Jim

Well, he's not gotten much better. Sometimes he says he thinks his legs are a bit better. Still, most mornings when he puts on pants or shorts, he says it feels like his legs are wrapped tightly in saran wrap.

We've got a bit of a non-routine going on in the house, lots of sitting around the living room: talking, reading, dancing, watching Maggy teach herself to crawl, and playing board games. Jim is also enjoying working on the boat, "Indian Cobra" in the evenings.

With not much change, Jim and I are talking about our future. We're looking at a two-bedroom duplex in Los Osos. The cooler weather would be better for Jim. He's looking into going back to school, I'm looking into going back to work.

Life is changing into something new, which is good - we'll move with it.

Maggy's got her own ride

Yesterday we headed over to Shell Beach to pick up a second hand stroller Jim found on Craig's list. It is well used, but exactly what we need. As a bonus I feel good about recycling. Maggy digs riding in the stroller. We still use the sling quite often, but she no longer loves to be bundled up unless she wants to sleep. She wants to sit up and look around:

I'm Making Something.....

Thanks to Barb, and the gorgeous sewing (scroll down to the picture of Junah at the bottom) she's been doing, I'm inspired. I've been craving sewing. Tonight the boys headed out to visit Matt, Karen, Robert and Julie. Maggy and I worked on my project.


I'm not going to let on what it is till it's done, and Maggy's matching piece also. Notice, Barb, the bias tape. It's not really vintage, but second hand. And I really dig the bias tape, I mean, I heart bias tape!


All my sewing since Fletch was born has been quick costumes for him, tote bags and the occasional quilt. So this is huge for me, I put in a zipper! I haven't done that since Jr. High! It wasn't all that hard, but really exciting still. The whole thing, is wholly imperfect. My hem is hardly what you'd call straight, and I tend to look over small mistakes rather than take the time to fix them. Still, I love this - the work and then the wearing. I'm also very happy with the print. My friend, Michelle, gave me lots of material from her stash and this is one.

Jim is on a Beer Run

Jim spends many evenings on his My Space page while I'm putting the kiddos to bead. He puts on headphones and listens to him music real loud and laughs a lot. Mostly at his own profile!
Tonight I came down, relatively early for our kids at 9:30 and settled in to knit and watch t.v. when Jim announced he was going out for a beer. Ok, I said, get me some ice cream.
Well, I was going to pop into Hover's and grab a beer at the bar.
Oh, ok.
It's been so long since he's been out to a bar, you should have seen his face. He was so excited, just going out in his old truck, Big Blue. Out for a cruise and see if there is anyone interesting to talk to at the bar.
This has always been one of my favorite things about us. He loves to go out, I love to stay in and have the place to myself. Enjoy yourself babe!

Carcass Cove

Last Thursday we went to Carcass cove, we've not been there for some time. The first time we encountered a baby blue whale carcass:We headed back in hopes of finding the bones, which we did not. However, we found something much, much more exciting:

I'm sure you can't tell what you're looking at so I'll clue you in. A bat ray! The water was not very clear, and this is the best picture I got, so you can't tell, but that ray was about 5 feet away hanging out in 2 feet of water! It was amazing. Even more amazing were the 30-50 leopard sharks swimming all around this ray! I'm not kidding, they were everywhere. I took plenty of shot, but they moved quick and none came out well.
We also saw and chased around lots of crabs. These poor guys had no idea what they were in for when we tromped down to the beach.



One of the best parts of the day was that Jim came with us. This was his first Evan day. It was perfect heading over to the coast and getting out of the heat. He enjoyed finally being a part of our Thursday and we loved sharing it with him:

I've noticed since Jim's been home, Maggy loves to spread out on his lap. She gets real comfy with her head thrown back and giggles while he tickles her. You can tell she likes having her Daddy around more!

Family

While it's not the best picture of any of the four of us, it is the only one of all of us since Maggy's birth!

We went up to San Jose to see Jim's doctor on Monday and visited with Kathy while there. It was fun, we had the hotel pool all to ourselves for the evening and Kathy made us a great pancake breakfast before we hit the road Tuesday morning.

On the other hand, life feels a bit surreal. I am trying not to break down and cry every hour. It feels like Jim is being diagnosed all over again. I keep telling people I'm not ready to talk about it. I don't know, I feel a bit lost, but also like this isn't our real life. Any moment we'll go back to the way things are supposed to be.

Jim is not better, but not worse. Dr. Lacy wants another MRI to see how much the scarring has progressed. I don't want to know. I want to bury my head in the sand. I want Jim to get better.
We'll head back up to San Jose at the end of the month so we can go over the results and talk about new treatments, and what his doctor will suggest.

I'm grateful for this time we have him home, the kids are loving it. I am also aware of how positive Jim is being. I love him more for that.

Maggy is working on the scoot

She doesn't always look this serious about it! Maggy is really beginning to enjoy tummy time. She is working hard at moving and I have no doubt she'll be doing the army crawl any day now.She loves her toys and chews on them with a vigor. You know when she is frustrated by the pitch of her grunts and coos. Her favorite toy right now is the teddy bear from Fletcher's Easter basket which he generously gave to her. She either gets one leg into her mouth or works the vest off to chew on that.

Fletcher has taken to holding Maggy, here you can see him preparing a spit-up diaper on his shoulder. He knows his sister well.
Often I am surprised by how much affection Fletch has for Maggy. I keep waiting for something a bit more sinister! I'm not sure why. Still, every time he is careful and loving, which is almost constant, I am touched. Quietly pleased. I love these kids.

Maggy seems to want very badly to eat. She thrusts herself forward in my arms while I eat. She makes funny little complaining sounds. She is trying so very hard to get in on this eating business. I, her mean mother, prevent her at every turn. I insist loudly, each time Fletch or Jim wants to feed her, that she is not ready. Even if she thinks so. I want to wait till she can sit up. I want to wait till she has teeth. These things seem logical to me. Even though Fletcher ate before either of those things were true for him. We'll see just how long I do hold out. Probably till the moment she actually grabs something off one of our plates and eats it. As you can plainly see she is drinking - water. She loves it and shakes her whole body and opens her mouth wide when she sees me drinking. Most of it goes down her front, but she loves it.

Life, through the eyes of Fletcher.....

Our Life

It's never boring....

So, health wise Jim has been doing great for more than two years, maybe even three. Considering the fact that one of his doctors told him he would be in a wheelchair 3 years ago, things are good. This past week he realized an attack was coming on, numbness creeping up his legs, then up to his waistline, then a bit up his back - which is new.
On the bright side his spirits have been relatively high. We may go see his neurologist's in San Jose, though he really doesn't want to do the steroid treatment Dr. Lacy will recommend. Yesterday he had a massage from my mom and today went for an acupuncture treatment. He is off work for a bit, I hope a few weeks, he hopes only one. We'll see, mostly he needs rest.

We all love having him home more and are enjoying this time as much as we can.