In-n-Out

Finally finally finally.......this has made its presence into our neck of the woods in Utah:

Jen - being born and raised in California knows all about this famous hamburger joint....her order.....a #2, no sauce, add ketchup, make the drink a strawberry shake. Dustin likes a #1, animal style.

Utahan's have been going CRAZY over having an In-n-Out here. The place is a MADHOUSE - we went on a Sunday evening (hoping all Mormons were at home) and still had to wait about 30 minutes from the time we pulled up to the drive through line (which was down the street, not even in the shopping center yet) to when we actually received our food. 30 minutes is actually a very short wait compared to what it has been around here for the past month.

Yummy.

Sesame Street LIVE

Today we took Zach to Sesame Street Live - Elmo grows up. Dustin had a co-worked that had purchased these tickets and was not able to attend. So we thought it would be something fun to do with Zach. Turns out Sunday afternoon is the PERFECT time to go do this kind of thing. The event center wasn't even 1/8 full. Our tickets were in the second row and there was nobody sitting in the front row. The characters would come off stage in between acts and during songs and give Zach high -5's. He really liked the event.....a couple songs too long for him....but he sat with a smile on his face almost the whole show!!

Yup - winter is here!

Two good size snow storms in one week = lots of snow that probably won't melt away from our yard for a couple of months! The first snow storm dumped LOTS of powder, the second snow storm was a big slushy mess - the kind of mess that is hard to shovel and snow blow. Zach LOVES to be outside when it is snowing, he is always going to the closet to get his snow boots and handing them to us...his way of saying, "lets go play!!"

Yup - excited to get all bundled up to play in the snow.

Just chilling next to the front of the house - watching dad shovel.

Sled time - he LOVES it!

Dustin helping out the neighbor with the slushy mess....

Dustin getting rid of the slushy mess in our driveway.

Jen and Zach played outside for a bit over an hour. Dustin shoveled and snow blowed three driveways - it took TWO HOURS!!

Birthday boy GLEN

This weekend was Glen's birthday. The older you get the longer birthdays get celebrated ;) So of course we kept this celebration going all weekend long! On Saturday night we headed to Texas Roadhouse for the birthday occasion. Glen tried to order a salad and we told him NO. You don't go to a steakhouse on your birthday and order a SALAD! It didn't take much convincing for him to order some ribs. Of course the best part about going to Texas Roadhouse on your birthday is you get to sit on the saddle while being sang to:

Look at Glen trying to hold back a smile. He proudly told everyone he turned 21 today! On Sunday we had the birthday cake and opening of presents. Glen requested the Gray family "oatmeal chocolate chip cake" for his birthday....this was Jen's first time making the famous cake....boy was it sure GOOD! I am sure this cake will be used time and time again for birthdays!





Zach of course helped his grandpa blow out the candles and open the presents! We had a great time during your birthday weekend Glen - happy 21st BIRTHDAY!!

Oh Christmas Tree....

It is our family tradition to go cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving....and get all the holiday decorations out and fill the home with Christmas spirit. This year things had to be delayed a bit with Zach's seizure and Jen's pneumonia. So TODAY - one week and one day later than normal we headed out to find our perfect Christmas tree.

The last few years we have driven up past Ogden to get our tree....we didn't want to drive that far this year. We actually found a place in Alpine (less than 10 miles from our house!) that had an assortment of Colorado Blue Spruce for cutting. Of course it was FREEZING cold outside and had been snowing a bit all morning....but we made the trek anyways and just found our tree FAST!

Dustin and Zach ready to go find the tree!

Glen holding our "tree stick" - the owners requirement was the tree had to be at least 8 feet tall.

Ta-DAH! This is a nice 10 foot SPRUCE!

Three generations of Grays

Check out the SNOWFLAKES falling!

The tree is at home - but now how do we get it through the door?

Zach LOVED helping decorate

The finished product (you can't see the ornaments with this shot).

Naked phase?

Zach may be starting the "naked phase" of growing up. This morning when he got up this was the first thing he did:


He unzipped his PJ's and pulled them down to his toes. He did that cheesy pose all by himself. This is how he looked for the next 30 minutes:

It was snowing today and our child wanted to run around the house in nothing but his diaper. I guess all is good as long as he keeps that diaper ON!

Just when you think things can't get any worse

After our Thanksgiving holiday events surrounding Zach....today got a bit more interesting.

Jen has been fighting a cold for about three weeks now. We think she actually had two separate colds, because there was a 2 day time period with no coughs and no congestion. Over the weekend her lungs began to hurt pretty bad when she coughed. So today she saw the doctor at work (yes our work has an on-site health clinic FREE to us!!). The doctor confirmed what we didn't want to hear....Jen has pneumonia. Her left lung does have fluid in it. She doesn't have a fever and isn't having problems breathing so we may have caught this early enough to where the antibiotics will stop the worst from happening. Right now she is just tired and it hurts to sit, cough, walk, etc. If she does develop a fever or has problems breathing that is not good news. She is 34 weeks pregnant - and would most likely be hospitalized and monitored closely to ensure the infection isn't passed to our unborn son. Fingers crossed she feels better by the end of the week.

Ironic that Jen did get pneumonia as that is the specific thing we were trying to avoid by getting flu shots (seasonal and H1N1). It is true that when life hands you a lemon....you gotta make lemonade!

Seizure follow up

We visited Zach's pediatrician today. All the remaining blood work we were waiting on did not reveal any type of major infection that would have cause the sudden spike in body temperature that induced Zach's seizure. The pediatrician did say that BOTH of Zach's ears were infected, not one EAR like the ER doctor told us. We are told to continue the antibiotics we have been taking....and that is about it.

Good news is that Zach's fever finally broke this morning. He ran a fever between 99.5 and 102 all Thanksgiving day while hopped up on Tylenol AND Motrin. So what ever Zach's body is fighting it is doing a good job!

Apparently we are one of the lucky 5% of all children to experience a febrile seizure. Zach also has a 25% of having it happen again before the age of 5-8. There is no risk of brain damage, etc with febrile seizures.....we just need to make sure the AIRWAY GETS OPENED!!!

Any parents worst nightmare come true

Think long and hard about it....what is a parents worst nightmare? For us - it is losing the life of our child. Today we almost lost Zach.

Dustin left work a bit early and picked up Zach from our sitter. They went to go get a haircut. Then they drove home. The whole way home Zach was pointing out all the tractors and trucks (like he always does). The last tractor we see is as we enter our neighborhood. When Dustin got out of the car and went to get Zach out of his car seat - he was slumped over, like he was sleeping...but he was blue in the face and unconscious. Dustin quickly pulled Zach out of his car seat and was pounding on his back thinking that part of the sucker the haircutting place had given Zach was lodged in his throat. Then the sucker in his hand fell to the floor and there was no missing pieces out of it. Our child was not choking - but was not breathing.

Dustin ran to our next door neighbors and began pounding on the door. Our neighbor answered quickly (who wouldn't with a mad man pounding at the door) - and Dustin frantically was telling our neighbor that Zach wasn't breathing - which was quite apparent from his limp body and blue face. Our neighbor is a sheriff - fully police/EMT trained. He took Zach and immediately starting assessing the situation while his wife called 911. He noticed Zach was actually having a seizure, but since he was slumped over in his car seat when the seizure started his air way was cut off completely and it took a while to get Zach's airway back open. Zach finally took the breath of air his body so desperately needed. Once Dustin saw his son was going to live - he called Jen (who was walking out of the grocery store) and frantically said, "You need to get home NOW - Zach had a seizure and stopped breathing, Scott saved his life". Jen's reply - "get him to a hospital NOW". Dustin - "just get home FAST". Jen's first excuse ever to drive like a bat out of hell (and she did).

Jen arrives at our neighbors, where the fire department and ambulance have already arrived. She walks in and sees Dustin holding Zach. The pupils of Zach's eyes are huge and he is just in a daze. The paramedic pricks Zach's heel to do a blood sugar test and Zach doesn't even flinch. Blood sugar is normal, but Zach is running a 101.5 fever. The paramedics conclude Zach has had a febrile seizure - a seizure induced in children under the age of 5 when they have a sudden spike in their body temperature. Zach did not have a fever when he was picked up from the sitter only a hour earlier.

Dustin and Zach head to the hospital by ambulance - while Jen packs a diaper bag and heads up to the hospital.

The hospital has a set of tests they run when any kid has a seizure at this age - white blood counts, different bacterial tests, chest x-ray, etc. All this was taken within 30 minutes of arriving at the hospital. The nurse gives Zach some Tylenol for his fever and headache (kids actually have migraines after a seizure!). Then we wait....and wait...and wait....we were told the blood tests should only take 30 minutes...after 90 minutes Jen goes out to find the doctor - who apparently was on his way to "talk" to us already. Of the blood tests they had back (white blood count) things looked normal. Zach did have an ear infection and a touch of bronchitis - so they decided to give Zach an IV antibiotic and a prescription for us to take for the next 7 days for his ear. We are to give him Tylenol/Motrin for the next two days straight to prevent Zach from getting a high fever and having another seizure. We are also told to see our pediatrician on Friday (since tomorrow was Thanksgiving holiday) - the rest of the blood work would be "done" and Zach could be checked out again.

Two freaked out parents - oh yeah.

One hero for a father - oh yeah.

One spoiled child for the rest of his life - oh yeah.

A neighbor that we are forever indebted to - oh yeah.

The next accomplishment

Zach has been pushing the kitchen chairs around lately. Today he apparently was on a mission. He pushed a kitchen chair up to our pantry cupboard, and proceeded to open the one that contains his fruit snacks. He got his fruit snack and gave it to us to open. Afterwards he was VERY proud of himself......

MacBook Pro

We made the switch....

We had been talking for a while about getting a Mac. Since they are $$ - we decided this was the year for the mega-combo gift. This 15" MacBook Pro is our anniversary, Jen's birthday and our Christmas gift this year! We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't get the SSD hard drive upgrade - but since we make the chips that go into them we know how much of a hot commodity they are....figure give it 6 months for supply to catch up with the demand...and then we can upgrade on our own (for at least half price).

Next project - get our camcorder videos in order so there is room on that hard drive when baby #2 arrives in 5 weeks...this is where the Mac is going to be our BEST FRIEND!

Kid proof no longer

Look at what our almost 22 month old has figured out all on his own.

So much for "easy to remove for adults" kid proof electrical outlet covers. Time to switch back to the old fashion ones. Lets see how long it takes Zach to figure these out.

Pregnancy update

What? 32 weeks? Where did the previous 31 weeks go? This pregnancy has seriously flown by so fast. Today was Jen's 32 week appointment and things continue to look great. No high blood pressure issues so far. During the appointment today her Doctor said, "well lets schedule your delivery date...have you thought about when you want your baby born?". We have known since the start of this pregnancy it would be a scheduled C-section. My due date was January 6, 2010. My 20 week ultrasound showed baby #2 being 7 days early by size...so my doctor today decided to make my new due date January 2nd, 2010....so the big question was do we want this kid born in 2009 or 2010?

Honestly it doesn't matter. A tax break isn't a huge incentive for us (trust me....it doesn't really make a difference when you have two engineering salaries). Jen's only request was not to be in the hospital during New years Eve/Day. So that left two options - Monday, December 28th 2009 or Monday, January 4th 2010.

As of right now baby #2 is currently scheduled to make his first appearance to this world on Monday, December 28th 2009. Three days after Christmas...ironic because Jen's birthday is three days before Christmas.

Wait...that is less than 7 weeks away. Whoa...slow down there father time! Our second baby boy is going to be here in 47 days? I guess I better start getting things ready!

Under 200

How can you tell you are in a happy marriage? Weight gain. We have both been collecting the pounds.....Jen is just currently in the situation where she physically shouldn't be losing weight - you know being pregnant and all. But Dustin...we can say he has LOVED the last eight years of our marriage ;)

This past summer some of Dustin's co-workers all decided to have a weight loss competition....I think it stemmed from his boss losing weight for his daughters October wedding. So at the beginning of July the IMFT Corporate Planning weight loss challenge began - same rules as the show "the biggest loser" - the one with the highest % of weight loss wins. What were the stakes? Everyone donated $20 and at the end the winner was suppose to decide where they all go to dinner together with the $$. There were eleven people total involved. The competition ended the beginning of October - Dustin came in SECOND PLACE (only 1.3 pounds from actually winning the competition!). Between July and October Dustin lost 29 pounds (his personal goal was 30 pounds). For the past month and a half he has continued to diet and has lost an additional 14 pounds....yes DUSTIN HAS LOST 43 POUNDS!!!!

Dustin has banned me from blogging about this until now - he wanted his big reveal to the world. I got the approval once the scale showed this:

Below 200 pounds! Something we haven't seen in probably six years. If he was to lose another 10 pounds he would be back down to the weight he was at when we were first married in October 2001.

Silly us didn't think about taking formal "before" pictures....so I had to dig through our photos during the July time frame to find one that showed his "fullest figure". Dustin is the one in the red shirt - with the belly sticking out (naturally).

Here are some pictures taken today:

That belly is gone! His pants hang on him...he has drilled three new holes in his belts...and he is getting comments from everyone on his new look. Some of our favorite comments from friends/co-workers have been: "you look smaller" and "if you turn sideways I can practically seen through you".

Now the next phase is weight loss management. The same group of guys from work that did the weight loss challenge have decided to have a new challenge to see who can maintain their weight until the start of 2010...so needless to say we won't be going hog wild this holiday season with the food!

Great job Dustin - you look HOT (I can say that)....

H1N1 vaccinated

...I feel like I am an animal when I say this......but yes....we were vaccinated for the H1N1 influenza today. Yeah there has been a lot of hype over the whole thing...and us living in the highest birth rate state you can imagine all the pregnant ladies and kids out trying to find this vaccine. We want our family to be healthy and safe...especially with kid #2 on the way in 9 weeks....so not getting the vaccine to us is not an option.

The Utah health department has not released the H1N1 vaccine to any doctors office - anyone that gets the shot for now has to go to the health department for it. This week was round #3 of H1N1 availability...here is how the first two rounds went:

Round #1 - 10/24/09 Saturday shot clinic in Salt Lake county...apparently completely insane. People double/triple parked around the health department to find out that 7,000 doses "spoken for" with people in line in only 30 minutes!.

Round #2 - 10/27/09 Tuesday shot clinic in Utah County. We had a close friend go at 8am when they opened the doors. She said there were 2,000 people in line in front of her and she waited FIVE HOURS to make it to the front and get her shot. Did I mention it was SNOWING outside with a high of 35 degrees on this day?

Then the health department got a bit smarter for round #3...and that is where we came in ;)

On Monday at 8am the Utah county health department started handing out priority tickets for H1N1 vaccines. Jen, Zach and Glen are on the priority list...Dustin is technically not. Jen headed down to the health department - arriving at 11am (couldn't get out of work earlier than that!). She only had to wait in line for 2 minutes to get four "tickets". Our "tickets" were to come back today at 2pm for the shot. By the time Jen got back to work on Monday the Utah County health department had already posted on their website they were out of tickets. Jen must have been cutting it close!

So today all four of us - Jen, Dustin, Zach and Glen (Dustin's dad) arrived at the Utah County Health department about 10 minutes before 2pm. There was a line forming at the door - we were probably #25 in line. At 2pm they opened the doors - in 5 minutes we were at the front having someone review our paperwork. Then we went into another room where they had 10 different lines of people administering the vaccine. In another 15 minutes we were done and on our way. Overall I thought the whole process went fine - no long waits. They had cool band-aids and stickers for the kids.

A few other thoughts....that shot HURT way more than the normal influenza shot. It burned going in. Zach actually didn't fuss too much with his shot. All the other kids in the room were crying - they all knew they were getting shots and all the parents just kind of looked at each other because what can you do? Pregnant women don't need a second dose of the H1N1 vaccine anymore, but kids under the age of 10 do...so in a month we are going to be looking for another shot for Zach...hopefully by then the supply can meet the demand.