Easter- Part 2

We ended our Spring Break with my family at my Nana and Papa's house.  The kids and I got there late on Saturday and woke up to Easter baskets full of good stuff- the Easter Bunny stopped by!  Eggs full of jelly bean, fishy crackers, and stickers were hidden around the inside of house and eggs full of money were hidden outside.  Let the egg hunting adventure begin!

Spring Break

This spring break we had to head up to Arcata without Erik.  Erik was still recovering from back surgery and traveling in the car for twelve hours was not a good idea.  So, Cairo, Jonah, and I headed out for a week on our own.  It sounded like a good idea to take them up there on my own until the night before we left.  While I was packing, my mom reminded me, jokingly, that I was going to have to cook all week!  Yuck!  If that thought had even crossed my mind, I don't think I would have gone  :o)  But go we did...

The drive was nice.  We stopped at my Nana and Papa's on the way up (we're always looking for an excuse to stop by).  The crossing of the Humboldt County line and the pitter-patter of rain coincided.  We made it home around dinner time.  The kids made a bee-line to their rooms where they took every toy they owned out in a matter of two minutes.  But, hey, at least I was able to get the car unloaded.

Cairo lives for sleepovers with Mei.  So, early into our trip, Mei and Cairo had a slumber party.  We watched movies, had a yummy dinner and breakfast, and I braided their hair in lots of small braids when they got out of the shower.  In the morning they had crinkly hair.

Cousins

We also got to spend some time with Miss Lili B, Auntie Katie, Aunt Kyoko, and Koko... some of our most favorite people.

The weather was fun while we were there.  It was a mixture of sunshine, rain, and hail.  One morning it hailed for about 10 minutes the smallest little hail I've ever seen.

The best part of our trip was that I got to spend lots and lots of uninterrupted time with the kids.  I got them all to myself.  I missed Erik and I got a really good appreciation for how much he does, but it was still kinda nice to not have to share them.

Morning Hair

A highlight of the trip was our early Easter celebration.  We were driving back south the Saturday before Easter, so we had a Dedini family Easter celebration the Friday before we left.  Grandpa Lee and Ba-chan hid eggs all over the yard.  Each kid had their own section to search for eggs.

Jonah loves Baby Koko

Koko, testing out the eggs.

Lifting weights, just like Daddy.

This was one second before the stool slipped out from under him and he went head first into the potty.... after he peed. Ew!

Not happy about falling into the potty.

Cut Here

The past few months have been a little crazy.  Life as we normally know it has been quite a bit different.  Work has been super stressful for me (for a million reasons I don't even want to begin typing up on here) and Erik hurt his back.  When I say hurt his back, I mean h-u-r-t it.

In December he thought he threw his back out lifting weights.  He continued to be active in the week that followed and things just got worse and worse and worse.  He went to the chiropractor, who ended up referring him back to his primary care physician.  After trying various treatments of medication and rest with no improvement, Erik had an MRI of his back and found out that he has an extremely herniated disc in his back.  This meant a new referral to a physical therapy/ pain management place, a epidural in his back (that wore off a week later), and finally ANOTHER referral to a neurosurgeon.  Because of nerve damage that was happening (he lost his reflexes in his achilles and his toes were going numb) and because of the pain day in and day out, Erik opted for surgery.  Fast-forward another few weeks and the surgery is complete and Erik is on the road to recovery.

It was about three months from time of injury to time of surgery.  During that time, Erik walked around like an old man and could barely move.  Walking was out of the question, sitting was limited, standing was bearable for a little while.  He absolutely couldn't pick up the kids.  He couldn't even put on his socks (It's a good thing I have a lot of practice putting socks on other people).  It was especially tough with him being a stay at home dad who also watched two other small boys on a daily basis, but Erik was a real trooper and managed to make it work up until a week and a half before his surgery.  Surgery was not the desired outcome, but the only other option was for Erik is be bed ridden for another 9-12 months while his body naturally did the same thing the surgery did.

Surgery was scheduled for Tuesday March 13 at Huntington Memorial Hospital.  He went it for surgery ahead of schedule and everything went smoothly.  After surgery Erik spent the night in the hotel, I mean hospital.  (It's such a nice hospital it's hard to tell the difference.  He could even order room service from a fancy menu whenever he felt like it throughout the day!)  I stayed with him throughout the day and Jonah and I went by the next morning and stayed with him until be was discharged.  I took the rest of the week off work to take care of him and the kids.  So that I could go back to work, Erik's parent's came down for a few days to watch the kids and help Erik out and my cousin Billi was awesome and helped out when Erik's parents had to go home.  The next week, I ended up staying home another two days (J had the stomach flu) and my dad took a day off.  Then, it was off to spring break for us while Erik stayed behind recovering.

I am so thankful that we have such an amazing family and set of friends.  There is no way I could have managed this multi month ordeal without their support.  My mom and dad were especially amazing, constantly picking up the extra slack and doing it with a smile  :o)  Don't worry, some day when you're old and feeble we will be paying you back.  In the meantime, we are looking forward to Erik getting back to normal.  Hopefully, he will be up and running by the summer, able to once again have an active lifestyle.

Cairo's Art

Cairo has been big on making art out of things we are going to throw away.  Jonah and Cairo keep raiding the recycling bin picking out stuff for their "projects."  These projects typically require gobs of tape, some marker, and sticker embellishments.  Somehow, they are attached to the wall somewhere in the house.  Cairo has put together some creative things all on her own.  Like...

The girl made of an old bag...

The pet puppy dog made from an old paper towel roll and paper towel....  (front view)

(up close)

(Don't forget about the tail)

There's also this.  It is a hawk carrying a letter on its wing.

This one is a clown in a pocket.  Look closely and you will see the red nose and colorful hair.

The clown can even come out the pocket.  Very versatile.

After one nature hike, Cairo mounted the flowers she collected to the bottom of a piece of paper with about half a roll of tape.  She made sure that the plants were well cared for by giving it lots of sunlight and making sure that there was someone there to water it.  :o)

Cairo and Jonah do not go quietly to bed. Tonight, as often happens, they decided to throw an impromptu concert instead of going to sleep. This can go on for over an hour. At least they stayed in bed this time.

Beach Day

On Sunday we went to the Newport Beach Pier and had a fun beach day. It was beautiful weather and Cairo and Jonah each met a kid their age. Cairo and her new friend had fun playing with each other and Jonah looked suspiciously at the other kid while they played in the same vicinity. 

Kim, Cairo and Jonah all had fun splashing around in the water and Daddy recuperated under an umbrella. Every time we go to the beach the kids are so happy and we say we really need to do it more often.  We need to make sure that we do.

Daddy's Big Helper

Jonah loves to help Daddy in the kitchen.  He always has to have his 'tool (stool) right next to where Erik is working.  When Erik was making a smoothie today, Jonah decided to help speed things up by reaching over and turning the blender on... without the lid on.

We were all a little upset, Jonah included.