Broken foot scare

Go to my training blog if you want to see what fun I had last night :)

My training blog

Well, here it is.  I decided to put together another blog for my 1/2 marathon and triathlon training.  I'm a little reluctant to share, but I will because that was part of the point.  

www.jbtraininglog.blogspot.com

  

Snow fun

By the time we got outside the snow was starting to melt, but we did get to play a little. Heath got stuck at home....he tried to drive into work but made it as far as the end of our little road. He decided he didn't want to try any further because he was afraid he would get stuck. So we all got a snow day!

First sled ride

My favorite little blue eyed boy!

Wishing there was more snow so mom could go down the hill with Grayson. Boo hoo!

Oops....mom went a little crazy with the sled and tipped it over. Grayson's first face plant in the snow...which he didn't like too much!

Family snow photo

Nisqually Delta walk

The three of us went to the Nisqually Delta for a walk this past Friday. We wanted to get out in the sun and cold, crisp weather one last time before the weather changed.

Down comes the tree

On Saturday it was time to take down the big Maple in our yard before it decided to come down on its own...on our house. It was a pretty big to-do...it required about 6 guys to help with the process. Gary climbed up the tall ladder and wrapped a rope around the tree while Tony hooked it up to his truck and pulled it while Gary started cutting. Wes, Clayton and Heath were all spotters. Grayson was really enthralled with watching from the front window....that is until the cutting began. Then mom decided it was a little too close for comfort...so we watched from his bedroom window. What a big crash it made!

Turns out that it was a good idea we brought down the tree....the center was quite rotten. Makes for great firewood though!

Midnight walk in the snow

One of my most favorite things to do is go out at night when we have had snowfall (legitimate snowfall). So....Corbin and I trekked out after midnight last night to enjoy the stillness and beauty of the snow. Everything was so perfect and undisturbed....only a few cars had made light tracks in the snow. Corbin really loves the snow too! I was hoping for another walk tonight, but its looking like that won't be happening. Hopefully we wake up to more snow though!

The Training Begins

Today was the first day to run with the training group. So off I went early this morning to Olympia....in 25 degree weather. I was all bundled up and ready to brave the cold, but by the time I got there I was overdressed....so off went the down vest. I was a little concerned about running 8 miles today because its been awhile since I've done that distance. I ended up running 6 miles on Thursday (to make up for last weekend)...it felt ok, but I wasn't sure how I would do today. I was actually surprised at how good I felt during and after the run. I was even thinking that maybe we didn't run 8 and instead was 7....but, it was truly 8. Heath didn't go in today because he will probably be doing the runs on his own so we don't have to get Grayson up early and push him in the stroller. Tomorrow will be his run....unfortunately it will probably be in the rain.

After my run I gave dad a call to see if he was around Oly....sure enough he was actually about a mile ahead of me. So....we met up for coffee and a breakfast burrito and just chilled. It was nice!

I think I may start a new blog so I can start logging my runs, etc; have race info; and maybe some other running, biking, swimming tidbits. I'll do this mainly for myself, but anyone is welcome to read it...I'm making no promises that it will be super interesting. I've done a written log before and it really helped with my training, so I thought I would do well with a log online (since I'm good at the online thing).

Grayson's update

Well, the Bright household has endured some fun illness times the past few days.   It started off with Grayson waking up around 11pm with vomiting....all over!  This was our first experience of a vomiting child (well, besides the plane incident....see Texas trip blog).  After he got a bath and new jammies he threw up again and we had to change him once more.  He woke up a couple more times in the night with basically dry heaves (he was in our bed so we could monitor him better).  The next day he seemed to be better, but did end up vomiting around 10am....possibly from too much water.  The following day he seemed even better, but threw up again after he had already had milk and some cereal.  This was also the day that Heath came home from work and retreated into quarantine in the guest room.  He was pretty much in a coma from about 3pm till 9:30am the next morning (which was yesterday).  I had grand plans of taking Grayson for a hike at the Nisqually Delta yesterday until I woke up at 6am with stomach cramps and nausea.  So...we had a really fun day yesterday!  Poor Grayson finally felt better and was ready to get out of the house, while Heath and I were down and out.  Since Heath was feeling better, I went into quarantine and stayed pretty recumbant for most of the day.  Today we are both feeling better but still aren't 100%.  Today was also supposed to be our first 1/2 marathon group training run.  So much for that!  

I've been wanting to make a list of Grayson's new words and things he is doing now....mainly for his grandparents to see and to also have a record of.  So....here is an update on what Grayson is doing these days.

*Words (he has been saying quite a few of these for awhile):  hot, dog, up, on, off (sounds like osth), mama, dada, pop, Debbie, down, done, water (wa), more (mo), bed (beay---he points to the dog's beds and says this...hmmm, wonder where he learned that), mail (meal), run, toast, Toots (for Tootsie the dog), hat, orange, backhoe (kind of), excavator (kind of), truck, clock (loves this word), sock (sounds like clock), no (a favorite), hello (when he has his phone to his ear), ball, baby, let's go (sounds like I ko...another favorite thing to say).  For animals he usually just says the sound that they make...like cat, cow, duck, sheep, horse, chicken, lion.  I know there are other words he says but I can't remember any at this moment.

*Daycare:  He now loves going to the gym daycare (we call it playtime)...I barely get to say goodbye to him because he will run off to go play with the toys.  This was a long process to get him to this point, but it is so worth it.  Now I don't feel rushed in my workouts/yoga to get back to him.  When I do pick him up he is usually playing with friends or just with the toys by himself...I love it!

*He understands and follows directions pretty well.  Yesterday while I was on the couch (not wanting to move), I asked him if he could get me a fork for some fruit that he wanted.  He went into the drawer and pulled out a huge serving spoon....that made me laugh.  So, I told him again and he brought back 2 different kinds of forks instead.

*He loves to play outside and go for walks....sometimes walking the dog (Keilah).  We put 2 leashes on her...he gets one and I get one (for control).  

*He has been really starting to become more independent and test us....especially if we aren't paying attention to him at the time.  Scolding is pretty much a joke....he thinks its absolutely hilarious.  Some moms in my book club asked me if this was the same voice I used with the dogs....it absolutely is.  Now I know why it is so funny to him.  He always cracks up when I yell at the dogs.  I'm totally screwed!  I'm probably going to have to figure out the whole time out thing now.  He is really a good boy most of the time, but I think he gets a little cabin fever at home....this is when he starts being a turkey.  However, the other day he ran away from me while we were in the parking lots...thankfully he only ran around the front of the car, but he thought it was a game for me to chase him down.   

*He waves at everyone....and I mean everyone all the time.  Its pretty funny.  He also likes to wave to the dogs and cats when he is going to bed and makes it a point to go say goodnight to each of them.  He also blows kisses when people leave the house.  This is also how he says thank you in sign language.

*Things he loves:  tractors, trucks, airplanes, helicopters, animals, stuffed animals, babies, balls, clocks.  Food:  milk, cheese, avocado, fruit, broccoli, O's, crackers, oatmeal, raisins, cucumber, peas.

Ok...that will do it for now.  Thanks for bearing with my motherly bragging!

Grayson's 2007 Year in Review

Its hard to believe that another year has passed and soon Grayson will be two! We have had so much fun with him.....he continues to amaze us, entertain us and keep us on our toes. Grayson is such a good little boy....we are truly blessed to have him in our lives. I thought I would take the time to make a collage of 100 pictures from 2007 and review all of our excitement. I kind of got a little misty going through some of the old photos.....time has flown by...next thing we know he'll be starting school! By the way....I mainly did this recap for myself just so I would have record of things. So, if you get bored....sorry!

January:

We attend Uncle Gary's retirement party at the Lodge.

Grayson starts crawling towards the end of the month.

Mom and dad start the Capital City 1/2 Marathon training group (pushing Grayson)

February:

We get snow! Grayson enjoys going on walks with mom and dad down to the lake.

Happy 32nd birthday daddy!

March:

Cailen lets us borrow her backpack carrier....this frees us up to do more hiking.

Grandad comes to visit early in the month. Grayson hangs out with Grandad while mom and dad do their training run.....this is good bonding time for them.

Mom turns 30! Mojitos for everyone!

April:

Grandma Tammy comes during Easter time. Grayson gets good and spoiled from Grandma!

We spend Easter at Papa's house...we actually get a little sun for awhile.

May:

*This was a big month.....hence, the novel.

Grammie comes to visit for Grayson's birthday. However, the week she comes, Grayson gets really sick with impetigo and a systemic Staph infection (Scarletina). This was the scariest thing we've gone through with Grayson....since we didn't know what was going on it made it terrifying. We all thought he was having an allergic reaction to something until it the rash on his face kept getting worse and went on for too long. Slight rash (looked like eczema) started on a Wednesday evening.....I called the pediatrician Thursday....she had me use hydrocortisone on it. We continue to treat it like an allergy/eczema but by Saturday afternoon Grayson was really not doing well. I told dad to come over Saturday evening to look at him because I thought it looked like puppy strangles (which is a Staph infection puppies can get). Dad agreed and said he would be going to a doctor's retirement party....and would ask the doctors there. By the evening time Grayson did not want to be picked up at all....was really painful.....sunburned looking skin....hot to the touch....and overall was miserable. Me being the freakazoid researcher I had to get myself all the more worried by finding all sorts of horrible diseases that it could be. Dad called me later and said that the doctors thought it sounded like impetigo and for us to go into the walkin clinic the next morning. I couldn't wait till morning, so I called the pediatrician again and got the nurse on call from the hospital.....she went through all the symptoms with me while we tried to "diagnose" or determine if we needed to go to the ER that night or not. She was having a tough time with his symptoms since he didn't have any fever.....most of the diseases (Scarlet fever, etc) come with a high fever. So we waited and went through another horrible night of sleeping (or not) and got to the walkin clinic before the doors opened....we were the first to check in. The doctor there agreed with impetigo and prescribed topical antibiotics (no orals) but believed the "sunburned" red skin was an allergic reaction. Both Heath and I didn't feel real confident about not going home with antibiotics, but trusted her judgement. However, by that night I wanted to kill that doctor and we decided that we would go in first thing to our own pediatrician. We totally did not believe we were dealing with an allergy. All through this I kept making myself more crazy by doing more reading on diseases.....and came up with Toxic shock syndrome.....yikes! By the way this was the day that we were to have Grayson's first birthday party....which also happened to be Mother's Day. Heath felt bad that he didn't get anything for me....but I told him that all I wanted was for my baby to be well. The next day we went to our doctor and she concurred with our thoughts.....she believed he had a systemic infection. She took a sample of the yucky crusts that had formed on his face to see if it was Staph or Strep. She prescribed us a kick-ass antibiotic (Clindamycin)....which tastes like crap, but is a great broad spectrum antibiotic. By that evening we started thinking that Grayson was feeling a bit better. This whole time he had to be held and rocked and just tried to help him feel better. The next day we went in for a recheck and by then our doctor felt that he was looking better. We thought so also. The culture showed that he had a Staph infection (which is consistent with a Scarlett Fever that doesn't have a fever....called Scarletina). By Wednesday he was playing, smiling and was acting more himself.....probably about 90% better. This was our deciding point at this time on whether or not we would keep our trip to Oregon for my cousin's graduation. Our doctor said that as long as he was doing well, she saw no reason not to go. I believe we left on Thursday and flew down to Oregon. Our poor little boy was by then peeling on his face from healing and was starting to peel all over his body (again...like a sunburn). We were very glad to get out and go do something fun...Grayson had a great time with all his family too. Poor Grammie didn't get to celebrate Grayson's birthday with him. We were really glad she was with us during the sick times though...she was a wonderful help!

Grayson has his first birthday party (on May 18th) while we were in Vale, OR. He eats cake for the first time!

Cousin Lee graduates from high school!

Grayson's birthday party (in Yelm) was rescheduled for Memorial Day weekend (Sunday). He has many family members and friends to share his day with. He gets to eat more cake....but really didn't get very messy. He gets a lot of good gifts....including a custom made toybox, a bike carrier (for mom and dad to pull), books, toys and clothes.

Oh.....through all of the chaos when Grayson was sick, he took his first steps on his own. He actually took a good tumble and fell on the coffee table, scraping up his head....adding to the lovely looking impetigo. By the time we were in Oregon, he takes several steps on his own.

June:

We all attend our annual Pacific Crest Endurance Weekend in Sunriver, OR....for races.

Grayson and mom join the Olympia mom's meetup group....we start going to meetups at the parks.....making new friends (for both of us).

Grayson is walking very well through the month of June.

July:

We all attend cousin's weekend at Whidbey Island. Grayson gets to play with his cousins who are his own age....this is the first time meeting.

Annual clinic beach party at Pacific Beach. Grayson loves playing in the sand....and eating it!

August:

Many summertime activites continue....playing at the lake, outside in the water...inviting friends over for trips to the Farm, etc.

Mom does her first triathlon!

September:

Mom and dad celebrate their 5th anniversary....by doing a triathlon (in the freezing cold)!

Grayson and mom travel to Texas at the end of the month to visit all the family.

Grayson meets his Grannie and Bibi for the first time. We had a terrific time!

Grayson gets his first cold while in Texas which made the flight home pretty interesting.....remember the puking incident!? (if not.....go back to my Sept blog)

October:

We all travel to Portland to cheer on Jim and others for the Portland marathon.

Grayson plays in his first street band!

Grayson picks out his pumpkin in Papa's garden.

We enjoy wonderful sunny weather this month!

Grayson dresses up as an injured dog for Halloween.

November:

We travel to Vale, Oregon for Thanksgiving!

December:

Read below :) Whew...I'm done! Its hard to go back and try to remember. I think the key is to write in a journal or something. Wow...what a concept!

Happy Stove, Happy Family!

So its hard to believe that the 5 plus years we've been in our house it never occured to us to get our chimney swept. Heath says he remembers thinking about the first couple years we were in the house, but the stove seemed like it was working well and didn't need it. Well, for probably the past couple months (or more) it seems that we can't make a fire or even open the stove door without smoke billowing out (ok....I exaggerate.....but only just a little). It has gotten really bad in the past month to where it is really starting to bother me.....why in the world would we have such a smokey stove. Duh!?!? My "mom brain" must have been really kicking in to not even dawn on me that it may be because we have accumulated 5 plus years of soot in our chimney. Maybe Heath thought about it, but it totally didn't cross my mind. I take pride in knowing that I try my best to keep a toxic-free home....free of pollutants, household chemicals, artificial perfumes, etc. Here we are the whole time (ok probably just this past fall/winter) polluting our house with wood smoke....which I know can be quite the culprit for carbon monoxide poisoning, allergies, asthma and who knows what other health issues. My friend Terese' was over early last week and couldn't figure out why her eyes were watering so bad......it was because I just put more wood on the fire and smoke had lingered out. Hmmm.....you think that may be the reason we can't figure out why Grayson still has a lingering cough since October (about the same time we start up the stove). Of course he did get a cold with cough at the end of September, but he can't seem to shake this cough thing.....which usually is an out-of-control dry tickle cough in the middle of the night or during nap time. We had been to his doctor a couple different times to see if we can figure this thing out. Our doctor prescribed Singulair which is used for allergies/asthma....but since I try to be au naturale I just could never use the samples or fill the prescription. Don't worry, his cough has gotten extremely better....if it hadn't I would have given in to the pharmaceuticals. Anyway, we did have an inkling that the wood smoke may be a contributor to his cough....but again, it still never occured to me that we could possibly remedy that issue in a pretty major way. So, last week as Heath and I were discussing it again, chimney sweep came up. I was all over that! Today was the day for our long overdue sweep. The guy showed me just how much crap was all over the chimney cap. Yikes!!!!! He pointed out where the smoke is supposed to go out and how it is supposed to be open....well, ours was totally blocked off with carcinogenic toxic nasty soot! No wonder the poor ionizing air filter is working over time.

For the future we will be getting our chimney swept every other year....maybe every year! I'm so glad we finally got it done. We will keep you all posted on how Grayson's cough seems to be getting and if it improves. I didn't mention that Heath has allergies and asthma....this couldn't possibly helping him at all.

Now I'll just sit back, take a deep breath, drink my detox tea (Arbonne of course) and eat my dark chocolate (for antioxidants, hello!?).

Getting fancied up

Dressing up for the annual clinic Christmas party. Its fun to get dolled up!

Finally some photos!

I finally sat down and uploaded some Christmas time photos! It really helped that I now can use my laptop in the living room because Heath gave me wireless internet (I asked for it cuz I'm an internet junkie). I put quite a few photos in this post because I had The Amazing Race to distract me. Enjoy!

Grayson got to have a train go around the tree this year. This photo was taken a couple days before Christmas.

Singing a duet with Sep (Justin's buddy and our adopted family member)

into his new flashlight...yeah, we totally rocked!

Judy and Tim having fun

Grandma just chillin' and watching the action

Grayson loves hanging out with Brandi

The camera man taking a brief moment to get his picture taken and open a few gifts.

This is serious business!

Justin wearing his new handmade "jungle" shirt. He arrived from Peru just this morning.

Like father, like son

Me and cousin Brandi

Hmmm....did Lily change her name? It didn't take long for the Queen to find her new throne.

Sporting the new jammies on Christmas morning

Family Christmas photo....in new jammies from Bibi

Just hanging out Christmas day

First ride on "Trigger"!

Reading with Godpapa Tony....New Years Eve morning.