Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Kerri invited us up to Vallejo to spend the day at Six Flag's Discovery Kingdom with them. I have been looking forward to this day for a month and I was determined to have a great time even though I was pregnant. The day finally arrived yesterday and even though the forecast said it was going to be hot I still really wanted to take Nathan, so we headed up in the morning so we could take advantage of the park for the whole day. And boy was it hot! I was very glad there was plenty of opportunities for me to just sit down and watch the kids enjoy the rides. I was also grateful that Kerri was so willing to go on the rides with Nathan that required him to be accompanied by an adult since I was not allowed on any of the rides. We Started out the morning by first checking out the tigers and elephants. The elephants are always a favorite of mine and Nathan was just as thrilled to watched an elephant swimming in her huge swimming hole. He was even making his elephant noise, so cute! After walking by a few more animals the kids were all very excited to get on a few rides.

 Then it was time for the Killer Whale show so we headed to the stadium where the kids ate some lunch and we just relaxed in the shade.

                                          Nathan was mesmerized by Shouka

After The show we enjoyed some yummy mexican food and then head over to another young kid section. They enjoyed riding the train and a few other rides and then we let them play in the water for a while.

After the water they had a blast riding more rides. Nathan's favorite was the little train. I think he would have been happy riding it all day.

Finally it was time for the Dolphin show. Everyone enjoyed sharing some frozen lemonade(the perfect treat for the hot weather) and a churro.

After the show the kids still wanted to go on a few more rides. So I found a nice shaded bench while Kerri, Adam, and my mom took them around to a few more rides.

 Little 2 yr old Liam was the most fearless and begged to ride every ride even the ones he was much too small for.

After the park we headed to a Mongolian BBQ restaurant for dinner and it was really good. We then headed home and didn't get back until around 10pm. I was so tired but it was all worth it, Thanks Kerri for inviting us!

Family update

It has been a busy week at the doctors for us. Tuesday I went in for my 27week check up. Good news I get another ultrasound next week. Hopefully this baby will be more cooperative this time around. Unfortunately I also found out the I failed my glucose test so that means I have gestational diabetes. Honestly I have been dreading finding out something like that. For the next week I am supposed to track my blood sugar 4 times a day and then I meet with the doctor again to see how we should manage the diabetes. Since my numbers were just a couple points high I am hoping that we can just manage it with diet. I have cut all sweets out of my diet that part I don't really find that difficult. The hard part for me is limiting the amount of carbs and fruits that I eat. I was trying to make a meal plan a few days ago and I realized how many of my recipes are high in carbs. I became extremely overwhelmed and depressed with the idea of trying to find meals that my whole family will eat but would still fit in the parameters that I need. I have come more to terms with the whole situation  now and am actually hoping this change in diet will help me drop weight more quickly after the baby comes.
Wednesday I spent the majority of my day doing preop visits with Nathan's doctor and the hospital. Nathan was very brave for his blood draw, but let everyone know the rest of the day exactly where he had been poked.
Friday morning we got up early enough to get to the hospital by 6:30 in the morning. Nathan was scheduled to get tubes put in both ears and his adenoids out. Nathan had a great nurse. They started be giving him a sedative to take orally and that sure did put him in a good mood. He was funny seeing him so relaxed. After taking all his vitals they allowed me to follow him in to the operating room.  I stayed with him while they masked him down with some gas. Once he was asleep they sent me to they waiting room. Once they finally started I think the procedures only took about 30mins to finish. As soon as he was awake in the recovery room they called me back while Dave finished talking to the doctor. His recovery went pretty good. He initially was having a hard time breathing so the nurse did a breathing treatment on him. After that he was just upset about his iv and all the other lines that were connected to him. Dave and I were both really impressed with Nathan's doctor and were glad the he strongly felt it was important for Nathan to be surrounded by his family as he was recovering. I guess there are a few doctors that will only allow 1 person with the patient at the time, but Nathan's doctor insisted that Dave come into recovery with us. After monitoring Nathan for about 30min we were allowed to head home. Nathan was happy to get all the lines removed and even enjoyed a Popsicle out to the car. Grandma Bell sent a gift for him to get after the surgery and Nathan was super excited to get his alligator for his new zoo he got for his birthday. He has been asking for an alligator for weeks. By the time we got home Nathan was pretty much acting like himself. It is so amazing how quickly kids recover. The only complications was about 3am last night he woke up vomiting. I think he was more upset about that then anything else. But after getting him and me all cleaned up he was happy to go back to sleep and has been happy all day today. The doctor told us that his adenoids were very large and were probably causing his snoring. Now that they have been removed and all of the fluid drained from his middle ear he should be doing great and hearing better. I am so glad we were finally able to get this done.

                                                     all prepped and ready for surgery.

Memorial Day Weekend

This year we were able to go up to the family cabin near Sonora and had a blast hanging with family. Dave was able to get Friday off from work, so we left Thursday evening around 6 and headed to the cabin. We enjoyed some time with just the three of us for a few hours Friday, until the rest of the Families started arriving. When we woke up Friday morning it was actually snowing. Not what you expect for the beginning of summer holiday.By 1pm we had about 7 inches on the boat. Luckily it warmed up enough after that to melt most of the snow. Saturday morning Dave went golfing with Taylor, Brianna, and Javier. I think they had fun even though it was still a little chilly. Sunday we took Nathan to Pinecrest Lake for a short visit to the beach just to get some time out of the cabin. Monday morning the weather was perfect for boating and we left for New Melones Lake in the morning. Nathan loved being on "daddy's boat", it is pretty much all he talked about for a few days.
                                                         Surfing without the rope.

                                                            Cassie and Nathan

                                          Testing out Taylor's new Wave runner

                                                       Having fun with Uncle Javier

Birthday Boy!

Yesterday was Nathan's 3rd Birthday! I can't believe it has already been 3 years, the kid needs to stop growing up. I love this age. Now that he is finally talking he is so much fum to be around. I took him to a new pediatrician a couple weeks ago and finally got the referral to the ENT that I have wanted. Nathan has been suffering this past year with constant ear infections and had pretty much been on antibiotics for the past 5 months. Since he was still mostly just grunting six months ago with very little words I was a little worried that maybe he wasn't hearing as well as he should be. His doctor then didn't want to look at putting tubes in his ears yet so he put him on 3 months worth of antibiotics. With in a week he really started picking up on a ton of new words. The problem was that when he had finished the 3 month course his ears were still red so finally the doctor said we may have to consider having the tubes placed. Then we moved, and we had to wait for his new insurance. So last week I finally took him to an ENT and found out he has lots of fluid behind his ear drums. The doctor tested his hearing and it was a little dull compared to what he should be hearing so we have scheduled him for surgery to have the tubes placed and his adenoids out since they are preventing the fluid from draining. Even though he has already started to speak really well, his doctor says he will catch up even more quickly after the surgery. I am just glad we finally are taking the right steps to get him better it was a little frustrating that it took all his other doctors so long to jump on board with the idea.

Last Monday we went to the monthly Dickson family birthday party. Nathan didn't understand that we were celebrating all of the May birthdays until everyone started to bring him gifts and then he got the best smile ever. Dave was able to capture the moment on his phone.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday with family. I decided this year since we weren't having a party that I wanted to make a special birthday cake for him. So after looking up a few ideas on Pinterest I decided that I might be able to decorate a car cake with a road and grass. I thought it turned out really cute for my first time ever trying to do more than just slap on some frosting. All of the Cars figures were on sale a month ago so my mom picked up several characters that Nathan didn't already have and we added them to the top of the cake.

                                          Ready to open his presents.

                                                       Time for cake and ice cream!

    Playing with his new little people zoo that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Griffith

               What a surprised he loves his Cars race track!

  Saturday we finally converted his crib into a toddler bed. I was a little worried that bed time would be a battle since he could now get out on his own, but once we put him in bed for the night he didn't get out until Sunday morning when Dave went into his room and told him he could get out of bed. I love that he can get in and out on his own. It was really starting to get difficult for me to lift all 30lbs into the crib every night.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy!