This post will be brief - Lily is sitting on my lap 'helping'!



Lily's handprint at 2 years 3 weeks old in the Playdoh that my older sister Liz made for Lily for her birthday. No craft time is complete without it!

Yes - This is Lily drinking her apple juice in a fish cup cooler.

Lily's Great Grandma Wolfe 'Grandmama' made Lily this beautiful outfit. Thankfully, Lily was willing to take it off. Lily is known to wear Grandmama's knitted hats on June days!

Lily can ride her trike on her own!

Lily's first try at Twinnuts (a snack from France). From her face , you'd never know that she is addicted to them as we are. Merci Florence!


Mike, Lily and Lyle walking at the lake. Enjoy your week! I hope to have employment updates for myself in the next week. Mike starts his class at Guelph next week!

PPS

Life is getting back on track. On July 15th I had what some (mainly Doctors) believe to be a transient ischaemic attack a.k.a. a mini-stroke. I have undergone many tests and have met some new doctors in the past four weeks. Other then the 25 minutes on the 15th where I endured slurred speech, fatigue, an inability to find my words and a slight headache, I have been healthy. Today I had the final (at least for now) exploratory tests. I chose to share this one, 'cause its rather quite interesting! Echo Bubble test Patients suffering Transient Ischaemic attack, 'the bends' severe migraine with aura or Stroke, may have a 'hole in the heart' whereby blood clots or substances can pass from the right side of the heart (or low pressure system) to the brain without being filtered by the lungs. These defects can be small e.g. a 'patent foramen ovale' , or large - atrial septal defect. It is worth detecting these defects because they can now be closed without open heart surgery. Description: This test is designed to look for 'hole in the heart'. It is mildly invasive so the patient should give informed consent. A venflon cannula is placed in the right forearm. Three Ten mL syringes are filled with 0.9% normal saline. A fourth syringe containing 2 mL of air is used with a three way tap to agitate/mix the air into the saline in order to create a solution of micro bubbles that can be seen with ultrasound scanning. The patient is instructed to perform a valsalva procedure (nose closed, push down) and after practicing, lies in left lateral position so that the echo cardiographer can obtain a standard apical 4 chamber view of the heart. 10 mL of contrast is given to assess opacification of the right heart (while recording to video). 2 further shots are given during valsalva release (when the right atrial pressure rises above left atrial pressure). The amount of contrast passing into the left heart during this phase is recorded and classified as 0 - none 1- 0-15 per frame 2- 15-30 per frame 3 - >30 The venflon is then removed and patient can sit quietly for 10 minutes. Where large shunts occur, transient cerebral ischaemia have been reported occasionally. The Dr. was able to tell me that I don't have this hole that 1 out of 5 Canadians do. Everyone is born with this hole, however 80% of us have it grow in during the first year of life, 20% don't! For those of you wondering how I'm doing - mentally and physically I'm doing well. As one friend pointed out - I'm getting a physical that some Canadians don't enjoy until their 65! Another friend kindly states 'I, personally, think you'll be fine. I mean seriously, you're Pamela.' Mike is getting used to the idea that there has been a bleep in my health. It has taken him a while. I think it was just simply my reaction to turning 31 :-) In all seriousness, it could happen to a number of people, it just happened to happen to me. I take care in what I eat (chocolate IS a major food group), I take my Aspirin everyday, I hug Lily everyday and I kiss my husband. May you each hold your loved ones and let them know just how much they are loved. PPS.

When I get big I want to digital scrapbook like my cousin Leah! Check out what she did with the photos she took at Lily's party last weekend! You're a truly talented lady, Leah! xo

Surrounded by friends and family, Lily celebrated her 2nd birthday at the lake. Mike also wants to point out that Lily got the short end of the stick since her champagne birthday is when she's 2! (Champagne birthday refers to the birthday that falls on your birthdate. Lily turns two on Aug 2/08. My champagne birthday was when I turned 16 on July 16th... )


Lily loves her puddles!

Lily is LOVING her wand from Johnny! I'm loving the fact that Johnny picked up the one that had lights and no sound :-)

8 1/2 month old Sarah...

Liz and Sarah winding up for the pinata.


2 year old Lily and 21 month old Cora are checking out Mike's bubbles!

We started the pinata with the youngest and worked our way up. Poor Johnny never got a chance!

The wicked awesome pinata that my lovely and generous niece made Lily for her birthday. She even filled it!

Lily with her BUS cake from Nana. No cake from Nana would be complete unless it were a money cake!


Whalen and Cora. Yes, Cora did give Whalen the black eye when he attempted to take the snack table from her, and she let it go!

Lily is now 2! Wow, I seriously can't believe it! I'm still working on trimming down the 600 (seriously!) photos I took at her birthday to post. I'll be doing that next. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from our long holiday weekend!

Szala Family :-)

Mom is convinced she wants a kayak. Aunt Kate and Aunt Heather told her she couldn't go around the lake with them until she tipped it. I told her to relax, my first kayak tipping was 12 years ago in the Bay of Fundy!

My new do. My younger sister, Connie, wants to know when it'll grow in :-) Gotta love siblings!

My cousin Hana loving the bubbles!

A sincere thank you to the folks who gave my daughter the ring that made her tongue green!


Lily, her Mom (31 yrs) and her Great Grandma Pilon (80 yrs)

'No, Mama, I see! ' Lily's subtle way of telling me its her turn to look at the photos.

Nana, her lilies and her Lily Pod.

Lily loves the lake. She enjoys being to investigate everything and to discover cool, and often gooey things.

Lily and her daddy at the lake..