You Give Me Fever

Monday morning Bella woke up bright and happy as usual, she was a little warm but totally fine nonetheless. By 10am, I could definitely tell that she was not herself; she even requested a nap at 10:30am! UNHEARD OF! She slept for 5.5 hours and I started to get a little worried so I went in her room and she was laying there with a 102.8 fever and soaking wet as a result of an overloaded diaper. Thank you pull-ups! She just looked up at me and in a feeble voice said, "HELP!" It was really cute! From there her fever remained constant at 102.5 for almost 24 hours. With all the swine flu hype, I was freaking out. She is completely 100% back to normal now, I'm still a little nervous about taking her out so soon after being sick as her defenses are still down. I am doing everything in my power to protect us, and hopefully the swine flu issue is in check soon.

Here she is simultaneously drinking pedia-lite applying strawberry lip smackers chap stick.

All of this has been weighing on me heavily for the past few days. As many of you know, we have chosen to wait to immunize Bella until she was older and after her second birthday, we started the first round. Guess what?? She isn't autistic, growing superfluous limbs or bleeding from the eyes! All joking aside, the issue of immunizing vs not immunizing has been a big topic at our house for years. Do we inject toxins in our baby's body, or allow her body to be ravaged by life threatening debilitating diseases? (For the record: I am pro, Dan is con) Do the benefits outweigh the risks? It has been my mission to really get to the heart of the matter.

Here is what I have found thus far:

NOTHING THAT I CAN BELIEVE!

Dan attended a continuing education seminar where I like to say, "They put the fear in him" and turned him against vaccinating our children. He came home with a book called, 'THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN BLOOD: VACCINATION I$ NOT IMMUNIZATION' by Tim O'Shea, wherein it sites 349 articles and published works stating how vaccinations are the worst possible way to go. Here is the deal: The articles in the book are summaries of summaries. Nice huh? So who is to say that they didn't glean what useful information they needed to publish the "fear book" to persuade as many people as possible not to become immunized.

The literature given to me by Bella's pediatrician combined with articles, etc that I have researched in books and on the Internet are pro vaccination and seem to have my baby’s best interest at heart. They are backed by reliable resources and I am inclined to believe them. Here is where the devils advocate part of my brain comes in and I wonder if my sources really are reliable or if they are trying to make a sale and are the wolf in sheep's clothing after all. I honestly do not know where to go from here. This is so extremely vexing! I for years have been trying to research every angle of this so I can make an informed decision...the work continues...

Here are a few of my most recent stumbling blocks:

1. I found a source that addressed both sides of the issue yesterday when I was reading the encyclopedia of natural medicine. In the index I looked up the one and only source, it had on immunizations, which took me to a chapter on Asthma wherein it explained that they did a study on children who both had been and hadn't been given the pertussis vaccination. The result being that 11% of the children that HAD been given the vaccination eventually developed asthma and 1% of the children developed asthma that HADN'T been given pertussis vaccination, and 3% of children developed asthma who were given other vaccinations. Here is where it gets interesting: "Another finding to weigh: in the group not immunized to pertussis; sixteen developed whooping cough, compared to only one in the immunized group. It appears to be a trade off, a greater risk for asthma with vaccination and a greater risk for whooping cough without."

2. I decided to look up vaccinations next; it took me to Multiple Sclerosis! YAY! While the cause of MS is not conclusive, one of the suspected causes is viral infections, primarily measles. Patients with MS have elevated levels of antibodies to measles. At one time, it was believed that MS was due to an ongoing measles infection. This was ruled out and it is believed to be an autoimmune disease. In Dan's fear book under measles (page 90) it states that the MMR vaccine, given to prevent measles causes MS. Contradiction.

Back to square one.

Something that I can compare all of this to in my life is, The Book of Mormon vs anti Mormon literature. I know which one is true because of my faith and testimony in the former of the two. My conclusion until I have proof is that I need to have the same approach and search, ponder, and pray about all information on opposing sides of immunizations in hopes that I can come to a conclusion about what to do to protect Bella.

Any and all opinions and information you can give me would be most helpful.

I'm sure that I sound absolutely crazy. Thanks for putting up with my ramblings anyway!

Easter Morning

We had a mini easter at our campsite for bella. She gets the egg hunt but still doesnt get the easter bunny coming and hiding the eggs and leaving her a basket in the morning. She really liked the toys that she got though!Here are Bella and Auntie Kirsten playing with chalk eggs....

on our way home we stopped at Nonna and Papa's house for easter dinner and phase 2 of easter. I dont have any pix yet, but it was a lot of fun! She was a little disappointed in the eggs, they all had goldfish crackers and cheerios in them instead of candy so we had a do-over! lol she was much happier and scarfed down a ton of jelly beans. happy easter!

Winding Down

The only hiccup with the trip was that bella was not such a happy camper! This was her first camping trip, new surroundings, tons of new people AND she hadn't pooped in 4 whole days. lol she wasnt too thrilled...we took her on lots of hikes and gave her a lot of raisins and eventually "the top of the volcano came off " as Kirsten's dad said, and the flood gates opened. Crisis averted. Poop hike
This was bella's pooping spot, any time she had to go, she ran over here, I think she felt like she had more privacy until she realized we were all staring and taking pictures of her.

As we were waiting for dinner to be ready Dallan swallowed a bug and felt the need to share it with Kirsten...

Ah! True Love!Our last night at camp was pretty mellow. We kept bella up all day and the only nap she had gotten was during the fair in S.L.O. so she was ready to sleep at 8. YES! Everyone was really tired too, so after dinner everyone went to bed around 9pm!

Dan and Bella snuggling by the campfire

Nite nite!

The Farmer's Market

When we got back from S.L.O. we heard about a farmer's market in Morro Bay so we piled in the car again and when we got there this crazy old man kept trying to get me to eat frog balls!

He kept egging me on and getting a rise out of how grossed out I was about them...even though I knew they werent actual frog balls, just the name was freaking me out. AAAAAAAAH! They were pickeled brussels sprouts! I caved and ate a piece of one and they actually werent bad. Kind of like a zesty dill pickle with a spicier kick.

How cute is this? You dont see barber shops like this anymore...the whole downtown area like this. Sadly it was the only store I could take a picture of that wasnt blocked by a tent or a table. Fun day!

Camping Trip: Day 2

We wanted to explore the area a little bit, none of us had ever been to Morro Bay before so why not?? Instead of climbing the big rock lol we went to San Louis Obispo and went shopping. It was a lot of fun. S.L.O. is really pretty, the downtown area is really cute and buzzing with excitement. They were having a children's fair at the mission downtown which Bella was conveniently asleep for. We found something even cooler while we were walking around...

Bubblegum Alley!

This place was so awesome! And also really gross! Apparently people started putting their gum on the wall during the 1960's and since then...well you can see what it has become. A few people have made designs with stretched out gum, written their name, etc.... I like all the dots of gum, if it was organized it would be a really unique way of doing pointillism! I think it's really cool!

You cant really tell in this picture, but the gum piled up on the right is about 4 inches thick from the wall!

Here I am about halfway down the alley...Kirsten and the gang walking out towards the street...

Here is the end of the alley we came from...

And of course, here is my contribution! (Mine is the red one that isn't crusty & filled with diseases!)

What do you think? Art or Graffiti?

Camping Trip: Day 1

Our camping trip with Dallan and Kirsten was so much fun! The location was absolutely beautiful! We had a group campsite and were located at the top of a hill away from all the other campers which was great. I didnt have to worry about bella's increasingly loud nap protests disturbing everyone in the campsite...just kirsten's extended family lol. We were about 5 minutes walk to the beach so after we set up camp and had lunch we ventured out....

here we are at the nice sandy...i mean cold rocky beach...lol. at the top of the picture is a sand bar which is where the famous big rock is...

tada!

Heres bella playing with some of Kirsten's cousins. The water is FREEZING but they could care less!

Dog Sitting: Day 2

Today's trip to Ashley's was a lot of fun. Bella and Puppy were excited to see each other again and like yesterday puppy tried to eat Bella. Only this time Bella had pig tails and puppy was a big fan...

Bella's immediate surrender...she lay there like a slug, it was her only defense!

kissy kissy

Bella got use to puppy... And started playing with puppy...

So I'd have to rate today at 10/10. When we got there, puppy was waiting for us, and unlike yesterday waited to go outside before she went to the bathroom. If only it was that easy to potty train a toddler.

Dog Sitting: Day 1

My cousin Ashley and her BF just live down the street from me and they just got a new puppy! They havent decided on a name yet, so they are just calling her, 'Puppy'. Bella and I are going to check in on her a few times a day so she doesnt miss her mommy and daddy. Heres how the first day went....Bella and puppy were introduced and followed eachother around the backyard...

Puppy realizes Bella is live bait....her own personal chew toy!
(OH HOW CAN YOU RESIST A FACE LIKE THAT??? I JUST WANT TO STEAL HER!!!)


Bella's defenses are down, Puppy siezes the moment and tries to eat Bella's ears...

Bella realizes she is the bait and runs away...

Puppy is a little smarter than bella thinks...

Puppy wins! Bella is hiding her ears from puppy the best she can!

We had a really great time at Ashley's! I dont know if it is because I just watched Marley & Me and am missing my dog Toby, (also the worst dog in the world) or if I think getting a puppy will curb my hunger for another baby, but I had a momentary lapse of sanity where I thought I wanted to get a puppy. Thanks Ashley! :) I think Bella would really enjoy having a little pal to play with all the time but would detest taking a back seat and would really miss her ears if we got a puppy...

Dress Up

Bella just loves to dress up...here is what she wanted to wear to go to bed last night...

I've always been one of those people who wants to have their kids have a perfect matching outfit, but realistically that just isnt possible, especially with a stubborn toddler! I really get a kick out of the outfits she puts together, it's really too cute. I have to draw the line on some things when we go out, but occasionally she gets to wear whatever she wants to wear. Gotta love it!

NKOTB

hafta explain the New Kids song....Sometime last fall in October maybe? Kirsten got tix to see New Kids on the Block....she was peeing her pants she was so excited! (not joking. she totally cried during the concert. TWICE! hahahahhaa) Somehow she got an extra ticket and I went with her. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I think we were the youngest ones there which is really really sad! lol whats even sadder is that i felt like i was SO old. It was such a blast but oh my gosh i thought i was going to be deaf. non stop screaming. lol HOW in the world did i do that only 5 years ago....dang gina. feelin old.

The City

A few weekends ago the weather was fantastic and we went to the city for the day with Dallan and Kirsten, who i should add bella thinks are her aunt and uncle. We went exploring all over, it was great! I had never seen that much of the city before. Whenever we have gone before it has been to a museum or to pier 39, which is fantastic, but there is so much to see and it's only 45 minutes away so why not go??

We started at twin peaks, then worked our way over to the botanical gardens which dont look the way they sound lol the japanese tea gardens were really close by so we walked over to them and got some great pictures. Oh by the way our digital camera has finally kicked the bucket...thanks bella! So we are using film again and of course havent gotten anything developed...not really on the top of my list! I do, however have pictures from my phone of bella at the cheesecake factory.....

We ended our day at the cheesecake factory, we came up from the parking garage and were right in the middle of a free tibet demonstration...literally. we came up from the parking garage right onto the stage! how in the world?? no one really took notice of us...at least i pretended they didnt take notice!

We sat down to eat dinner and bella fell in love with the butter. Not something she has in her diet on a regular basis. She started just eating the bread with the butter on it...then dipped the bread in the butter and licked it off and eventually just licked the butter off of the wrapper it was in. GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!! check her out....

Thank heaven for dvd players in the van!

Camping!

We are leaving tomorrow morning at 5am, (yikes!) for a camping trip with our friends Dallan and Kirsten and their family, I am SO excited! I havent been camping in a while...camping with a toddler is going to be a totally new experience lol!

We are going to Morro Bay which is close to San Luis Obispo. It has been raining here off and on all week and the forecast is rainy for the weekend in Morro Bay...oh well! We are going anyway, it will be fun no matter what we do.

The guys are going to go deep sea fishing, weather permitting and Kirsten and I are going to do what we do best....wear matching clothes and shop. just kidding. Sometimes I feel like a kid again when kirst and I hang out. Its pretty much the most fun ever. I'm really excited to unwind in the great outdoors and have a break from the norm....no matter what the weather is like!

FIT 2 THE CORE

For the past month and a half I have been working out at a gym called Fit 2 The Core and it is amazing! I started going consistently about 3.5 weeks ago and within the first 2.5 weeks I lost 11 pounds...and counting...i weigh in every 2 weeks. Their program is pretty intense. The only thing I can really compare it to is the biggest loser. The only difference is that they arent screaming their heads off at you the whole time (they scream a little!) and making you work out until you throw up, start bleeding from your eyes and eventually die. It really is fantastic.


I have two trainers: Tim and Donnie and they are the best. Truely have everyones best interests at heart. My friend Kirsten and I go together 3 times a week and it couldnt be more fun. Its FREAKING hard, but so great.


The program is INSAINELY expensive...especially now when everyone is cutting back, i dont know how anyone can afford it so we worked out a deal. They let me work out there for free and I agreed to be their poster child. What the hell was i thinking??? It really isnt as bad as i thought it would be. We started doing video blogs yesterday and if you really care to check it out, i'll post a link so you can check out my progress once they have it posted on their site.

Pretty excited, even more nervous! :) So grateful to the guys for this opportunity! woo hoo!

Bloody Fantastic!

One of the things i love about living in an apartment complex is: At approximately 1:30 am monday morning our lovely drunk neighbors started screaming and beating eachother. Oh yes, fun stuff. They were so out of control we called the police, by the time they got there there was blood everywhere and they were so messed up the fire dept. and paramedics came along for the show. Fantastic! About 3am everyone left and in the morning bella and I came downstairs to the remaining blood bath. it was literally everywhere. I dont know...blood leading up to your stairs doesnt really scream: welcome! Oh the joys of living in an apartment again....

FINALLY!

WOOP WOOP! we have the internet! FINALLY! I have felt like my arm has been cut off for the past 5 months. How in the world did we survive without it???