Baby Got Back

Well as some of you know we were trying to purchase a piece of property next door to Sir Mix a Lot to build our dream home. For the past year our fantastic realtor, Packy Rieder, has been on and off negotiating this deal. Unfortunately, we were outbid on this property by none other than Sir Mix himself. Too bad, because I was really looking forward to him DJing my holiday party! I was looking forward to using his indoor basketball court and swimming pool. He must have gotten wind of that and decided he didn't want me as his crazy neighbor. Dang! Back to the search we go....

The Bachelorette

So I finally watched the premier of Ali's season of the Bachelorette last night, and I have to say, so far I don't really love her. I actually liked her better on Jake's season than I do now. Hopefully she'll grow on me, because I do enjoy watching this garbage and I want to be able to get into this season!

If you are looking for spoilers I've got the link for you. Check out Reality Steve for a play by play of each episode all the way down to the final two. You'll find out who has the girlfriend, who leaves for an ex, and who gets a crazy tattoo for Ali! Looks like another season will be successfully filled with drama. Based on first impressions, I am thrilled with the two guys who make it to the final two!

Go M's

Well Anthony has started climbing - ah! He loves to climb up his Mariner's stool and sit on the bench in his room. He also likes wearing his M's hat these days, and has been carrying it around with him. I guess they still have one fan left.

Black Eye Day 2

I'm afraid that poor Anthony has gotten his mom's crazy, unruly hair. Sorry buddy!

A Lesson in Patience

Lucas waiting for his cousin to get up from his nap.

Black Eye

I didn't see what happened, but Anthony and Lucas were playing together yesterday so I'm giving the points to Lucas on this one. Ouch!

Zebra: The Movie

Zebra

This morning Anthony got on his zebra all by himself for the first time. We may have a new favorite toy!

Stuck in a box

and not too happy about it!

Bloggers Unite

I'm always looking for fun new blogs to stalk....I mean follow. Do you have a blog? Or a favorite blog? Let me know so I can check it out!

Quote of the Day

"So many of our dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable." Christopher Reeves

I'm just bragging now...

about how awesome my husband is! He is such a hard worker, and it pays off as today he got a promotion and a big fat raise! Nice job Jared - I am so proud of you! I appreciate how you work so hard every day, getting up early and staying late and putting up with corporate politics, to take care of your family. Your work ethic is to be admired and Anthony and I love your devotion to us. And apparently Accenture appreciates your loyalty as well. In an economy where people are getting laid off every week and most companies have salary freezes in place, you excel, give more than is asked of you, and you are rewarded. You deserve it!

Luke's Birthday

Our nephew Lucas celebrated his first birthday this week. Hard to believe that one year has already passed since we were holding him in the hospital. We are so happy to have this happy little guy in our lives, and love watching he and Anthony play together.

Us with the birthday boy.

The official cozy coupe gang.

Grandma & Grandpa with the boys. They'd much rather look at each other than the camera.

Riding in style in Luke's new wagon!

The giraffe cake that Colby made for Lucas - so cute!

Brooke Elizabeth Anardi

Our newest niece was born last week, and we are so excited to have another little cousin in the family!! More pictures of Brooke are on Ryan & Jody's blog....we can't wait to meet this little sweetie in July when they come home to visit.

Summer Fun

We are loving the beautiful Seattle weather lately and have been outside for the last four days taking advantage of the sunshine!

Pushing Boundaries Fundraiser

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to attend the PB fundraiser. You may remember that back in November the film crew was at our house to get footage for the video they made for the fundraiser. The short spot turned out great, and the team at PB raised over $216,000 to help more people get the therapy they need (article here).

Check out the video. I'm basically a movie star now... ;)

Summer is here!

Jared and Mike set up the free swing set we found on craigslist for the cousins to enjoy!


You can see my freewheel in this picture - makes it so much easier to get around in the grass.




The beautiful summer weather is here! We spent the weekend playing at the canal in the sun. Anthony wasn't loving the grass.
Here's happy Luke-man and sad Anthony! Don't know if it was allergies or sunscreen or teeth, but Anthony was a little crabby on Saturday. Luke and Anthony took their first bath together - cute little chubby babies!

Standing

I try to stand at home 3-4 days a week to keep my bones strong!

Playing with Lucas

Mini Van

If you're a parent and have ever thought about buying a mini van here's a hilarious video from Toyota about the Swagger Wagon! Didn't sway my choice, I'm still happy with the SUV, but oh so funny!

Pushing Boundaries

Well last Friday was my last day at Pushing Boundaries. After lots of prayer and months of thinking about it and talking it over with family, trainers, etc., I decided it was time to move on to the next phase in my recovery process.

Pushing Boundaries was extremely helpful to me over the last year and made a huge difference in my current abilities and confidence. Had I not gone there, I'm not sure I'd be as independent and comfortable as I am right now. It's truly an amazing organization and I look forward to continuing to be involved with them over the years.

It was difficult leaving as I really enjoyed the workouts and have grown to be good friends with my trainer, Ben. But I just really felt it was time to move forward, do something different.

I'm now on to a great workout program at home to keep me in perfect physical shape so that as soon as the nerve connection regrows I can be up and walking. I believe it will be soon!

FIVE years!

Wow the time has flown. Today is the 5 year anniversary of the day Jared and I started dating. I barely remember what life was like before we were together. You have made me the happiest woman in the world, Babe, and I love you so much! Looking forward to many more anniversaries and growing old together. Life is so good, and we are so blessed.

Walking

Here's a video of Anthony walking...he tries to walk everywhere now. He is so proud of himself - and of course we are proud of him too! Love the toddling - it is so cute to watch!

Nap Time

Anthony put himself down for his morning nap last week - guess he just couldn't wait for me to do it. He slept here for 1 hr, 45 mins. This guy just LOVES to sleep. We get about 12 hours at night and then 2 two hour naps per day. What an easy kid!

Snuggle Time with Grandpa

Want to help Haiti?

Passing this along in case you're in the Seattle area and can volunteer!

Many of you have asked how you can help, here's your chance! The Salvation Army's Million Meals Packing Event will take place right here in Seattle May 29/30 at the WA State Convention Center. You can literally help feed Haitian quake survivors by volunteering a couple hours of your time. Pass the word, we need at least 2,000 volunteers to make it happen.

The regular event hours will take place from 8 AM - 8 PM each day. Volunteers will work 1-2 hours at minimum, but usually stay longer or leave and come back.

Volunteers can sign up as individuals or teams of 12 (that's how many it takes from start to finish packing up the food).

We really need EVERYONE'S support throughout the city to make this work. I saw the receiving end of this first-hand in Haiti. The Numana you pack up is shipped down and in the hands of survivors within just a couple weeks. We encourage you to spread the word to everyone you know! Volunteers WILL be allowed to simply show up at the event as well. We are doing both pre-registration and walk-ups.

This is going to be a great event, the best city to do it so far!

(If you'd like more info on Numana, who provides the meals, visit www.numanainc.com)

Stacy Howard
Community Relations Director
The Salvation Army - DOING THE MOST GOOD.
Northwest Divisional Headquarters
Direct: 206-217-1280
Cell: 206-714-1469
stacy.howard@usw.salvationarmy.org
www.salvationarmynw.org
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Salvation-Army-Northwest-Division/167020230026?ref=ts

What a Day....

Today was a rough one. Anthony was down for a nap and Jared was at Home Depot....I headed out onto the back deck and as I was crossing over the threshold from the family room to the deck I popped my tires up a little too far (some popping up is necessary to get over the threshold) and went straight back. Ouch.

After getting past the initial shock of hitting my head (thank God I remembered to block my face with my arms - otherwise my knees would have hit me in the face causing even more damage) I have to get myself up and figure out how to get back in my chair. About ten minutes go by and I'm now sitting on the ottoman, but it's too low and I can't get myself up to my chair from there. Back to the ground.

I try crawling face first into my chair, which I can sometimes do, but today the leg spasms aren't allowing it. My knees are just hooking underneath my chair and I'm not going anywhere. Right now I wish I were on medicine to kill the spasticity in my legs. I have no problem lifting my body weight now, but if my legs aren't cooperating there is nothing I can do to fight them.

So back to the ground, and I head, pulling my wheelchair with me, to the guest room. The farthest possible spot in our house from where I fell. I crawl onto the guest bed and am satisfied knowing that it's an easy transfer over to the chair from there. Head to the chair, I'm 1/2 way in and quite pleased with myself. Take one more big lift and over, and the momentum throws my chair backwards AGAIN. I kid you not.

This time I go backwards and hit my head on the dresser on my way down to the ground. I'm now stuck in the criss-cross position in about a 2 foot square between my wheelchair and the dresser. My head hurts like hell and the knot on the back is easily 2" in diameter. And I am really really uncomfortable in this very awkward space. After about ten minutes and lots of crying I realize I can't just lay here - Anthony is waking up from his nap. Perfect timing. It takes me 10 minutes or so to get unstuck. I try unsuccessfully to get on the bed again, but my energy is gone from the FIRST time I drug myself onto the bed.

So I pull myself back out to the dining room where my cell phone is and call my husband, who thank God is less than 5 minutes away. He saved the day by running inside, picking me up and putting me back in my chair. And he had brought me a coffee, which was a great ending to a horrible hour.

This is the first time I've ever fallen backwards in my chair, and somehow I do it twice in a row. The joys of living in a wheelchair. I am SO over this.

Driving

So I am FINALLY able to get Anthony in and out of his car seat which should greatly improve my day-to-day life! We can actually get out of the house during the week without bugging someone to come get us! We took our first successful trip on Thursday to the Pushing Boundaries fundraising luncheon (more on that later). You can be sure that there will be many more outings to come!