Hospitalization

Poor little girl has been sick as a dog since Sunday. Just when we thought she was getting better, she took a turn for the worse. We rushed her to the Pediatric ER when her fever returned this morning. She was so lethargic, but still put up a good fight everytime the nurses came to perform more tests on her to find out what was wrong. Finally, we got a diagnosis of an RSV infection. Just glad it's not pneumonia! There is really no cure, but just supportive treatments to ease her symptoms. So they got her in a little toddler hospital gown and decked her out in full hospital regalia.


She has a breathing tube that delivers oxygen, a few stick-on sensors for her vital signs, and an IV port just in case she needs more fluids. The IV port is right on the inside of her elbow, so to prevent her from bending it too much they put a piece of board there. She looks like she's got a broken arm too, but it's the IV.

After a couple doses of Tylenol, Motrin, and Albuterol treatments in the ER, we got a room in the pediatric ward. Looks like we're staying here for a couple of days...

Little fighter definitely got better in the afternoon cause she's EATING again! She hasn't had much of an appetite which is very abnormal for her. We just have to get her lungs to sound smoother and we'll be able to go home. Hopefully that'll come tomorrow.

Projects from DIY friends

Sherry has been a member of my little Crafter's Guild for a year now, and she's recently completed a couple of baby quilts.

Here she is, proudly posing with the 1st one she's ever made! Turned out beautiful too!

She got so good, this 2nd one was made in merely 2 days. Super cute!

Hope to be posting many more from out monthly gatherings!

My friend Dave harvested some black bamboo stalks from our backyard a few months ago. Now that bamboo is on his custom made self by his woodworking friend, Eric.

I love the details and our bamboo looks fantastic!


Dave also has a beautiful handmade quilt from his grandmother hanging in his living room. I LOVE it! Only if I can create something so beautiful. It must have taken her ages to hand sew everything.

Road Trip to Carmel and Solvang

This winter break, we took a few days for a quickie road trip to Carmel and Solvang. The theme of this trip seems to be fairy tale houses... We left early Tues morning, and here's Ella at the beginning of the drive.

Here she is after 20 mins...

Our first stop was at Carmel, which is only a couple of hours away. We enjoyed an afternoon of just strolling and admiring all of the uber adorable fairy tale houses and shopping of course! We happened to find a copy of the new book Carmel's Fairy Tale Cottages that was signed by the author.

The next day, we headed down to Solvang. Although it was only 3.5 hours from Monterey (where we stayed the night before) to Solvang, we had to make a couple of pit stops since little girl didn't like sitting in the car for that long. Here we are at Pismo Beach enjoying some late lunch and coloring while wearing the super stylish sweater from Emi.


We finally made it to Solvang in the late afternoon and luckily was able to enjoy some sunlight before everything was closed and the weather turned frigid and rainy.


We had to take refuge at the hotel pretty early that night and saved the shopping, munching, and sight seeing for the next morning. We started off with some pastries at Mortensen's Bakery, which I thought wasn't all that impressive. I think we're just too spoiled from the Bay Area...


I did however, find their Christmas ornaments super rustic and cute.

They seem to be big on gnomes too! These can be a cool little project for next Christmas.

While Ella and I walked around, Daddy went to the local motorcycle museum, which I'm sure was the highlight of this trip for him.


This Indian motorcycle has a very interesting story behind it. The first owner bought it when his girlfriend left for college and when they got married, he hid it in the barn because he didn't want her to find out about it. He hid it so well that it stayed there for the next 50 years until someone found it while looking for something else in the barn. Needless to say, it was in pristine condition. Now it belongs to the collector who opened this museum.

Our last stop was the Mission Santa Ines, one of the 21 missions built by the Spanish in California. This one is in really good condition and has been maintained and restored quite well.


Finally, we grabbed some lunch at "Solvang Restaurant" to try their famous AEBELSKIVERS, which were actually pretty YUMMOS!