Scared of our showerhead?

So, as Lucy sleeps this afternoon, I'm catching up on some of the forums & blogs I follow... Just came across this story about showerheads that I'll give you the link to - yikes! The more I look into things, the scarier it gets... First it was worries about the shower curtain - so we got rid of it & now have glass doors... then it was worries about Lucy's bath toys so we got rid of them & she began enjoying showers almost more than baths... Now I learn this and not only do I worry about the showerhead, but my mind thinks beyond that... to the pipes and the well... Geez Louise! We are in the early phases of thinking about a home addition & you can bet that a water filtration system is going to be a very important detail....

Here's the link:
http://noexcusesnoexcuses.blogspot.com/search/label/showerheads

On a happy sunny springy note, we had the most wonderful afternoon! Lucy & I ran up to the MultiCare pharmacy for a quick errand & then picked up lunch & met Randy at the park! It was a perfect sunny afternoon & we had a great time! Awww, love the feeling of spring in the air!

6 kids, 3 grown-ups!

Eda June Erickson

What a beauty!

This is Miss Eda, she is the third little girl to enter my good friend Katy's family & we were just able to meet her on Tuesday!

Lucy & I had an errand to run in Tacoma & were able to spend the rest of the afternoon invading the Erickson's adorable home in North Tacoma! Always such a great time! The three of us grownups were ruled by the 6 little munchkins... it was a bit crazy, but lots of fun. Katy, Rachel & I worked together in the NICU during our first years out of nursing school, such fun days! Now Rachel is lucky enough to be the mother of two beautiful boys in Seattle, Katy is still on maternity leave with her third daughter but planning to return to the NICU on call pretty soon & I'm working a couple days a week. Instead of planning our lunch breaks together in the NICU lounge, we plan do our best to plan crazy playdates with babies a bit bigger than our NICU patients. =) Here are just a few photos I was able to snap in the midst of the busy afternoon! Love you guys so much, thanks for a great time!

Ila Sue Erickson

Ava Lou Erickson

Mr. Jordan Blake

I think these two are somehow related... Lucy & Brandon, two silly little toeheads! You'd think they were the same age, but B is almost a year older than Lucy!

Paying It Forward

This is a story about a friend who decided to lend a hand in an extraordinary way...

For those of you who read our blog on a regular basis, you've probably heard me mention my good buddy Ali before... We have been close friends since we were little kids & her family moved just down the block from our house. Ali is just about the most creative person I know, she has many incredible talents from hair to decorating to mothering her adorable daughter, Ryah.

Just after we heard that Lucy cultured positive for pseudomonas, I was talking on the phone with Ali & she heard something in my voice that caused her to ask how things were really going... I told her about the bacteria, meds, vest, insurance, etc. because she's always been an incredible listening ear. Well, Ali ended up doing a whole lot more that day than just listen. Within the week, I received another call from Ali... she checked in to see how things were going & then started telling me about new things that she & her co-owners of Lotus Salon & Spa were planning to do. They recently started a Facebook page & decided to take the month of February to make a donation to a charity. But, instead of a traditional charity, they wanted to donate money towards Lucy's medical expenses. As Ali began telling me about everything they wanted to do, I had tears running down my cheeks listening to the incredible kindness of a genuine friend. All three owners of Lotus Salon & Spa - Ali, Shannon & Laura, decided to given 25% of the money they earned from product sales during the month to Lucy and Ali dedicated a full 12 hour 8am-8pm day (Friday 2/5) to work for Lucy as well. As I thanked Ali for their unreal gift of compassion, I realized what an awesome example Ali is of the kind of person I'd like to be.

Soon, word got out... Lotus Salon & Spa posted information about the big fundraiser on their Facebook page & for those of you who grew up in the city & are not familiar with small towns -- word travels REALLY fast in a small town! Ali began receiving calls booking appointments within 30 minutes of writing about it on her page. She also received word that another two other local people wanted to be involved - a jewelry party (Melissa Shafer of Lia Sophia Jewelry) giving 50% of profits to Lucy and a cute local restaurant (Boccata Deli www.boccatadeli.com) offering to host the jewelry party. In addition, Shannon Guenther offered to donate her tips on the day of the fundraiser to Lucy! The ripple effect didn't stop there, the local newspaper called to interview both of us and wrote a great story on Ali paying it forward. During the interview, Ali told about how a few years ago, when she was going through a challenging time, someone did something incredibly generous for her and their only request was that some day when given the opportunity, that she would pay it forward. What an awesome move that person made! And what a wonderful message to share with others!

Many many people from all over participated in fundraising money for Lucy's medical expenses because of Ali and we are absolutely blown away. This will be a huge help when it comes to paying our annual out of pocket premium as well as the copay on Lucy's vest which is still unclear...

I thank the Lord for showing Himself through the life of my friend, Ali. Her heart is golden, she is truly amazing.

Lucy & Ali

Miss Ryah, Ali's daughter & one of my favorite girls in the world!

Answering questions during the interview for the Chronicle (Centralia's local newspaper) while Lucy was taking the time to smell the roses... This was not pre-planned... but let me tell you a story about roses & CF that you may not have heard...

In 1965, there was a lady with three boys who all had Cystic Fibrosis. This mom worked hard to help raise money and awareness about Cystic Fibrosis and made many phone calls to local civic clubs, social & service organizations seeking financial support for CF research. One of the her boys, Richard, age 4, listened closely as his mom made every call.

After several calls, he came into the room and said, "Mom, I know what you are working for." His mom was dumbstruck because he did not know what she was working for nor did he know he had Cystic Fibrosis. With some trepidation, his mom asked, "Richard, what am I working for?" He answered, "You are working for 65 roses". His mom was speechless.

Richard couldn't see the tears on his mothers face as she stammered, "Yes, Richard, I am working for 65 roses..."

Since 1965, the term 65 roses has been used by kids with Cystic Fibrosis to describe their disease.

I remembered this story as I drove home to Olympia, Lucy sleeping peacefully in the backseat, while I reflected on her smelling my mom's roses and as any toddler would do, taking them out of the vase & rearranging them her way...

When Lucy & I visited Ali the day of the fundraiser, we brought her the biggest arrangement of yellow roses that we could fit into our biggest vase. The difference Ali has made in our lives is huge and the awareness that she has brought to Cystic Fibrosis and all of the kids and adults with it is even bigger.

Ali & Lucy

I turned 30!

What a lucky girl I am! I have the best mom & the best girlfriends ever! On January 14th, I celebrated my 30th birthday & a few days later over the weekend, my mom had a big party at her house filled with special girls in my life! Randy took care of Lucy, there were no babies there, just a bunch of close friends & family sharing the day together. It was a great day!

Big thank yous to my dear sweet Mom for setting it all up & making the most delicious food! And to my good friend Ali who helped my mom with a tasty fruit salad - it was even tastier because it took a spill in the back of her SUV on the way there! So sorry, I really hope your car doesn't smell too fruity! Ali also was the one who encouraged people to share stories about me (aka a roast)... She had me wear a tiara & sit in the middle of the room while I listened to everything from my first kiss to photos of Tana & I with the cops in Vegas... It was fun reliving memory lane, I think it's probably a good thing my 92 year old Grandma Ruby is hard of hearing so she didn't completely change her view of me! =) My cousin Allyson was also my saving grace that day by picking me up with her sweet Mom, fixing my hair, helping me get ready & giving me a beautiful bouquet of yellow tulips that she insisted I walk in the front door of the party with! I loved seeing old friends, especially Karmen, tears came to my eyes when I saw her because I realized how much I miss her! Thank you everyone for making this birthday so special & memorable! And to my birthday twin, my best friend Rashmi who lives in DC, I missed you (you already know that though...)!


My newly engaged cousin, Allyson! The city mouse is going to be such a beautiful bride! Her groom to be is a childhood friend of mine, Mr. Kyle Barker! Randy & I are both so happy for them & Lucy is happy that she can officially call Kyle "Uncle Kyle" now! Love you Allyson! I'm so excited for everything to come!!

Rashmi's little sisters - Nisha & Meera - these guys are my extended family (well, maybe not blood relatives, but just as close)! I loved having them there, I think in this photo Nisha was telling about how Rash & I treated her as a kid... Luckily she survived! (Quite nicely might I add =) Nisha is a middle school teacher & Meera is a student at UW.

Being roasted...

I love this girl. My good friend Ali, I will devote an entire post to her very soon explaining how she is truly changing our lives with her generousity, creativity & kindness. Ali is one in a million & I'm so lucky to have her in my life!

Allyson's mom, Aunt Carol!

Two of my aunt's, Margie & Jill. They spoiled me that day with little charms for my new Pandora bracelet! Thank you sweet ladies, I love you too!

My mom, isn't she beautiful?? Inside & out, she's incredible!

Rashmi's mom! (my other mom =)

My birthday cake!

So happy to see Miss Karmen, love you!

Visiting with TL, Jolynne & Carissa - these ladies, especially TL, had a big part in shaping me into the girl I am today. If I can be just half the mom that they are and my mom is, Lucy will be a lucky girl!

My mom even had the table decorated with great old photos of me with friends & family!

A Lucy Update

Our happy little almost 17 month old has quite an appetite now!

Miss Lucy makinig elephant sounds in the bathtub! This was prior to eliminating all bath toys... I'll explain below...

Our growing little girls is growing lots of hair! I hear it from people almost every day that she looks so much older! I think it's her height & hair that make her look like a big kid!

Cheese! Surprise, surprise... after 17 months, she's learned how to pose for the camera! ;-)

So, here's the latest with Lucia Grace...

We had an appointment last week at the CF clinic & she had a great exam. Lungs sounding great, height & weight both stellar, digesting well, continuing on 2 enzymes with meals & 1-2 with snacks... I went in with a few key questions to discuss with Dr. Larson & we had a lengthy discussion about everything under the sun. It is great going there because although the appointments take half the day, you leave feeling well informed. We left the clinic with a bit of a change in our routine; we're back on a prophylactic nebulizer treatment every morning of hypertonic saline (7%), she was on it at 6 months but didn't tolerate it well, luckily now she's doing great with it. They did her quarterly throat culture & we were devestated to find out this week that it came back positive for a small amount of pseudomonas... This is one of the bacteria that we have been trying to prevent her from catching, but no such luck. We are however, optimistic that with early, aggressive treatment, we can kick it into "remission" aka get rid of it for good. They are starting her on 2 weeks of oral Cipro and 28 days of inhaled Tobramycin (TOBI). I had no idea TOBI was as expensive as it is... it's a relatively new inhaled antibiotic and it will cost $4,700 for one month's worth of treatments... thankfully we have 80% coverage until we meet our out of pocket max of $2,000 and then it'll be covered in full. But, the $860 copay isn't exactly a fun bill... Bum deal. However, always the optimist, we are so thankful this treatment exists and that hopefully this was all caught early enough that treatment will be very effective. We have eliminated all bath toys, continued to sanitize the bathtub before every bath, and are in the process of figuring out how to best keep Lucy protected yet still enjoy everything there is to enjoy in life. The fact is, you could catch pseudomonas nearly anywhere -- a blade of wet grass, a straw, a hottub (lifelong "no-no" for Lucy)... the list goes on & on. We'll take this in stride, learn from it & hopefully come away from this with better tools for keeping her healthy in the coming years. I have spent about 4 hours on the phone with the CF clinic, CF pharmacy, CF patient assistance program, insurance company & other non profit copay assistance programs looking into what options are out there that we can tap into, but unsurprisingly we fall into that inbetween category where we aren't wealthy enough for huge bills to go through our bank accounts unnoticed, but we make too much to qualify for the programs that would pay for this med. It's yet another example of how our country's healthcare and overall economy is so out of wack. It's sad to realize that if we made a bit less, we'd more easily receive the best care at a cheaper price. Well, enough rambling on for one day! Not to worry, even with all of this going on, Miss Lucy is doing fantastic, she doesn't seem sick in the slightest, she's happy, energetic & has a big appetite. Thank you all for your love & support in every way.

Randy's Birthday, Sledding at Rainier!

The Girls sledding together on the toddler hill

Birthday boy turned into full on workhorse! It took a lot of people to make this happen - me with the camera, Alex with the video camera, Randy carting them up the hill & Auntie Christy catching them at the bottom! Good thing Grandma & Grandpa were cozy inside the lodge with Baby Boen!

Our handsome little nephew, Boen Alexander Legler!

I think he was just about 2 months in this photo & oh so cute!

Me & my sister in law, the original Christy Webster =)

Randy's sister's family, the Legler's

Christy, Alex, Julia & Baby Boen

Little Miss Julia

We had such a great time with Julia! She rode up with us & was an absolute delight in the car, she was great at keeping Lucy entertained, the two girls had fun watching movies & eating snacks together in the car! Our little niece is growing up so fast!

Dennis & Susan, don't they look great? About to celebrate their 65th birthdays!

Me & my little chubby cheeked munchkin!

Family photo time!
Randy, Lucia, Christy, Julia, Susan, Dennis, Baby Boen, Christy & Alex

On Randy's 32nd birthday, we all loaded up in the cars & headed for the mountain. Dennis made the group a delicious breakfast before we left town, so we started with full bellies. =) We needed that energy, it proved to be a fun but exhausting adventure! This was our first outing with three little kiddos (our Lucy & our niece & nephew), and it took a lot of organization to have them all bundled, fed, changed, warm & happy! We had a fun drive, it was our first time turning Lucy's carseat forward facing & she was able to watch movies with Cousin Julia on the way there. They were so cute nibbling on animal cookies all the way! We arrived at Paradise Lodge & after taking a few family photos, headed straight up to the sledding runs. We managed to hit the big hill once & the toddler hill a few times before Lucy was a bit chilled, hungry & tired. We headed into the newly remodeled lodge to warm up & enjoy some yummy snacks courtesy of Auntie Christy Legler. After exploring the lodge a bit (especially loving the elevators - one of Lucy's favorite things), we loaded up again & drove down to the Longmire Lodge where we enjoyed a tasty dinner with the worst service I've ever had! Seriously, best atmosphere & worst attitude ever! Our waitress didn't crack a smile at all (mind you, there were three kids, who doesn't smile at kids??) until she brought us the bill - I know the only reason for the smile was her realization that she better do something for a tip! Anyway, the best part of the whole day for me was the delicious Blackberry Cobbler with ice cream on top! It was no little serving either, a big huge one that left us completely satisfied & ready to brave the roads for the 90 minute drive home. All in all, it was a great day with family!

The 26th with Gpa Dennis' family!

Miss Lucia all decked out in her pink tutu outfit from Grandpa Neil & her new pink Vans from Uncle Mark! She was absolutely adorable, I must say! She was checking out Aunt GoGo & little cousin Boen - he's growing so fast!

Uncle Norman & Cousin Caroline -- Carolina Moon =)

Don't we have the most handsome little nephew ever!?! He's just adorable & such a sweet mellow baby!

Some of us "kids" - Randy & I with his cousins, their spouses & the kidlets too! Such a fun group!