Chihuahua Berry Farms Update

I haven't done an update on our garden in a long time!

It's grown so much!

And thanks D, for getting me in the pic. :)

Check out the okra!

We've had 4 okra come from our plant.

Can you see all of the others coming out?

And our bell pepper! It still needs to turn yellow.

And look we FINALLY have cucumbers!

They are just popping up all over. It's amazing to see them grow!

This is one of the biggest ones right now.

This garden box is holding our carrots, beneficial wildflowers

and beets--yuck!

And here's our one lemon--we think.

D planted two trees, 1 lemon and 1 lime. It was clear before (based on the tag) which tree was which, but because this citrus isn't turning yellow we're not sure if it's a lime after all.

And this is the garden chart D made, it shows where every plant is.

Unfortunately, some plants died and had to be removed.

Note: Despite the name of our garden, we are currently not growing any berries. ;)

2 years ago today

It's hard to believe that 2 years ago, today, we arrived to our new house in Houston. What we didn't know was that the next 2 years would be a total nightmare, in regards to this house.

An update on the house situation:

Awhile back I had blogged about it here and here.

We've been in talks with lawyers for over a year, trying to get this whole situation resolved with the builder. In Texas you can't just sue the builder, you first have to take it to the TRCC (texas residential construction commission). An inspector comes out and determines if something is a defect or not. The builder then has the right to make the changes.

After the TRCC inspector reported and found that 35 out of the 39 items had to be repaired, we thought that would be it. However, the builder never made an effort to make these changes.

Our lawyer sent the builder and his lawyer a demand letter and they had 15 days to respond to our demands. They did not respond and the builder has made no further attempts to resolve this and will be served.

There have been other leaks that we discovered after Tropical Storm Edouard.

I hate that we're still involved in this whole mess and I just want it to be over.

The past 2 years have flown by and I miss California more and more each day.

A few pics from the day we left (August 23, 2006). My mom was in the passenger side of the moving truck, taking pics as we drove off.

Goodbye Cali...we'll be back soon!

Esopha what?

D had his scope procedure this afternoon. The name of the procedure is Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Yeah say that 3 times, fast.

The doctor told D that he didn't see anything suspicious or any precancerous lesions caused by his acid reflux. That was great to hear! However, he did notice that D had a lot of fluid/acid in his stomach and said he thinks D's stomach may not be dissolving things properly, but didn't seem to think it was a big deal. He wants to see D in 2 weeks. I hope to find out more from that appointment.

Another trip to the ER

On Saturday, D was sitting on the couch and was getting up to go to the bathroom when he felt a pain in his chest. He went to the bathroom, came out and said he was feeling faint and he broke out in a cold sweat. He felt weak. He laid on the couch for a bit and then we decided to take him to the ER.

If you remember, the last time he went to the ER was in Jan and in June '07 he was admitted to the hospital. I've got to admit, this weekend I was thinking my husband was a hypochondriac.

In the ER, they did an EKG and did a chest x-ray and they both came out fine. His blood work came back good. They didn't know what had happened, but were going to release him. Then his blood pressure dropped really low (between sitting and standing) and they didn't want to risk sending him home. He also began feeling really faint and light-headed again.

They decided to keep him overnight for observations so they admitted him. They started an I.V. His blood pressure continued to vary quite a bit between sitting and standing or lying and sitting up. The cardiologist came by and they wanted to do an ultrasound on D, but the technician wasn't available until Monday.

The nurses came in every 4 hours to check his blood pressure and took his blood in the middle of the night. The reason they were taking so much blood was so they could rule out an embolism.

D doesn't do well when his blood is taken, he feels very faint and breaks into a cold sweat. As they're taking his blood, I'm thinking this can't be good for his blood pressure because of how he reacts to his blood being taken.

We hoped that his blood pressure would improve enough for us to go home Sunday morning and then come back for the ultrasound and possibly an echocardiogram.

His blood work from overnight looked fine. The doctor reported no sign of an embolism!

Another concern is scar tissue around his heart. Back in 2001, D had pericarditis (an inflammation of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart) that was brought on by an infection. We're hoping that with his cardiologist appointment in a few weeks will also rule this out!

On Sunday afternoon there was no drastic change in his blood pressure! The cardiologist decided he would release him from the hospital. He's thinking D's chest pain really scared D and then he freaked out (there is a medical term for this) and that may have been what brought on feeling faint, sweats and his blood pressure dropping.

Nurse Christy is thinking it could have been something with digestion. There is a digestive tube near the heart that often leads people to believe they are having a heart attack. And since we've been home, I've noticed D is burping a lot more frequently than he ever has before. We have a follow-up appointment with his primary care physician tomorrow. I hope we find an answer soon and I hope for no more hospital visits!

The happiest day of my life!

I'm so happy with the way our wedding pictures turned out! It really captures how beautiful our wedding day was and it takes me back to the happiest day of my life. I love our pictures! Much love to our photographer, Michele Pappalardo!

Here are just a few of my favorites. Below you will find a link to the rest of the pics.

My gorgeous bouquet. I was so happy I was able to have peonies!

D's cufflinks (with pics of Baby Dan and Sissy)

My handsome hubby!

Our rings, ring orb and D's vows

Rose petals being tossed

So much spinning, we were pretty dizzy!

Mmmm cappuccino!

Ah, the beautiful Amalfi Coast!

If you would like to see more fabulous pictures of our perfect wedding, go to this website.:)