Carrie’s Comments...

Seattle Bound

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:33:07 -0700

Xander and I finally had to make the very difficult and yet, bitter-sweet decision of moving to Seattle. To say we are moving quickly is probably an understatement, since we are moving in less than a month; the 19th of July to be exact. We are moving for a few reasons, but mainly to get out from under our serious Medical debt. Xander’s parents have been living in L.A. for about a year and a half now and have their beautiful Seattle home sitting basically vacant. It’s a prefect situation for us since we can live there mortgage free; here’s hoping we sell our condo soon. Plus, we will be able to save money and pay off our bills. Wahooo!! We are SO grateful for such loving and selfless parents. We couldn’t do this without them.

Xander will continue to work for Victory Studios, but V.S. Seattle. He will be working on the movie, scouting out locations, and learning the Producing end of film making. Basically, the money and financial end of it and finding funding for it. Kind of a big deal. He seems to be excited and up for the new challenge.

I am excited to be in a HOME!! Condo living is for people without kids, for sure. The boys are getting restless and in need of a bigger, cleaner and safer place to play. We, unfortunately, cannot afford to buy a home in L.A., not even with the market dropping. So, this is pretty ideal. The boys’ will have a wonderfully large backyard to play in just blocks from the beach. All we need is more sunshine. :) But, we are actually looking forward to some seasonal differences. Believe it or not, sunny weather can get quite boring.

Don’t worry, we aren’t leaving the boys’ health out of the equation. Seattle Children’s Hospital is a fantastic place. Everyone (our nurses/doctors) we’ve spoken to only have great things to say. We feel really blessed to be going to another fantastic facility. We know the boys will get great long term follow-up care there. As for the insurance part of the situation, well... that is a different matter. To say that our insurance system in the U.S. is pathetic would be a mild understatement. The health insurance companies are SO backwards. We have Blue Shield of CA and in order to switch to Blue Shield of WA we have to pay what’s called a conversion transfer fee. Our insurance now is about $165 per boy. With this new fee, we have to pay double. Why do I feel like we are being punished? All we are doing is moving? Can you say RIDICULOUS! So, we are looking into WA State Health Insurance programs for the boys. Pray that we get accepted! Our insurance always seems to be our biggest hurdle. But, mainly because we have a very short time frame in which to do it.

Last, but not least, we are EXTREMELY sad to be leaving our CA friends. We don’t plan on being gone for too long, but only time will tell. Because of our situation with the boys, we have been out of the friend loop for quite a while, but can and do hang out with friends whenever possible. It’s pretty sad for us because now that the boys are able to play with some friends, we’re moving. Life seems tragically flawed that way. We’ll also miss our AMAZING Sherman Oaks Ward Family for sure. They’ve stuck by our sides and served our family throughout all of this. We have been so blessed because of their prayers, faith, and generosity. We’ll miss you all!

Just remember, we LOVE visitors!

What do you think? Trashy or Funny?

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:15:41 -0700

I recently saw this on one of my favorite places to surf the web, www.goodyblog.com. This company is selling high heels for infants ages 0 to 6 months. According to the site, the shoes are "extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high heel crib shoes." But, what I thought was even more entertaining were all of the different points of view or opinions expressed in these little girl shoes. O.K., so what if people want to spend $38 bucks on something there child will outgrow in a month or two, who cares. They are kind of cute, a little trashy yes, but it isn’t something that will send your child to the streets to turn some cheap tricks. Or will it? Well, then again, I have boys and my frame of mind isn’t on molding a chaste, virtuous, lovely or of good report Beehive. Here are some of the opinions expressed: (the first one is mine.)

“O.K., seriously ladies. These shoes HAVE to be better than those hideously ugly plastic princess shoes that come with every standard Disney outfit? Yes, some are a bit trashy, but you can doll them up a bit more and make them suitable for your kid 6 months, 12 months, or whatever age. I do believe they took 'dress-up' to a whole different level. It's not like your child is standing on a street corner or will be any time soon for that matter. Have a little fun.”

Here are some others I found interesting:

“The only baby who should wear these is Carrie Bradshaw's baby (if she had one) (and I don't mean Sarah Jessica Parker, I only mean the fictional character).”

“We are trying to shield our daughter from Barbies, Bratz, Princesses, and the like for as long as we can. No sense in giving her unrealistic expectations at such an early age!”

“I completely agree with you - these shoes are a truly trashy idea. When we expose children to these sexualized images at such a young age they become desensitized to it. How can we teach them to respect their bodies when we're giving them these conflicting messages?”

“I don't think these shoes will do much damage to a 6-month-old's body image but I really don't get why I would spend 38 bucks on a pair of shoes that would make my baby look like a hooker. I have better to do with my money.”

SO... what is your opinion in the matter? Do you agree or disagree with any of these woman? If so, why?

This life is so precious

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:44:37 -0700

Kiara Tyler roomed next door to Ethan in the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at CHLA. She always had a warm smile and something interesting to say, usually something funny. She was wise beyond her six years, which always surprised us. Sadly, she passed away last week and it is such a bitter-sweet experience to hear that news. Thankfully, her parents are amazing people and have such a strong belief in God. It has really anchored them to the real meaning of life, where Kiara is now, and the peace she is experiencing being with our Heavenly Father. When you see these children face chemotherapy, endless testing, being stuck with needle after needle, and much more, sometimes death is a silent relief for parent and child. I almost feel a huge release when their earthly pain is over.
As I tried to fight back the tears of hearing the news of her death and the second friend we’ve lost through transplant, I’m reminded how blessed Xander and I are to have Keane and Ethan with us. I often forget how far we’ve come and how precious and limited our time is here on the earth with them and each other. It’s so easy to get upset when I struggle give them meds or change their diapers. It’s hard to remember life is so good when there seems to be so much struggle, grief or sadness. But, as we all know, without the sad we cannot know the good. Please remember the good and live each day as if it were your last. Time is just too precious.

“Shoot Ball”

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:01:58 -0700

I swear I had nothing to do with the crazy infatuation our boys seem to have right now with Basketball. Am I proud? Well, of course. Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE basketball and have played competitively since Junior High on up through college. Thankfully, basketball has become my saving grace lately; it’s kept the boys busy and not wanting to go “out” all the time. When you live in a dirty condo it’s the last place you want post BMT kids playing. Oh yah, and there are a lot of people around. Let’s just say it isn’t ideal. Moving back to basketball... Big K seems to love it just a bit more than Ethan, but I’ll give little E some time to cultivate his skills.

So... the other day I was in the elevator with the boys and another lady, when Keane decided to talk to her about his new found love. He’s rambling on and on in some baby lingo to this lady. I have no idea what he’s saying, but he seemed to be quite passionate about it. Well... before we get off, he says, “shoot ball,” and to the untrained ear it sounded like SH** ball. The lady looked at me in surprise or disgust or both, so I quickly corrected Keane’s innocent remark. It was pretty funny!

Here are some great action shots. Keane wears a headband just like Dad, too cute! Go ETHAN!!

Oh where, oh where can our little Mouse be?

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 23:45:30 -0700

Last Saturday night at around 8 p.m., X and I realized that something just wasn’t right. I was giving the boys a bath when I realized I hadn’t seen much of Mouse all day. Hmm...where was our little fuzzy kitty? So, in a panic I went around to his usual sleeping places and he was no where to be found. I called and called for him and nothing. By this time I was in a complete panic. Sometimes we let him go out in the hallway, but he always comes back. Sometimes he goes out onto the balcony, but never for too long. He is also kind of a big fraidy cat. So...did we let him out and forget to bring him back in? Did someone take him? To get out of our condo building he’d have to go through 2 doors. Pretty impossible unless someone let him out. Oh, poor Mousy!! Of course, I was in tears and the thought of him all alone outside made me so afraid for him. He’s never been outside in his life. Well... we posted signs and talked to neighbors and nobody had seen him. We also live right by Ventura Blvd. and were afraid he’d gotten scared off and ran for his life. So...

Sunday, late afternoon, we decided to take another walk around the neighborhood to see if we could catch a glimpse of him. By this time I was still fighting back the tears, but coming to grips with the fact that we’d probably lost Mouse for good. He’s quite a handsome guy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone took him. On our way into the side gate of our condo complex there was a small gathering of people. Toni, a wonderful lady in our building knew Mouse was missing and she was there with the others. She called over, “I think, no..., I’m pretty sure we found your kitty.” What??!! I couldn’t believe it! The poor guy was pinned between the fence and the bamboo trees that line our building. He never meowed or anything. He was so scared out of his mind. Even when we got him out and I just held him close he never twitched a muscle. Normally he’d be squirming to get down. The awful thing is that I had been out there by the bamboo at least 5 times the night before calling for him and never heard a thing. He was so hungry, thirsty and DIRTY! Ugh, bathing him wasn’t pleasant. :/ But, thank heavens our Mouse is now home safe and sound. PHEW, what a miracle!