This Thanksgiving, we are very thankful to announce....

Banana Slug Pals

Living in the Santa Cruz mountains, we see TONS of Banana slugs. So far this summer it's been about 3 a day when we leave in the morning to go to the pool. Today, our friend the banana slug stuck around until the afternoon. We were walking back up to the house from swim lessons and the girls hung out with their pal on our walkway for a bit. It allowed me to go inside, grab the camera and capture this precious time....

T-Shirt Quilts

When we had baby showers for the girls, we had an AWESOME idea to make personalized onesies with puffy paint... It was GREAT, and everyone participated.

Here are some from Cami's baby shower:

And this is the table with us working at Dahlia's:

It was super fun, and the girls had unique clothes to take home and wear:

Since they were so personal, it would have been weird to give them away, and kinda useless to keep old small onesies folded away in the closet. So, I decided to make a quilt for each for the girls out of their old shirts.

These were my first quilt attempts ever, I didn't know really where to start. I had ideas in my head about what I wanted. I found a SUPER easy quilting tutorial here: Quilt-in-a-Day. I found some fun fabric, a SUPER soft backing, and got started. I cut out all of the onesies, cut out squares in the colored fabric, sewed the t-shirts onto the squares, then quilted all of those together. (I really followed the tutorial, except I didn't sew the last step along the horizontal rows, I just sewed bullets in each four corner intersection of the squares).

And here are the finished projects:

Cami's:

Dahlia's:

The girls are actually napping with them right now. They are super cozy and heavy. It was fun.

Bucket Baby

A couple of weeks ago, on one of those hot days, we had a bucket of water/soap on the back deck to play with, while I did some dishes. Dahlia LOVES water. She decided she needed to get in. Diaper and all. It was hilarious.

BOB Ironman Duallie Stroller

We recently purchased (with A LOT of financial gift help from the grandparents as a Mothers Day/Cami's birthday combo gift) a much needed double jogging stroller. One of the best. The BOB Ironman Duallie We love it, well the girls LOVE it. Whenever it is unfolded and ready to go, the girls climb in as fast as they can with excited noises. I repeat, they LOVE it.

One of the main motivators for this stroller has been to scheduling difficulties we have been running into with me trying to train for half marathons (or get out and run in general) and Ian's work schedule/availability to watch the kids. We have had a couple days where some unexpected scheduling things come up for Ian's work, or weather, or something where my planned running had to be put on hold. Anyway, we are SUPER excited now to have mobility for the girls and I during all hours of the day.

We have also been able to run as a family. This last Saturday we ran about 4 miles with the stroller. (In our Five Fingers of course) It was so great, Ian and I were able to have some quality time while working out, and getting the kids outside. I also walked the girls down the the grocery store and got some dinner items. We are SO happy to have this new piece of equipment. It even folds up enough to fit in our little Honda Civic trunk. YAY!

Hobie Polarized

About a month and a half ago, I received in the mail a new pair of Hobie Polarized Sunglasses. Now there is a bigger story here than just that fact. While Lifeguarding for USOS for 6 years, I really came to understand the fundamental fact that good eyewear is one of the most critical purchases you can ever make (if you have an active/outdoor lifestyle) We use our eyes SO much, and they need to be protected. Having Hobie as a sponsor for USOS, allowed me to purchase some amazing sunglasses (pictured below)

Now these glasses stuck with me and endured some tough times for 8 years, ocean, sand, river, snow, Central America, marriage, babies, hospitals, swim lesson instruction, countless hours in the car, and more. They have protected my eyes from all the stress I put them under. Eventually the glasses broke. I was devastated. They came with me everywhere, and they were broken.

I contacted Hobie and they mentioned the manufacturers, so I contacted them as well. Since this model was pretty old, and I had forgotten the name of it, they were able to offer me a new pair of my choosing at half price. On a trip back to OC, I went into the store to try on some new glasses and found a few that I liked. We ended up purchasing a pair of 'El Capitans', and though I really loved the 'Topanga' style, they didn't have the lens/frame combo I was looking for. Anyway, we were fine with the El Caps, and they actually fit Ian a bit better. So he started using them, and really commented on how amazing a great pair of sunglasses changes things.

Well, about a month and a half ago I started following @HobiePolarized on Twitter. They had a contest for their first followers. I won a pair of Sunglasses through this contest. I was pretty sure the contest glasses would just be a model that they pick, but just on a whim, I mentioned how I liked the Topanga model when I was giving them my address. Two days after my birthday, I went to get the mail, and they were there. I opened the packaging, and saw 'Topanga' written on the box. My heart literally leapt with JOY! The Topangas are pictured below, and I have been SO blessed to once again have some quality glasses that I love. I just thought I would share. Hobie is a great company, and they make QUALITY products, so if you're ever in the market for surf/boat/kayak/eyewear/SUP, I highly recommend my friends at Hobie.

River City Half Marathon

Yesterday, 4.18.10, I ran my first half marathon in Sacramento. It was a perfect morning for the beautiful bicycle trail run.

We drove up to Sacramento on Saturday and spent the evening with Ian's Dad and step mom. We went and picked up the race packet and then headed to our carb dinner at 'The Old Spaghetti Factory' in Elk Grove. We met our friends for dinner. Tim, Sara, Asher, Lori, Robin, the couple they were staying with, and Lauren all were there for our delicious dinner. Amy and Jeff arrived while we were leaving. Amy had work that day.

Sara and Amy ran the full marathon on Sunday, they're start time was 7am.

Woke up at 6:40. About 7 I started eating. I had a wonderful loaded breakfast salad I had prepared before we left for our trip (knowing the hotel would not really have anything), a banana, and some hummus on whole wheat flatbread. Yummy, energy filled grub. The salad was great for replenishing some water loss due to sleep, and the potassium filled banana and yummy hummus were a great filler. About 15 minutes before the race I downed a Luna Bar and a Cliff Energy Gel. With a few swigs of water, I was ready to go!!!

Ian drove me to the start for the half and the air was filled with runner's anticipation and excitement. I was ready. Here Ian snapped a fantastic pre-race picture.....

I ran in my Vibram Five Finger Sprints. (pictured below) It was so funny walking around before the race. Without fail, everyone mumbled among they're friends about the 'shoes.' Things like "Wow, oh look she's wearing those barefoot things...." or "I've heard about those..." or just nudging and looking and chatting about how they've heard something about running barefoot, and/or these shoes, or the Nike Free's or something along those lines. It was fantastic. No one did anyone approach me about them until we were about to start. There was an awesome guy who had tried them at an expo and was asking about my experience with them. ( I LOVE THEM BY THE WAY) My feet are strong, and I have NO injuries at all.

Once the race started, I had about 6 or 7 people trot with me and chat about the shoes. We talked about the science and info behind the running barefoot trend. If you know me, you know I just love to be barefoot anyway I can. These are SO light, I don't feel like I have heavy clunky shoes weighing me down. I feel myself landing on my mid/fore foot more often, my posture is straighter, they let me feel the ground and let my toes have some space. My feet are stronger, and I am not depending on any fancy cushy inserts that would just weaken the tendons by having them stay inactive. It's just like working out any other body part, allowing my feet to naturally strengthen with work. I guess it would be like trying to lift weights with cushions around all of your muscles supporting them and doing the work for you. Your muscles would never strengthen properly that way. Also, a lot of running teams spend training time barefoot, and Nike has there new 'Free' shoe that simulates a barefoot feel. I just love them. I am not running in them to be trendy, (and seeing how everyone was just looking at me and chatting about them and not really approaching me) I TRULY believe that they are the best thing for me, my feet and my running. It seems like there are just a few people running in them right now anyway. We'll see how it is in a few years. Some people just can't give up their shoes.

The following are some pictures from the start of the race....

I finished in 2hrs 20min and 06seconds. (according to my official foot chip time)

I am super excited about it. This was my first run at this distance ever. I was super back and forth about wether or not I was going to run this race anyway. I really started training seriously only 3 1/2 weeks before the race, so I wasn't expecting a lightning pace or anything. I am vert satisfied with my pace. I ran the whole thing VERY comfortably. I was expecting to hit a wall, but never did. I just kept it steady and relaxed and stayed at a pace that was challenging, but not too much. I had one guy run with me for a few miles. He wasn't entered in the race, he was just out for his long run. He was encouraging me that my pace was great. I was consistent, comfortable and kept it relaxed. With about 2 1/2 miles to go, I passed another guy going the other way who commented... "you're doing GREAT, nice and relaxed, keep it up." I was so encouraged.

I finished strong, and though I probably could have pushed it a bit more, I was glad to get a feel for the distance. I am planning on running the Disneyland 1/2 with my sister and some friends on September 5th. I will be training for that a lot longer than I did for this one.

I will post some finish line pictures, when I get them back from the course photographer.

Ian and the family were unable to get to the finish before I made it back. There was a mix-up with the time and everything, but they supported me the rest of the day with love and admiration!!

We finished out our time in Sacramento with a visit to Sutter's Fort in the city, here is a picture of us all...

I have an Incredible husband!!!

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday. Ian and I were blessed to have his mother come up to watch the girls while we went on a weekend adventure up to San Francisco to celebrate!!!!

I was SO blessed by the love my husband portrayed for me. He didn't give me any wrapped gifts or throw me a huge party, but he truly showed his love and appreciation for me by giving me his undivided attention ALL day with no strings attached and no questions.

We left Saturday morning around 10am. Though we prefer the scenic Hwy 1 drive up to SF, we had some shopping to do. Our first destination was REI to spend some dividend money and gift certificates. Ian pitched in his gift certificate to help fund an AMAZING waterproof running jacket for me. (I have been running a lot in the pouring rain without the needed protection, I am sure this jacket will come in handy for many years to come.)

We then proceeded to In-N-Out for a yummy lunch. Our next shopping stop was Title Nine (athletic and functional women's clothing) Ian didn't mind at all. He encouraged me to try on a bunch of dresses and outfits and really take my time. We had SO much fun. I found something I LOVED but they didn't have my size/color combo, so I bought some much needed shorts.

We headed up to the city and arrived at the hotel in perfect time to check-in at 3:00. We stayed at the Westin St. Francis, in Union Square. We got up to the room, waited for our luggage, got bundled for the chilly evening weather and headed back out.

We rode the cable car to the Wharf

We ate at a GREAT Restaurant: The Blue Mermaid Chowder House. The Chowder is AMAZING. They have some pretty unique chowder choices, and in a delicious bread bowl with a Caesar salad, some fried Calamari, and a glass of chardonnay, we shared a delicious dinner.

Next Stop was of course Ghirardelli Square for dessert:

Above is our amazing dark chocolate fudge mint sundae entitled: Mint Bliss... and it was.

We rode the cable car back to Union Square

And on the way back we had a 'tiny' delay. Just stopping in the middle of an intersection to replace the cable levers. It was so cool to watch them remove the current one by heaving it out of the car, and then load a new one in it's place. A new and unique experience for the both of us.

We got back to the hotel, and after running 9.5 miles the day before and walking around all day I was in need of a bubble bath. But we didn't bring any bubbles. SO, with no hesitation or delay, Ian and I ran out the hotel down to Macy's just 5 minutes before they closed and acquired the much needed bubble bath. A bath, a book, some red wine. It was GREAT! Ian showered, and then we watched 'The Blind Side' through the Hotel Entertainment options. We loved it.

We slept in. Took our time getting packed. Picked up the car, and headed down Highway 1 toward lunch and home. We stopped in Half Moon Bay for lunch. Again we were blessed with amazing food at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. Ian had Clam Linguine and I had another salad and some beer battered fish and breaded calamari.

Something to note about us. We ALWAYS order the fried calamari when we eat out at a seafood destination. We are on the hunt for the best around, and have a short list of our preferred favorites. This place made the list. Along with the battered fish, the calamari was so crispy and light and well seasoned. It seemed to melt in your mouth. SO yummy.

The drive was an adventure down, we hit a spot of DOWNPOUR, the cars in front of us pulled over to wait it out, and we were only going maybe 5 mph. It was intense, but fun. We made it home to enjoy some time with Heather and the girls.

I am so thankful for my husband and his love for me. He really showed his love in supporting EVERYTHING I wanted to do or didn't want to do. He trusted me with every decision and supported me with positive loving feedback. It was SO relaxing and refreshing to just be away for a day with no REAL time restraints or schedule restrictions or expectations. I was blessed beyond belief for the love I felt.

So, thank you Ian Shea for loving me perfectly this weekend. Thank you Heather for watching the girls, and pitching in on the trip funding. Thank you mom and dad and Tim and Vic for the funding as well. We could not have afforded this trip on our own and are grateful for the gifts you gave to help celebrate me. I love you all.

Daylight Savings!!!

We have been enjoying Daylight Savings around here, with the added daylight has come warmth AND sunshine!!!!!!

I ran 5 miles and played softball on Sunday, then we had a BBQ out on our friend's deck with the softball team.

We swam as a family last Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday afternoons!!!

I was able to go up and swim 100 laps yesterday when Ian got off work.

We have all been out to play A LOT!!!

I think there is some rain coming next week, so we have been taking advantage of this weather!!! Here are some pictures from our outings!!

Cami enjoying the sunshine!!!

Dahlia enjoying the sunshine too!

We set up the tunnel and tent!!

Dahlia in the tent!

Cami in the tent!!!

Updates with Cami's heart

This is also another adventure we have been on recently.... I am going to copy and paste the email explanations I have sent out. we welcome your prayers as we are still emotionally trudging through this adventure with Cami's heart....

Sent February 11th:

Hello family and friends,

Four weeks ago, Cami and I went in to a routine Cardiologist check-up for her. She has been going in every 4 months, and everything has been great. This last visit though, the doctor saw some leakage in her bicuspid valve on the right side of her heart.

Her initial surgery when she was four months old really focused on the left side and all the issues that were there with the mitral valve, it also focused on her giant VSD (hole) between her ventricles and the coarctation (narrowing) of her aorta. Those were all beautifully fixed, and though she has some tiny holes still throughout, they will probably close and cause no harm.

The leak we saw on this last visit though, did prompt the Cardiologist to discuss with me what effects it has on pumping her blood efficiently, and he went over what a possible surgery for this kind of leak would entail. The frustrating thing with that visit was that the doctor did not have Cami's past info directly on hand, so he couldn't compare the current leak to any signs of it before. He asked me to call back two weeks later so that he had time to look at her history and make a decision about wether or not the leak was the same, getting worse, or getting better. He also would be able to let me know the next steps we would need to take.

After calling them back, and through a series of messages and phone tag, it has taken four weeks to get an answer about what needs to be done next. I received a call this morning from their office informing me that Cami will be having an MRI to look further into the leak. The Echocardiogram (ultrasound) that our cardiologist looks at her heart with is not entirely sufficient enough to really get a great picture of what is going on. So she will be going to Stanford again to receive an MRI. I do not have an exact date on it yet, they said that I will hear from someone in the next two weeks to schedule.

I want you guys to know that our hope was to hear that everything was recovering fine and the leak was getting smaller. That is one of the reasons we did not call or email everyone after the appointment four weeks ago. We really had nothing to report, because we didn't know what was going on. We didn't want to ignite any concerns unnecessarily, and we still really have no more information on what the leak looks like. The MRI will shed light on really what needs to be done for her.

Knowing now, that the doctor's concern was enough to get her an MRI, we are inviting you all in on this new turn of events. We are still hoping that the MRI will show that the leak is not sufficient enough for surgery, or that it is gone completely, or something miraculous. We know that there is a real possibility though, that Cami may need another surgery to fix this and to help her heart pump more efficiently.

We cherish your prayers and well wishes, and encourage you to lift Cami up to God for healing. Prayer for Ian and me as we go through this time of powerlessness would be great as well. I know that I can let my thoughts get away from me, and Ian and I both have probably thought about the worst results or possibilities of what Cami would have to go through. Please pray that we find peace in trusting Cami to God and His plan for her, and for this situation. Being a young child, an MRI for her would mean that she would need to be sedated in order to stay still for the procedure. With any sedation there are risks, and we admit that we are worried about the possible risks with her being in that state.

We will keep you guys updated with any news, namely the date on which we will be having the MRI. If you have any questions or comments, we would ask that you please respond through email. if you want to chat by phone we can set something up through email, but really do not want to be bombarded by calls at this time. We are open to discuss anything, but again, we know really only as much as I have told you here. Once the results of the MRI are back, more info will be available. Also feel free to pass this along to any who you feel would benefit from knowing about how they could pray for us.

We love you all, and thank you for walking through this with us and our daughter. God be with you all.

Sent February 26th:

My dearest family and friends,

We have a date and time set for Cami's MRI. It will be two weeks from today, on March 11th at 11am. We are asking for prayer on that day and time.

We have to arrive for the appointment and hour and a half before, and it takes about that much time to drive there as well. This means our day is going to start at 8am, and depending on how long the whole thing will take, with recovery from anesthesia and drive time back, we are optimistically looking at probably being home around 2pm or so. It will be a long 6hr morning, and we are still trying to decide if it will just be Cami and me, if Ian can/should get off work, and if so, will Dahlia come... we know that we are EXTREMELY blessed to have so many people surrounding us right now who are willing to watch Dahlia during this time, and that is a huge weight off our shoulders if we choose to leave her at home.

We have recovered some more information about what is going on inside her heart. I re-read through the post-operative ECHO report from Cami's surgery in October of 2007. In the report, there was 'trace tricuspid valve regurgitation noted." It was also reported to be 'trivial to mild.' It is relieving in a way to know that this regurgitation (leakage) Is not something that has just popped up out of nowhere. The MRI will help shed some light on the status of that same leak. It has been over two years since the surgery, and the leak is still present, so this will give us a good picture of how she is healing up and if she needs any follow-up surgical procedures.

Another hiccup right now is insurance. We are in the process of switching insurance because our current plans are out of our price range It has been an almost 7 month process for us. The girls may have been discontinued with their insurance at the end of this month, due to some income miscalculations. We have since, sent in the correct paperwork, and hopefully that will all be situated before Cami has the MRI. It is just a headache to continue to mail things in or drop stuff off at the county offices, and then call for status updates and coverage, etc. Again, hopefully it will all fall into place in time.

Sent March 18th:

Hello family and friends

I want to start by first thanking you for your thoughts and prayers for our family during this time of exploring deeper into the health of Cami's heart. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such a great family of support.

MRI DAY:

Cami had her MRI on Thursday the 11th of March. It was a really long and emotional day. Our day started around 7am, getting ready, and dropping Dahlia off with our friends for the day. Cami was unable to eat anything since midnight the night before, and could only drink clear liquids up until 8am. She was a trooper. We had about an hour drive and had to be at the hospital at 9:30am, an hour and a half before the procedure was scheduled. Walking back to that hospital where we spent a month living just two years ago really brought back a flood of memories. Emotional memories. Hospitals aren't super fun and exciting places to be, and a children's hospital is even harder. The familiarity of the place was not a comfortable one, but we got to where we needed to be and proceeded with the check-in process.

Cami gets very uncomfortable in doctors offices. She always has. She has been in rooms with people looking at her and poking and prodding her more than I can count. She has had about two dozen extensive cardiologist check-ups since her surgery, has had to have a special shot every month for four months during the two flu seasons after her surgery, add in all of her regular check-ups on top of those. All this to say that she was not very happy to be in another room with white krinkely paper and an unfamiliar nurse poking. She was uncomfortable. This response got her a pre-anesthesia drug that allowed her body to calm down. It gave her slight amnesia and a drunken feeling so she would be able to separate from us more calmly. We then proceeded into the anesthesia room and the sleeping drugs were administered. Her body reacted normally by flailing and resisting, which was very hard to watch, but she was soon asleep and it was Ian's and my time to leave.

The procedure took about 2 hours. She went in at 11:15, she was intubated and had an IV placed in her left hand. Ian and I got lunch in the cafeteria and spent some time up on the roof. They called us back down to recovery room about 1:15, Ian got to see her a little but then had to leave to make the drive back. I was in the recovery room with her as the drugs wore off. She was very groggy and irritated with the IV, she was getting pretty anxious about the pain she didn't understand and just wanted it off. We were able to feed her a popsicle and that allowed the nurse to remove the IV. Once Cami had some sugar in her system and was relatively responsive, I was able to walk her out to the car and leave. We left about 2:30pm and made the drive home safely, picked up Dahlia and came home. We were home by 4. Cami couldn't walk around but wanted to very badly, she was wobbly and unbalanced, so we just laid low for the evening.

It was a long and emotional day. We thank you all for your prayers and support through all of this. We were blessed to not encounter any complications with Cami on her MRI day. There were tons of drugs running through her body, and we know that although these doctors do this every day there is always a risk, and to see our precious girl in such a state was really emotional. I know that we were being lifted up in prayer by all of you, and that gave us a lot of strength to get through the day in a somewhat uneventful way.

RESULTS, THOUGHTS, PRAYERS:

The MRI results took two business days to get to our cardiologist and we called them on Tuesday to see if we could set up a follow-up appointment. We were blessed to be able to get an appointment for Wednesday, the 17th, at 8:30am. We really went into the appointment with no expectations and were hoping and praying that the radiologist and cardiologist were able to see the information they needed to see to give us some insight into what comes next. The MRI looked good. All of the repairs form her surgery on her left side looked amazing, her aorta showed no signs of narrowing, and despite some anatomical abnormalities regarding her aortic valve, everything is functioning well. The doctor told us that the good news is that even though her right atrium and ventricle are large in size there are no additional elements that are affecting these areas other than her tricuspid valve regurgitation (leakage). It is a relief that we were able to see ALL that is going on within her heart so we could rule-out any other possible problems.

So now to the regurgitation. She still has it, When she is pumping her blood from her right atrium to her right ventricle through her tricuspid valve, the valve itself is not sealing closed and about 30% of that blood is regurgitating back into her atrium. She is basically double or triple pumping that same blood through the valve. This is resulting in enlargements of both her right atrium and ventricle. She is using more calories just to pump her blood than most of us do. This answers a few questions as to why she didn't just start exploding in her weight gain as everyone thought she would right after her surgery. She is still healthy, just on the lower end of the weight spectrum.

The presence of this regurgitation is not large enough right now to call for another surgery which we are grateful for. It will hopefully stay the same through her life, but there is still a possibility of this leak becoming a problem in the future. Now we just wait and keep on going back to the cardiologist to get a look at the progress report every 3 months.

This is good news, and I want to keep reminding myself that, but it is hard for me to know that there is something still not completely fixed inside of her. I feel so helpless about it, and although my brain knows that another heart surgery holds incredible risk, my heart longs for her to be fixed so much. It is hard for me to sit and wait and just watch as time passes by on this. I so desperately want her to be fully all that she can be, and the possibility of this getting worse somewhere in the future just lingers over us. I hate that we have to keep taking her to see a doctor to get hooked up to machines every three months. I hate that she's still wearing 18month old clothes when she will be 3 in two months. I hate that there is no other action we can take, that we will just let her live with this inefficient heart. It's functioning badly enough to keep an eye on, but not badly enough to fix. I just hate it.

She is alive though. She can sing and dance, laugh and cry, tell funny stories and run around with glee. She is so beautiful and appreciates so many things. She loves and hugs and kisses us and her sister, she cuddles and loves being thrown into the air. We are blessed to have her, and we need to keep our focus on the amazing life she has to offer. She brightens our day and makes us smile so much. I do not want to take for granted any of the time I have with both of our daughters, so we will keep moving forward and live this 'normal' that is our life.

Continue to pray for us if and when you think of us. We truly feel the impact of peace and hope your prayers put into our lives. We are trusting in God's planning in all of this. We will keep you updated if anything happens. THank you all again. A special thanks go out to Sara Greco for taking Dahlia on the day of Cami's MRI, to Linda Broesamle for driving Ian back over the hill to work from the hospital, and to Lana Hamilton for watching Dahlia last minute on the morning we met with the doctor for the results. Also thank you Suzy Clark for allowing Ian to go see the doctor with us for the results, and Cian Moroso for covering for him.

We love you all and truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers,

Ian, Emily, Camelia and Dahlia Scanlon

Dahlia turned 1!!! (two months ago)

So I have been lagging on posting. Sorry about that.

This 2010 is going SOOOOO fast!!!! We had a joint birthday party for Dahlia on February 6. Dahlia Scanlon (Jan. 31) Sadie Hamilton (Feb. 5) and Olivia Hernandez (Feb. 10). It is amazing that all of these precious girls were born within 10 days of one another, and they all live in Mount Hermon!!!! So great. It was fun, we had a farm theme, and Lana made AMAZING cupcakes!!! Here are some pictures from that....

The farm cake and chicken/cow/pig cupcakes!!!

Birthday girl Dahlia!!!

Birthday girl Sadie!!!

Birthday girl Olivia!!!

With the mommas!!!

With the daddies!!!