Lake Tahoe 2011

Every summer we head up to Tahoe for a week with my parents & sisters.

This year, Kevin had to work, so it was a girls trip + my Dad. Poor Guy!
Here are some scenes from our week via instagram.
I love being up in the mountains...it is so peaceful & relaxing.
(Well, it should be peaceful & relaxing, but my girls don't sleep well on vacation & this was no exception...they didn't fall asleep until 11pm each night. Doh!)

Loved watching the boats on the lake:
The girls love playing in the sand.
And, the biggest dandelion I have ever seen.
Reading material for the week. Love her books!
We had sloooooow mornings drinking coffee:
And, special breakfasts like Monkey Bread.
And, Auntie Bots trying to beat my score in Fruit Ninja. Love that game!!
Our favorite coffee shop that we went to every day for Happy Hour #1.
Happy Hour #1 is Iced Coffee in the afternoon for our caffeine fix. And, they have pellet ice (also known as rabbit poo ice) That is the BEST!
Happy Hour #2 was around 6pm when we headed back down to the Lake and had appetizers & wine.
We enjoyed our wine while the girls enjoyed $1 Sno-Cones! What a deal!
Love the view of the lake with the sun slowly setting.
The 2nd day into our trip, one of my tires was low & we would fill it up and the air wouldn't hold.
Since Kevin wasn't there, I was very thankful my dad was there to help me out.
Jimmy to the rescue! Turns out there was a "nail" in my tire, so we had to get it patched.
Well, it wasn't a nail, it was a snow chain link & it took 2 tire guys to pull out & patch it. Check out the size of the link:
One day, we headed to Kings Beach which is where we grew up vacationing in Tahoe when we were kids.
Lake Tahoe is breath-takingly beautiful. If you have never been, you should go!
In Kings Beach, we headed to the best soft serve ice cream place on the lake (in my opinion)
Gotta love chocolate dipped cones!
Being on vacation is a great excuse to eat junky food, right.
A tri-tip sanwhich, chips & a beer for lunch? Why not? I'm on vacation!
Snacking on my favorite candy? Why not? I'm on vacation!
Trying out a new Ben & Jerry's ice cream? Why not? I'm on vacation!

(This ice cream had chocolate covered potato chips in it...interesting)
I don't know about you, but I never eat Ben & Jerry's in a bowl, I always just eat it straight from the carton with a spoon. It tastes better that way.

One of the days we drove around Lake Tahoe to South Shore.
Drove by Squaw Valley:
Such beautiful sights.
Claire "relaxing"
On the way back, we pulled over to look at Emerald Bay. It is gorgeous.
Pictures don't even do it justice.

Sisters!
It was a fun trip (despite my children not sleeping).
It is always good to get away & have a change of scenery and enjoy Tahoe.
We were happy to be home & are soaking in the last few weeks of summer!
Linking up here:

My Sister's Wedding: Professional Pictures

Today, my sister has been married 4 months.

They got their wedding album last week & I realized I never posted any of the Professional Wedding Pictures like I promised! Oops!
{I posted pictures I took HERE.}

I love looking at people's wedding pictures & their professional pictures turned out great!
(And, it doesn't hurt that my sister & Jason are beautiful people!)

All photos by Hoffmann Photographer.
(Steve Hoffmann was the photographer. He is a family friend of ours. He was also our youth group leader when we were in high school! He became a professional photographer about 8 years ago. He is based out of Orange County/Los Angeles. I know a lot of you are MomTog's. Steve photographed DrewB's wedding 6 years ago!)

Getting Ready:

The Girls:

{Claire was taking a nap during all these pictures, but she chickened out walking down the aisle anyways, so the nap during pictures was just a foreshadowing of what was to come!}



The Guys:


The Ceremony:

Bridal Party:


Bride & Groom:

Reception:
{My Toast}
{The First Dance}
{Sign of a good wedding...heyyyyyyyy!!!!!!}
Thanks for looking at the photo-overload!
I love weddings!
This weekend marks the first of 5 weddings that we have in the next 3 months!
I can't wait...Let Wedding Season begin!

It's Been a Year.

A year ago today, was one of my scariest moments as a parent and I had to call 9-1-1 because Claire had fallen, passed out & wasn't breathing.

Turns out Claire has Breath Holding Spells.
Basically, this means that if she gets hurt or has a temper tantrum, she will cry & get so upset that she will (sometimes) hold her breath which causes her to pass out.
Since it first happened a year ago, we had no idea what we were dealing with.
It's not life threatening, but it sure is scary when it happens.
And, it happens about twice a month.
It happens mostly when she is overly tired.
At first, it only happened when she got hurt, but lately it has been happening when we try and discipline her or she doesn't get her way.

She will pass out for about 10-15 seconds and then she will come to.
It freaks me out every time it happens. It is so scary.
Even though I know she will start breathing again, it still rattles me.
How can it not? Seeing your child turn blue & stop breathing is scary....even if you know she will start breathing again.
I talked to our Pediatrician about it a few weeks ago because her spells had been getting more frequent.
Basically, he said there is really nothing we can do to prevent them. But, not to worry because it isn't causing brain damage and that she will start breathing after a minute (or less).
He reassured me that some kids have them 2-3 times a week (which made me feel better that we only deal with this a few times a month).
He told me to get her some vitamins that have Omega 3 & Fish Oil because that will help with the neurological part of it and will help her brain remind her to breathe and not hold her breath when she gets hurt/upset.
Yesterday, Claire had a really bad one.
It was the longest she had passed out in a few months.
And, it was Sunday...it reminded me of exactly one year ago when it first happened.
It was a bad case of deja vu.
But, after 20 seconds, she started breathing again, just like she always does.

Most kids grow out of it by age 4 or 5.
But, I told Kevin last night that I am going to start specifically praying that she out grows it immediately. I don't want to wait another year or 2 having her pass out.

Because Claire has Breath Holding Spells, it makes it really, really, really hard to discipline her because (most times) when we try to discipline her, she gets upset, cries, usually holds her breath and passes out. This has lead to us giving in to her and not disciplining her like we should because we are fearful of passing out. It is a double edged sword, because we are still going through the terrible 2's with her and she really needs to be disciplined, but yet we are so fearful of her passing out. We try and use a gentle tone with her to avoid this, but even with a gentle tone, sometimes you can't reason with her. Even though I know she will start breathing again if she passes out, it is just awful to see your child limp and not breathing, even for 10-15 seconds.

Does anyone have a child that has or had Breath Holding Spells?
I would love any input or advice on how you deal with the spells and tips you have regarding disciplining a child who has Breath Holding Spells.
This parenting stuff is hard.