Vegas baby!

The news this month is that we survived our travels to and from Vegas! We had a good time. The weather was nice (by our standards it felt like spring), but the locals would tell you it was cold. Highs were in the 60s, lows in the 40s. “Cold” was written across the 5 day forecast while we were there! I guess hot and cold are all relative, especially when they are 100+ for a lot of the summer.

We managed to haul all of our luggage to the check counter. You should have seen us, it was comical! I was pulling a big suitcase, had a backpack on my back and was carrying Shaun. Bill was pulling a big suitcase, wearing Shaun’s backpack & DVD player and pushing the stroller that had the play yard (crib) sitting in it with the car seat laying over the top of it! We concocted this scenario at home and figured we could manage the distance we had to go. We put the play yard in the stroller because it is easier to carry Shaun than the play yard because it is so heavy. We checked the two suitcases and the play yard, so after we checked them in, we just had the backpacks, DVD player, car seat and stroller for Shaun to sit in; much easier!

The plane ride there went fine. Shaun did okay, he could have been better, but also could have been much worse, so I was satisfied. We kept him busy reading books, playing with the doodle pad, snacking on crackers, and finally watching an Elmo DVD. He kept kicking the seat in front of him though. At least the lady was nice about it. We laid his chair back and took off his shoes, so it was not so bad, but he could still kind of reach and kept messing with the tray table because he could unhook it with his foot. The flight was about 2 hours and Shaun was ready to get out of his seat by the time we were there. Yes, we got him his own seat because there was no way that we would be able to keep him sitting on our laps! My busy boy would have been much fussier, I think out of his seat because he would want to go. The extra money was definitely worth it.

Ready to go on the plane!

We spent some good time with family and saw some sights too. We went to the aquarium at the Mandalay Bay, saw the lions at the MGM Grand, went to Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden (dolphins, lions, tigers, etc), and went to Circus Circus to see the trapeze show and ride the carousal. We stayed with Bill’s dad and step mom so saw them everyday and also had a dinner gathering with Bill’s aunt Diane, cousin Becky and daughter Megan. We also went over and saw Bill’s Grandparents on his mom’s side and went out to a buffet with them and his uncle Duane. We were glad to see everybody and I’m sure they were glad to see us and meet Shaun!

Grandpa & Step Grandma!
Shaun's Great Grandparents & Great Uncle Duane
Lions at the MGM Grand

The trip back was unexpectedly extended by about 5 hours. We arrived at the airport at 1pm, 2 hours before our plane was supposed to take off at 3. They started boarding the plane for the early people, including us with a child. However, after we had Shaun all strapped in I noticed that no one else was getting on the plane. Then they announced over the loudspeaker that the plane’s windshield had just cracked and so we needed to all get off until they knew what the status was. The plane was unusable that day because the fixing process for a plane’s windshield takes at least 24 hours or so. We went on standby for 2 flights, didn’t make them though. Luckily our flight was still going to be able to leave that day because there is a plane that comes in and stays overnight at Vegas, so they could use that plane to take us to Seattle. However, that plane wasn’t schedule to arrive until 7:44pm, so the earliest we would leave would be 8:30pm! And, that is what happened. I’m just glad that we were able to leave and didn’t have to stay overnight.

So for the extra 5 hours: we stayed around the gate area until we knew what was happening and until about 6pm when we found out that we didn’t make it on either of the earlier flights. Then, Bill had scoped out a play area not too far away that we let Shaun run around in for a while, then went and ate dinner, then went back to the play area. Shaun finally fell asleep about 15 minutes before we boarded. Then, he was wide awake after we were on the plane. However he was much calmer because he was sleepy, so we didn’t really even have to get out any toys or distractions, just a couple crackers and water. He did fall asleep for the last half hour of the plane ride though. That was at about 10pm; way past his bedtime and with no regular nap.

Bill then decided to try and carry Shaun in his car seat down to baggage claim so he could sleep longer; all 26 pounds of Shaun + car seat weight held out at an odd angle. He made it with a few stops along the way and Shaun stayed asleep until we had to get him out so we could load everything back up to take to the shuttle, to take us to our car. We finally walked in our door at home at 12:45am! We had left Bill’s dad’s house at noon. One long day! I stayed home that next day to catch up on sleep and do some chores like grocery shopping, picking up Abby, and laundry, but then it was back to reality on Thursday.

On our infertility note: We have pretty much decided to go ahead and try one last time and do a full round of in vitro fertilization again. My Grandma left me a little bit of money, and I’m sure she would be happy that we would use it in this way. We haven’t gone back to the clinic yet but have been in contact with them. We will be starting the process in either December or January, and it takes 2 months. I will post an IVF update on the blog whenever there is something to say. Thanks for your prayers ahead of time!

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and Happy Holidays! I consider it officially the holiday season starting the day after Thanksgiving. That is when I start to get in the holiday spirit and don’t mind listening to Christmas music and seeing Christmas decorations in stores and on people’s houses. Remember the reason for the season: Jesus’ birthday!

To Gift Card or Not to Gift Card?......That is the Question!

Gift Cards Are Useful; Give Me Cash
By NEAL TEMPLIN, Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 19, 2009, 12:07 A.M. ET

Suppose someone invented a gift card so versatile it could be used almost anywhere to buy almost anything.

This gift card would be good forever and would be accepted in many foreign countries. It would be available in multiple denominations and sold in multiple locations. You could bend it in half—or even leave it in the pocket of your trunks when you went for a swim—and it would still work fine.

Wait a minute. Somebody already invented that go-anywhere gift card. It's called cash.

Cash has huge advantages over gift cards. There's been a big flap over gift-card fees with Congress eventually stepping in to limit them. And a sizable chunk of gift-card value—estimates range between 5% and 10%—never gets fully redeemed. These aren't issues that come with cash.

So why have gift cards grown in popularity when we already have something better sitting in our wallets? The answer is a combination of consumer psychology and opportunistic retailers and card issuers. Consumers see giving cash as crass, and retailers have taken advantage of that to push gift cards.

Roughly $95 billion worth of gift cards will be sold in the U.S. this year, up about 10% from the previous year, according to Mercator Advisory Group, a market-research firm. The two main types are "closed loop" cards, which are store gift cards issued by a variety of retailers, and "open loop" cards, preloaded debit cards from the likes of Visa or American Express.

Each has its pluses and minuses. The preloaded debit cards can be used anywhere. But you have to pay a fee, typically $3 to $7, to buy them. Card makers have also charged monthly dormancy fees if you don't use them up by a certain date. However, a new federal law limits these fees beginning in August 2010, and American Express just announced it was dumping them entirely.

Most store cards don't have fees anymore. They have a different problem. You're committed to use the card at a designated store. If you're really hankering for a new sweater, owning a Barnes & Noble gift card won't do you any good. Sales of these gift cards have been flat. And a new National Retail Federation survey finds that shoppers expect to spend a bit less on holiday gift cards this year.

Given their limitations, I figured that economists and other academics would see gift cards as wasteful. I figured wrong.

They see gift-giving as an inefficient transfer of wealth and say that gift cards actually make the whole system work better. "Having the choice of gift cards ... is a value-preserving choice," meaning it's less-wasteful than an unwanted gift, says Wharton School economist Joel Waldfogel, author of "Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays."

Well, there's no contesting that gift-giving is inefficient. How many gifts are basically a waste of money? A lot. Either the recipient hates them or they're the wrong size.

A gift card is particularly popular when the giver doesn't know the recipient well enough to pick out a gift. My wife, Clarissa, uses them for buying presents for teachers. "It's easy," she says. "You just give them a gift card to a book store."

Of course, Clarissa didn't stop there. She said it takes "gall to criticize gift cards when you are not even the one that takes care of the gift-giving."

OK, I can understand it would seem crass to give cash to your kid's teacher. But how about giving cash to your kid? That doesn't seem crass.

It turns out that many gift-card purchasers still want some control over the present.

"The problem with the cash is not with the recipients—the recipients like to get cash," says Dan Horne, a marketing professor at Providence College who has studied gift cards. "The problem is that givers don't like to give you cash, and then have you buy gas for the car, or beer or cigarettes."

The gift-card industry knows it has built-in demand for its products, but it's not sitting pat. You can now buy gift cards that play songs. Gift cards with tiny flashlights. Gift cards that feature pictures of family members. There are even ringtone gift cards so that people can download different tones for their cellphones.

"When you get a gift card, you're not just buying an inert piece of plastic" anymore, says Tim Sloane of Mercator, the market-research firm.

Blackhawk Network, which maintains those gift-card racks you see in places like drugstores, says it and retailers keep changing the "skins," or outsides, of cards to keep them trendy and relevant for whatever occasion.

"If they're giving a gift for a wedding, they want a wedding on it," explains Teri Llach, Blackhawk's group vice president.

The full-court press to popularize gift cards has worked. When the National Retail Federation polls shoppers on their favorite holiday present, gift cards were No. 1 again. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed wanted to receive one.

Well, I'm still not sure what I'll get Clarissa for Christmas this year. But it won't be a gift card.


From me, Suzanne ~ In Washington, gift cards to specific stores cannot have expiration dates or fees for dominancy, etc.

A moment captured....

at the pumpkin patch..... Thanks Molly!

And, I thought the background on the blog was getting a little boring; we are in November, so.....

Fall is here!

Shaun is sitting up to the table in a booster seat now! I can’t believe he is getting so big. I still put him in the high chair for breakfast, but for the most part he is eating dinner with us at the table. Also, Shaun is starting into the copying stage; both in words and actions. It is so cute when he watches the Wiggles. He tries to do all the actions and dancing that they are doing on the show. Shaun will also repeat words after you say them, even if you are not meaning for him to say it! We have to be very careful now what we say (not that we say bad words, but some words sound bad coming out of a toddler’s mouth) and what is on the television! Regarding our infertility journey; we have decided to wait a couple months, but are still keeping our options open.

Big boy!

3rd annual apple sauce party!
The three of us girls and the 2 little boys got together for the 3rd annual applesauce making party on the 10th. We had enough apples from our trees to make one batch and then Renae brought enough apples to make 2 more batches. So we each went home with 4 tupperwares full of applesauce! Shaun has been loving it! Shaun was playing baby while we were there too. He saw Antonio on his mat when we first got there. Then, a little while later when Antonio was elsewhere, Shaun went and laid on Antonio’s mat! He did that quite a bit.

Finished product!

Antonio likes it, so it must be fun!

Finished swim for the season
We finished our Saturday fall swim lessons. I decided not to sign up for the second session that would be Nov-Dec because it is kind of hard to get motivated to go swimming when it is so rainy (or worse) outside. We will start up again in April twice a week. He was having a great time at the last class. He loved to jump in and kick all around. One more season of tiny tots and then he is in the preschool swim class without mom, yay!

Pumpkin patch
We went with Shaun’s toddler class to a pumpkin patch. I took a couple hours off work and joined them. Shaun loved to look at all the animals, including ducks, goats, pigs and a kitty. He also loved the tractor ride out to the pumpkins, and picking out a pumpkin (although he calls them apples); kind of cute. Everything round is either a ball or an apple. He seems to have them in the right category though as far as maybe being edible or not.

Halloween
We had a dress up playgroup again this year. All of Shaun’s buddies are pretty cute. Some of the others liked Shaun’s outfit, because Elmo came to the party! We also went to Grandma’s work , who was having a Halloween event for kids. Grandma liked showing him off to her coworkers that were there too with their kids or grandkids.

Does somebody like Elmo?

An attempt at getting a group photo.....

Sounders first season: playoffs!
We have been Sounders (soccer) fans this whole first season. We haven’t missed a game; however we have watched most of them on our DVR and not live. The regular season came to an end on 10/24, and they made it to the playoffs!! It is the first time that an expansion team has done that in 11 years. Pretty cool. The first playoff game was on the 29th. It ended in a 0-0 tie. The second game is on November 5th. It is not who wins the games, but who scores the most goals between the 2 games. So we’ll see how the 2nd game goes! The team with the most goals scored is the winner of that round. We’ve got our fingers crossed! And, the final is in Seattle no matter who plays in it.

Planning trip to Vegas in 11 days!
We are planning Shaun’s first airplane trip, to Vegas on November 11th! Our first thought was to go the week between Christmas & New Year’s, but the airfare is so much cheaper before the holidays. One more little person sure adds a bunch more logistics to traveling. We are going to visit some of Bill’s family: Dad, step mom, Grandparents on mom’s side, plus maybe some more aunts, uncles and cousins. Shaun has not met any of this family yet, so I think everyone will be glad to meet! We will be there for a week. We are looking forward to going back to summer weather as Bill’s dad says it’s usually about 70-80 degrees in November! We will report back next month on how the travels went! Wish us luck!

Free H1N1 vaccination clinics in Snohomish County this Saturday, 10/31 for priority groups!

http://www.flucentralwa.mystateusa.com/

There were clinics last Saturday and they gave out approximately 5,000 out of 17,000 vaccines available, so they are doing it again this Saturday. They said we will be given documentation so it can be taken to the doc office and to get the second dose in a month (because Shaun is under 9).

Priority Groups:
Pregnant women
Health care workers and emergency workers
Caregivers of infants younger than 6 months old
School teachers and professional childcare providers
All people ages 6 months to 24 years
People ages 25 to 64 years with medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease (check website for complete list)

More Flu prevention advice

I received some more flu prevention advice that I thought I would pass along. Here is an email forward that I received today:

Prevent Swine Flu - Good Advice
Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W) India.

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to not come into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good way to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (Tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Keep in mind that the target population is the younger crowd, so pass this on to your kids and grandkids.

Faith

This has been a month of sad and faithful times. The first week of this month was quite rough. First was the news of my Grandma passing on Sunday (8/30). After I got word that she passed, I knew that the week would either turn around at the end or get even sadder. Well, it got sadder. It got sadder because we attempted to get pregnant again by transferring our 2 frozen embryos. We spent the last 2 months getting ready for the transfer without telling anyone. Wednesday, 9/2 I went in for the first blood test. I passed, with an HCG level of 33 (5+ is considered positive). Then the levels need to double 2 times every 48 hours. So, Friday I went in again, and got the call at work about noon that the level was down to 12, which meant a negative result. We have been spending time in prayer and in His Word, to feel hope and encouragement. I have also found it comforting to really listen and read some of the song lyrics that I hear everyday (like the Voice of Truth lyrics I posted earlier). We know that God has a plan for us, we just don’t know what it is right at the moment. Is it to try again with IVF, wait and see, and/or just be a one-child family? We know whatever it is; it is His plan for our family. Please pray for us; that God would show it to us. I’ll keep you blog readers informed of any updates, so you can keep praying. We truly don’t know how we would be handling this if we didn’t have our faith in Jesus! I can’t imagine.

We had Grandma Nairn’s memorial on the 17th. It was an all around a positive time, even though the actual passing of Grandma was sad. There was a reception after the service, just like at Grandpa’s where everyone could mingle. It was nice to see such a great turnout. Grandma was truly loved! The immediate family gathered at my parent’s house after the service to spend some time together. It was neat to see Shaun and Antonio together, the next generation! The girls of the family also got together on Saturday to have some girl time. That was truly fun! The boys (including Shaun) went to see the airplanes at Paine field and then went back to our house to watch that good Husky-USC game.

We decided at kind of the last minute to go to the Casting Crowns concert on the 26th. It was awesome!!!! I had been hearing the advertisements on the radio for quite some time and thought it would be fun to go, but we didn’t end up doing anything about it until 3 days before. We got some pretty good seats in the side front section at Overlake. Casting Crowns has some very good songs with lyrics that I really need right now, like Voice of Truth, Praise You in This Storm, etc. I have put a bunch of their songs on the playlist, so scroll to the bottom to see if you are hearing them right now. Matt Redman opened for Casting Crowns. He was really good too. He has written a BUNCH of worship songs that he and others sing, which I didn’t realize, like Blessed Be Your Name and The Heart of Worship, just to name 2. He also has a good one that he sang called, You Never Let Go (I have also included it on the playlist). He described at the concert writing this song with his wife after their 4th miscarriage in a row. Definitely a song I need right now, even though our problem isn’t with miscarriages. I love the part of concerts where you get to hear the background of a song. It brings a whole new meaning to them.

Matt Redman

Casting Crowns

Before we bought the tickets for the concert, we called my parents and asked if they wanted to take us up on their offer to have Shaun for an over-nighter. They said yes, so we got the tickets and Shaun and his first sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa’s!!! My baby is growing up!!!!!! Yikes. It was weird being home after the concert without Shaun there. They brought him to church with them the next morning, and had a glowing report!! He went right to sleep and slept until 7:45, which is good for his own bed! And they had a lot of fun playing too! They even want to do it again sometime soon!

Shaun is saying new words everyday. He is really starting to communicate with his words. It is so exciting and fun to hear a new word pop out every day! His latest words are apple, bible, uh oh, and pig.

And, today is my birthday!!!! Hurray, even though I’m another year older. And, tomorrow is Bill’s birthday!!!

Oh, and the results of the swine flu vaccine poll was: 60% yes and 40% no, with 5 total votes.