What He's Been Up To...

Possibly getting memo's from Harman?
I was trying to get ready for a Scentsy party when I had one of those, "It's too quiet" moments. He was freshly bathed and dressed-and I was expecting 20+ people in a few hours.Anyone want a little boy?

Amazed

I continue to be amazed by Ashley.Cole was an absolute circus. He was having so many small seizures,we had to shoot twice. I was having a "I'm ready to find the nearest band of gyspies" moment by the end of the second.The pics still turned out. I was praying for just one where we were all sort of looking. I got a lot more than I hoped for!
She is an incredible artist...and a really sweet person to boot!
CALL HER NOWSimply amazing.

D-Squared

This is our friend Emma.She has Down Syndrome, Diabetes....and a bunch of other stuff. Basically, she is a medical miracle.
We love her.

Brian, Cole and I participated in the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome a couple of weeks ago and were proud to be part of Emma's Team: D-Squared. The team motto was, "What's your excuse?"Seriously, there are times when I look at our sweet Emma and her parents and realize-I don't have an excuse. These people are some of our best friends and make us realize each day to not take anything for granted. ANYTHING.
The next time I'm having a pity party-I'll just have to think, "What's your excuse?"

A Note On Healing

Anything can be healed with salt water.
Sweat, tears or the sea.This is my favorite quote. Brian even had it engraved on a frame for me when we were first married. I love the power the ocean has on my soul.

It Just Makes Scents

You all know about Scentsy and how wonderful it is...don't you?

If you don't already have this product, let me tell you a little about it. I have always been a fan of candles and aromatherapy. There is just something about things that smell good that make me happy. When my cousin gave me a Scentsy warmer a couple of years ago for Christmas, I really got excited (you might recall the episode where Cole broke that warmer and I wasn't very happy with him). It was like I could have a different candle every day. The bars are small and affordable enough that you can change scents whenever you want.

This is a product that doesn't have a flame, so there is not a fire hazard, soot or smoke. Really good for people like me who forget sometimes to extinguish my candles before heading out the door. Mr Emergency (Brian) also approves of its safety after seeing just how many homes catch fire from candles every year. It operates with just a small light bulb, so it's really family friendly. The wax doesn't even get hot enough to burn you if it spills-really great for people with small children like Cole who are in to everything! They even make small plug-ins the size of night lights that are great for bathrooms and other small spaces. There are other products like air fresheners for your car and room sprays too.

I have thought long and hard about how to bring in some extra money while staying at home. I can't go back to work because of Cole's health and it has left me feeling kind of like I am not doing my part. Let's be honest-graduate school and ambulance rides don't pay for themselves.

After months of wondering if I should get a job at night, do something online, etc. I have decided to be a Scentsy consultant. This is a product that I use every day and really love. I get so excited when I start running out of bars and get to order new scents. You can just order through the internet and don't have to attend a party to get new stuff. Here is the link to my personal website or you can call me. I'll mail everything to your house, you can come and pick it up, or I will bring it to your door. If you haven't already fallen in love with this company and their wonderful products, give me a call and I'll send you a catalog. Or if you want to have an excuse to get together with your girlfriends, I would love for you to host a party. This is a great gift for the upcoming holidays. That's how it started for me!

I've always kind of been wary of at-home business, but this is something that I have actually used myself for years and continue to get excited about. Hopefully I can make a little extra money so I can continue to stay at home with Cole.

Adventures

Over a few short weeks in summer, we had a lot of fun. We shoved as much as possible into the school break. Here's the Reader's Digest Version of our summer adventures.

Brian went to Lake Powell...twice. We couldn't take Cole because unfortunately, there is not a hospital near the lake. We had a lot of fun with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Diane when they were in town in between trips.We spent some time in St George with the cousins.We had a lot of fun hiking, swimming and of course, being with Grandpa...Cole's favorite.The annual Harman reunion was over the Fourth of July.It's always great to be together. It was the first time I had been back in Rupert since my parents moved.

We also went to Oregon with the my side of the family and some of our Harman cousins.Here is a pic of some of us one day on the beach. I caught the most fish of the day, even beating Brendon-my master fisherman of a brother-in-law, on our deep sea fishing excursion.I don't think I can ever do anything better than Brendon again, so I'll take the bragging rights for a one day challenge! It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Brian was a wimp and stayed home with Cole:) We of course went to the Tillamook cheese factory and had bonfires on the beach.

Charlie came with Mand for Jordan's funeral. That little girl is getting big SO fast!She is the sweetest baby. Mandy was giving her a bath and Cole decided to jump in. I wish Mand's kids lived closer.

We really enjoyed our trip to San Diego and are excited to visit Dean and Lorraine in Denver next month. Whew! That was a whirlwind tour. We had a great summer. There were a lot of ups and downs, but life with us is always an adventure!

Slacker

We ran into one of Brian's co-workers the other day and she mentioned that I had been slacking on my blog. I must admit, it's true.

So, to the three or four of you outside of our family that read this...I'm sorry. Things have been more than a little crazy around here.

This summer has been filled with stress and fun. Cole has been having a lot of long seizures lately and we found that he is having around 100 small ones a day. I'd be lying if I didn't say Bri and I have been really worried. Lately, after a 30 minute grand-mal and an ambulance ride to Primary Children's; we decided to put Cole on some new medication. We are also starting a new treatment, neurofeedback, and are very hopeful that it will decrease the number of small seizures. My health hasn't been top notch either. We're pulling it together, but things have been kind of day-to-day. Not a lot of time for blogging.

We went on a couple of trips this summer during our break from school. We had a lot of fun with our families and had a little hiatus with just the three of us in San Diego. Now we're back to real life. We are mourning the passing of summer, especially Cole. That kid LOVES to be outside. It started snowing the other day when we were on our way to the hospital for neurofeedback. It was just depressing. Any ideas on keeping a 20 month old entertained during the winter??

Cole has been up to his mischievous ways. I still can't leave him alone for a minute. This is how I found him the other day.I'm not sure if he had a desire to be an Indian warrior, or what...

Yep. That's my favorite lipstick. They don't make that color anymore. Even after I scrubbed him down, he still had sparkles all over. They wouldn't come off until the next day. Life is always an adventure with this little guy.

I'll try and get a few posts together and document some of the fun we had this summer. We just have to pretend that we had autumn, even if it was only for three days. I'm looking forward to Halloween though. Cole is going to be a chicken.We thought it was perfect for the kid that says, "Bawk bok" when he wants something!