The newest Rift in our River

So hmmm, where to even begin..

On Monday Julius did indeed end up calling the doctor and making an appointment (after several tries to find someone who was accepting new patients and had same day appointments). So we packed up the kids and went to the Vanc. Clinic in Fishers Landing where the kids and I ran around outside while Julius got poked and prodded. He called me afterwards (thank gosh for cells) and said "The doctor said I can take some ibuprofen or I can have an MRI done." What great options (especially considering that we don't have a regular health plan). So I told him just to have the MRI and we'll worry about the cost later... Since I don't see how a months worth of pain will be relieved by ibuprofen, and we're talking pain... My husband is so tolerant to pain, I am guessing he could cut off his own toe and then say "yea it's okay, it just bleed a little bit." So if he's willing to call a doctor and make the effort, I know it's bad.

So we come home with these directions to drink this special drink before the MRI and not eat anything, then he goes to work (can't possibly miss work, the man has awesome work ethic - I once asked why he didn't just take a sick day so we could have a three day weekend, his response: "Because I'm not sick, why would I do that anyway?")

He comes back from work to pick us up and tells me, "I think I drank that stuff too soon.." I tell him not to worry about it and that I am sure it won't disappear in a matter of a 30min difference, so we all head to the MRI. Which is at the Vanc. Clinic in Salmon Creek. Again I take the kids outside to play in the grass while dad gets his business done. He calls and says he's done and that we can go home and the doctor will call with the results.....

We head home..

Merge from 205S to 500....

Phone chimes that he has a voice message...

Message something like this, "Julius, this is your doctor, your MRI shows that you have a blood clot in your liver, please proceed to the hospital immediately, they will need to treat you there."

HOLY CRAP, so I don't handle medical things very well and I am super queasy just hearing the message and thinking of what a blood clot can do, and just really the words 'blood clot' make me turn a shade of green. So we decide to leave the kids with my aunt (I ended up staying too because I was swooning.)

He goes to the Emergency room, have you ever been there? You can have your car valet parked for you... But no, Julius decides that he is not that sick, so he parks on the other side of the FB Tower and walks back to emergency. Then continues to refuse a wheel chair stating that he's, "Fine."

Tired of reading?? It gets better... please continue...

My Aunt drives me to the hospital after a long talk from my mom about how I should be there and that I will be fine.. So we go in, he's sitting there telling me that he's bored and there isn't even a TV. He could be watching the CUBS game. Finally the surgeon comes in and says something similar to this: "You are what we call a fascinoma, that means you are very rare in the medical profession. There are only 8 reported cases of what you have, so we are reading up about it and going to give you the best treatment possible."

So basically, about 4 to 5 weeks ago he was playing soccer, when he went to block a foul type goal, that means the other team sends one guy to kick the goal while the defending team stands in the way to block the goal. So Julius got a direct his to his stomach, one which left 5 hexagon marks on his stomach. From that it caused internal swelling and bleeding which then closed his blood vein and caused the blood that was in there to clot. In addition, his pancreas is one large hematoma, basically one big bruise, which is why he has been in discomfort when he would eat and why his stomach keeps getting so bloated.

So what now.. we'll he is on his third day in the hospital. Yes I went to the zoo while he was there (it was a nice getaway). The doctors are good, and they are finally letting him eat. They are giving him blood thinners which will hopefully 'dissolve' the clot, although there is no evidence that it will actually work. The clot is not in an artery which leads to the brain or heart, so he does not have the risk of stroke of heart attack. But the clot is cutting off blood flow to some of his major organs. He however is feeling the same and finally asked for some morphine so he could sleep through the pain. He's still up and talking and doing his usual, watching sports, reading sports... pretty much what he would do at home - accept he is stuck in his little room. I've taken the kids up a few times, they are okay with it, I know they miss him though. So we've been staying with my Aunt so someone is always there to watch the kids while I am up at the hospital.

That is pretty much it. Now I have to go and do his work, and mine because we have quarterly reports that are due tomorrow! So wish us all the best and pray that the hospital will be understanding with the bill..

As the dishwasher washes...

Here is a quick update on our lives.. We are finally feeling on the mend, and although I have been out and about for a few days I still have a slight itchy throat (nothing a pipe cleaner wouldn't fix, but Julius said that's not a wise decision). The girls are still runny nosed, but they are busy and playing/eating as usual. Julius on the other hand has went from cold to somewhat of a really bad stomach. He's not sick or anything but whenever he eats his stomach gets severely bloated (I can actually see the difference). Tonight is his second sleepless night because his stomach muscle is cramping so much when he isn't moving, so he spends much of the night pacing around our little apartment. Really sad. I think this is the first time he has ever had anything bother him like this, so I have finally convinced him to see a doctor (which I will call around tomorrow and find one). Hopefully they can fix him because I can't take his discomfort any longer - he just isn't any fun!

In other news, I spent the day cleaning (nothing unusual there). Took out all of the kids shoes which no longer fit from our over stuffed closet. Then sweeped and mopped all of the floors. Decided to move my scrapping desk from one side of the kitchen to the other (it's third location since we moved in). I like it much better, although I wish I had more storage area because it turns out that I have ALOT of scrappin' stuff. Also did three loads of laundry, and finally put away the dreaded party supplies from the park (I just stuffed it all in a large basket and it's been looming there ever since!) In addition to that I watched Stop-Loss which was good and sad and Julius and I discussed the movie and it's political-ness. We also caught an episode of America's Got Talent, which somehow I had already seen, that brought up questions on how a ventriloquist can do what they do (Julius has never seen one before). Then we watched Dateline, all 2 hours of it so we could see who the killer really was. And now the living room is still in a disarray but the kitchen is sparkling :) So I guess we know what I will be doing tomorrow.

Have a great Monday!

Between Sneezes

So have you ever had the cold where your eyes are watering and your get the urge to sneeze which comes along with a hot flash, but then the sneeze never comes. Ofcourse, until much later when you are unexpectedly eating or talking to someone.. That is what I have, with bouts of feeling 'okay' and then suddenly getting a rush of runny nose, watery eyes, and the intense desire to sneeze.

And the drugs are not helping! Not those cheap wanna be over the counter drugs either. I got the real deal, the ones you have to get from the pharmacy and sign your life away before they hand them over.
The worst part is, that it's a beautiful day outside! And I am stuck here in my apartment with my two little sneezing monsters watching Barbie movies.... Just looking at the sun makes me want to sneeze. :( What a day.

When sickness attacks

So we're all kinda sick. We have colds, which although it isn't that bad it sure puts in kink in the routine! Especially at bed time, I know all you moms know what I am talking about! We're talking "mommy I wanna sleep with you..." type of thing. Then mommy doesn't get any rest and wakes up feeling worse than before. Hopefully it won't last too long.

And who wants to hear about us sickies, lets write about something appealing. Here is a slide show I made containing almost all of our July photos (I am too lazy to pick out just the good ones). I will try to get my aunts camera and get some photos of the B-day party - which if you weren't there, you missed a rockin' good time! We're talking 50+ people and about 15 kids. It was the craziest blowout party yet! Over the last few years we have met alot of people and made alot of friends, and we were so glad to have everyone be a part of our celebration. If you are wondering why we have such a gi-normous party, well it's mostly because my family only gets together about once a year (Christmas Eve) so we always make an attempt to have everyone gathered for Alexa's birthday, then atleast we can feel like we know how everyone is doing. Also, if you were there, that wasn't even close to the whole family.. We had quite a few no-shows this year. Probably because they arn't big on crowds or mingling. Something I am trying to encourage myself and my kids to do.

So a recap of the month... First we had July 4th, at which time my mom came, then my brothers birthday July 8th, Alexa's birthday July 11th, and today is Julius birthday, July 23rd. Add this on to picnics, scrapbooking, soccer, basketball, babysitting, and fun in the pool, and well you have a pretty busy month! Next month should be easier, we plan to go on vacation and then I will start school. Pretty simple. Enjoy the photos!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One with Nature

A few weeks ago while at my grandma's house we saw three deer outside. I went out on the porch and captured this shot of one standing about 20 feet away. He just stood there while the girls and I oogled at him, as if posing for the camera.

Julius says we should have shot him, I assured him that would be illegal. So he said, "Well you should have found a really big rock, no one would know. That's a lot of meat."

I'm glad it was just me and the girls at grandma's, so this deer could live to see another day.

Big Blues

Christopher 3 months

Here's the little man. We took him up to great-grandma's house a few Sundays ago and I took like 50 shots of him. He is just growing up, he smiles now and coo's. Although I took alot of photos of him smiling, I still love this one the best. Growing up in a family of brown eyed people (accept my mom) and having brown eyed babies myself... I just love Christopher's big blues.

Summertime

Dad and Adrianne in our new pool!

So alot has been going on and unfortunatly I don't have enough time to write about them all. We have been spending alot of time in the pool that Julius made, it's awesome and the kids love it. They are just big enough to tip-toe on the shallow end. Many hours of fun.. :)

My mom is also here so we have been running around doing all the things that we don't get to do during the 10 months that she isn't in WA. And ofcourse babysitting, little Christopher is three months old and just a little ham. He's smiling and cooing, I love it.

It was Alexa's fourth birthday on Friday, I have photos from it but no time right now. Her regular b-day party was postponed until next Saturday. Julius is taking his first part of the CPA exam on Tuesday (hence no computer time for me), he has been studying like crazy for the last two weeks.

Took the girls to the zoo today so dad could have the quiet time to study. We had a blast, our first time to ride the train and the kids loved it. We can't wait to go back again and explore all of the other wonders at the zoo area.

Isn't the summer always busy? It seems like July and December are the busiest months of the year (atleast for me they are), we are always moving and the kids actually say "I want to stay in the 'J' house." I've been barely scraping by with the housework, letting the dishwasher do what I normally do by hand. And since we arn't around much to play with the toys, puzzles, or crayons, the house has kinda kept itself maintained (although I still have yard sale finds to put away).

Alright it's midnight now and I need some solid rest. Goodnight :)

Ahh.. Day of rest...

I hope everyone had a safe and happy fourth. Ours was crazy, way crazy. We started off with rushing our holiday morning, as we had a picnic to attend for the Fil-Am at 11am. we brought red, white, and blue cupcakes (and we were going to bring fruit but didn't have enough time to cut it!) Then we all piled in the car and headed to Blue Lake where the annual Independence Day Picnic is put on by the Fil-Am Portland. It was crazy and fun, they have about 5 playgrounds and the kids wanted to try them all, then Julius signed up to play volleyball and ofcourse it started raining (twice). We ate and ate, it's always potluck style, I think that is Philippine tradition. Then there were games, and we won as "youngest mom". We decided to skip the annual boat ride because it was cold. After all of our Vancouver group was gone we finally decided to go, around 4pm. (Although they had just broken out the karaoke, another beloved Filipino past time).

The plan was to go home and give the kids a nap before proceeding to our next destination.

That didn't happen. As we were driving back we took whatever that road is on the Oregon side that is on the river, then crossed over on I-5 and came back on 14 (apparently gas was free yesterday) and as we were driving we saw the Fort Vanc. with all it's bells and whistles. We have never been there for the fourth (in fact I grew up in Vancouver and still never went because my family isn't "crowd" people). But come to find out, after having my backpack fully searched and being grilled as to why I have duck tape, it wasn't as crowded as I thought. Alexa and I went on the giant slide, and then her and dad went on some huge turning bear ride. Adrianne was very distraught that she was not allowed to have her turn, but she is a good three inches shy of the menacing black height line. So we sat in the grass for a bit and Alexa had been asking me for a drink of water for about and hour and a half (poor dehydrated kid...) so I went to the ATM and withdrew some money at the whopping fee of $3, holy crud that's almost one gallon of gas!! But the kid needed water before she shriveled up like a little raisin. And ofcourse you have to withdraw in increments of $20, so I also bought a teriyaki plate, a shave ice, and a pepsi... also a water for Alexa. We sat and had those while the kids ran around and threw grass (I am sure other people were thinking "whose kids are those!!")

At 7 p.m. people were starting to settle in on the grass lawn for the fireworks so we vacated our prime seating as we had somewhere else to go. By 7:20 we were in Camas off of 192nd at a friends house who is right on the river, more food (ofcourse, Filipino's). The kids did awesome, they played and ran and have gotten very accustomed and comfortable with being away from mom (I have gotten some comments on how different they are since I joined MOMS Club, thanks Melanie, you really changed us for the better!!). So I had time to chat and we brainstormed the whole Mrs. Philippines thing and decided I need to work harder at it (yay, me...) once it finally got dark, which seemed like forever, we set out on the balcony and watched some fire works across the river and some of the fort ones.. Then ofcourse they had their own which was interesting, Alexa had alot of fun, Adrianne however hid her face for all the big mortar shells. At 10 p.m. the show was just beginning but we were off again..

With kids loaded into the car, we said goodbye to the festivities, not to go home and go to bed, but to drive to the airport and pick up my mom (she always comes on July 4th, it's the cheapest day to fly). After racing to the airport and amazingly dodging all of the slow moving vehicles on GLJ bridge we made it and took out ticket for the temporary parking. We also have this tradition of "there's always ample parking on the 7th" so we circled up, up, up, to the 7th floor of the parking garage where onlookers were checking out the fireworks (a great place to watch) and found my mom standing there with her baggage, patiently waiting for us to arrive. Which happens every year. Then since we went to the original picnic at Blue lake we had a car full of stuff, but Julius jammed her suitcase and flight bag in and slammed the trunk down and we were off again! We planned to take that same road we took earlier, the one close to the river on the Oregon side, but it was closed (I told him it would be, but he did not listen... men.) So we took 205 back across the GLJ and took 14 down to I-5 while watching the fireworks in the car, Adrianne fell asleep. Mom wanted ice cream so I called the TGI Fridays, but they were closed, so we circled back around - did I mention that gas was free yesterday - and we took 500 back to our house where Adrianne was knocked out, but the rest of us had ice cream and 4th of July cupcakes (accept Julius who doesn't really eat sugar - he is so unlike me..) Finally a little past midnight we all went to bed..

Today shall be a day of rest.

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, off to work I go..

These last few days have been rough. Infact I haven't written because I haven't had anything nice to say. But today is starting to look up...

This morning we got up about 9am, but by the time I got the kids breakfast and got them dressed I was exhausted and had to take a mini rest. After which I swept the kitchen floor, did the dishes and continued to feel tired and depressed.. So I took a shower and opened up all the doors/windows so some light would come in. Then I noticed that our living room looked like a weeks worth of everything had blown up in it (no wonder I was feeling depressed!) so I took action and started vacuuming, which lead to organizing and purging out the things we no longer need (or want). And ofcourse you can't just do one room because inevitably you come across a load of laundry or pile of books that takes you to another room where you notice things have started to pile up as well... So after cleaning both bedrooms, the living room, and the kitchen, I finally feel better :) I have a large to-do list which is looming like a ton of bricks on my back so I just want to get it done and over with so I can enjoy my three day weekend with my family.

Now that the kids are taking their nap, I guess I should start my actual work (although technically I've been working all day). I would rather take a nap, but I guess I can nap on the weekend. Happy July 4th, I have some great photos to share but they are not uploaded yet - next time.