and cried for about 10 minutes because when he laid down he was drowning in his mucus. Finally at 3:30 am Trevor had some mercy and went out and watched tv till I had to wake up a couple hours later for work. I am think I have been on autopilot this whole week at work. I am so tired and I can barely think but some how things are still getting done. I bet they are wondering what is wrong with me and what having a little midget did to me.


So work....Hurm. Sadly, work is as boring as I remember. Lucky for me I have a job where everyone pretty much leaves everyone to do their own thing. I have only had someone in my office for about 5 minutes this week to explain the new changes in the accounting system. In some way I enjoy my job because I get my own fancy office, I get to be alone all day and I just listen to my Ipod and chill out. But then I remember it is work and I miss Sterling so much. I can't believe how much I miss the little guy. I sure can't wait until I get to stay at home with him again.


Got this vid this week of the little guy dancing out. He loves to dance and every time we turn on music he starts doing a little jig.

-Alauna

1-YEAR-OLD!!!

My little guy is a year old! I can't believe it. It has already been a year and I don't know it went by the fast. It was the longest year in history but it went so fast. His Birthday was yesterday but we had our family shindig today. Also, today is the one year anniversary of his huge 9 hour Meningocele surgery to close the lesion on his spine that he had at 24 hours old. What a little trooper, three major surgeries in his first year. Lets hope that it was his worst year and things will look better.

Here are some photos from the little guys party:

Him not too impressed with all the work I put into his pirate cake...

The cake I made for Sterls...Never turns out the way your picture them, does it?

At Least he seems to be enjoying the cake!

Him and Papa opening the gifts. I think I should have just got him paper for his birthday because he was also unimpressed with his gifts and stoked on the paper.

I always thought I would be super sad about him turning 1 but I think the prospect of my looming restart of work after my 3 months of disability leave (I had Kidney Stones and they wanted me to take it easy so the little guy wasn't born early because he needed major surgery) and 1 year maternity leave has left a rainy cloud over me. I am pretty super depressed about going back to work because the poor little guys needs extra attention and work than most children. I feel really guilty that he wont be getting it from me. I am also upset that I cannot go to all his appointments. I like be informed and updated directly from his doctor's about his status but I can't miss that much work or else all my 3 weeks of vacation would be used in a snap. I am hoping that after Trevor finds an auto-body apprenticeship I will be able to quit in a year or two and just focus on helping Sterls. Well, that sums up our life of late. Little guy is tuckered out from all the excitement and needs to go down for a nap.

-Alauna

I Think I am Done for a while...

Sterling in Saskatoon in a sweet Canola field a minute from my brothers house....
Not my brightest idea...I had a really bad headache and Sterling was whining because we had been traveling for a long time. I decided to give him half a 100 calorie milk chocolate bar to get a little bit of quiet. I ended up spending 30 minutes getting the chocolate out of all the nooks and crannies of his car seat and fat folds on windy roads in BC. YOu can't see but there is more chocolate than appears in this tiny photo.
We collect photos of large roadside attractions all over. THis is a penny in Salmo, BC. Not one of the finest roadside attractions, but it had to be taken none the less.

So we just got back from yet another vacation...In June we spent 3 weeks driving everywhere. We went through BC and stayed in Seattle area a couple days, then went to Ocean Shores, Wa for a week. We then decided to do an impromptu trip to Utah to see our fams for a week. We got home after being away for almost 3 weeks and about 3 days later headed to Saskatoon to spend a week with my brother. Well, after we got home from that trip we decided we needed to take our token BC trip (we go to BC every year because we love it so freakin' much). We left about 3 days after our Saskatoon trip and went to BC for a week. It was by far the funest trip we have had this summer. In two months we have put about 15,000kms on our car and I think Sterly is all traveled out. We went to Rossland, BC for a few days. My brother Ryan and his wife Kaylee live there. We had a good ole' time hanging there. We went on a hike every morning, which was only a 30 second walk from their house. Picked tons of huckle berries and ate them until we were sick and full of berries. Swimming in the river in Trail because it was 42 degrees Celsius there, wow it was hot. Kaylee is the best hostess around. She fed us lots of food and made us smoothies every night. Which got me hooked on them. As soon as we got home we bought a ton of fruit and yogurt to make smoothies. YUMMY!!! She has some pretty sweet earrings , check out her esty page at: kayleefish1.etsy.com

We found out that Stacy had to work in Kamloops for the week so we decided last minute to crash the free hotel for a couple of nights and invade their space. THe drive there was super crazy. There are tons of wildfires in Kelowna right now and it was a windy stormy day so it blew all the smoke from 40 minutes away into Vernon. We could only see 5 feet in front of us when we were driving. Apprently, we went through there on a day that it was the smokiest it has been in 50 odd years. Kamloops was a ton of fun as always. The power was out in a bunch of Kamloops when we got there and it was kinda rainy so we just kinda chilled out and ate lots of food, which is always good. THe next day we had a picnic lunch at Paul Lake which didn't turn out as planned. The lake has swimmer's itch and leeches so we decided to skip the swimming for now. We went back to Kamloops and spent the whole afternoon swimming in the river and splash park near by. Got a wicked tan which I have been trying to achieve all summer. Sterling absolutely loves water so he had a good time.

Headed back through Vernon, which was empty of smoke because the wind had shifted and went to Fauquier, BC. My sister owns property there on lower arrow lake. It was kinda rainy that night so we just settled in a watched a movie. THe next day we spent the whole day beach lounging. I was smart enough to put the sunscreen on my son and set him in the shade but not myself. I ruined my wicked tan with a gnarly burn to my shoulders. I never seem to learn, not matter how old I get that I am a burner, I rarely tan. Arrow Lake was by far the warmest lake I have ever swum in. It was so warm it didn't jolt you when you got in and only took 20 seconds to adjust. Tons of fun. Sadly, we headed back home. I had a doctor's appointment or else we would have stayed for another week.

I am headed back to work in two weeks. UNbelievable!!! Sad cloud for me.

-Alauna