Heart catheterization date

We got a date for our next visit to UCSF. Valentines day Owen will have his sencond heart cath. We will go down the night before and then hopefully come home that afternoon. 

The cath is helpful before surgery to get an up close picture of his heart and his vessels anatomy. He is more likely to form collateral vessels to adapt for his lower oxygen saturation levels.

UCSF Donations

What a successful year this was for our annual toy and supply drive for UCSF Child Life. Many thanks to two sweet ladies at Chris's work who set up a bin to collect goods in. Nicky drove a load down there last week and we are hoping to get another load down by or around Christmas. We have so much great stuff, LOVE getting people together for such a great cause.

When we were there I attended a weekly scrapbooking afternoon that was all donation based. This creative outlet was amazing when in such a stressful environment. They also had a parent room with coffee, tea, snacks, books, magazines, internet, and chairs. It was another place to go that wasn't far from your kiddo. There were more parent supplies donated this year which is just awesome.

Thanksgiving

 We gathered at the Aubins on Thanksgiving Day. Chris worked as usual, since Turkey day is always on a Thursday.

 Wynter and Lil made Thankful Rolls with messages inside where we had to fill in the blanks.."I'm thankful for Wynter because...."

 Playing a ladybug game.

 Ara and Uncle Dave sacked out on the couch.

 Sweet table settings.

 Girls and aunt Court jumpin around.

 Fruit turkey made by girls.

 Austin home for a week and met Ara.

 Silly Brittons!

 The next day we had turk with the Britt's.

 Chris and Josh decided to show the youngins what leg wrestling was about... But that just made them feel OLD>

 Erik was in town and was able to break bread with us.

 I know I already posted photos of our tree decorating night but these ones with the dogs were cracking us up. Owen also looks a bit battered... He had a black eye and has been sucking on his lips thus getting red lips/face all the time!

 Couldn't stop laughing

 Nice work, Buster, way to block us all!

Snow Day

Last week we were expecting a storm a coming. Chris is the weatherman in the house and he always likes to be prepared. The hatches were taken care of, trailer moved, leaves blown off the roof, and cars moved to the bottom of the driveway. I was slated to host a small gathering the night the storm started, and it started snowing 2 hours before... So we cancelled it.

We ended up losing power for a few hours, and getting 3-4 inches of snow. It was so beautiful and thankfully we had no where we needed to be. It was so enjoyable to watch the flakes fall as well as play in the snow.

Chris and I also alternated naps that day, which we hadn't done in a few weeks.

 Chris and O enjoyed a snowball fight and played out on the property for an hour.

 Ara lasted about 5 minutes, she wasn't a fan of the cold.

 The boys slid down the driveway on a trash can lid.  Owen was a bit leary at first but Chris talked him into it. The giant live oaks prevent the snow from landing underneath.

 The gorgeous morning snow kissed mountain side.

Snowy Christmas decor.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Check out our mini holiday movie of last nights festivities!

http://www.magisto.com/video/PkEaNVkOBz02VR5pYw

Owen was very excited to put the star on. Only 2 glass ornaments were broken-yikes! Guess that's decorating with a 3 year old for you. 

Sensory Tray

Owen still has food aversions and we work on them daily. Basically we talk about learning about a food to take some pressure off. There are levels of acceptance, from tolerating it on his plate, to smelling the food. Of course the overall long term goal is to eat it but there is greater success in the short term small strides in acceptance. 

I've worked with a local therapy clinic who offers services in sensory processing disorders for children. It is very complex and hopefully Owen's is just food related.

There are other ways to work on sensory issues... We've done many activities at home but thought I would blog on this one today. 

Sensory bins are easy and cheap ways for children to experience different textures. This is actually great for all kids, sensory issues or not. And, whenever I get it out it is at least an hour of play... Which is also amazing!

I had some old grains in the pantry that were perfect for a rice bin. I think they are rye berries that I tried once and didn't like. 

We have used the old cookie sheet for so many crafts... It is perfect for protecting the table and keeps pens from rolling around.  This is a must for any crafty kid!  

The cookie sheet's walls are a little short. I looked around the garage for something taller. Those plastic tubs for organizing are good but ours were all full. I found an old hospital tub from one of Owen's hospitalization a- perfect and tall walls to attempt to keep the grains in. (Sidenote: I believe uncooked grains to be dangerous to animals, so use caution when indoors and clean up quickly after if your dogs are like ours and eat anything!)

Materials:

Plastic container

Rice or other grain

Food coloring

Vinegar 

Baggies

1. Add desired amount of grain to Baggie. We used about a cup.

2. Add 1/2 tsp of vinegar to Baggie and mix around.

3. Add 3-5 drops of food coloring to Baggie and mix around. This is fun for kids to do.

4. Set out to dry. Took about an hour. 

Previous rice tray was fun but not colored. 

Added cookie cutters for festive diggers.

We resorted to the cookie sheet again. More room for driving cars in the colored "snow".

Finished product was much more fun having colored rice! We poured, hid treasures, and played for a long time! 

Owen prefers dry, crunchy, salty foods so vegetables and fruits are very hard to get into him. Our dehydrator comes in handy. He's not getting a lot of volume here but he's more likely to get a dried mushroom in than a fresh or cooked one! Plus we can make cool faces!

Back to work

I started back to work this week... Just Mondays:). I love my job, and the offer is still on the table to bring Ara with me... Don't know how I'd get anything done though! It was a very smooth day, and Chris is such a great at home dad. Ara took 3 3 oz bottles.