Swimming Lessons

We just finished Shea's very first swimming lessons. I don't ever remember having swimming lessons. I can swim, but I'm not any good, so this whole process was new to us. I am surprised by how much fun it was for both of us. Shea's teacher, Lucille was so sweet with him and he can actually swim now, after just 9 lessons. He still can't do big strong arms, his strokes are kind of pathetic little swipes, but hey, he can get around and better still, he has no fear of the water. He jumps right in, holds his breath, swims around, dives for toys and generally has a blast! Here he is demonstrating his new skills:

Glory, glory

iPhones!


At last!!!
Chris and I, after almost 3 years of coveting everyone else's, are finally the proud new owners of our very own iPhones. Holy cow, these things are cool!!! I sure love my sexy little white machine, in it's purple, silicone kid cover. Too bad I have to fight both my kids for a turn to even hold it - maybe all those kid apps weren't such a hot idea after all.
And to put the cherry on top, which lets be honest, it didn't even need, I was so excited - one of my favorite characters (Hodgins!) from one of my favorite shows (Bones!) was directly in front of us at the Century City Apple store.
What did I think of ole' TJ? And did I talk to him?
Shorter than I pictured, and even cuter in person - he was beardless, the curly hair was short, short and the eyes were even bluer than on TV. And no, I'm always too chicken to speak when I see someone famous, although, trying to get Chris' attention, point said famous person out, get across the gist of who they are and what show they're on, all while trying desperately to remain inconspicuous is probably not the better option.
Yeah, it was a good day! (Oh, and call me, so I can have a turn on my phone. :-)

My little rooster

We were sitting on the couch together today, Shea and I, and he'd apparently become bored of Top Chef Masters, because he started to say that he was a little rooster. So, I, of course, said things like, "Well, and what a cute rooster you are." and all those other good mom things, while thinking, Rooster? What!!?? Where did that come from?

After a minute he started bouncing up and down a little bit every so often and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. All of the sudden it occurred to me and I looked at him and said, "Shea! Are you laying eggs???!" He smiled up at me and pulled the three little balls he'd been playing with out from under his bum, with a big, "YEAH, mom, I'm laying eggs and now these are my little rooster babies."

I thought it was a hilarious, classic bit of Shea randomness, but Chris who was apparently disturbed by the lack of testosterone in the whole exchange said, "All right, that's it, I'm ordering the Greatest Hockey Fights Ever DVD."

6!

6 years already. It really has flown by. Chris treated me like a queen this week. He's sooo good about special occasions. These GORGEOUS flowers came while he was out of town Thur.
And on Sat, he took me to...
Spago!!! Spago!
I've dreamed of going there for as long as I can remember.
It was all I've dreamed of and more! It was so awesome. This was my first course. It was totally and completely delicious!! Herbed goat cheese and roasted beets. I will definitely try this at home sometime. It was divine.


It was pretty funny though - as we pull up to Spago, "consistently recognized as the ultimate in fine dining." in our minivan, we felt distinctly uncomfortable. Then as we're leaving, we see that they didn't even pull the van into their lot - too embarrassing, I guess. We laughed a lot about that. :-)
But we had one of the best nights ever. I love you Chris and am looking forward to lots and lots and lots more of these posts.
Happy Anniversary

How much do you think...

it would cost if say, oh, I don't know, the intersection cameras caught you rolling through a right hand turn on a red light at 8:18 on a Sunday morning?











$50?


$75??



$120???


$200????



NOPE!!!!


How about $463.
This is no exaggeration folks. And yes, I shed real tears when I opened that envelope. I just sent the check today, and I cried a little again. UGH! Consider that little lesson learned the HARD way!!

Nightly Prayers

Last night it was Chris' turn to put Shea to bed. He came out chuckling and when I asked why he said that Shea had prayed that Heavenly Father would make him as strong as the Hulk and as good as Luke Skywalker.
I love that kid.
(And I wonder if maybe he watches too many cartoons. :-)

A Diagnosis

Finally! We found out a few weeks ago what Clare has. I've just been so busy I haven't been able to post. So the hemotologist/oncologist we saw diagnosed her with Primary Autoimmune Neutropenia. This condition means that her body creates antibodies to her neutrophils (white blood cells) so she can't fight infections. The great news is that studies of children studied for up to six years showed that most cases of autoimmune neutropenia "resolved spontaneously after a median of 17 months." It's not very common, Children's Hospital LA is only treating 6 other kids with this disorder. She'll have her blood drawn every 3 months and sometime in the next 2 years-ish, when we go in for a blood draw, they'll call and tell me she has normal levels of neutrophils. In the mean time, we have to be careful and try to keep her healthy and away from bacterial infections especially. I'm so grateful that it's not more serious and that we finally know what it is!