Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving 2007!


We decided to go out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner this year as a family, it was truly a treat, and everyone had a wonderful time. Click on the picture to see some fun moments during the dinner. Honestly, the pie was my favorite part — I had three pieces!

Mommy, Let's See If There's A Box!

Ever since Sofía was really little, — all right, let's be honest, she's not exactly "big" by any stretch of the imagination, but you get the idea — Nana and Grandpa Staley have started this little tradition of sending "boxes," or as we in the adult world often refer to as packages. These packages vary in shape and size, and are sure to be full of surprises and expressions of love. At one point or another, everyone enjoys receiving boxes filled with goodies, especially if those goodies include something edible like "dulces," right Sofía?


Up to this point, the postal worker has placed Sofía's packages on the front doorstep. Whenever you open the door, if a package has been delivered, you practically step on it — we don't have a tough time noticing when boxes have arrived. Sofía anxiously awaits her "boxes" so much so that it has become part of her daily routine to open the front and see whether Nana and Grandpa have sent her a box. Earlier this week, Sofía was so excited to receive a box with a book, candy, and a Christmas CD. Nana and Grandpa even included a few special things for Mamá y Papá.


Thank you, Nana and Grandpa, for loving us so much to send us boxes filled with little surprises to brighten our day. We love the goodies! Sofía can't wait to go open the front door to see if there's a box, so until next time...

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Not Your Ordinary Morning Sickness...

As most of you know, during the first trimester most women experience the ever so common morning sickness, which consists of nausea and vomiting. Most pregnant women feel as though they’re going to vomit everything they ingest, or feel as though most odors nauseate them to the point of vomiting. Yet, there is a small percentage of pregnant women (about 0.3% to 2%) who become afflicted with a condition called “Hyperemesis Gravidarum,” which differs from ordinary morning sickness in that those afflicted become extremely dehydrated and continue to loose weight. Three symptoms confirm extensive vomiting: ketosis, weight loss, and dehydration. “Hyperemesis gravidarum is uncontrollable vomiting during pregnancy that results in dehydration and ketosis.”


A women must receive IV infusion of water, glucose, and electrolytes to correct the dehydration. As far as the nausea and vomiting go, well, medication is the best bet. Stormy’s drug of choice is “ ondansetron (Zofran).” The major downside to this medication is the cost — I’ll spare you the price as some of you may feel sick to your stomach, and since this post is about vomiting and all, we don’t want any of that, now do we. Zofran is often administered to cancer patients for similar symptoms of nausea and vomiting.

Stormy’s mom, Carolyn, has always said that Stormy was “special.” Given that only 0.3% to 2% of pregnant women develop this extreme condition, I’d say that’s pretty special —although the experience in of itself isn’t special by any means. Still, it’s a fifty-fifty chance that a pregnant women will develop this condition if she developed during a previous pregnancy. As many of you know, Stormy experienced what some would call a horrific pregnancy the first go around. All the same, and as special as she is, hyperemesis gravidarum is back. Still, Stormy and I were discussing on the way home from the infusion clinic yesterday about the differences in this pregnancy to that of Sofía’s, and Stormy made the comment that the one major difference is that, even though she’s vomiting and dehydrated, she can look at Sofía and smile and feel a little bit better. Sofía has adopted a practice that is quite endearing; she sings “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” whenever mommy isn’t feeling well.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

It's Been One Year...

Since we moved to The Great Northwest, well, officially, it was on November 11, 2006, that we left Salt Lake City, Utah, to arrive in Ontario, Oregon, where we stayed the night. It wasn't until late afternoon on November 12, 2006, that we arrived at our home in Beaverton, Oregon (thank you to all those who helped us unload the largest truck Pensky had to offer).

When we arrived we quickly assimilated into the environmentally-friendly culture practices, such as recycling, re-using, and remembering to take our own green bags to the grocery store. The "People's Republic of Portland," as it if often referred to here, offers activities for families as well as for adults, which was one of the main reasons we decided to make the move. To add to that, Portland is one of the most livable cities in the United States — my guess is the accessibility (one of the nations greatest public transportation systems (www.trimet.org) and the environmental practices, but, again, only guesses.

The Portland-metro area is one of the most attractive locations to live: music, local pubs, arts, learning, creativity, architecture, history, neighborhoods, fishing, hiking, and the outdoors. As you can tell, there's a little something for everyone.

We're so glad that we made the move to the Portland-metro area. It's been one of the best things for our family, and Sofía loves all the activities for kids her age as well. She and her papi went to Powell's Books ( http://www.powellsbooks.com/) last night, which is local to Portland, and, of course, she loved it.

So if any of you ever want to make a trip to The Great Northwest, you'll have a place to stay. For some brief information about the Portland-metro area, check out this Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Portland_%28Oregon%29


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sofia is going to be a Big Sis!

On or around June 24, 2008! I'm 8 weeks pregnant! I'm so sorry to say that I don't have any ultrasound pics to post. We had our first ultrasound yesterday where the three of us got to see the precious little peanut. Unfortunately, the printer connected to the ultrasound was not working so we came home without any proof but the "two" positive pregnancy tests--OH--and my infamous nausea and vomiting.

Sofia couldn't wait to tell her Papi that Mami had a baby in her tummy. 4 weeks ago--we rehearsed it all the way to Papi's work. We planned to tell him over lunch but the minute Papi got in the car that day, Sofia told him she had a secret. It was a precious moment, one I'll never forget. We're so excited to give Sofia a little brother or sister and bring another precious baby into this world.

While the nausea and vomiting are back with a vengeance, there is something different about this pregnancy. I have physical evidence of the perfect little one that awaits at the end. Sofia is a daily reminder of what all the sacrifice will bring in the end. Each time I vomit or simply feel sick to my stomach, Sofia immediately starts singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She's positive it's the cure to feeling crummy--and quite honestly, it's up there next to the killer nausea medication (most often prescribed to chemo patients). :D

As soon as we get an ultrasound picture, we'll post it. We're so excited for our family to grow!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Blogging Hiatus is now over!

hi·a·tus [hahy-ey-tuhs] noun, plural -tus·es, -tus.
1.a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

Sorry you guys....stay tuned in the days to come for more!