J

J

Sunday, August 16, 2015

1 year old photo shoot

We decided that on every year on each child's birthday we should try to get one good picture of them that we can frame or just use to document growth.  Because we only have two kids now it wasn't too hard to do a fun photo shoot at a park close to us.  The biggest problem was Ivy would not hold still long enough to get a good shot of her.  So it was a good idea but it didn't really work out as well as we wanted.  The best news from this photo shoot is that we met a Jewish family at the park.  They have six kids, one is Oskar's age, and after talking with them for a while they invited us to their Sabbath meal.  So yesterday, without Oskar, we went to their house and got to know them better and got to ask a lot of question about their faith.  It was great and we hope to continue to get to know them better.

I am glad we were able to celebrate Ivy turning one a few days before her birthday because on Tuesday the 11th, her actual birthday, Oskar, who had started with a runny nose Monday evening, had a terrible asthma attack.  It was so awful.  This time was one of the worst, if not the worst, asthmatic episodes he's had.  We took him to see the pediatric asthma SPECIALIST at the Children's Hospital and he essentially did nothing for us.  He gave him a breathing treatment with did nothing, and then sent us home.  We went back to the ER that evening because Oskar got so bad he couldn't breathe.  They almost had to keep him overnight because even though his oxygen levels were okay after the steroids (which will continue to stunt his growth more and more) he was using so much effort actually fill his lungs with air.  I pretty much lost my mind this time around.  I feel like even though he's getting older, a tiny bit bigger, and we're seeing a handful of doctors, NOTHING is working.  So as difficult as it is, especially when you live in a tiny two bedroom apartment, we are keeping him away from all other children, no playdates, no church, and absolutely no children over at our apartment.  So it's going to be a really hard time for us since Oskar really loves playing with other kids but we will figure out fun things we can do with the three of us and maybe we'll go stay in Oregon for a few weeks.















Oskar in Blue and Orange

This is part of a project that Joel started when Oskar was around six months old.  Once we finish all the colors, with Ivy do some as well, we're going to make a book and try to sell it on Amazon.  Just kidding.  We'll submit all the pictures to an art show.  Just kidding.  It's just for fun. 



Grandma and Grandpa Groves

We were able to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Groves at the end of our Oregon trip.  It's always fun to see them and witness their antics.  We spent a lot of time talking to them about Grandpa's life growing up in the projects of downtown LA.  As we were talking he would mention places that he and his brother Jimmy would go like the library or Chinatown or Echo Lake, and I would do a quick google search of those areas in the 1950s and show him the pictures it pulled up.  He was so amazed we could just pull up those pictures so fast and see the places he frequented as they were at the time. He told some funny stories of getting in trouble with the Chinese in Chinatown and sad stories about how he ran away and slept outside the library.  He would tell a story and Grandma would interject a detail or correct part of the story and it would make Grandpa mad, he would say, "She thinks I'm lying!"  The next time we see them Joel and I would like to  video them telling their histories and then I could transcribe the video and distribute it to the family. 

It's worthwhile to note that in the pictures without Mom, we are all smiling so hard because the sounds that were coming from her mouth in an attempt to get the kids' attention were both shocking and hilarious. 





Otter Crest

Pictures pictures pictures.  All from Otter Crest during our vacation this summer.  Our condo was right on the ocean and so beautiful I wish it could be our vacation home.