Our week in a nutshell

This week has been insane! It all started Saturday night with Bella throwing up. I didn't think anything of it because sometimes she does that. It's a chihuahua thing. Anyway, she kept at it, and then started having diarrhea. I decided that since it hadn't stopped on Monday I would take her to the vet. They gave her a shot and some antibiotics and sent me home. Things looked hopeful for a moment. Then she started having bloody diarrhea. I know, too much info. It was so scary! By Tuesday, she was throwing up everything, all the water and Pedialyte we would give her, she wouldn't eat anything, and was so, so weak. We decided to take her to the pet ER that night and get her rehydrated since we thought it couldn't wait until morning. I am SO glad we did. We seriously thought she was on her death bed. It was mortifying. Lots of tears and prayers later, we are happy to say that Bella is now on the mend.

By Thursday, I had had it with cleaning up throw up and diarrhea, so I decided it was time for me to take Scarlet to Disneyland. We had a blast! We went with our friend, Amy, and her 3 kids, Carson, Beckham, and Chloe. As soon as we walked through the gates, I got stung by a bee, right on my finger. I kind of freaked out a tiny bit and made Amy pull the stinger out since I didn't think I could touch it myself. It grossed me out. After that ordeal was over, I was just sad that the bee was now dead. Poor little guy. I promise I didn't even try to hurt him. He was just under my hand at the wrong time I guess. I made myself feel better with a big giant Coke (Disneyland Coke is the best, even better than McDonald's).

Ryan had his first test today for school. He studied so hard for it. He has spent countless hours studying anotomy and innervations. He feels like he did well and I'm sure he did. I think he's fabulous at everything he does! He makes me so proud to be his wife.

... and that's our week... in a nutshell.

*As you can see from the photos, Scarlet loved goofy (she was laughing at him), and hated Minnie. She was totally freaked out by Minnie. So sad.

My Obsession

I'll admit it. I'm totally obsessed with Amazon. I can't help it. It has the most amazing prices out there and I get free 2-day shipping because I am an Amazon Mom. Are you an Amazon Mom? If not, you really, really need to sign up. You get great deals like 30% off diapers. LOVE IT! Anyway, I came to the realization that I was obsessed when I looked at my account and saw that over the last 30 days, I had 15 orders. What do I order? Pretty much everything you can think of.

• Toilet paper


• Sippy cups


• GoGo Squeez (if you have never tried this and you have kids, try it! I got my first one at Wal-Mart when Scarlet was having a full on freakout. She loved it, it made her happy, which in turn made me happy). It's applesauce in a squeezy pouch. Amazing invention.


• Laundry detergent


• Cascade dishwasher tablets


• USB cable for the printer


• A webcam (birthday gift for mother)

The list goes on and on. Literally. Since I discovered my obsession, I have really tried to keep the ordering to a minimum. I think the ladies at my leasing office hated me because I had a package coming almost every single day (no, UPS only delivers packages to my door occasionally. Yes, it is really annoying. I have to load up the stroller and walk to the leasing office in the million-degree heat to get my package). Anyway, there you go. Apparently I am an Amazon-aholic. Can't help it. Are you one too? Please let me know I'm not the only one out there.

Angel Kingston

At one point after I gave birth and was somewhat coherent, I wrote down our story on this trisomy 18 website. I had totally forgotten about it until just now. I just went back to read it. Sometimes it's so surreal that we went through that entire experience. I was reading and thinking, "is this really me who wrote this?" Yet I know it was. I'm so grateful that I took the time to write it all down.

Dear Scarlet -- 13 months

Dear Scarlet,

Can you believe it? You're 13 months old and living in California. I feel like since we moved, you have grown exponentially. You are everywhere and into everything. You have the desire to climb on anything elevated. If it's off the ground, you have to be on top. Maybe that's an indication of who you will be in the future? In charge and confident.

You have popped out 4 new teeth. It was only a slight struggle to get them out, but you handled it like a champ!

I'm loving watching you grow and change. You have the funnest personality! I'd say you're just like your daddy. That's a good thing.

You are "talking" like crazy. You love to say, "tickle, tickle, tickle," "Bella," and many more.

We took you to the ocean soon after we moved here. You thought it was great. You chased the water as it receded. Once it came after you though, you decided the ocean wasn't so great anymore.

Oh Scarlet, you are beautiful. Keep giving me snuggles and kissy kisses okay?

Loves,

Mommy

Kingston's Party

On Kingston's birthday (also known as Scarlet's birthday), we decided to spend some time at the cemetery. I made sure we were there by 9:02 a.m. so I could be there the exact time little King was born. I made sure to bring a cupcake for him, a candle, and my bestie and her daughter bought Kingston a balloon, so I made sure that got to him as well. I had so many other plans, but I just ran out of time. Kingston's birthday was definitely a hard day for me. It's so bittersweet. It was fun to light Kingston's candle and wait for him to blow it out. I got mad at him because he did it when I wasn't looking.

I'm sure if people were at the cemetery that day they probably wondered what I was doing. I laid down next to my baby and imagined him in my arms once more. For the first time in a long time, I wept. I miss my sweet baby so much. Words just can't describe how much my arms ache to hold him again. Thankfully, I know that one day I will. Happy 1st birthday Kingston! I love you to the moon and back!

Scarlet's Party

I'm a little behind on blogging, so here is Scarlet's party from August 10th. If it seems that I went overboard, you're probably right. I felt like I needed to keep my mind occupied and busy with fun stuff so that I didn't dwell on the fact that this was also my son's death day.

It started off with this super cute, custom made pillow dress with fluffy pants for her birthday outfit. My friend's amazing mom whipped up the dress in probably 20 minutes. She's amazing!

We did a strawberry theme and it turned out so cute. I ordered the strawberry file from etsy and it came with all we needed to make the party complete. We had the banner, cupcake toppers, signs all over the room.... very cute.

My friend, Julia, made these cupcakes for my princess. They were pink and green to go with the strawberry theme. I loved how they turned out. And yes, those in the background that are blue, are for Kingston. We had to remember him too.

Scarlet was spoiled rotten! We had a lot of family and friends there to celebrate this special day with us. Thank you to all who came to make it such a wonderful night for Scarlet! Little did you know that you also helped me get through one of the hardest days I've had to deal with so far.

Scarlet had a sparkly candle that was perfect! The colors even went well with our theme.

Ready to blow out her candle!

Delicious! Scarlet loved her cupcake. She ate almost the entire thing.

And there you have it. It couldn't have turned out more perfect! Happy birthday little Scarlie! We love you!