Oh.My.Gosh. Look at my BABY girl!
Monday, October 10, 2011
2011 Dance Pics
We haven't had good dance pictures in years so this year we splurged and had them taken.
Oh.My.Gosh. Look at my BABY girl!
Oh.My.Gosh. Look at my BABY girl!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Ode to my Odyssey
She has failed me again.
This picture was taken somewhere between home and vacation. Really! Ipod in my ears, Dr. Pepper nearby, children and B occupied, Jason and Mom sleeping, the road was mine to drive. That is until the car made a slight jump and speedometer dropped. Without panicking, I slowly made my way to an exit and pulled into a gas station where my car officially died. Only could God have guided the car off the highway and into a safe area (okay, so "safe" is used loosely). We determined, by we I do mean Jason, that the transmission had died. We posted a frantic Facebook call for anyone to come get our crew of 7 and all our weekend's luggage. It was asking alot but what other choice did we have?
So we waited and waited and waited. We made a few walking trips to the Dollar General next door and hung out on the curb of the highway's service road. Not fun. Did I mention yet this was in August, right in the middle of record breaking high temperatures here in Texas? What's 110 degrees and sitting outside a few feet from tar side streets?
While we tried to hitch a ride, Jason was working on a tow truck that was willing to make the drive from Forney to the middle of nowhere and back to Forney. Success! My uncle and cousin came to our rescue and we were able to bring most of our luggage with us. Jason stayed with the tow truck driver.
Hours later, Jason and I are back at home contemplating what to do next. My mom and sister took two of the kids and made the drive back to the family reunion/vacation without us. I think they finally arrive at 1am the following day?!!
We make a decision on where to have the transmission fixed which took a full week. Get that taken care of only to drive the car to it's next stop to fix the timing belt, again another 3 days. Pick up the Odyssey and drive it home to learn the battery is dead and needs to be replaced. Frustrated, we get it fixed and keep our fingers crossed that it will decide to drive properly. After this, we've somewhat grown used to being a one-car family so why not take it in to the dealership for it's warranty repair. While there, we find out there are TWO warranty repairs that need to be done and it will need to stay overnight.
Of course this is becoming comical, or extremely frustrating, depending on the minute of the day. We get the Odyssey picked up... again. At this point, we've invested more than we had planned into the car. We aren't sure if we even want to keep it but being free of any car payments. If we decide to sell it, we need the cracked windshield replaced. And what the heck, why not just fix the windshield too! So we get that taken care of. While we're racking up a fine bill on our once empty credit card, let's fix the dent in the back too. Now we can pretend it's a brand new car!
No lie, just days after this, we have a headlight out. Such a minor thing and a cheap fix, but it's no longer comical. We're seriously considering our safety in this car that's only 6 years old.
I would say ALL of this work was done over a 4 week period of time. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not have a vehicle with 3 kids, their school and activities? Near impossible without the help of friends and family!
Just this past week, I went out to take Cameron to school, and the car is dead. Like dead as in, it won't even move to neutral kind of dead. I call Jason because what else would a girl do? He comes home that evening and once again, God on our side through MUCH prayer, the connection from the battery to the car had become loose. Again, quick and free fix. Just the headache.
For today, the Odyssey is driving nicely, almost brand new really!
Here is a picture of us trying to move the car at the gas station when it first died. I took a moment to take this pic while they were pushing. I got in trouble, imagine that! I told him I was still steering!!
This picture was taken somewhere between home and vacation. Really! Ipod in my ears, Dr. Pepper nearby, children and B occupied, Jason and Mom sleeping, the road was mine to drive. That is until the car made a slight jump and speedometer dropped. Without panicking, I slowly made my way to an exit and pulled into a gas station where my car officially died. Only could God have guided the car off the highway and into a safe area (okay, so "safe" is used loosely). We determined, by we I do mean Jason, that the transmission had died. We posted a frantic Facebook call for anyone to come get our crew of 7 and all our weekend's luggage. It was asking alot but what other choice did we have?
So we waited and waited and waited. We made a few walking trips to the Dollar General next door and hung out on the curb of the highway's service road. Not fun. Did I mention yet this was in August, right in the middle of record breaking high temperatures here in Texas? What's 110 degrees and sitting outside a few feet from tar side streets?
While we tried to hitch a ride, Jason was working on a tow truck that was willing to make the drive from Forney to the middle of nowhere and back to Forney. Success! My uncle and cousin came to our rescue and we were able to bring most of our luggage with us. Jason stayed with the tow truck driver.
Hours later, Jason and I are back at home contemplating what to do next. My mom and sister took two of the kids and made the drive back to the family reunion/vacation without us. I think they finally arrive at 1am the following day?!!
We make a decision on where to have the transmission fixed which took a full week. Get that taken care of only to drive the car to it's next stop to fix the timing belt, again another 3 days. Pick up the Odyssey and drive it home to learn the battery is dead and needs to be replaced. Frustrated, we get it fixed and keep our fingers crossed that it will decide to drive properly. After this, we've somewhat grown used to being a one-car family so why not take it in to the dealership for it's warranty repair. While there, we find out there are TWO warranty repairs that need to be done and it will need to stay overnight.
Of course this is becoming comical, or extremely frustrating, depending on the minute of the day. We get the Odyssey picked up... again. At this point, we've invested more than we had planned into the car. We aren't sure if we even want to keep it but being free of any car payments. If we decide to sell it, we need the cracked windshield replaced. And what the heck, why not just fix the windshield too! So we get that taken care of. While we're racking up a fine bill on our once empty credit card, let's fix the dent in the back too. Now we can pretend it's a brand new car!
No lie, just days after this, we have a headlight out. Such a minor thing and a cheap fix, but it's no longer comical. We're seriously considering our safety in this car that's only 6 years old.
I would say ALL of this work was done over a 4 week period of time. Do you have any idea how hard it is to not have a vehicle with 3 kids, their school and activities? Near impossible without the help of friends and family!
Just this past week, I went out to take Cameron to school, and the car is dead. Like dead as in, it won't even move to neutral kind of dead. I call Jason because what else would a girl do? He comes home that evening and once again, God on our side through MUCH prayer, the connection from the battery to the car had become loose. Again, quick and free fix. Just the headache.
For today, the Odyssey is driving nicely, almost brand new really!
Here is a picture of us trying to move the car at the gas station when it first died. I took a moment to take this pic while they were pushing. I got in trouble, imagine that! I told him I was still steering!!
Time to go yet?
This is what happens when you take both boys and their Daddy to a sporting goods store. Jason and Cameron had plain shopped far too long. At this point in our trip, I was testing out a nice chair and looked up to see Colton like this...
I took this pic, sent it to Jason (wherever he may have been in the store) and asked him if it was time to go yet? For future reference, this DID NOT make them shop any faster!
I took this pic, sent it to Jason (wherever he may have been in the store) and asked him if it was time to go yet? For future reference, this DID NOT make them shop any faster!
Driving Ms. Daisy
So much happens when you neglect your blog... or is it, you neglect the blog when so much is happening?
Mom had her shoulder surgery yesterday. The doctor had originally told us it would take 1-1.5 hours but it took 3.5 hours. Needless to say, I was anxious to hear how she was doing. The surgery went well, nothing unexpected occurred, he is hopeful she will feel decent again. Mom will have to take an Injury Reserved status as a pitcher with the Texas Rangers. She's sad about that but glad to have an end in sight to the pain. They have said this will be about a 6 month recovery process, but again we look ahead to the end goal and and stay strong in our faith that He will provide knowledge to those providing her care and faith in the one and only true Healer.
Since her visit to the hospital in August, we've tried to limit her driving as much as possible, for her benefit mostly. She hasn't felt well and has limited mobility in her shoulder (if any at times). Because of this, we know say we're driving Ms. Daisy around. She does sit up front and doesn't have too much to say about others' driving. But she has no problem telling you where she needs to go! The other day she mentioned stopping somewhere and I told her we really didn't NEED to get out. Her reply was, "Well you've got to get me out anyway!" in her most sassy Momma voice. She claims there was no sass in her voice, I most definitely heard it!
For now, our plan is for me to take care of her during the day and for Grannie to take care of her night. This still gives Grannie her volunteering time, which she very much loves and needs. She's doing well at home, resting as comfortably as possible, is staying on top of her pain meds too. It's different taking care of your Momma when you're so used to her being the one to take care of you. I love her so!!
Interesting moment at the surgery center.... I wore my Africa shirt to have B with us but even better was Mom's recovery nurse; she talked and said some of the exact same things B says, like, "true story!" We enjoyed her company! She was a great nurse of course but it was a small time of pretending our B was with us.
Mom had her shoulder surgery yesterday. The doctor had originally told us it would take 1-1.5 hours but it took 3.5 hours. Needless to say, I was anxious to hear how she was doing. The surgery went well, nothing unexpected occurred, he is hopeful she will feel decent again. Mom will have to take an Injury Reserved status as a pitcher with the Texas Rangers. She's sad about that but glad to have an end in sight to the pain. They have said this will be about a 6 month recovery process, but again we look ahead to the end goal and and stay strong in our faith that He will provide knowledge to those providing her care and faith in the one and only true Healer.
Since her visit to the hospital in August, we've tried to limit her driving as much as possible, for her benefit mostly. She hasn't felt well and has limited mobility in her shoulder (if any at times). Because of this, we know say we're driving Ms. Daisy around. She does sit up front and doesn't have too much to say about others' driving. But she has no problem telling you where she needs to go! The other day she mentioned stopping somewhere and I told her we really didn't NEED to get out. Her reply was, "Well you've got to get me out anyway!" in her most sassy Momma voice. She claims there was no sass in her voice, I most definitely heard it!
For now, our plan is for me to take care of her during the day and for Grannie to take care of her night. This still gives Grannie her volunteering time, which she very much loves and needs. She's doing well at home, resting as comfortably as possible, is staying on top of her pain meds too. It's different taking care of your Momma when you're so used to her being the one to take care of you. I love her so!!
Interesting moment at the surgery center.... I wore my Africa shirt to have B with us but even better was Mom's recovery nurse; she talked and said some of the exact same things B says, like, "true story!" We enjoyed her company! She was a great nurse of course but it was a small time of pretending our B was with us.
Friday, September 2, 2011
My Heart is in Africa
Today, I left a piece of my heart at DFW Airport and headed to Africa. My sister left this morning for a 3 1/2 month mission trip to Kenya, Africa. I love her sooo much! I cannot believe our family is starting a 103 day journey without her. Courtnie has cried solid the last 3 days. The kids have asked questions I wasn't quite ready to answer. Some of those questions are some that I've asked myself.
Breanne, I LOVE YOU! I know you are answering the call, I know God will be with you always and I know you will do great things in His name. I am so proud of you - brave, loving, full or mercy and excitement. I've never seen someone who is about to leave everything they've ever known to be so excited to sleep in a one man tent, having no idea what food you will be served, no idea where you will lay your head at night, with only a handful of clothes and so many medicines to keep you healthy. You've never once expressed fear for the unknown, you just simply answered the call. Wow! You never cease to amaze me. You are a fine woman of God, a true example of Christ. I am proud of you!!
I can only imagine what this next journey will be like. It is my prayer you have an incredible, life changing experience. I LOVE YOU SISTER!!
Breanne, I LOVE YOU! I know you are answering the call, I know God will be with you always and I know you will do great things in His name. I am so proud of you - brave, loving, full or mercy and excitement. I've never seen someone who is about to leave everything they've ever known to be so excited to sleep in a one man tent, having no idea what food you will be served, no idea where you will lay your head at night, with only a handful of clothes and so many medicines to keep you healthy. You've never once expressed fear for the unknown, you just simply answered the call. Wow! You never cease to amaze me. You are a fine woman of God, a true example of Christ. I am proud of you!!
I can only imagine what this next journey will be like. It is my prayer you have an incredible, life changing experience. I LOVE YOU SISTER!!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Pain Scale MAXED OUT
Early afternoon on Tuesday, August 16, 2011, my sister called me and told me that Mom's chest and arms were hurting and she was taking her to the hospital, Presbyterian Rockwall. I took care of some business at home, made sure my own children were taken care of and got to the hospital the very same time my mom and sister arrived.
Because of her past heart problems, they immediately set her up on the heart monitors and drew blood to check her enzyme levels. On the pain scale, her right shoulder's pain level was a 9 and her left arm was a 7. Her first set of blood work came back normal, no apparent heart problems, but things may change as time moves on. They decided at that time to keep her overnight so they could watch her enzyme levels. Mom threw up half the night because the pain was that intense. They couldn't get a pain medicine to work properly or the nausea meds to kick in so it was a fun night all around for her.
The next morning they performed an echocardiogram, a sonogram of the heart. They then determined that her arms and chest pain were not related to the heart, but from her right shoulder. Her cardiologist released her at that time. We did however contact an orthopedic doctor who agreed to see her while she was in the hospital and in so much pain. He kept her overnight again and requested an MRI first thing the following morning. We personally saw him text the floor doctor, whom I now refer to as Dr. Malarkey (it rhymes with her last name, which I do not know how to say, and since she seems to be such a moron, this just fits nicely) and tell her to keep Mom overnight, to have the MRI done first thing in the morning, and have the results in his office before her 2pm appointment.
I woke up to a missed call and a text message from Breanne that said, "nurse said cardiologist called and put mom back on npo and will be in later this morning". Her next text said, "bring your stuff. if mom stays again tonight you're staying with her." I get the kids somewhat taken care of once again, wash my face and brush my teeth and head back to the hospital.
Breanne calls me on the way to tell me the MRI still hadn't been scheduled and it appears no one has any idea why Mom is still in the hospital. I just so happened to be walking into the hospital at that very moment and had me a nice little chat with the Director of Nursing. She pulled me aside, listened to my story and we went straight upstairs. She got to the nurses station and told me she'd be in our room in a minute. It wasn't but a few seconds later she walks in with the floor doctor and Mom's nurse. Of course we all stared blankly at the floor doctor, Dr. Malarkey, with all her excuses of why she didn't order the MRI. The Director of Nursing says she scheduled the MRI of Mom's shoulder at Noon and she was to be wheeled down there and have the MRI started not a minute past Noon. Apparently, because the MRI wasn't on the schedule, her cardiologist assumed she had either stayed or returned with heart problems, ordered her NPO (nothing by mouth) and had further invasive heart procedures in the works. If Dr. Malarkey had done her job, the mess with the cardiologist could have been prevented. We speak one more time with the cardiologist, because Mom's left arm is completely numb, who has now been informed why her patient is still in the hospital, and she talks to Mom and tells them to go ahead and order a c-span (MRI of the spine) while she is already there having her shoulder looked at. She truly believes the pain from her shoulder is shooting to her left arm and wants her spine looked at as well. Sure, why not? We've been here this long!
Apparently, this Director of Nursing can put the staff in their place with in seconds. She had the staff in tip-top shape and Mom's care was at the top of the list. She gave me her card AND cell phone number and told me to call her again if we needed her. She did this very vocally in front of the floor doctor. She also called and told them to take her back for her MRI, get the results in Mom's hand immediately after and to make sure we were on time for her 2pm appointment.
As Mom is getting anxious to escape this wonderful place, she notices that one of her heart monitors was folded over and not sticking to her skin. Not knowing how long this has been this way and after being repeatedly told she HAD to have the heart monitors on since she was in the telemetry unit, Mom decides to take it upon herself to take ALL of the monitors off. We patiently wait for the staff to rush in because the monitors would be beeping, in fear that she has literally just crashed, when we realize they clearly have not been monitoring her heart. No one comes in to check on her! Nothing is beeping! How long has she not been being monitored you ask? We'd like to know as well. Remember, their first priority is heart complications from heart disease (not her shoulder pain) and she is in the telemetry unit because they want her heart monitored at all times.
We get down to radiology, and I put in a phone call to the Director of Nursing again. Poor woman! I tell her about my mother's defiant moment and the heart monitors and stress once again the lack of care for a heart patient. What a blessing she wasn't having heart problems! As I get off the phone I look down to see Mom and Breanne looking defeated once more. No fear, Dr. Malarkey pulled through for us again! She CANCELLED the MRI of the shoulder when she ordered the c-span. Really? We NEED the shoulder MRI to move forward! We have an appointment with the Orthopedic at 2pm!
Back to the phone I go with my new friend, the Director of Nursing, who I've come to refer to on a first name basis now, with her cell phone number in hand. I explain to her AGAIN how Dr. Malarkey (yes, I called her exactly that) dropped the ball yet again. She was not happy, again. Before meeting us down in Radiology, she called the Orthopedic office, explained our tardiness and ordered both MRI's to be done asap. Of course all of this takes time and since both MRI's cannot be done together, this is going to take extra time and we are now going to be late for the orthopedic appointment.
I also added some other issues to the Director of Nursing's attention: the fact that housekeeping emptied trashes one night at 12:45am. You already get very little sleep with techs and nurses coming in every hour. Does the trash really need to be emptied at that particular time? Or how the tech put the blood pressure cuff on top of Mom's IV. Wow! Thanks to Breanne for saying something to him or that would have been a disastrous mess. This same tech couldn't understand why Mom had gone potty every hour in the middle of the night. The poor woman wants to sleep already and she's been NPO for days at this point! And why on earth does the food staff bring her food when she is NPO? And do you know how long we asked for a bracelet to remind everyone she is allergic to morphine? We asked in the ER, we asked Dr. Malarkey and her first nurse when she was moved to her first room. It wasn't until the second day and her second nurse that they finally acknowledged her morphine allergy!
I digress.
We finally get them done, get the results in her hand and head straight to the orthopedic appointment. The doctor is looking at the scans of Mom's shoulder and spine and I wish I had taken a picture. He had his elbow on the desk, head in his hand. He said her shoulder LOOKS like it has been injured for 5 years, if not more. That her rotator cuff is completely shattered and possibly beyond repair. He said she has 2 herniated disks in her neck that are causing the pain and numbness in her left arm. We were all shocked by this because she hasn't had any neck or back pain.
Alas, we have some answers! They concluded that she will start a 6 week therapy program in hopes that this helps both her shoulder and the herniated disks. If it doesn't, at the very least, this will have strengthen her muscles for a possible surgery. The orthopedic surgeon isn't hopeful about repairing the rotator cuff but I'm guessing a shoulder replacement may be possible.
As of today, Mom is home and still in lots of pain but not like the pain that first brought her to the hospital. She starts physical therapy this week, twice a week. We should know more as time moves forward but for now we are sooooo thankful all of this was not a heart problem.
I love you Mom!!!
Because of her past heart problems, they immediately set her up on the heart monitors and drew blood to check her enzyme levels. On the pain scale, her right shoulder's pain level was a 9 and her left arm was a 7. Her first set of blood work came back normal, no apparent heart problems, but things may change as time moves on. They decided at that time to keep her overnight so they could watch her enzyme levels. Mom threw up half the night because the pain was that intense. They couldn't get a pain medicine to work properly or the nausea meds to kick in so it was a fun night all around for her.
The next morning they performed an echocardiogram, a sonogram of the heart. They then determined that her arms and chest pain were not related to the heart, but from her right shoulder. Her cardiologist released her at that time. We did however contact an orthopedic doctor who agreed to see her while she was in the hospital and in so much pain. He kept her overnight again and requested an MRI first thing the following morning. We personally saw him text the floor doctor, whom I now refer to as Dr. Malarkey (it rhymes with her last name, which I do not know how to say, and since she seems to be such a moron, this just fits nicely) and tell her to keep Mom overnight, to have the MRI done first thing in the morning, and have the results in his office before her 2pm appointment.
I woke up to a missed call and a text message from Breanne that said, "nurse said cardiologist called and put mom back on npo and will be in later this morning". Her next text said, "bring your stuff. if mom stays again tonight you're staying with her." I get the kids somewhat taken care of once again, wash my face and brush my teeth and head back to the hospital.
Breanne calls me on the way to tell me the MRI still hadn't been scheduled and it appears no one has any idea why Mom is still in the hospital. I just so happened to be walking into the hospital at that very moment and had me a nice little chat with the Director of Nursing. She pulled me aside, listened to my story and we went straight upstairs. She got to the nurses station and told me she'd be in our room in a minute. It wasn't but a few seconds later she walks in with the floor doctor and Mom's nurse. Of course we all stared blankly at the floor doctor, Dr. Malarkey, with all her excuses of why she didn't order the MRI. The Director of Nursing says she scheduled the MRI of Mom's shoulder at Noon and she was to be wheeled down there and have the MRI started not a minute past Noon. Apparently, because the MRI wasn't on the schedule, her cardiologist assumed she had either stayed or returned with heart problems, ordered her NPO (nothing by mouth) and had further invasive heart procedures in the works. If Dr. Malarkey had done her job, the mess with the cardiologist could have been prevented. We speak one more time with the cardiologist, because Mom's left arm is completely numb, who has now been informed why her patient is still in the hospital, and she talks to Mom and tells them to go ahead and order a c-span (MRI of the spine) while she is already there having her shoulder looked at. She truly believes the pain from her shoulder is shooting to her left arm and wants her spine looked at as well. Sure, why not? We've been here this long!
Apparently, this Director of Nursing can put the staff in their place with in seconds. She had the staff in tip-top shape and Mom's care was at the top of the list. She gave me her card AND cell phone number and told me to call her again if we needed her. She did this very vocally in front of the floor doctor. She also called and told them to take her back for her MRI, get the results in Mom's hand immediately after and to make sure we were on time for her 2pm appointment.
As Mom is getting anxious to escape this wonderful place, she notices that one of her heart monitors was folded over and not sticking to her skin. Not knowing how long this has been this way and after being repeatedly told she HAD to have the heart monitors on since she was in the telemetry unit, Mom decides to take it upon herself to take ALL of the monitors off. We patiently wait for the staff to rush in because the monitors would be beeping, in fear that she has literally just crashed, when we realize they clearly have not been monitoring her heart. No one comes in to check on her! Nothing is beeping! How long has she not been being monitored you ask? We'd like to know as well. Remember, their first priority is heart complications from heart disease (not her shoulder pain) and she is in the telemetry unit because they want her heart monitored at all times.
We get down to radiology, and I put in a phone call to the Director of Nursing again. Poor woman! I tell her about my mother's defiant moment and the heart monitors and stress once again the lack of care for a heart patient. What a blessing she wasn't having heart problems! As I get off the phone I look down to see Mom and Breanne looking defeated once more. No fear, Dr. Malarkey pulled through for us again! She CANCELLED the MRI of the shoulder when she ordered the c-span. Really? We NEED the shoulder MRI to move forward! We have an appointment with the Orthopedic at 2pm!
Back to the phone I go with my new friend, the Director of Nursing, who I've come to refer to on a first name basis now, with her cell phone number in hand. I explain to her AGAIN how Dr. Malarkey (yes, I called her exactly that) dropped the ball yet again. She was not happy, again. Before meeting us down in Radiology, she called the Orthopedic office, explained our tardiness and ordered both MRI's to be done asap. Of course all of this takes time and since both MRI's cannot be done together, this is going to take extra time and we are now going to be late for the orthopedic appointment.
I also added some other issues to the Director of Nursing's attention: the fact that housekeeping emptied trashes one night at 12:45am. You already get very little sleep with techs and nurses coming in every hour. Does the trash really need to be emptied at that particular time? Or how the tech put the blood pressure cuff on top of Mom's IV. Wow! Thanks to Breanne for saying something to him or that would have been a disastrous mess. This same tech couldn't understand why Mom had gone potty every hour in the middle of the night. The poor woman wants to sleep already and she's been NPO for days at this point! And why on earth does the food staff bring her food when she is NPO? And do you know how long we asked for a bracelet to remind everyone she is allergic to morphine? We asked in the ER, we asked Dr. Malarkey and her first nurse when she was moved to her first room. It wasn't until the second day and her second nurse that they finally acknowledged her morphine allergy!
I digress.
We finally get them done, get the results in her hand and head straight to the orthopedic appointment. The doctor is looking at the scans of Mom's shoulder and spine and I wish I had taken a picture. He had his elbow on the desk, head in his hand. He said her shoulder LOOKS like it has been injured for 5 years, if not more. That her rotator cuff is completely shattered and possibly beyond repair. He said she has 2 herniated disks in her neck that are causing the pain and numbness in her left arm. We were all shocked by this because she hasn't had any neck or back pain.
Alas, we have some answers! They concluded that she will start a 6 week therapy program in hopes that this helps both her shoulder and the herniated disks. If it doesn't, at the very least, this will have strengthen her muscles for a possible surgery. The orthopedic surgeon isn't hopeful about repairing the rotator cuff but I'm guessing a shoulder replacement may be possible.
As of today, Mom is home and still in lots of pain but not like the pain that first brought her to the hospital. She starts physical therapy this week, twice a week. We should know more as time moves forward but for now we are sooooo thankful all of this was not a heart problem.
I love you Mom!!!
Colton's Turn
This is a big season of sports for Colton. Well, for me too! This past Saturday, he had his first baseball practice. He hit from a thrown pitch, not a T. After that he had his first flag football game. Football. It's killing me all this growing up too fast thing! He actually has more going on this season than his older two siblings. No more are the days of us toting him around while he admires his brother and sister from the sidelines. They will be watching him this season!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
I've Trained Them Well
Imagine having an infant who nursed every 3 hours on the clock, a 3 year old who just wanted to check on you while you were sleeping and a 6 year old who was going through the "I had a bad dream" phase. I was one tired mama. Before all of this, I had spent countless days and nights in the hospital from preterm labor and was constantly being woken up from beeping monitors, nurses checking my blood pressure, medicine times, false labor, real labor, etc. As a new mom to 3, I needed some sleep already! I know the older two were probably coming to our room because I hadn't been home in so long and didn't have the words to express their concern but needed to see that we were all there together in our home. But I was one tired mama. I remember crying at night thinking I was never going to feel sane again.
Don't think negative of me, but it got to the point where I pretended to not hear them when they came to my side of the bed. Of course I heard my newborn and attended to his needs, but the other two were on their own!
What this did, unintentionally, was send my kids to Jason's side of the bed. Every time. Sadly, for him, they still go to his side of the bed and they are now 13 (almost), 10 and 6. He also lets them get in our bed; I do not. They learned that trick real fast! The rule still applies - this is my half of the bed, that is yours. You allowed said child to get in bed with you, the two of you can share your space.
I sound terrible, I know. But my sleep is important to me and is also very important to the well-being of my children. They don't want a mama whose sleep has been shafted; it just wouldn't be a pretty day!
This background leads me to tell you this.....
Last night I feel Jason leap out of bed. He didn't say anything, just jumped out of bed and left the room. I did ponder what exactly made him get out of bed in the middle of the night so quickly - I didn't hear the smoke detectors go off, I didn't hear children in our room, doorbell didn't ring, no phone calls, Oakley was still sleeping. But nothing made me curious enough to get out of bed. A bit later Jason must have come back in the room and he told me....
.... Colton had thrown up. WHAT? How, as this child's mother, had I not known he was sick? Why didn't my baby come and get me? My Colton was probably scared as he threw up all over the bathroom walls and cabinets, probably asking for his Mommy. Why didn't Jason come and get me? I could have at leats helped clean up. Something!
I thought about all of this while lieing in bed, then came to the realization that my children have learned to seek out their daddy in the middle of the night. This isn't a bad thing! I will deal with lots of vomit today, surely Jason can handle the night-time spew session. Right?
I've trained them all well and am SO proud of myself! Jason's a night owl AND a morning person, this is the perfect task for him! I need my sleep and this allows me to get the sleep this mama needs. Let's just call it back-sleep from all those sleepless nights of nursing infants, the nights I spent sitting upright in a rocking chair hoping for an ounce of sleep when my babies were sick, the nights of scrambling to their rooms in the middle of the night when someone cried out on their sleep. Let us not forget the ear infections, the bleeding nipples and pumping, RSV, middle of the night asthma attacks, the bumped heads and checking to make sure they were alive and especially the stomach bugs that I had surely gotten from my children.
I always had the theory that it was pointless for BOTH parents to be up at night. Why wake Jason when it was time for a baby to nurse? What was he going to do? He slept, I tended to the babies. That's how we operated.
My love, you have proven yourself to be an INCREDIBLE father, and I proudly pass the the night-time torch to you. Do not fear, I am not actually sleeping while you are tending to the children. I lie awake thinking of how proud I am of you. At one time, you didn't handle vomit very well. Last night, you were a CHAMP! You took Colton's temperature, cleaned up vomit from walls, counters, cabnets and drawers, calmed an upset child and put him back to sleep!! YOU ROCK!
Thank you for crawling back in bed to tell me, "Colton probably shouldn't be going to VBS tomorrow." I was wondering what to do when my baby has been throwing up?! I promise to check his temperature, love on him, and give him any medicine as he may need. As an added bonus, I'll even do his vomit laundry. If you'd like, I can even call you with regular updates!
I'm logging off for now. Very soon, I will hear the cries and whimpers of my youngest child. I can see a day of snuggles in my future :)
Thank you Jason for all your help, I LOVE YOU!
Don't think negative of me, but it got to the point where I pretended to not hear them when they came to my side of the bed. Of course I heard my newborn and attended to his needs, but the other two were on their own!
What this did, unintentionally, was send my kids to Jason's side of the bed. Every time. Sadly, for him, they still go to his side of the bed and they are now 13 (almost), 10 and 6. He also lets them get in our bed; I do not. They learned that trick real fast! The rule still applies - this is my half of the bed, that is yours. You allowed said child to get in bed with you, the two of you can share your space.
I sound terrible, I know. But my sleep is important to me and is also very important to the well-being of my children. They don't want a mama whose sleep has been shafted; it just wouldn't be a pretty day!
This background leads me to tell you this.....
Last night I feel Jason leap out of bed. He didn't say anything, just jumped out of bed and left the room. I did ponder what exactly made him get out of bed in the middle of the night so quickly - I didn't hear the smoke detectors go off, I didn't hear children in our room, doorbell didn't ring, no phone calls, Oakley was still sleeping. But nothing made me curious enough to get out of bed. A bit later Jason must have come back in the room and he told me....
.... Colton had thrown up. WHAT? How, as this child's mother, had I not known he was sick? Why didn't my baby come and get me? My Colton was probably scared as he threw up all over the bathroom walls and cabinets, probably asking for his Mommy. Why didn't Jason come and get me? I could have at leats helped clean up. Something!
I thought about all of this while lieing in bed, then came to the realization that my children have learned to seek out their daddy in the middle of the night. This isn't a bad thing! I will deal with lots of vomit today, surely Jason can handle the night-time spew session. Right?
I've trained them all well and am SO proud of myself! Jason's a night owl AND a morning person, this is the perfect task for him! I need my sleep and this allows me to get the sleep this mama needs. Let's just call it back-sleep from all those sleepless nights of nursing infants, the nights I spent sitting upright in a rocking chair hoping for an ounce of sleep when my babies were sick, the nights of scrambling to their rooms in the middle of the night when someone cried out on their sleep. Let us not forget the ear infections, the bleeding nipples and pumping, RSV, middle of the night asthma attacks, the bumped heads and checking to make sure they were alive and especially the stomach bugs that I had surely gotten from my children.
I always had the theory that it was pointless for BOTH parents to be up at night. Why wake Jason when it was time for a baby to nurse? What was he going to do? He slept, I tended to the babies. That's how we operated.
My love, you have proven yourself to be an INCREDIBLE father, and I proudly pass the the night-time torch to you. Do not fear, I am not actually sleeping while you are tending to the children. I lie awake thinking of how proud I am of you. At one time, you didn't handle vomit very well. Last night, you were a CHAMP! You took Colton's temperature, cleaned up vomit from walls, counters, cabnets and drawers, calmed an upset child and put him back to sleep!! YOU ROCK!
Thank you for crawling back in bed to tell me, "Colton probably shouldn't be going to VBS tomorrow." I was wondering what to do when my baby has been throwing up?! I promise to check his temperature, love on him, and give him any medicine as he may need. As an added bonus, I'll even do his vomit laundry. If you'd like, I can even call you with regular updates!
I'm logging off for now. Very soon, I will hear the cries and whimpers of my youngest child. I can see a day of snuggles in my future :)
Thank you Jason for all your help, I LOVE YOU!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Happy 10th Birthday Courtnie
This could officially be one of THE best birthday parties EVER!
To give some background on my opinion of birthday parties - I don't care to give them. They are money sucking, time consuming, very exhausting, feel-like-I-have-to events of the year... times three. I plan them at the very last minute, send invitations via email (don't hate, I haven't resorted to text invites yet), and make a homemade cake. I might buy birthday type paper goods but never any party favors.
Yep, I'm THAT mom.
I dread them. But alas, I always feel guilty and plan that impromptu birthday party. This year for Courtnie we swam at our neighborhood community pool. We swam until well past dark, came home to a cookie cake (picked out and purchased just hours before, which means FRESH), then shooed the girls upstairs for some quality girl time making flip flops. This event lasted for hours; I couldn't have been more thrilled and the girls LOVED it. They passed out, woke up to some donuts and home they went.
Seriously.... best birthday party ever! I added the cost in my head and came up with an estimated $60. What exactly did I spend money on for this event? Cookie cake, cups and plates, drinks, flip flops, a movie, flip flops, donuts and a balloon. I splurged on a balloon and didn't even get a picture of it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY sweet girl, I LOVE YOU!
Courtnie's Baptism
Our precious Courtnie Shea accepted Christ into her life fully believe in the Bible, Jesus' birth, life and death for her sins. She asked what baptism meant, why we are called to be baptised and asked specifically for our pastor to baptise her. She was VERY excited. Of course, Jason and I couldn't be anymore pleased with her choices. June 4, 2011 will forever be a special day for her.
Congratulations Courtnie for make THE most important decision of your life. You will forever have a place in heaven with your God.
Congratulations Courtnie for make THE most important decision of your life. You will forever have a place in heaven with your God.
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