FIRE

The dry conditions, high winds, and hot weather have helped to create a devastating fire season in Northern CA and it's only June. This week, there have already been three fires in the surrounding areas. The largest, the Humboldt Fire, has already burned over 20,000 acres of beautiful terrain in less than 48 hours. Praise God, the winds have finally died down but the fire is still only 10% contained.

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated and several have been burned. It is currently threatening a local community college. My brother and his family just moved in to their brand new home a couple weeks ago. The fire is still a couple of miles from their home and seems to be now heading in the opposite direction of their home, but they are not completely "out-of-the-woods". We're praying that their home is safe from the fire.

Read more about the Humboldt Fire here.

Car-Jacking

I was informed by my mother that my darling daughter committed the awful crime of car-jacking.

Once a week, my amazing mother takes care of all 4 of the grandchildren that live near her. They are 3 yrs, 14 mo., 10 mo., and 7 mo. (She's absolutely NUTS!)

Yesterday during one of these visits, Ryan (10 mo. old) was minding his own business driving a little push car with his beloved pacifier in his mouth. Alyssa shoved him out of the car and climbed in. And to add salt to the wound, while he was on the ground crying, she reached over, grabbed his pacifier and put it in her mouth. She committed her first (and hopefully only) felony--car jacking.

Poor darling little angel doesn't realize that Ryan is already bigger than she is and will soon be walking. She's in for a world of hurt!

Seizures

On Friday night, Alyssa had another febrile seizure. This one was longer than the first two she had in Janaury. The first two were shorter and she just kind of dazed and her pupils dialated and her breathing got shallow. This time, she convulsed and her eyes rolled. It lasted several minutes. Praise God, we were at a friend's house who was a nurse so she knew what to do for our little angel. The paramedics came and checked her out and then we drove her to the ER. She was fine after the seizure but still had a fever so we needed to find the cause of that.

The first time this happened, she was admitted to the hospital for 3 days while they ran some tests and treated her with IV antibiotics. This time, they just did a chest x-ray, some blood tests, and a urine culture in the ER and sent us home with some oral antibiotics. Turns out it was another UTI, but just a minor one this time.

It also seems that she may have Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. She started getting a blister on her lip late Friday and then yesterday I noticed little blisters all over her feet and a few on her hands. Poor kid. It's one thing on top of another!

She's doing well now and back to her spunky little self. She was almost back to her spunky little self in the ER when she spit the antibiotics in the nurses face. What a mess! She hates the antibiotics. Yesterday after we gave her the evening dose, she grabbed a towel and started wiping her tongue with it! When she sees me coming with it, she runs away. I can't say that I blame her. That stuff is awful!

Little Signs

Alyssa has really picked up on sign language. We've only started teaching her a few words, but she only needs to be shown a couple of times before she starts using them. She did her first sign the day before her 1st birthday-"more". Now, she can sign "eat", "please", "more", and "down". We haven't taught her any others yet, but will soon.

Yesterday, she signed her first sentence-"more please".

It Lives!

Alyssa's battery-operated quad suffered massive injuries over the weekend. It was run over by my sister's 4 Runner. In her defense, it was sitting in the middle of the road. Luckily, the quad went under the car and not under the tires. The 2 front wheels were pulled clean off the quad as well as some other "dragging" damage. But, Tim is amazing and after some "surgery" the quad is back to working order! I know Allie will be thrilled. I suspect Heather will be pretty happy too. :)

Papa's Little Girl

Although Allie knows her Daddy is special, she usually calls men she knows, Dada too (her uncles, her grandpas). On Sunday, her Papa peaked through the window in the nursery door to see his grandbabies. When she saw him through the window, she said "Dada". But, when he came all the way in she reached her arms up to him and said, "Papa". The way I hear it, she melted his heart. He won a spot in hers by taking her to the playground each Thursday while Tim and I play softball. :) Grandpa's are great!

Another Baby Maybe

So, it's about time. Time to start planning for another little member to be added to the family. I have to be honest, I'm excited and nervous. I'm excited to expand our family and give Allie a live-in playmate. I'm excited to have another little person to marvel at and praise God for. I'm excited to see what this new little person will become. But, I'm nervous. I'm nervous that it will take a long time again, that my friends and sisters will be pregnant again without me. Nervous that I may lose another baby. I'm nervous that maybe Allie will be our only child. But, no matter how I feel, I just have to remember that God is in control and no matter what He chooses we will be grateful for the family He gives us in His time.