The Obsession Continues

Pretty Big Dig


This is one of Eli's favorite videos, we found it while searching for excavators on youtube.

Welcome to the Family

We finally bought a new car!
The Mazda 5
The old Nissan is on it's last leg, and we won't be able to fit another baby in the back unless we scoot the front passenger seat all the way to the front and sit cross legged.
Ben suggested buying a scooter and following me around while I drove the kids, but that didn't pan out.
We were thinking about a minivan, but weren't sure we really needed all that room.
This is the perfect compromise for us, 3 rows, seats 6, and fits in a compact space.


Of course we think it's incredible, but if you've been driving around a 12 year old car I'm sure any car seems great.
The Nissan smells like exhaust inside, has a bumper held on with zip ties, a cedar lined trunk and a couple of missing turn signals, not to mention breaks that catch on fire if you go down a hill, the windshield has survived sandstorms and multiple rocks, and you have to jiggle the key just right to get the ignition to turn!
After a few years driving that around we're in heaven.

I think most of our friends agree, a popular comment has been "you really needed that!".

Remembering Tony

Today is the 11 year anniversary of my brother Tony's death.
Every year I think it will get easier, but I still miss him just as much.
We had a lot of good memories, Rock Climbing, Surfing and Photography.
It's a sad, but good day of reflection.

Choking

Eli inhaled a bunch of Cheerios today, and they got stuck.
I was eating my dinner, and look over to see Eli frantic and unable to make any noise.
I'm not the kind of person to panic, so I went over and wacked him on the back a few times.
When this didn't work I stuck my finger down his throat, I came up with a wad of Cheerios, but he still couldn't breathe.
I got him down off of the chair and started giving him the Heimlich, after 2-3 attempts, (okay now I'm alarmed) another mouth sweep then a couple of more Heimlich maneuvers he finally started coughing.
He coughed for awhile, and I've never been happier to hear my child choke!

Afterward I looked up the guidelines for choking.
What I did was similar to what they recommend, but my technique wasn't quite right.
I was also under the impression that you would only have to do the Heimlich once, or maybe twice, and was getting pretty worried after multiple failed attempts.
They recommend alternating 5 back blows, and 5 abdominal thrusts until the object is dislodged.
I think knowing that it might take a few tries would've reassured me I was doing the right thing.

The Coast

I was a beautiful day at Seaside today!
Eli would dig all day if we let him, we stayed down on the sand for 2 1/2 hours.
I'm thinking the beach is a great activity that doesn't require a lot of activity on my part, I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more beach pictures this summer.

Tulip Festival

We had fun at the Tulip Festival in Woodburn today!
Eli especially loved the Cow Train ride, and of course the tractors.

FHE

Help! I'm running out of ideas to keep a toddler engaged during FHE. We've gone through the new nursery manual 2 times now and maybe it's me more than Eli, but we're board.

I was thinking of starting an online FHE group. Each member of the group would prepare a lesson (lesson, activity, song.....) and we could post them on Google Doc's. Everyone in the group would be able to view the lessons and each member would only have to prepare a lesson every month or so (depending on the number of people in the group).

If you have children under 5 and, are interested in joining, leave me a comment. If there's enough interest I'll set everything up.

Thanks
Michelle

Food Storage

We're finally stocking up on food storage!
We bought a freezer off of Craigslist this week (thank you to the Tonks for letting us use their truck again). This morning we went to Costco and bought another shelf, and spent the whole morning/afternoon cleaning out the garage. We finally got it all set up, and decided while we were on a roll to go to Winco and start our supply. The day went almost without a hitch until we were unloading the last bag and a jar of spaghetti sauce broke and splattered everywhere. After another 45 min. of unanticipated clean up, and a melt down from Eli, we're done for the day. We'll have to do a Costco and Trader Joe's trip before our 3 month store is complete, but we're well on our way. I can't tell you how good it feels to be just a little bit prepared.