Early Father's day gift

It has been my wish for Ralph to have a nice grill in the backyard. We have our old portable charcoal grill that we bought six years ago, but it takes a while to lite up.
The other day while we were looking for a new stove at Sears, I saw the grill was on sale. I told Ralph to get one since it was on sale and we already in the store. And he did! He picked it up yesterday. On Wednesday, he will get to test his brand new grill..Kenmore brand but very simple and it has the feature that we need for bbq during summer. He will use the propane and not the charcoal anymore. Yeahhhh! I won't be afraid to ask him to BBQ some food for me ;-)
Also, I told him it was his early father's day gift ;-).

First School Photo

Taken last March 17th, 2010 at his school. I am glad that he smiled for his first school picture. It has been a year since Gj started the preschool. He likes going to school and riding the school bus! Great Job, GJ! Yeheyyyy

Graduation

My step-son graduated yesterday for his AA degree in Networking.

Congratulations BJ! You made it!

Skirt for my little princess

Aside from making shopping bags, I started making a skirt for my daughter.

My very first skirt made! It was not perfect, but I did it!

... and my model in her skirt. Now , if she can just hold still :)) 

I am learning! What do you think?

Green Bag Project

The other night, I started making some of the shopping bags. My goal this summer is to make 50 bags to send in the Philippines to give away to the kids and families who needs it.

I followed the patter from the green bag lady website here. She has the easiest pattern ever and it was not complicated to follow at all.

A week ago, I asked a friend to show me how to make the lining for the back to make it a little nicer in the inside part. I do not have the serger to make the edge of the seam look nicer, so I followed the tutorial from my friend website here  ( THANKS SIS CLAIRE!), but I forgot to lined up my handle on the same side and it was twisted oh boy!

But my second bag was all good! I am learning :) I am trying to make with different sizes because I want it to be more usable for children.

Also, I was meaning to make more bag to give away at the fund raising event on Saturday and Sunday, but I was not able to make some more :( because my kids were demanding and was busy for other stuff in the house.

Here is another one that I think is a good size for them. I made this one out of an old bed sheet that was given to me by a friend. I bought many fabrics, but I was trying to make it inexpensive as much as possible.

Thanks to Sis Claire for the tutorials and to the green bag lady for the pattern and for the inspiration.

Mended Little Heart Fund-raising Even at Fry's Electronics

I volunteered three hours today at the fund-raising event of Mended Little Heart Group through Fry's Electronics. I was there quarter to 9am this morning and helped other fundraiser to sit up what we need for the event ( it was mostly done by the employees of Fry's actually and the family that was in-charged. Thanks a lot to them.)

We started handing out the food at 10 am and the people just keep coming. I love it! It bring back memories of my childhood. I used to sale food when I was very young.

I left around 12:22nn and I was debating if I should stay longer to help them. However, I have my little princess who was not eating waiting for me to come back hayyyyy!

Anyway, thank you very much to all the co-volunteers that help in the event and to Fry's Electronics!

OVERALL, IT WAS A SUCCESS AND VERY REWARDING!

Me and the statue

Before finals I joined the group tour at the Phoenix Art Museum courtesy by Reach Trio Program. The other student took this photo for me while I standing 10 feet away from the lady statue. What do you think? I did take the front view because it was all big! Well, she is a figure of a real woman!

Happy Mother's day

 I wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY DEAR NANAY (MOTHER)

My MoTher is my Best Friend

MY adviser

My councilor

My provider
My everything ! Happy mother's day Nanay and I love you and I miss you so very much!

Here is the lyrics that I got from the internet ;-) to my mom and to all the mother's out there!

Thank You Mom
(Lyrics & Music: Good Charlotte)

I'm sitting here, I'm thinking back to a time when I was young,
My memory is clear as day, I'm listening to the dishes clink,
You were downstairs; you would sing songs of praise,
And all the times we laughed with you,
And all the times that you stayed true to us,
Now we say, I said, I thank you,
I'll always thank you,
More than you could know,
Than I could ever show,
And I love you, I'll always love you,
There's nothing I won't do to say these words to you,
That you're beautiful forever,
You were my mom,
You were my dad,
The only thing I ever had was you, It's true,
And even when the times got hard you were there,
To let us know that we'd get through, you showed me how to be a man,
You taught me how to understand the things people do,
You showed me how to love my God,
You taught me that not everyone knows the truth,
And I thank you,
I'll always thank you,
More than you could know,
Than I could ever show,
And I love you, I'll always love you,
There's nothing I won't do to say these words to you,
That you will live forever, always

Shopping bag from the Green Bag Lady

I won a shopping bag from the green bag lady website which was introduce to me by my good friend Claire F. from NY.

The light blue shopping bag from the green bag lady and the two peach color shopping bag are my very first made shopping bags.

When I found out that I was one of the receipt out of 80 winners, I feel inspired! I went on her website and watched the video of her making the green bag ( shopping bag), looks easy to make. Since I am not a sewer, I need motivation to sew and the green bag lady site give me that motivation.

This week I received the shopping bag blue in the picture) from the green bag lady named Teresa. Since, only couple days before the sales day ( Wednesday is the day I shop for food) and was anxious to use my shopping bag. I decided to try of making my very first green bag.

My very first try: I put a pocket because I like to put my receipt in the bag pocket.
P.S this bag made from my old bed sheet :)

It was not a good as the bag that I received, but I am working on it. The thread was going all over the place of the fabric :)). Well even though my first try was not as good as I expected to be, it did not discourage me to give up, instead I made another one ( above 1st pic). Today , I used it! The cashier at the store joke about not taking other store shopping bag. But I said, ' no these shopping bags two of them I made and one from the green bag lady, and she told me that it was a great idea to make your own bag. Well , I said "thanks to the green bag lady for the motivation". I even showed the cashier the website that she can go to for the pattern.

Anyway, as soon as we got home I took picture of my with the bag and as well as my daughter check out what I bought.

Eagerness to have the lettuce... yahhhh!

Here she is she got it! then...

Later in the morning after I picked up my hubby from school, we went back to the store and bought some fabric. I am making more shopping bags and bags that I can send to my family back in the Philippines. I am also planning to make  bags for kids that do not have money to buy a school bag in the Philippines ( I was one of them using a plastic bag as a school bag). Of course using the same pattern from the green bag lady, because it was easy to follow for the first timer like me.

To Teresa, thank you very much for the nice, light weight shopping bag and for inspiring a lot of women to sew. More power to you!

The Result

GJ saw the plastic surgeon today over at CRS clinic. And the results of the would culture is finally revealed ... it was positive of MRSA. We were very sad to know about this but what can we do?

So far GJ is not showing any signs of anything for staph aureus infection only the chest wound. No fever or anything that will really excited everyone... its a good thing!

He will be on the antibiotics for three weeks and see whats gonna happen. I hope this bug will go away! Idon't like this bug and no one does!

GJ's appointments

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I took Gerald jay to the pediatrician to check his chest incision ( nothing so serious, but it was just swelling) and  I was just so afraid the the MRSA came back. Dr. Golner was concerned also since I called in a day before and asking for a medical advice. The nurse that I talked from CRS advice to take him to the ER, but GJ was not really an emergency thing. Therefore, since  I was really concerned of Gerald's chest swollen, I called in again to his pediatrican and made an appointment on Wednesday.

 Gerald was fine, but I don't want to find out later that the swollen on his chest was serious ( he had a history of stap infection MRSA bug). Anyway, Dr. G called all the doctors that involved in GJ's health care (cardiac surgeon, plastic surgeon, and cardiologist) and request of immediate appointment to check on Gerald.
We really like Dr. Golner because he is on ball. Every time GJ have something comes up Dr. G's team are really good of helping their patients. I highly recommend Dr. Golner and his team as pediatrician.

Anyway, the next day Gerald saw the cardiac surgeon Dr. Cleveland over at St. Joes ( he is a wonderful surgeon) they have to put a mask on GJ for precautions since GJ has the history of MRSA.

On Friday, GJ Gerald had the minor procedure done. Dr. Cleaveland opened the wound site. He didn't see any infection inside, but they did a blood test and culture the specimen from the wound. They didn't give him any antibiotics at all and we are hoping to get the result of the culture in 72 hours. Gerald will going to follow up with Dr. C after 10 days. Gerald did pretty good this time. He didn't cry after he woke up from 20 minutes anesthesia. The nurse told me that he is really good and no fussiness at all. I just realized that he is grown since the last time he had his last surgery.

Gerald was released after an hour of the procedure. Since my husband has the car to school, we had to wait for him until he come back. The bad thing was I told him to eat lunch ( I thought we will be in the recovery room for quite a while). So ended up waiting for almost an hour. Gerald was annoyed already because he couldn't run around. The bandage was keeping him sitting on the pillar.

As you can see, a very unhappy smile. I have no choice to stay inside the hospital, because he got bored in there too ans started screaming "goooooooooo"!

The nurse told me to keep him in sitting position, because he just had an anesthesia. But as soon as I put his shoes on he took off with cow.

Then, dad finally came and we went to the side of the hospital where there are few bench to seat on. I guess kids will be kids and they don't wanna be restrain in the stroller. They are running around the place and Kathlyn need to be watched closely since she eats everything that she gets her hand on.

Now, Gerald is doing great. He will be going back to see the surgeon in 7 days and to remove the stitches on his chest.

ECHO today

Gerald Jay had and echo today. I am really surprised how grown my son is now. A year ago when he had an echo, he gave the ultrasonograpist a hard time and I remember I asked something to make him calm down. But today was totally different, I mean other side of Gerald was really quite and cooperative. Even the guy that performed the test surprised and praised him for his cooperation ( apparently the guy remembered us :)) Anyway, the test was done in a peaceful and timely manner. Supposedly to get the result on Thursday but the NP called and canceled the cardiology appointment.
Gerald was not supposed to have the echo today, but some stuff made a mistake of calling us and made an appointment for GJ. OH well, its already done, and I am hoping to know the result sooner if possible.

Anyway, GJ was very good at all. Great Job Baby G!

Mended Little Heart First Annual Family Picnic

Mended Little Heart First Annual Family Picnic

Indian Steele Park, Phoenix Az

April 24th, 2010

Group Photo

We had a wonderful time at the park with other families for the first annual family picnic hosted by Mended Little Heart of Phoenix.~ Thanks a lot for the generosity and all the sponsors of the foods :)

My kids were all excited and couldn't stop running around the place. Well, that its what for when you are at the  PARK it should be for the children satisfaction. 

Anyway, Gerald jay was busy running around and poor father that keep him busy all the time at the park and let me chatted with other parents. When Gerald get so excited he does not want to drink milk at all and I was worried that was going to get dehydrated, but he was fine I just pumped more milk in him when got back home.

My little princess kept us busy too by eating small rocks and exploring the place.

Our happy family :)

Once again thanks to Mended Little Heart of Phoenix for sponsoring this event.

Barium swallow Test

Gerald had a modified barium swallow test yesterday at St. Joe's Hospital.

Barium swallow test is a test of to determine if the individual is having difficulty or problem in swallowing. In Gerald case problem swallowing liquid food and probably painful swallowing too. 

 This is the picture how the barium swallow test http://www.mountnittany.org/assets/images.

I couldn't take any pictures inside because I had to help the feeding therapist assisting with Gerald. Because he was screaming form the top of his lungs! oh God!

He had this test couple times already since he was a year old and he was already on honey thick consistency and he still need honey thick consistency because on the test showed a silent aspiration when it diluted to a low consistency.

I hope it is not the MRSA!

Few days ago, I noticed GJ's chest was swelling again. First came into my mind " I hope its not the MRSA again" but I doubt it, because it was on the exact site where they drain the MRSA infection.

I was hoping that this problem has been resolve when he had his minor surgery last January. But I guess not!

He will be visiting his cardiologist next week, and he is going to have an echo on Monday too. So, the doctor will be informed as soon as we see him.

Oh God help us! This super bug is very clingy!

Watching Television

I bought tons of educational DVD for my kids and everday they can watch it so that I can do my homework and cleaning. Sometimes Gerald would demand to watch "car movie or nemo", but mommy said " you can only watch either signing time or musical video like barney. So, here they are watching together and sometimes they are fighting to change the channel.

Signing video: Gerald jay and I learned a lot from this video. I would recommend it. Kathlyn picked up some sign language too and they are very cute when they do sign.

Ahhhh... minutes of peace!

Reusable bag and Crayon roll from NY

I would like to extend my gratitude to sis Claire of NY for the freebies that she sent me. I use my bag everyday to school and to everywhere. It was a nice bag and durable and I put everything in it :).

Thanks sis for your effort to make this bag and it is awesome! I really like the color and how you put it together. And I am afraid that I have to ask you to give me your pattern on how to make this. Thanks

Also, thanks for this beautiful crayon roll. This is a genius idea of keeping crayons organized. Gerald love it, while little KC want it too!

Please Pray for a child that had a heart Transplant

Please help us praying for a little boy who had a heart transplant and going into a critical condition. Please check his own site for more information.

Bicycle Trailer

A week ago we bought a bike trailer. Since we only have one car to get around the town, and Ralph normally has the car when he goes to work. My kids and I usually stuck in the house for four days, and we couldn't get anywhere with two kids without any form of transportation.

Anyway, today Ralph finally hooked up the trailer unto my bike. I haven't use my bike for almost two years, so I was so excited about it. I can finally have an exercise buy pulling my kids trailer. BUT as we went down the drive way my bike got flat tires, both of them. I knew Ralph filled the tires up with air. I was frustrating. Well, since my kids enjoying the ride in that trailer, we still walked around the block since the trailer can converted into a stroller. We got this from Walmart.

Two onces at a time!

Gerald had a great day today in his feeding. We fed him every half hour two ounces at a time. Its a lot of work, but whatever works for him thats what we are going to do. Great Job GJ!

Fruits and Veggies

I was confused about my homework this weekend. I thought that I must have to seven to fourteen combination of fruits and vegetables. So, this morning I told my husband that I need to go to the store and buy more variety of fruits and vegetables aside from the fruits and veggies that we already have.

I normally buy fruits and vegetables every Wednesday because that is where every store have their " specials" meaning cheaper prize. But anyway, my confusion lead me to the store and spent more than $35 for fruits and veggies. Which is very irritating because these fruits and veggies go on sale every Wednesday :( that I could spent less. Anyway, as I was unloading my grocery bag I put all the stuff that I bought and took pictures of it. Also, I called my husband and told him that all of these fruits and veggies I must consume it in one day. I my self can't believe it because that is a lot. My husband said " wow thats a lot!". No one ever eat that much of fruits and veggies everyday. ( I just measured a cup of every thing :) a lot easier).

Breakfast omelet

So for breakfast, I made omelet. I used four egg whites and one whole egg, 1 cup of chopped celery, and 1 cup of finely chopped carrot and onion. It turned out delicious and as my hubby said " weird but good". In this was I got 2 kinds of veggies and 2 kinds of fruits an orange and an apple. So I need five more combination of fruits and veggies right? 

So for lunch time, I separated my fruits and veggies. I cooked the bakchoy with 1 small can of sardines so that we can have some protein. After eating all of these made me so full, and I was thinking to my self that I don't want to eat dinner tonight.

After lunch, I started my homework and the first question was way off than what I thought. 

" Task: select one day during the week to achieve the U.S. Dietary Guidelines of eating a combination of seven to thirteen fruits and/or vegetables daily.  Incorporate these foods into your regular diet."

I thought I have to eat in one day those 7 to 13 combination of fruit... I guess I just don't understand the question.

Okay, the more variety of colors of your fruits and vegetables in meal is a good practice. Also, use fats that are good for your heart like olive oil or canola oil. Avoid trans fats because it increases your bad cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease.

IEP Meeting

Last Tuesday Gerald had an annual IEP meeting at school. I was pleased that going to school helped Gerald a lot! My husband thought before that going to school of such a young age ( 3 years ) will not do him any good, but I was an opposite outcome because he learned a lot from school. He is totally different Gerald since a year ago. He is very soical and not afraid of playing in the playground.

Snce we do not have a babysitter we took the kids at the meeting. I was amazed how Gerald play in the classroom. It seems he know how to operate everything. There are some goals ( OT, PT and Speech) that have been met over a year in the program, but some are remain the same goal since he hasn't mastered them .

 

I thanking the all staffs at his school who work hard with him for teaching him and helping to meet his goals.

Feeding Issues Once Again

Sighhhhh I thought I completely transitioning Gerald to a day feeding, but I guess not! He did really well for almost three weeks without puking at all. I was really proud of him and bragging about it with his GI doctor that he was doing real well and no more puking. The doctor went up one knotch of his calorie intake from 1100 kcal/day to 1400/kcal/day which gives us upto six bottles of pediasure. He did well for one day of no puking and for the rest of the week and until now he puke and puke and puke every time I gave him his feeds. My husband and I were talking about blended food, but I said that it is not appropriate for us because I couldn't keep up my kitchen regularly. Once I get done everything I need for school and be focus on hose cleaning and other stuff I might considered the blended food. Plus, he has diarrhea everyday. For  more than 2 years he had the constipation, now he have diarrhea. Is anyone know how to treat diahhea naturally? I gave him pedialyte just to balance his electrolytes since he is puking and diarrhea at the same time. Poor GJ :(