'97 Tahoe for Sale

The opportunity to buy a Suburban fell into our laps, and it was too good to pass up. We are now the proud owners of a '97 Chevy Suburban. It looks almost exactly like the Tahoe, expect it has a rear third bench and it has barn doors in the back, instead of a tailgate. We took the wheels off the Tahoe and put them on the Suburban. I really liked the spoked wheels, and wanted to keep them.

I took the truck for a test drive on Monday, and Chase came along. He was really upset about us selling the Tahoe. He actually started crying and said we can't buy the Suburban. However, after he checked out the rear seat, and I told him he could sit back there all by himself, he changed his mind. He said we could sell the Tahoe. He is a very funny kid sometimes.

We are going to clean up the Tahoe this weekend and then put it in the Auto Trader. It only costs $40 to advertise and they keep running the add until it sells. They also come out and photograph it. So we hope that will be the hot ticket. I will take some pictures tomorrow and post one soon.

Eric Turns 36

Eric's birthday was on the 15th. For his birthday he wanted a party. We didn't have one last year when he turned 35, since Anthony had just been born. Eric actually helped a lot more with the preparation of this party, I was so excited. He designed the invite on the computer and helped address them. He cleaned out the garage and took care of the ice and beer. Then when I was making the food, he browned the 5 lbs of meat, and made the cheese dip!

It was 98 degrees on Saturday, but our friends still ventured out. I think the heat helped people drink more. We emptied both kegs of beer, with the help of 50 people drinking it. Almost all the food got eaten as well. We had sloppy joe's, shredded beef sandwiches, meatballs, little smokies, cheese dip, pasta salad, beans, cucumber salad, a fruit platter, veggie platter, meat and cheese tray, salsa and chips, rice crispy bars and Eric's favorite-chocolate cake. Marnie came right at 6, so I was grateful to have her help in the kitchen. Anthony and Ryan got to play for awhile. Anthony is fascinated with poking Ryan in the nose. He thinks it is the funniest thing.

A little after 7pm I took the boys to Delana and Dale's for the night. Which then gave me the rest of the night to enjoy the party. It was a lot of fun to see some of our friends we hadn't seen in a long while. We did really good this time. The music didn't get too loud, nothing was broken, no one got sick and everyone left by 1:30am. I think this is a sign that we are all getting older and more responsible! We had everything cleaned up, the dishwasher going and ourselves in bed by 2am. Eric said he had a really good birthday. That made all the prep worth it.

A New Allergy

Last Thursday at 3pm I received a call from Delana. Anthony grabbed Caden's peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and took a bite. She took the bite out of his mouth, but apparently it was enough to cause an allergic reaction. His eyes started to swell up, his eyeballs became blood shot and he had hives on his arms and legs. She immediately gave him Benedryl and called me. I called the pediatrician and he said if Anthony got any worse, I needed to take him to the ER.

By the time I got to her house, his eyes looked a lot better, but he still had hives. On the 11th we had his blood drawn to do an allergy panel. I am suppose to find out the results tomorrow. I am guessing nuts is going to show up as an allergen. It seems his wheat allergy may have gone away. He had cake on his birthday and has had some noodles, and he has been fine. Perhaps if we keep the wheat in moderation, he will be able to have that. It is going to take some adjustment if Anthony does have an allergy to nuts. It will mean reading every label, for any food.

Surgery in My Future

Last August I started having problems with my gallbladder. I had several acute attacks of severe pain and throwing up. I went to the doctor and she said she thought it was my gallbladder. Well, I was fine until April. Then while in Florida I had another attack. Then I was fine until June. Then in June I had one that was by far the worst. Even after I threw up the pain did not go away. I finally left work early.

I decided I should investigate further, and made an appointment with the doctor again. They drew blood to check my liver and pancreas enzymes and then scheduled an ultrasound. My blood test came back normal. I had the ultrasound on the 7th, and it did indeed show I have gallbladder stones.

I met with the surgeon on the 14th and he said my best option was to have it taken out. There is a procedure where they can go in and try to remove the stones, but normally they come right back. So I am scheduled for laparoscopic surgery on the 24th of August. They make a small incision near my belly button and then three near my rib cage. He said recovery should be less painful then having a c-section. I was happy to hear that.

Anthony's Birthday Party

I would never have been able to pull of Tony's birthday party, without the help of my grandparents. While I was busy taking care of Tony, grandpa finished grocery shopping for me. Grandma was busy cutting fruit, making the salads and pulling everything together. We had a wonderful birthday party, and Tony even seemed to enjoy it. He felt good enough to open some gifts, play with his new toys and eat his birthday cake. I was able to get a few pictures with him smiling.

The best surprise was my dad and his girlfriend Judy making the trip from WI to join us. They haven't been to Iowa since July of '97. My dad was smart and brought a toy for Chase. So that gave them an opportunity to hang out and play with his hovercraft. We ate really well. We had shredded beef, brats, hot dogs, corn on the cob, fresh fruit, cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, and beans. We just had the best time visiting with family and friends. Tony received enough new outfits for 10 days. It is a lot of fun dressing him up! He also got some cool toys. Rob and Miranda gave him this car he can ride on, but for now converts so he can hold on and walk behind it. He is really starting to get the hang of it now.

Tony didn't know what to think when we all started singing "Happy Birthday," to him. He got quiet and then had a big grin on his face. He had a great time eating his cake. I put a whole piece in front of him, and he picked up the whole thing and tried shoving it into his mouth. He was such a mess. All over his face, in his hair, on his clothes. I had to strip him down, and give him a bath in the kitchen sink. Considering he didn't feel too hot, we had a fun party.

Anthony was sick on his 1st Birthday

When we got home on Thursday the 6th, Tony wanted to go right to sleep. He slept for two hours. That is not like him, but I thought maybe he is just really tired. My grandparents arrived around 8:15pm. Tony was up and he played and they got to visit with him for a bit. He went back down at 9:30pm. He was then up at 11:30pm, 1:30am and 4am. At this point I was thinking his teeth were really bothering him.

I went to work at 6:30am, since I had a doctor's appointment at 7:30am. I will have to do a separate entry on that later. The plan was to work in the morning, come home and take Anthony to get his pictures taken, and then work from home in the afternoon. I called grandma at 11:25am and told her I was on my way. She said Tony had napped and was dressed, but was cranky. We all piled into the car and headed to Super Target in Ankeny.

Tony was in good spirits the whole drive, we get to the studio and he starts crying. He sees the photographer and just keeps on crying. We could not make him smile or be his happy self. After five minutes I told her this wasn't going to work. We would have to re-schedule. Chase says he is really hungry, so we decide to eat at the Pizza Hut inside of Target. Grandpa, Grandma and I all had cheese pizza with tomato slices and basil. It was very good. Chase had a hot dog with fruit snacks and applesauce. I couldn't get Anthony to eat any of his food or barely drink, which really concerned me. He also would moan like he was in pain.

We got home, and I could see how tired he was but he only slept for 30 minutes. I tried to get him to drink some more, and he would only take a few swallows. He also had some really thick drool coming out of his mouth. Here it is his 1st birthday, and he was really miserable. I wanted to know what was wrong with him. I called the pediatrician, and they were all booked. I then called our family doctor, and they were all booked. Apparently, the southside of Des Moines had some serious sickness going on! The nurse suggested I go to Urgent Care, which has a walk-in clinic. So I packed up the diaper bag and off we went. I got there at 3pm and they called our name at 4:10pm. Tony did amazingly well waiting.

He had a low grade temp, his right eardrum was red and then we the doctor looked in his throat he found a big throat ulcer. He showed me and said that would be why he isn't eating or drinking for you. He said Tony had Herpangina, a.k.a. throat ulcers. All I could do is give him Tylenol and popsicles and cold drinks. It is a virus that has to run its course. I was so bummed, since his party was on Saturday.

4th of July

It was a lovely sunny day. Chase and I played out in his sandbox while Tony napped. Then I decided I wanted to paint the downstairs bathroom, since I had leftover paint. I painted the bottom 3rd a deep blue and then the top 2/3 a bright orange. I then put up a fish border. It looks so different, and we like it a lot better. After Anthony woke up, we went outside and I pushed the boys on the swings. Anthony loves to swing and he gets this huge smile on his face and laughs with glee. It is so much fun to push him. The rest of the afternoon we stayed cool in the house. I fired up the grill for dinner and cooked hot dogs and corn on the cob. Chase wanted to make an apple pie for Eric. So we did that together. We were all tired, so we didn't stay up to go to the fireworks. We will make sure and go next year.

I am so behind

I have a lot to recap. I will try and break it up. We did decide to go to Bill and Amy's for their 4th of July party. We had a fun time. They grilled brats and hamburgers and lots of good fixin's. Chase and Anthony played with Kaitlin's toys. We were hoping Kaitlin would be there for them to play, but she was at her grandma's. We couldn't get Anthony to fall asleep so we headed for home around 9pm. Chase was wide awake and he talked my ear off for the 45 minute drive home. It was a lot of fun to have such a lively conversation with him.

Chase is Under the Weather

I was awoken last night by Chase crying. I ran into his room and he said his head hurt. I felt him, and he was burning up. I gave him some Tylenol and put a cool cloth on his forehead. He asked to me to sleep with him, and that calmed him down.

This morning when he woke up he seemed fine. However, five minutes before we are leaving he says his head is hurting again. I took his temp and it was 100.1. I told him I would take Anthony to Delana's and I would work from home, so he could rest. That seemed to make him happy.

I took his temp again at 10am and it was up to 101.4. So I gave him some more Tylenol and he went down for a nap. Three and half hours later he is still sleeping. We are all suppose to go to a 4th of July party tonight. Our friend's Bill and Amy bought a farm 30 some miles south of us in Truro. They have a daughter who is 8 months younger than Chase. So I don't know if we will be going. We didn't make it to there housewarming, so we really wanted to go tonight. I guess time will tell.

Happy 4th of July!!! Have fun and be safe!

Camping

We found a new campground we really like. It is a private campground about 20 miles southeast of here, called Webb's. The sites are spacious, each site has electric, water and sewer. Chase loved the playground and they also have a 9 hole golf course you can play on. It is $25 a night, but we also didn't have to travel as far.

Chase had his first smores Friday night. He wasn't too enthralled with them. He just wanted to eat the chocolate. I didn't like marshmallows when I was young either. Saturday morning Eric and Chase went back to Des Moines to check out the Good Guys car show at the fairgrounds. I told Eric to take the stroller for Chase. However, he didn't and within 30 minutes Chase was tired and hot. So he put him on his shoulders for another 2 hours. There were over 3,000 cars. Needless to say they didn't get to see most of them. However, they had some good father/son time.

Anthony and I hung out at the campgrounds. We went for a walk and we stopped at the playground, so I could swing Tony. He sure loves to swing, but we were in the sun, and he wouldn't keep his hat on. So we had to head back. Then we played in the shade and I finally got him to fall asleep. We really have to get air put on the camper. It would make nap time so much easier. I had him striped down to his diaper and a fan blowing on him. He only slept for an hour.

Eric and Chase returned and we had lunch. I had bought a cheap blow up pool. So we set that up for the boys to play in, which helped them stay cool. Eric took a nap, and I got a cat nap in while Tony played in his playpen and Chase entertained him.

We headed to Knoxville around 5:30. We were invited to a 50th birthday party for Willy's brother Rick and Willy's brother-in-law Dave. Dave and Kim just built a house outside of Knoxville in the country. It was our first time seeing it, and it is very beautiful. The boys hung out and then I set up Anthony's bed in the guest bedroom and Chase watched a movie. Around 9:30 some of the guys let off some fireworks they had bought in Missouri. So I had Chase come out to watch them. He enjoyed that a lot. We headed back to the camper around 10:45. We had fun visiting with friends we don't always get to see.

Sunday we were up at 7am and the clouds were moving in. I cooked breakfast and then we started packing up. We were just putting the camper onto the hitch when the rain started. It was perfect timing. It was so nice to come home to a cool house. Tony went down for a nap right away and slept for three hours. He was a tired boy.