Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A Break

We had a nice weekend away. It was good to just relax and talk, hang out in the hot tub (once we got it working-the breaker was off!). We had a good time in Pigeon Forge. Did some shopping, a lot of sleeping, some wandering around Gatlinburg, mainly the arts and crafts area. We had a couple nice meals out-the Mill in Pigeon Forge and a really nice restaurant in Gatlinburg-whose name I can't remember! It was built around an old trout farm and was just awesome. I had grilled trout which was to die for as was the house speciality-chocolate cheesecake! The rest of the meals we made ourselves. I brought some food I had made/frozen and some ready to heat stuff, hotdogs and then tubes of cinnamon rolls/turnovers, pancake mix. It was great.

I missed the kids a lot more than I thought I would. I worried a lot about Mary. But they did fine and so did Heather and Ryan and Roger and Peggy! It was just so refreshing to wake up to nothing to do. No breakfast to make for little ones, no poopy diapers, just us.

Today I decided to get my but back in gear and get more serious about working out, loosing the lbs that have been creeping on since Mary's accident. So we hit the gym and I had a great workout. I think I have finally come to the realization that staying at my goal weight is going to be a struggle forever. And that's just the way it is.

On a happier note I was able to go and see Jacob and Jodi and their new baby this evening. They were still up when I was rounding down there and it was so precious to see them! I am so happy for them!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Make a wish...

I think Wesley and I are thoroughly D.O.N.E with kid b-day parties! We had the final one tonight (Mary's b-day) and after we had finished singing and she had blown out her candle she made us sing again! We got her some necklaces/bracelets as well as a snap n style baby (that I've had since Nov!). We had pizza and pink cake with the valentine's day sprinkles. She had a great time. Robert got a magnifying bug catcher complete with a fake spider from Roger and Peggy ("fider, fider" to quote Mary). It's gruesome, really and Robert LOVES it. The kids had been at Denee's all day and they spent most of it outside and by bedtime they were exhausted.

Speaking of Robert and bugs, he found a worm ("snake") in the sandbox this week and carried it around for a long time. He wanted to take it inside "to live" which I vetoed. So he talked to it and crooned "nice wormy, aren't you such a nice wormy, such a cute wormy" and passed it to Mary and then to me... oh my. Life with a boy!

Granny died this week and it's been sad. The family night is Sat and the funeral Monday. And Snoopy threw up 5 times in 3 days which has been hard. But things are looking a little better. We're going out of town next weekend which will be good-I think after everything that has happened the last few months we really need a chance to reconnect and rejuvenate.

Then the kids start at Kidzone daycare in April (6th). Robert really needs preschool and this is the only solution that I could come up with that works my schedule!

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Long time

I know, it's been a long time since I posted. I was thrown for a loop last Tues with the news that our beloved beagle mutt Snoopy has bladder cancer and has, at best, months to live. Since then we've been cleaning up dog messes (traumatic catheterization=lots of messes afterwards!), a b-day party for the kids (and all the cleaning, baking, planning that goes with that) plus kid care, work, etc, etc, etc.

Well and I just couldn't post without crying and darn it I've cried enough! Between crying during Mary's hospitalization and now... I think I've cried more recently than I had in years. Today things feel a little more manageable. We're holding on to God and to family and we're going to be fine.

We had a party for the kids Sat and it was such a great time. It was so nice to celebrate them and to have the people we love there to celebrate with us. The kids are such a blessing it was nice to just enjoy that for a day! The house was full, it was noisy, it was busy and it was a blast! I love that we can combine their parties. I hope it will work at least one more year. I guess once Robert hits kindergarten things might change. But we'll see.

Sunday Mary decided that she was going to toddler church (you are supposed to be 3!). The teacher said it was fine and I was going to stay with her but she marched into the room, sat down and folded her hands so I decided she didn't need me! They did end up getting her a baby doll at some point but that seemed to be all she needed. She even colored her picture! Sunday afternoon was just a nice quiet time. We stayed for a covered dish meal and then Wesley took the kids home and I stayed for a baby shower. Then a friend (Aaron) came by to visit and then after nap we went for a walk. It took us an hour to walk 1.5 miles, lol. I was carrying Mary in the ring sling and Robert walked. Mary walked the last 1/4 mile or so for which my back was thankful! Snoopy seemed to have a good time. It's been so nice to have warmer weather!

Snoopy has been having trouble adjusting to the NSAID (asprin type medicine) that she is on to slow the growth of her tumor. So we've been working to tweak her regimine. I called the vet again yesterday and he OK'd me to give the acid blocker a couple hours before the NSAID (instead the acid blocker in the morning and the NSAID at night). Doing that seems to be helping a lot. We are also having to break capsules and pour 1/2 powder per day and he suggested adding it to cubes of butter so I did a few days worth today. I have special ice cube trays that I used when making baby food (they have silicone bottoms so the cubes pop out easier). So I melted butter, poured about a tsp into each cube and then sprinkled 1/2 a capsule into each. Much better. And Snoopy ate it without complaint. We've also been more vigilant about making sure she eats a full meal with her NSAID. We actually bought canned dog food today to add to her regular food to make her eat it. We've been adding all sorts of stuff to her dog food trying to get her to eat it so we finally decided that canned dog food would be easier! I actually made her gravy yesterday!

Wesley's grandma (Furr) continues to fail. It's just a matter of time at this point. She is on hospice. She has dementia and fell and broke her hip a couple months ago and just hasn't done well since. She had lived at home until mid summer which is amazing. She is 92. Mary is named for her. I really feel bad for Wesley-all this going on at once!

I feel like we have so many issues up in the air right now. We really could use prayers for clarity right now.
1) The scar on Mary's neck is really thickening and we're going to need to decide if we want to do a neck/head strap compression thing for it. I hate to do it and I hate not to do it. So I guess we'll go back in a month or so and discuss it. The OT that we've been working with is great and is willing to really work with us on all these issues. Mary got her compression shirt bear this week-I was hoping it would be wearing a real compression shirt but it just has a t-shirt with the logo-but it was still a nice gesture! I might make it or her doll a compression shirt out of one of her old temp compression shirts. Maybe I'll make it for the doll.
2) We need to decide when to get a new dog. We've gone around and around and around on the issue and we're nowhere close yet. I know we'll want another dog but we're just not sure when the right time is. I think we still have some time with Snoopy but I don't know how long.
3) We need to decide on preschool for Robert next year.
And the other thing we are really praying about is that nothing comes to a head right when we are scheduled to go away for the weekend (3/26-29). Please God, please, please, please!

Last night about 11 Robert woke up complaining of left ear pain. Wes gave him motrin and then I settled him on the love seat with a DVD. I fell asleep on the couch (love our new couch!) and woke up about 1 am to find him still wide awake so I packed him off to bed where he stayed until 7 when he woke up complaining of left ear pain. So I packed him up and took him to the Dr this morning. Taking 2 kids to walk ins is sooooooo much fun (NOT!!!!). Especially now that Mary is so Dr adverse (and the Dr we saw was the one that was on call the weekend of her burn). Sure enough he had a left ear infection. Which is so strange since he really hasn't had a cold. So he's on twice a day medication too! These kids. What was really funny was that about 15 min into our wait he told me that his ear was "all better" and that he needed to go home now. Lol. I guess the motrin had kicked in and he was tired of sitting in the waiting room. I was wishing for my kindle so I know they had to be tired of it. I did have a few toys but evidently not the ones they wanted!

Well that's all I can think of right now. It's enough isn't it! Well, off to get some stuff done and then work on some procedures inbetween admissions.