Homecoming

Not for me of course, I'm far too old for that, but for my nephew Cody. He's such a great kid! I'd do just about anything for him! At any rate, Aunt Becky and I took him shopping last week for some new duds to wear and delivered them washed and ironed today, along with a corsage for his date and money for dinner with the fellas. Why did WE do this, don't ask, it's a long and not so pleasant story. At any rate, Cody looked handsome, his date adorable, and the fellas looked good too. So without futher ado, it's Cody, his date, Sarah, Zach (in black -- ha ha that rhymed!) and Jeremy in the teal vest.

Twinkle twinkle...

My girls and my niece Mallory put on an impromptu performance of "Twinkle Twinkle" tonight, complete with whisk/beater microphones. It needs no more introduction, enjoy!

Because...

He's not afraid to be "uncool" and let his silly side show. He won't be the next Eminem, but I'll keep him anyway.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

In a day and age where marriages don't always make it, I am proud to say that Jason and I have survived ten years of wedded bliss! I love him more today even than I did ten years ago! It was much warmer 10 years ago than it is today. Today is the day I would have like, low humidity, low temps. Ten years ago it was hot, humid and windy!!! Oh well, it all turned out just the same at any rate.

My wonderful husband came home with beautiful flowers today. They are gorgeous! He also brought home some donuts which I greatly appreciated as it is Friday and we've had waffles, cereal, toast, etc. so donuts were a welcome change. Lastly he brought ketchup! Most important of all the things in our house. We go through it quickly! My dad used to joke that he was just going to put a straw in it when I was growing up. Now I have 4 other ketchup lovers as well so it goes fast!

So I leave you with a picture of my anniversary "gifts". Oh and a picture of Alexis who actually wanted me to take her picture. This was her idea of what I meant when I said, "Make a pretty face!"

Happy Anniversary Jason I love you so much!!!! Here's to forty or fifty more!!!

Flowers:


Breakfast!


Liquid gold, uh I mean ketchup:


Alexis and her "pretty" face:

Happy Birthday!

To my dad! He turned 65 today! I called this morning and sang him "Happy Birthday" he probably wanted to run screaming from the phone to have his ears bandaged, but he suffered through. The littles each wished him a Happy Birthday as well, that was probalby much more enjoyable than my singing.

Jason had off-duty tonight before heading into work so it was just the girls and I. We went for a walk, played outside, had some dinner, played some toys, you know the standard. Bedtime was extended playtime too. Lots of singing, jumping, giggling, wiggling and bouncing around. **Sigh** Oh well, at nap time today they acutally just laid down and went to sleep. I guess I can't expect the planets to align twice in the same day.

New TV tonight. I 1/2 watched Survivor, I did DVR it though and will catch it later this week. I watched ER, well all but 10 minutes or so, and man was it sad. I still like that show so much. So sad it's the last season. I don't get to watch much TV uninterrupted and there's no point in DVR'ing too much because I don't have time to watch it. Jason only grumbles about me taking up too much space on the DVR with shows "you never watch".

Tomorrow is our 10-year anniversary. Wow! Ten years! That just seems impossible to me!!! Ten years of crappy shifts, intense work situations, laughs, tears, fun, sorrow, struggles, four beautiful daughters! I never could have imagined life like this ten years ago, Jason probably couldn't either.

Of course my husband is working off-duty before going in to work. So he'll sleep all day before getting up and around for that. On my anniversary I will probably spend 20-minutes with him, if that. **Sigh**

That's it for me! I am so glad tomorrow is Friday!

The Results Are In...

I survived the colonoscopy and everything is fine. I was given a clean bill of colon health and was told to have another one in 15-years! Ya hoo! No problem there! Not like I was going to schedule another one anytime soon.

The prep meds weren't bad. Other people have relayed to me the horrible stuff they had to drink before hand. Mine wasn't bad. I took 4 Dulcolax pills at 4pm. Then at 6pm I drank a 64oz. bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade that I had to mix with a 238 gram bottle of Miralax powder. That is tasteless so it was like drinking the Gatorade. Not too bad, except 64 oz. is A LOT! I got it all down though. So that chapter of my life is now closed. Thank goodness for sedation too! I was THRILLED to be able to eat again too! 32 hours without eating is a LONG time!!!!

On a funny note yesterday at dinner time I drank some chicken broth. It was part of my "clear liquid diet" and I thought it might take the edge off of being hungry and watching my family enjoy the dinner that I so thoughtfully made for them, even though I couldn't eat. Well I didn't finish it all and I had to go hide because my not-so-nice husband was taunting me as he ate his dinner so I retreated to the computer for a bit of cyber distraction. Kori brought me my cup of broth and said, "Here mommy I thought you'd like to finish your cup of chicken breath". Man was that funny! I chuckled a second before telling her the correct term was broth. Mind you, this is the same girl who a couple of weeks ago was performing "magic" tricks and during the course of her performance shouted "ABRA-CADAVER!" A magical dead body...awesome!

Prayers

We've been doing great with the trio getting settled down at bedtime for a while now so that we can actually read a bedtime story and say our prayers. Kamryn is so serious about it and it is so sweet!! I shot this video tonight and had to share.

I Should Be...

Enjoying a nice quiet lunch. Unfortunately that isn't the case, and won't be until aruond 6 or 7 tomorrow night. I am scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow and I am now on a liquid diet. FUN! NOT! I got to eat breakfast this morning (never my favorite meal) so I choked down some cereal and toast. (I was to avoid gravy, meat and donuts per my instructions that came via mail -- I was thinking a nice gravy filled donut topped with chopped meat sounds yummy!) At any rate I can now drink pretty much anything I want as long as it is clear. I am encouraged to drink 8oz. at least, every hour. I can have broth and jello (no red or purple please) which sounds oh so tasty! I did make myself a big bowl of orange jello (it's my fave!) to have for my "dinner" later. Oh man it's going to be rough! I have to take 4 Dulcolax pills at 4pm and then at 6pm start drinking Gatorade (64 oz) that has been mixed with 238 grams of Miralax powder. OH MY STARS! This doesn't sound fun and lucky for you I will spare you the gory details. Just know I am hungry now, I will be hungry later and I can't wait to get this over with. Any spare prayers you have would be GREATLY appreciated!

Trips...

To Iowa, to Urgent Care. It's been a busy week! Last Friday we headed off to Iowa after picking Kori up from school a bit early. We were headed up to a luncheon in honor of Jason's Grandpa Marvin that would be held on Saturday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but fun. We stayed in a hotel with a pool so Kori was thrilled to get to swim. I was still feeling yucky but was just glad to have traveled uneventfully.

Jason Grandpa Marvin was sooooo happy to see the girls again. With the exception of pictures he hasn't seen the girls since December. He proudly proclaimed to me, "the girls aren't afraid of me!" They sure weren't! Alexis played a mean game of catch with him with a balloon. It was nice to see them interact with him.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Kamryn:


Alexis & Daddy:


Kamryn:


Morgan:



Catch With Grandpa:



On Wednesday Jason was outside with the girls as they enjoyed the beautiful weather while I was chained to the stove. Oh, wait, I mean I was cooking dinner. He came in and said, "Uh, we've got a little blood here mommy". I turned to see Morgan with some blood on her hand and Jason was carrying her. I above freaked out when Jason took his very blood covered hand down and turned her around. The back of her shirt was bloody too. She fell off the back of their little ride on car and hit her head on the sidewalk, resulting in a laceration, a couple of knots and a superficial scratch. I got it cleaned up so I could see exactly what was bleeding. I decided to err on the side of caution and take her to urgent care. After an exam it was determined that there was no fracture or concussion and the laceration would be cleaned. They flushed it with a saline solution and then decided no staples would be needed. If she had been a boy they would have put 2-3 staples in, but since she's not and she will likely never shave her head, a small scar won't be a problem.

She's doing fine now and suffered no after effects from it all.

I felt her pain tonight as she bumped the wall and a picture fell off a shelf above the chair I was sitting it, striking me in the head. So I have a cut on the top of my head. Man did it hurt!!!

I have my colnocopy on Wednesday. Really NOT looking forward to that, but it is necessary. I am hoping for nothing to be discovered and to put all of this illness behind me.

On a good note on Wednesday I was given a clean bill of health by my ENT. No more visits and digging in my nose. Hooray!

So that's about it for us. Thought I'd better get to blogging before everyone gave up on me. I shall be more diligent about it now!

Alive

I am alive. After a HORRIBLE battle with Clostridum Difficile Colitis, or C-Diff, I am back. I don't know that I have ever been so sick in all my life. It is a bacterial infection of your intestines/colon. It apparently was caused due to the antibiotics that I was on for my post-op bacterial infection in my sinuses after surgery. The antibiotic killed the "good bacteria" in my system, which allowed the colitis to run rampant.

I am not one to give up, but Monday I informed Jason all his meetings/off-duty/regular work would have to be cancelled. I was in bed all day Monday, 3/4 of Tuesday,a good chunk of Wednesday after I returned from the doctor. Thursday I was certain I was not going to make it, but by evening time I was doing better.

We made it to Iowa on Friday/Saturday to celebrate Jason's grandpa Marvin's 90th birthday. Thankfully the drive up and back (4-hours each way) was uneventful and for that I'm grateful.

So I am around and will return to my "normal" life.

I will be MIA

Pardon the interruption but I will be absent due to illness. I apparently decided I should catch some awful virus. So I'm fevering, freezing, aching, and other things. I can't remember feeling worse for some time!

Praying hard Jason and he girls are spared. I will return when I am feeling better.

C-R-A-Z-Y

Do you ever have one of those days when you ask God if he's with you or against you? Man I've had SEVERAL this week! The little girls have colds and are less than pleasant. They are stubborn too. There are times I know I must say the same thing a million times. You'd think by now we'd know we don't hit when we're frustrated, jump off the ottoman onto the chair, sit on the back of our booster chairs instead of the seat when eating, take off our clothes when we're supposed to be napping/playing, and a million other no-nos. Sigh. Two year olds are tough.

I'm tired of nights and Jason is tired of nights and tired of his boss. Complaining does no good so I will spare you.

My parents are still doing poorly. My mom will be seeing and Orthopedic doctor for consult on a possible knee and/or hip replacement. My dad is still feeling poorly but doesn't have pneumonia. He did have some strange blood work come back so I took him today to have that redone. Hoping the results are better next time. I took him to run a few errands too while we were out. They are hesitant to ask for help, which is frustrating, but I have to learn to just go there and muscle my way into them letting me help.

I changed the sheets on my mom's bed today which made her feel good. It's tough to see her sad and hurting so much that she's reduced to tears on several occasions. My mom has always been TOUGH, this is really keeping her spirits down. The two of them are just a mess. Damn being an adult to ailing parents is tough.

Hugs to my sister Becky too. I won't air her business here, but just want her to know I am thinking about her. Life can be difficult sometimes and definitely not always fair.

Better go rest my voice box, lots of no, quit, don't and stops to get rested up for to be ready for tomorrow.

Love them two year olds!