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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Colorado Ski Trip

Whoo wee! It's been way to long since I've posted a blog update. We were in Colorado for a week and since being back have been adjusting to normal life again. I've been pretty whooped lately and have been pretty lazy. Thus the long delay for posting this. :)

Our trip to Colorado is an annual trip with my in-laws that we look forward to every year. This year we were especially excited. It had been 3 years since we had been able to go. We were a little nervous about the 16 hour drive with the boys, and very nervous about how I would acclimate to the altitude. The last time we were there 3 years ago, I didn't adjust the best and my PFT's were higher then. Towards the end of the trip, I ended up in an ER for a shoulder/chest injury from a gnarly wipeout and my SpO2 (oxygen saturation) was 86%! It's an interesting story that I won't bore you with right now. It just shows that my oxygen levels (which normally run 97%) were very low because of the altitude. I read some pretty scary studies as well about CFers and altitude, which only made my nerves more frazzled. The only thing they recommend to help with altitude sickness is 600mg of ibuprofen every 4-6 hours. Which normally is great and works good. However, I am currently in a genotype specific drug trial and cannot take ibuprofen on a regular basis. I was told not to exceed 1500mg a day. Needless to say, Monica and I were both nervous and praying that everything would go fine.

Well, the boys did great!! We drove through the night and made stops for gas, food and bathroom breaks often. They were able to get out of their carseats enough to keep them from going bonkers. They had someone in the third row seat of our van playing with them at all times too. :)

Surprisingly, I did not have a single problem related to altitude!!! I woke up two mornings with a headache. I think it was from sleeping too long and being hungry more than the altitude though. We all made it through the week without any major wipeouts.

It was an awesome trip! We skied at Keystone 4 days while we were there. We were there just about from open to close. We play hard! We had so much fun! Monica showed me up as usual. She's really good on skis. She's been skiing since she was 8. She's pretty much Olympic bound in my opinion. ;)
It was nice to spend time with family, especially my brother and sister-in-law. They are both in med school so we don't see them as often as we'd like. I always look forward to vacations because of the time I get to spend with Monica and now my boys! Every day life can get hectic with work, treatments and commitments. A week with no worries except having the most fun possible is just what the doctor ordered! Monica was probably ready for me to go back to work! :)

Can't wait til next year!

I'll leave with more pictures than you care to look at, including a burst set of me jumping into the pool! AND I added a couple videos to make this post even more radical! One of the boys' mode of transportation to and from the ski lodge. The other is a video I put together (shot with my GoPro camera) of us skiing and having fun in the pool.



























Monday, January 6, 2014

Muchos happenings

It has been WAY too long since I've posted on the blog! We have been busy, busy, busy and a lot has happened in the last 2-3 weeks! I'll try and recap the best I can, lol!

We are officially minivan owners! I swore I would never drive a minivan, but with two babies and a big double stroller, it is the only way to go! We love it! There's so much room. In our car, my knees were in the dash with the car seat behind me. In the van, I have all kinds of leg room and we have an entire 3rd row seat for storage, lol. Plus we got a sweet deal on it! $400! No you did not misread that. We paid $400 for our awesome van! It's a 2001 so it's older, and it has some miles and quite a few dings and dents, but it runs great! A really good friend of ours has done all the mechanical work on it. It is a huge blessing!

My lunch date with the St. Louis CFF folks went very good! They're some amazing people and I look forward to working with them in 2014! I told them I would run a half-marathon in September at one of their events. Need to start training soon, lol!

Our family had a very good Christmas! It was the boys first Christmas and it was a lot of fun! They got tons of toys and clothes! They were more interested in playing with the paper than anything else and quickly lost interest in sitting still to open presents since they are now mobile. It was great to spend so much time with family! We had a NERF war to end all NERF wars with bro and sis-in-laws on Monica's side! Can't wait for next year! We will dominate!

The boys are mobile now! Not sure if I've talked about this yet or not. They are both crawling like crazy and Jeriah has been pulling up on anything he can. He pulls up on the couch, the kitchen chairs, the stove, their jumpers... anything that has something he can grab. He's getting gutsy too! He'll let go with one arm and twist around and bend down to grab toys. He's walking along the couch and going from one thing to the next. Won't be long and the little booger will probably start walking! Jace just started pulling up on things this week. He's getting the hang of it quick!

Jeriah now has 6 teeth! 4 on top and two on bottom. Jace has his two front teeth on top and his bottom two are just starting to poke through. I've never heard of a baby getting his top teeth first, but Jace did! It's so cute when they smile to see their toothy grins! They're also very good at using their teeth. To eat, not bite, lol! They are feeding themselves like pros and chomp down on their little snacks with their teeth. It's adorable!

My brother-in-law got married before the New Year! It was a beautiful wedding! The ceremony was short, sweet and to the point. The food was great. We had a lot of fun! It was a good wedding! Congrats to Frederic Leroy Melton III (aka Ricky) and Kylie!!! Monica's family has grown again! In 2013, Monica's family had a lot of additions. Our boys were born, her sister was married and a brother-in-law was added, they had a baby girl, and now Ricky got married and added a sister-in-law! I don't know if 2014 can top that, lol!

Our New Year was a lot of fun! It's the first New Year I've had off in 4 years. I always end up working so I can have Christmas off. We had a get together with a lot of friends and had a blast! Monica and the boys were asleep when the New Year rung in, so I had to kiss my buddy. Jk! Haha! The first major event of 2014 happened around 2 am when I had to take Jace to the ER. :( When we were packing him up to head home around 1:00 he was wheezing and had a horrible croup sounding cough. He would cry every time he coughed. When we got home he sounded better. While Monica was nursing him I listened with my stethoscope and he was wheezing and crackly throughout both his little lungs. Of course my mind starting racing through all the horrible scenarios of what could happen. I called the exchange and when they called back, I had him sitting in my lap. He was playing, talking and laughing. The doctor said it sounded like croup and since he was under 12 months old I had to take him to the ER. He did fantastic for the nurses and doctor! He was such a good boy and sweet as usual! The doctor said it was croup. They gave him a dose of steroid and he has been doing good since. He hasn't sounded croupy since that night. He does still have a very congested cough and they both have runny noses. Of course daddy has been battling a cold since around the same time too. It was an eventful night, but ended well!

It has been a very good past couple of weeks! Yesterday, all 4 of us were snowed in by 8+ inches of snow! I'll post some pics and videos for you to enjoy! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!


He figured out how to pull up on the DVD tower and makes a point to pull every DVD off.
If I put them back, he crawls right over and pulls them all off again. Little booger

He knows how to stand in his crib now. Which meant we had to lower the mattresses. :)

At Uncle Ricky's wedding

Crazy hair


His unicorn do

Crazy hair

Didn't realize he had food on his face, lol

He does this all the time. Then he'll kick one leg a bunch.


Nothing is safe or sacred anymore.