Oh, if I had money...."Fake Shop Friday"

I battle with the idea of usefullness, want, need, overabundance, and lack...I wonder, "do I NEED this?" "how usefull is it?" and then....there are these fleeting moments where I just GRAB and GO! Now, I haven't had ANY of these moments in a long ass time, and that is due to lack of funds. BUT, I love to "fake shop" online. Have you ever done it? I'm sure you have...you know, where you go to your favorite website, put all your wonderful little finds into your shopping cart, and leave...it's like window shopping, online. Well, today, I fake shopped at my favorite store, Anthro, and this is what I "bought" Enjoy...

Tomorrow is the beginning of something great....

Tomorrow we go to our first appointment with Tristan's DAN! Doctor. I am excited, it marks the beginning of biomedical intervention for Tristan, and a chance to finally gain some much needed clarity into his endless allergies and ailments. We have wanted to do this for sometime, but illnesses and finances have prohibited it, finally, we have some time, no illnesses, still no money but, we are making it work...it's worth it.

I am not searching for a miracle, and I know that biomedical interventions very rarely show overnight success...we are ready to make the prolonged efforts that it is going to take to help Tristan. MANY parents are reporting a 95% success rate with several of the treatments...can you imagine if we were part of that 95%??? What if in a few years from now, Autism will have just been a distant vivid memory for us? What if Tristan gains clarity enough to be able to hold a conversation? To make friends? To grow up and get married....I worry about these things, not every day, but every so often. As a mother, it's always in your mind to want what is best for your children, and when you have a child with special needs, the future is even more unclear. So, if you have a second or two tomorrow, say a little something for us, we really want to help Tristan recover, and this is our first step.

i.love.him.

I know, it's so cliche, girl meets new boy in school, she falls instantly head over heels in love with him, they date in high school, continue on to college, live together, get a dog, get engaged, get married, have babies, move, life changes, etc., so on and so forth...and then, after all that life has thrown at them, and 15 years of memories, she is still head over heels in love. I adore my Shannon. I love him more than anything, even vanilla ice cream. I think he is the most amazing person that I have ever met, and having him home this past week really rekindled that adoration for him...he cares so much for us, for Trinity and Tristan, and our marriage, our friendship. He is funny, incredibly funny...and he constantly has me in stitches. I love him, and am so happy to have met him....

Loving this picture

I am...and before you go and heckle me about using it in the california post...I will tell you, I don't care...I love it. Incidentally, it is VERY similiar to a picture taken of my brother in good old 1976, *note to self, find picture of D and post it here* I think what I find most alluring in this picture is the sense of oldness that it evokes * yes, I am aware that "oldness" isn't a grammatically correct word, but just go with it* it's a moment captured that is innocent, unedited and pure. His hair is almost always in his face, and yet, in the attempts to capture the "perfect picture" I brush it out of his face, and then here, I fall in love with the ONE picture where it's the opposite of my quest.

Our AWESOME trip to California...kinda late I KNOW *super long post*

Where in the world do I start?? I have been super busy...but, I wanted to be sure to show you all some pictures from our CA trip we took the end of May. We were told in April that Shannon was being laid off in July. We had already paid for a summer trip the December prior, so, we decided that come May 27th...lay off or not, we were outta here, and we made good on that promise!

The whole trip was based on the Annual Bot Con that we so LOVE to attend *note the sarcasm* Shannon, LOVES to attend...Trinity enjoys it a bunch too, me and bubbub, not so much. BUT, we are there for support and because we have no where else to go.

BotCon is this HUGE dork convention...er, I mean, it's an awesome gathering of Transformers Collectors world wide that come together to gawk at tons of toys that they had when they were little and have to have again. No, I am being silly, really, it's pretty cool. There are a ton of booths set up all over the place, oodles of toys for sale, and bunches of fun stuff for parents and kids alike to partake in.

We have been going since Trinity was born. I will include previous pictures for your viewing pleasure now....




This year, it was PACKED...and I mean, "we are all sardines in this overgrown tin can" kinda packed. I will say, they had some really cool costumes this year though, Bumblebee was the alltime favorite of course, and then there were a few others.





After the convention we walked along the streets of Old Town Pasadena, what a photographers wonderland. TONS of greenery, trees, old brick buildings, awesome for sure. We played at a great park and just had fun, nice, slow...no time constraints kinda fun.

I visited one of my all time favorite natural cosmetics store. They carry the BEST smelling soaps, perfumes, bath fun stuff...it's called LUSH, and if you go there once, you will be addicted *just ask my cousin Shawna*. While we were there on our final day, I met an amazing sales person, she was so sweet, and had an awesome tattoo in the works, she was kind enough to let me take a few pictures.

We then began our 7 hour journey to Grass Valley to see my cousin from whom I haven't seen since I was 4!!!
We really get along well though, she is a concious thinker and we are very like minded when it comes to many things. I love her immensly, and I can't tell you the amount of fun we had visiting. Her kiddos are so well mannered, welcoming, accomodating, super rad and really sweet to Trinity and Tristan. Their girls are the most giving and loving of any children I have met in a long while, and their personalities are reflective of great parenting.
The first night there we stayed up until about 3AM just chatting and getting caught up..it was funny, it seemed like we were all old friends, and that was a wonderful feeling, like your favorite t-shirt...it doesn't care what you look like, what you drive, it's always there for you, no matter where you are in your life...it just loves you unconditionally and it's so familiar, that is exactly how she and her family made us feel.

They live in an idyllic setting..nestled in the woods off the beaten path at the top of a scenic ridge, beautifully breathtaking and simple. No microwave, TV wasn't on, we just played in nature and spent time together.
I think during this visit I realized what true friendship really meant...that no matter how much time you have spent apart, when you are together, that's what really matters. We made the most of our time together, and we appreciated one another. Shawna was awesome, and fell in love with Tristan the day we arrived, I appreciated how she would sneek into our room in the wee hours of the morning, scoop him up and play with him letting us sleep in...something that hasn't happened in 3 years.

We went to town and they had this AWESOME face painter, it really was amazing how fast she could make a normal face into something so much more.



Thank you Shawna and Steve for being so open with your home and welcoming us into your family. We love you guys so much!

Thank you Ella for sharing your room, your beloved Strawberry Shortcake toys, and your time with Trinity...she just adores you.
Thank you Amanda for taking the time to spend with the kiddos, you are an amazingly giving, loving and rad girl!
Thank you Ciana, you took the time to show Trinity around and even though you got me super lost, you were a trooper and maintained your awesome personality through it all!
This trip was so needed, and it truly showed us what was/is important in our lives, family. We had an awesome time and really can't wait to go back. Here are some more pictures from the trip...ENJOY!

Trinity, THIS is why you need to put your dress up make up away.....

Tonsils...I hate you

Back in June, Trinity had 2 serious strep infections..she had to miss a good friends party because of the second, and had to be taken to the ER because she passed out from the fever that accompanied it... This is not a new thing, we have been struggling with Strep Throats for about 3 1/2 years now. She has had sleep apnea since she was born, but, it's just something that we have learned to deal with. It was the primary reason she slept with us in the beginning...she would stop breathing entirely then gasp for air. Apparently her adenoids are super enlarged too, which can attribute to her tell tale voice. We were reccomended to her ENT and he still sees the white spots on her inflammed tonsils. Result...remove the tonsils and adenoids. There is a 2 week recovery period, and school starts in 3 weeks! So much for a fancy free summer for Miss T. We will get the appointment date in the next couple days. I will keep you all posted.

Happy 3rd Birthday little man

3 years ago today you were born. It was such a wonderful delivery, at the hands of my amazing midwife, and myself, we pulled you into this world at a whopping 9 lbs 15 oz. You were beautiful. I remember the feeling of such exhileration and pride....I had a hand at making you, and I loved you from the moment I saw you.

Over the past 3 years, we have been through so much together, good, bad and otherwise you have been a trooper. I am proud of your strength, and I cherish your innocence. I love the way you look at us, and the way that you strive to learn more and more everyday...you are one the hardest workers I know. I wonder what you are thinking in that amazing mind of yours. Right now you are not speaking verbally, but you have taught us to know what you need. You are so smart, and I can't wait for the moment you say something to us...I will keep waiting.

You are able to identify all your ABC's and numbers up to 10. You LOVE shapes and recognize the basics plus trapezoid, hexagon, rombus and pentagon. You are addicted to music, a passion that we most definitely share. You are a whiz at colors and sorting and are a big obsessive to say the least, but hey...everyone has their vice. You know red, pink, purple, yellow, green, blue, black, gray, white and brown. You surprised me by knowing that you are a boy and sissy is a girl...a concept that took her a while to know LOL.

Thank you so much for trusting us, loving us, and being such a good little boy. I hope you have the best birthday ever...WE LOVE YOU TRISTAN!