Our New Pony

We are getting a pony – yep! Now don’t freak out – I know you must think I’m insane considering I have a newborn and a puppy. This is a bit easier to handle for many reasons. It’s a half-lease which means we pay a fee each month and get to visit the pony two days per week. One of those days the boys will have casual lessons, given by Holden’s school bus (van) driver from last year, Tracee. She’s a wonderful person and loves the kids and is very into horses in general. There is no obligation to go longer than one month and it’s a month-to-month thing. The stable cares for the horse, feeds it, vet bills are taken care of, etc. We get the time to spend brushing the pony, visiting her and riding her. Her name is Spice and she’s 23 years old and very used to children. This reminds me of my first pony – named Spice who was a feisty Shetland pony nothing like this elderly sweetheart but there are some obvious parallels (the name). The boys both really enjoy horses and love to visit our neighbors two beauties, feeding them carrots and apples and even riding Jack at Quinn’s birthday party. So – if any of you come visiting in the next few months, you may get to meet our temporarily leased gal named Spice. If the kids enjoy this experience, we’ll continue for a few months and if not, we’ll just stop.

The weather has cooled down considerably and it’s about time! Yesterday morning at 11 it was already in the mid-90’s but by 3 o’clock it was down 10 degrees as the marine layer started to influence the weather. It is still more humid than usual but definitely more comfortable. I sat outside with the baby earlier this week and it was broiling and over 100 degrees in the shade and very uncomfortable unless you were submerged in the pool or running through the sprinkler. Being outside with Avery for only a few moments produced a sweaty arm for me and a very wet head for her.

T.J. arrived home on Tuesday and thrilled the boys as they missed him very much. He will be home for the rest of the week and weekend which will be nice.

Holden’s preschool ended it’s summer session yesterday and now they have a month-long break. It will be interesting to see how the boys deal with a lot more time together. They are really acting like siblings, driving each other bonkers half the time. Quinn is the instigator and Holden lashes out and hurts him because of his strength. It’s normal but annoying at the time. Thank goodness for our vacation to help my sanity in the middle of the month. I am going to try to keep them busy but it’s not good for the baby to be out and about as she’s just getting going in a nicer routine with better naps and that will throw it off a bit. She is becoming a lot more aware of everything and full of smiles and some laughs here and there too. We’ll see if we can get anyone to come over to our house so she can at least be in her own crib and on her familiar turf.

We were supposed to go to Emma and Liliana’s birthday party last week but unfortunately my mom was feeling under the weather and the baby had her ear issue just diagnosed. I think it was a good time from what I gather and I know the boys would have enjoyed themselves.

My new digital camera arrived in the mail and I am excited! Luckily the learning curve is low since I already have a Cyber-Shot camera but there are tons of new features to figure out so stayed tuned for new pics in the upcoming weeks.

We’re getting into a rythym here – things are (dare I say) getting easier. Of course I was spoiled having my dear mom here for the past week, making life much less difficult and stressful all the way around. I had a nerve-racking time after dropping her off at the airport yesterday, getting home in time for Holden’s school bus arrival. I made it here and was parked 1 minute before he got here – and I drove like a banshee the whole way home. Luckily it was meant to be that I was here, safe and sound. A surprise traffic jam and a closed gas station added a good 20-30 minutes to my trip that I had not planned on.

This past week has also been hot – in an oppressing all-time-record temperature kind of way. I have never experienced heat like this in my whole entire life, even while living in Sacramento. I think I briefly endured something in this realm when we were passing through Phoenix (via motorhome) one summer – as well as during our hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (that is all of less than 3 days in my lifetime total). On Saturday the mercury reached 114 degrees by our thermometer and the news reported 112 in Fallbrook….dropped to 106 on Sunday. Brrr (ha ha)! To add to it all, the humidity is high – a rarity when it’s hot here. I think I have an idea what summer is like in most of the U.S. with that horrible moisture. We are so spoiled here in general with our mild, temperate, dry climate. This has seriously rocked our world. T.J. has missed the whole thing, spending time in Seattle where it’s been hot too but not quite to this magnitude. He got some golf games in around work which I am pleased about since he won’t have much time for that at all in the upcoming weeks.

In other news – Avery has an ear infection in both her ears! I had no idea since she was sleeping so well and not extremely fussy. The ped diagnosed this at her 2 month well child check up where it was determined she weighs 11 lbs., 1 oz (60th %tile). Her height is in the 50th %tile and head 65th %tile although those exact figures escape me. She is pretty averagely proportional right now. She is also a championship sleeper at night. She gives me 5-7 hour stretches (but day naps are somewhat more unpredictable and elusive)! This was unheard of with my other kids and may change tomorrow or next week but I’ll take it now! Anyway, she is taking her antibiotics (but it's challenge to get the stuff down) and hope she's back to normal and this isn't a sign of what's to come. Some kids just keep getting ear infections over and over, particularly when they start this early - my other kids have not had anything like this. Holden got his first case of Swimmer's Ear last week and Quinn got his first ear infection in May. We have been quite lucky in this regard. The best way to prevent Avery's ear issues in the future is to prevent any cold infections so I'm going to be even more vigilant now.

Our vacation to Northern CA is coming up – our next adventure for this family of 5. We’ll have the RV again, making life somewhat more comfortable and simple. Let’s hope the temperatures drop to something a bit more manageable.

Well, she’s got it! Avery has been blessed with Carson’s crud – passed through my kids and on to her. She is handling it fairly well although she and I did not sleep well last night. Her breathing is not the best – mucous is in her throat and her nose. Her nose doesn’t run but I have pulled out some stuff with the nasal bulb syringe and she spit up today with some stuff in it (yuck!). To add to it all, T.J. left yesterday afternoon for a business trip to New Mexico. His timing is impeccable! I don’t blame him one bit but wonder how he oftentimes manages to be gone for this kind of stuff. The good news is that there is no apparent fever at this time and she is still nursing well – just fussier than usual and lots of night waking to get her breath. Young babies (under 3 mo.) breathe out of their nose exclusively and that becomes an issue when they catch colds. My boys had this cold in a minor way so I hope that she recovers soon.

Check Holden’s Progress for some news on him! I hope to have posted later today.

And more...........

Yesterday we found a dog….or I should probably say that a dog found us. It was the oddest thing – T.J. was home with Quinn and I arrived back from dropping Holden off at school. While we were in the house together, a dog happened to appear in the garage. The doors to the garage were all closed and nobody knocked that we heard (although T.J. claims to have heard a doorbell earlier when we were gone). She is a puppy – a white lab mix of some kind. We plan to keep her since it appears she does not belong to anybody. She is very sweet, submissive and loves the kids. T.J. got some flea treatment (Advantix) and applied it only to find that she was infested with the little buggers. Luckily fleas are very treatable and she is recovering from her bites well. Hops is tolerating her and Holden and Quinn adore her and play with her for hours. She is sweet and not hyper, probably about 3 months old or so. She is too thin so we’re trying to encourage her to eat – but she has only had a few bites here and there as I’m sure she is adjusting to her new life. Her name is Chloe, although Holden has dubbed her, “Close-y.”

And now, some vacation shots for your perusal:

We had professional pictures taken of Avery on Friday. This week we’ll be able to review them and place an order. We even got a few shots in with the boys but she cried for those so I doubt we’ll order many of those. They’ll be pricey but I love the convenience of having the photographer come into our home – it’s wonderful. T.J. was here and helped out a great deal, keeping the kids occupied while Avery had the bulk of the time being photographed. I had two cute little dresses for her – one my sister knit and the other my mom bought. I am trying to get her into every outfit that I have in the 0-3 month range before she grows out of it all. I think she has worn practically every sleeper I got but there are a few more dresses to go.

Today we have some friends coming over for a lunch BBQ and swim in the pool. Holden’s friend Alex will be here. Quinn seems to have pretty much recovered from this cold but Holden is coughing a bit here and there. No sleep affected, thank goodness but he has suffered the brunt for sure. I am wondering if he’ll have to go back on IVIG at summer’s end.

My goal in the next few days is to post some vacation shots so stay tuned!

Sleep! Wonderful sleep! I moved Avery into her bedroom for the first part of the night (8 p.m. on) and I have gotten 7 straight hours from her two nights in a row! Wow! It still takes time to settle her down before she will fall asleep – 3-5 times of comforting her as she cries, falls into a light sleep and then goes back down and settles within 2-3 minutes each time. This is easy. It’s just a routine we’ve been doing since returning home from Mammoth. Two things have really helped – Harvey Karp, M.D.’s book The Happiest Baby On The Block and learning more about what she likes, how she settles, etc. Also having her home in her own environment has been a good thing too.

It’s hot here and the kids have taken full advantage of the pool. With the pool cover on (and solar heating off) it’s a bit warm in the water at 95 degrees! We are leaving the cover off to hopefully cool it down to a more refreshing 85 degrees which we feel is ideal.

No big plans this weekend – just relaxation (yeah, right). T.J. has work to do outside and me inside, still unpacking a bit.

Some shots from the San Diego County Fair.