Hand, Foot, Mouth, and Whatever!

Garrett's school was exposed to Hand, Foot, and Mouth and notices were given out to watch for signs/symptoms.  Oh, please NO!  Saturday night rolled around and Gannon felt a little warm, 101 fever confirmed.  Oh great, here we go.  He woke up in the morning with no fever, but the rash had already started.  We paged our pediatrician, who by the way is amazing, she called back and said not to worry he was fine and could return to school as long as he was fever free.  What? He can go to school.  Coming from a center that would NO way let him go back I was shocked and had the teacher call me on a Sunday.  She said, yes, just as the doctor said he could come to school. 

No fever, he was as happy as always, and went on as usually.  The sores thank goodness never really hit is mouth so he never lost his appetite.  His poor little hands however because of his already bad skin became infected and we took him into the doctor on Tuesday.  Sure enough they were infected and he needed an antibiotic to clear it up.  I asked about his rash locations because they weren't limited to his hands, feet, and mouth.  The doctor's response was hand, foot, mouth, elbow, or back - whatever!  Wherever it decided to attack is where it would show!  Weird, but whatever add it to poor Gannon's list of viruses!

Back Update and Taylor's 5K

For some time my back has been bothering.  Last summer I had a bunch of tests done and xrays.  The blood work showed that I was overall very healthy and the xray's showed muscle spasms in my lower back.  So I started going to the chiropractor for bi-weekly visits/massages and after 6 months of this and very little improvement he ordered an MRI.  Back pain I can handle the MRI on the other hand COMPLETELY freaked me out!  20 minutes in tube was about enough to push me over.  I'm surprised I wasn't sweatier that when I'm done at the gym.  Absolutely hated all 20 minutes of that!  Anyway about a week later I headed to the chiropractor for the results.  Degenerative Disk Disease!  What does this mean?  My chiropractor explained that my lower back looked like that of a 50 year old!  Seriously, what does this mean?  Deep down I know I put off finding out the problem because I didn't want to hear that I couldn't workout/run like I had been.  He suggested that I take a "break" from running, start taking fish oil, and glucosamine and continue strength training.  No running for a while then I could gradually add it back.  NOT what I wanted to hear.  I explained that I was running a 5K in the morning then I'd stop!  It's only 3.2 miles.  I can handle that. 

So early in the morning I grabbed my coffee and was on the road to pick up Taylor to join her in her first 5K. I talked her into it a couple weeks prior and she was ready!  I was so proud that she was ready to run a race with me.  It's such a sense of accomplishment that I knew she would love it.  She expressed prior to the race that she was hoping for a 12 minute/mile average and I knew she could do better than that.  She didn't want me to stay with her, but after running my first one alone I didn't want her to do it alone.  It's so much easier with someone else.  I paced us right around 10 minute/mile and was watching her breathing and would give her updates along the way for encouragement!  She did awesome and even had energy at the end to kick it up a notch for the finish.  We finished in just under 32 minutes.  It's such a mental sport! What's a 30 minutes workout!?!  After breakfast we headed to a dive for a quick "celebration" drink!  Taylor had invited a couple of her friends to run, one who it was also his first race.  I swear he was so excited I thought he was going to wear his number all day!  It was cute.   

Post run pain was not fun!  My back muscles spasms so bad to protect my disk that is deteriorating.  I decided I would listen and take a break.  I met with my trainer a few days later at the gym and was almost in tears by the fact that I had to modify my workouts and running.  He is so awesome that he did some research on my condition and we actually had to alter very few and he added a few to focus on strengthening my back.  I did LOTS of reading and research and found that lots of runners live and run with the same condition.  After three weeks off of running I was given clearance from the chiropractor to try running and if the pain returned I would need to back off again. 

The Merced Running club hosted a Fog Fun run at the end of January and I woke up that Saturday morning feeling good and asked Dave if he's mind me going for a quick run.  With 1 hours until the run I quickly changed, grabbed some coffee, and headed for the run.  It was a 5 miles fun run so there was no need to register or anything just show up and run. 48 minutes later and it was over!  I was nervous of the aftermath of the run, but I was pleasantly surprised, no pain!  I guess the break and vitamins worked in my favor!!! Once a week a long run would be added back in place of a gym workout! Leaving me feeling fulfilled and excited!

Gannon's 3

I can't believe how fast three years goes by...Gannon is already 3! Gannon and Garrett have been counting down the days until Gannon's birthday and party since Christmas was over.  I am SO glad we decided to do a party this year for him, his first big party! Gannon said that he wanted a cars party when I asked him so I did some researching and found a few fun ideas, made the invitations, and go to to work. 

Hours and hours of making this party happen and it was all completely worth it.  I went to a local store and asked if they had any banana boxes and they gladly gave me 6 tops and bottoms.  A few cans of spray paint and they were on their way to becoming box cars!  Because of the process involved in making these cars they were a few weeks in the making.  After they were painted I glued on paper plates for tires and my friend Gretchen let me borrow her Disney Cars cricket cartridge and I did some serious cricketing!  Each car had it's own number, Cars logo, and then the straps were added.  They turned out so cute and the kids had TONS of fun running around in them for the car races!  Totally worth all the time and effort to see them smiling so big and running in circles in the court.  As one of the activities each child made a personalized license plate for their car and stuck it on prior to the race.   

I also called a local tire store and asked if we could borrow some used tires for the day, they agreed!  They were stacked for decoration at the door prior to the "races" where they were spread around the court for the kids to run around.  After the car races they were used for a bean bag game.  My mom sewed lots of bean bags and flags for us to use and these too made the kids so excited!  All worth it in my book!!!

My amazing friend Kendra, the retired baker, came out of retirement for us and made an amazing cake for Gannon.  He loved every minute of it! 

Each of the kids took home a candy filled goodie bag from the candy bar!  It was tons of fun and all worth the priceless smiles on all the kids faces including the most important for the day, Gannon! 

We love you to pieces and love all the fun and memories you bring to us. 

Ready for some football!

Joe and Shannon got the boys football uniforms for Christmas, complete with the helmets and chin guards!  They are absolutely in LOVE with these outfits.  Garrett would honestly wear the pants and shirt everyday if I let him.  He even wants to wear them to the store!  Although most days I protest and make him change, some days it's just not worth the fight! 

They love to "tackle" each other and run around like they are true players.  Thank goodness Dave takes them to the park to run around the field in their outfits so they don't kill each other tackling in the living room.

Boys!

Nick and Bikes

Nick was out of school over Christmas and his Mom and Dad had to work so he came to stay with us for a couple of nights.  It was fun to watch the boys all play.  Garrett is almost a year younger than Nick and they finally play together!  Watching movies, playing cars, and riding bikes filled our days and nights.  Garrett is really liking to ride his bike lately and Gannon loves to play outside so we rode bikes/played in front and it was funny to watch the battle/crisis of only 1 bike and 1 scooter.  Garrett is pouting below on the mini big wheel because he had to take turns riding his bike. 

Once they got in the groove and on the toys they wanted to play with it was no biggie.  Garrett was on his bike, Nick on the scooter going down the driveway, and Gannon following Nick on the big wheel.  Boys having fun!

Cousins

Heather, Juan, and Dante were in the valley with Juan's family for Christmas so they spent Christmas night at our house.  The boys enjoyed a fun glow stick bath with Dante.  Of course they could have stayed and played in the dark with their glow sticks all night!  It was fun to watch them be so excited. 

Cinnamon roll breakfast the next day and they were off.   

The Breakfast Tradition

It's not Christmas without breakfast at IHOP!!! Dave used to laugh at this tradition, but I think he actually enjoys it now.  Garrett and Gannon love pancakes so it's fun to raise them with our crazy Christmas morning tradition.  Tradition is tradition, even if if breakfast at IHOP!  I love it.