My mom came in for a quick visit over the weekend. Braden had remarked about having a headache and then later a sore throat. I was thinking it might just be drainage because we were all dealing with that a bit. Mom came in on Friday evening and by then Braden was talking funny because his throat hurt and he was asking for more vitamin C and salt to make it feel better. He didn't have a fever, but I had a feeling it was strep. This is the fourth time he has had it in the last year and a half. He still occasionally sucks his thumb and I think this time it set in for him that it is how he keeps getting it. :/ So, I ended up taking him to the urgent care clinic (hooray for those!) Saturday morning and I had let him know that if it was strep, that we would be going with the shot and not the 10 days of liquid antibiotic. Well, it was strep. The shot was a thing of drama and there was excessive limping afterward, but he really did do a good job. That particular one does hurt. Poor kiddo, he got the same susceptibility to getting strep repeatedly as I did when I was younger. I got it every year without fail and usually more often. If someone had it within a 10-mile radius, I would get it. :/ Hopefully, the thumb sucking will not be so appealing now and he won't get it at all anymore! This is the second time it has coincided with a visit from my mom...at least it didn't take long to take care of it and she's not susceptible to it!
While Mom was here we had a great visit. We just hung out and chatted and enjoyed each other's company. Most of the time, she offers to keep the kids so that Sam and I can go on a date, but I didn't even consider that she would this time because the visit was so short. BUT, she did offer and we got to go see the new Star Trek movie in the theater on Saturday.... The last movie we saw in the theater was Captain America. Yeah, it had been a while. :) Anyway, we really enjoyed ourselves! We went through the drive thru and picked up some starbucks first and then went. Another little aside: Sam gently kicked me out of the house the on Friday morning so I could just get out for a while and get some stuff done and I got some starbucks then, too and then Sunday, a couple of friends and I had a little impromptu girls evening out and we ended up at starbucks again. Haha! That's the most "coffee" aka frappachino yumminess I've had ever! By the way, the mochachino cookie crumble or crunch or whatever its called is seriously addictive. Just remember I warned you!
Anyway, all in all, best Memorial Day weekend EVER!
Showing posts with label visits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visits. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
A trip to Waco Zoo
Getting out of the house was a necessity and Zekey had been asking to go to the zoo for a long time. It was one of his character chart goals and he had achieved it a while back, but the weather was uncooperative. So, off we went. I forgot my larger capacity memory card, so I didn't get very many pics.
The strangest thing I saw was the crazy amount of buzzards all over the place there....weird.
Monday, July 9, 2012
A Weekend Visit
The kids and I had the opportunity to go for a visit with family in East Texas. It was really nice to be able to hang with Ben, Jen and the boys for a couple of days. Sam went trit-trotting off to Carlsbad Caverns with a couple of friends, so it was a good opportunity to get out of the house for a bit. :) We had such a good time and of course, I snapped a few pics.....yeah, I don't know where Zekers got to during the picture taking....;)
We enjoyed the rain..and the food. :D
Happy Birthday, Gabe!!!
These two are best buds!
Happy Birthday, Luke!
I got a smile outta Lije!
Braden in usual form. ;)
Ailey was having a blast in Aunt Jenny's swing.
Elijah and Brea having a face making contest. Love this!
We have some handsome nephews and they are growing up so stinkin' fast! Every time I see them, they have grown another foot. Not exaggerating, either. I'm going to end up being the little old aunt. That's okay, I guess. :)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Kitchen still in transformation...
Sam's parents came for Memorial Day weekend and got in some great time with the kids and helped us finish another phase of the kitchen update project. Sam took out the breakfast bar that used to nearly block off the kitchen last weekend which completely opened the whole thing up. We can now both be in there and not have to play bumper bums and elbows. We also don't have a bottleneck trying to get in and out of the kitchen now. So much better! The next goal was to take out the prep area and make that area and the existing pantry next to it one big pantry with bifold doors and shallower shelves. It was only supposed to get as far as the framework and the sheetrock done. We were to get the doors and the wood for the shelves next weekend after pay day. ;) However, we would have had a dining table full of pantry items until that happened and Sam's parents wanted to make sure all that stuff could go back into the pantry. So, for early birthday presents, they wanted to gift us the doors and shelving! Isn't that amazing?! So, Memaw a.k.a Sam's mom took us to the store and I picked out the doors and Sam picked out the wood and a couple of other items to make it all work. Sam and his dad a.k.a. Pepaw went back to work and we now have an AMAZING pantry! Our kitchen feels like a whole new room already and I haven't even textured and painted the walls or finished refinishing the cabinets, countertops and all else waiting in the wings in there. Its truly refreshing, I can tell you! You know, cuz I'm telling you right now. ;p Anyway, I believe I have a before pic of the kitchen from when we first moved in, but I want to do a side by side when its all said and done, so I'm just going to post a pic of where we are at this point. ;)
I cannot express what a fantastic present this is! Thank you Memaw and Pepaw for your time, handiwork and materials to make this possible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Also, the fridge that was here when we moved in had to go on a journey elsewhere. It would make an alarming noise every time the compressor kicked on or off since we were introduced to it, but a couple of weeks and some days ago it started making a sort of chugging sound the whole time it was on. We both took that as a sign that it wasn't going to be keeping our food cold much longer, so I got online and started scoping out possible fridges. I'm a fan of Kenmore and found this one at Sears.com:
They were running a sale at that time and it was just under $700.00 I really like the freezer on the bottom, but 700 is alot little more than I wanted to pay. So, I got on craigslist and found this one:
It was $350.00 and only two years old. Yeah, mo bettah. We went to look at it and I totally didn't think about dimensions or whether it would actually work in the space in the kitchen... God was more than merciful with this whole thing, He was most gracious! I offered $300 for it and that was accepted! Score! We got it home and it didn't quite fit, but Sam only had to make a minor, um, "adjustment" to the cabinetry above it and it went right on in! I love that man! ;) It also has an icemaker, which I'm excited about. Sam is going to make some alterations to the plumbing under the sink....again (he had to in order to install a filtered water faucet for me a few weeks back ;) and we will have auto ice! Woohoo! Its the little things, really... :)
(Pay no attention to the craziness that is my kitchen. We are only focusing on the pantry to the right and the fridge there in the back. Let's all remember that this is a work in progress.....;)
I cannot express what a fantastic present this is! Thank you Memaw and Pepaw for your time, handiwork and materials to make this possible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Also, the fridge that was here when we moved in had to go on a journey elsewhere. It would make an alarming noise every time the compressor kicked on or off since we were introduced to it, but a couple of weeks and some days ago it started making a sort of chugging sound the whole time it was on. We both took that as a sign that it wasn't going to be keeping our food cold much longer, so I got online and started scoping out possible fridges. I'm a fan of Kenmore and found this one at Sears.com:
They were running a sale at that time and it was just under $700.00 I really like the freezer on the bottom, but 700 is a
It was $350.00 and only two years old. Yeah, mo bettah. We went to look at it and I totally didn't think about dimensions or whether it would actually work in the space in the kitchen... God was more than merciful with this whole thing, He was most gracious! I offered $300 for it and that was accepted! Score! We got it home and it didn't quite fit, but Sam only had to make a minor, um, "adjustment" to the cabinetry above it and it went right on in! I love that man! ;) It also has an icemaker, which I'm excited about. Sam is going to make some alterations to the plumbing under the sink....again (he had to in order to install a filtered water faucet for me a few weeks back ;) and we will have auto ice! Woohoo! Its the little things, really... :)
Saturday, April 14, 2012
What a WEEK!...in review
Why don't we start with two Saturdays ago. I will preface the coming whirlwind with anyone reading this needs to keep in mind that I was a "wee bit" driven to get all prepped for the girls' birthday party. Okay, with that said, let's begin with after everyone left after the party, Brea started having a fever. Poor baby! It was never more than 103 tops and mostly in the 102 range. She is rather quiet for the most part about not feeling well. She had this fever for 3 days where it would spike and then come down a bit and repeat. Then, when she still had a fever on the fourth day, I was tired of it and got busy bringing it all the way down. I was trying to let it do its job, but there were never any other symptoms. I would give meds at night so she could rest well, but let it do it thang during the day with the help of wet washrags and tepid baths and cool drinks and all that jazz. I know that one of the other kiddos had a fever like this once before, too...maybe Ailey? Can't remember. Anyway, by day four I was done. I only had to alternate tylenol and motrin for one round and then when she woke up from her nap, she was fine and continued on to be. I think it was teething to be honest. I know there are plenty of people out there who will say that teething or pain does not cause fevers, but I have observed and experienced differently. :)
Anywho, in the mean time, right after the party, I had a big WHEW! moment where I felt my body kind of start coming down off of the adrenaline high I had been running on for the last half of a week and I knew I was in trouble. I had trouble sleeping the couple of nights before the party because I was mulling over all of it in my mind. Yeah. That tendency needs to depart this here person. God is in progress on that and it may not happen in a way that makes me feel good during the process, but the outcome is absolutely desired, so...Please put the pressure on Lord!!! Ok, so I knew I was going to have some issues because I always do when I have prolonged adrenaline/stress/anxiety. My back had started to hurt a little that Saturday and then a bit on Sunday, but I thought I had possibly pulled a muscle and didn't give it more thought than that. Well, I wasn't able to rest like I had planned because Brea didn't feel good and I had to get the house back into some semblance of order. Like I've said before, if I concentrate on getting a particular thing done like cleaning the house, prepping for a party, any sort of craft thing, etc., something else always has to give.
Well, we were running out of snacks and stuff that I usually make from scratch, so I had to play catch up on that. Plus, my dad was flying in on Tuesday, staying the night and then flying out the next day on Wednesday. After that, my mom was scheduled to come in on Friday and stay until Sunday. So, my week was already looking pretty crazy.
My dad was supposed to get in at noon on Tuesday, so I packed all the kids up and took us all to the airport to pick him up. We sat there and waited for about 30 minutes and then I heard something about weather issues in Dallas and thought he might have gotten grounded there, so we headed back home. After several hours of waiting and texting and calling back and forth, it ended up that Dad would not be getting a flight out that day because of the tornados and all the planes had sustained hail damage and would need to be inspected before they were cleared for flight. He would have to wait until the morning. Okay. Then around 5 ish pm, I think, Dad says he's getting a ride with a lady going to Copperas Cove. Okay. I told him he was looking at about a 3 hr ride, so I was expecting him around 9 ish. Well, at around 8 ish, I call and they are stopping in Waco to stretch their legs. No prob, totally understand that. At a little after nine, I find that they are still in Waco because they stopped to eat. (It is about 45 mins - 1 hr away depending on route and traffic.)
Now, I'm going to tell on myself here. I was getting a wee bit agitated. I was tired. Really tired and super sleepy. I was grateful that someone had compassion on my dad and had given him a ride, but my dad has a tendency to not communicate well at all and so my agitation wasn't with the people he was riding with so much as my dad not keeping me apprised of the situation, plus other factors I won't go into. Trust me, I could write a book about that subject, but I'm totally not going there. :)
Anyway, it ended up that they dropped him off where I met them down the road a bit at 11:15 pm. Tiiiiiiired! So we came back to the house and basically it was a straight shot to bed for me....except, that I couldn't go to sleep. My back started hurting pretty bad and I couldn't find a comfortable position. Sam woke up around 4:30 and I was still awake and he prayed over me. I think I must have slept for a few hours until a little after 8. I got up and I was hurting even more by then. :( At that point, I thought I was dealing with a kidney stone and was waiting for it to pass.
It never did and a bit before noon, I decided a doctor visit was needed. I was able to get an appointment for 1:45 and Sam came home to hang with the kids and Dad was to take me to the doctor. I was in a huge amount of pain by then and couldn't hold back from crying. On a high note, the kids were loving their visit with their grandpa! I was really grateful for that. He was also such a distraction for them, that I was able to rest in bed that day without any sort of interruption by the older three! That's pretty amazing, I must say. :)
Sam sent out an SOS to our prayer warriors and off we went to the doctor and by then I could hardly walk. They got a wheel chair for me and wheeled me around. I was ushered in more quickly than I would have been, I think, because they were very concerned with the amount of distress I was in. I was so touched by everyone's compassion and gentleness!
I peed in a cup for the usual testing...I have to pause right here and follow a tangent. I know, shocking... The cup I was given had a handle attached to a ring that screwed onto the top of the cup. The package also contained the little wipies and had the lid that screws on for after the filling up. The handle was far enough away from the cup that there was no messy hand situation. Fantastic! In all the years I was in the Air Force and got "randomly" chosen to go pee in a cup for drug testing purposes and the peeing in a cup while preggers with Braden and then afterward with Zekey, never once did I get handed this fabulous cup with handle. I mean, if you have to go pee in a cup, it should at least have the handle to keep you from peeing on yourself! Potty training was supposed to encourage that whole idea and all...just saying.
Okay, so after the urine was tested, the PA said it could be a kidney stone or it could be a kidney infection. I hadn't even considered that because the last time I had a kidney infection, it started out as a UTI, worked its way into a bladder infection and then to my kidneys. I didn't experience any of that, but it made more sense the way it felt after she mentioned that possibility. Okay. At one point, she asked me if I had ever had Strep B. For any who do not know, you are usually tested for that near your due date or when you go into labor to make sure you don't pass it on to your baby in delivery. I was tested for it with Braden and Zekes because I had them in the hospital, but not with Ailey and Brea. As far as I was aware, I'd never had it. Right. So, she prescribed an antibiotic that was not in the penicillin family (the culture that was taken wasn't going to be ready until a few days later, so it was a guessing game at this point) as well as Tylenol 3 and then ordered a steroid shot for the pain. The shot did help a bit, but just kinda took the edge off. I also asked for a prescription for Flonase while I was at it. ;p Every little bit helps, right?! Anyway, there was a lovely mix up at the pharmacy. I called them to make sure they had received the prescriptions and to check on a time so that Sam could go and pick them up. First of all, it was going to take them 3 hours to fill them. Yeah. We aren't talking Walgreen's or the like. I won't say which pharmacy, but I will say this particular one needs a major system overhaul! I had instructed that the flonase not be filled just yet and to just fill the antibiotics and the tylenol. I was hoping it would speed things up a bit. So Sam goes and picks them up and gets back home and I open them up and find the tylenol and the flonase...no antibiotics. This particular pharmacy closes at 6 and it was 5:15. I was trying to keep a good attitude, but I knew that I wouldn't actually start healing until the antibiotics got in there and got a hold of the infection, so I was a wee bit in desperation mode. I called the pharmacy and asked if the prescription could be transferred to walgreen's or somewhere like that because I was thinking that if it took them 3 hrs to fill just those other two then it would more than likely take longer the the time left before they closed. Yeah. The lady on the phone told me that she could do that, but that the prescription could be filled in 15 mins. REALLY?! Does this make absolutely no sense to anyone else? They filled the prescription, Sam went and got it and I took it as soon as I got it out of the bag.
Time for another tangent. During all of this, I kept wondering how on earth I managed to get a kidney infection first and it not start out as a UTI. It didn't hurt to go to the bathroom at all, just my kidney was hurting.....still a head scratcher. Plus, I only drink water except for the occasional lemonade every two weeks or so when we go to Chic-fil-a. Hmmmmmm.....
Okay, all that occurred on Wednesday. Now, I did start feeling better after a couple of doses of the antibiotic, but not like I thought I should. Usually two doses and its waaaaaay better! Not so this time and I had to take more T3 than I thought I would. I was grateful for it the first day and part of the second, but I shouldn't have had to take it after that and I did. Thursday, I actually felt pretty good by the afternoon, but still really tired and I could still feel discomfort in my kidney. I just thought it was sore from being inflamed for such a long time.
Sam and the kids took my dad to the airport and I stayed home and rested. There is another story there, but I won't go there. :)
By Friday, I was still doing about the same as Thursday until a couple of hours after I woke up. I could now feel pain in my bladder and it was starting to burn when I went #1. I was thinking to myself that this didn't seem normal, so I gave the PA a little ringy ding and had to leave a message. I hadn't heard from her at 1-ish, so I called again because by this time the pain had come back in full force and if not for the T3, I would have been having a Wednesday all over again. It was still very painful even with the T3. I was told that she probably wouldn't be able to return my call until Monday. Well, I certainly didn't relish going through the weekend getting worse, so I planned to go to the urgent clinic the next day, but she did end up calling me and had gotten my messages and the results of the culture. Guess what grew. Strep B. Yeah. The irony was not lost upon me, I assure you. In addition to that, the antibiotics I was on wasn't the kind that kills Strep B. That would explain why it felt like it was spreading. So, she prescribed the antibiotic I needed and somehow in our conversation, I made a comment about THE pharmacy and she recommended we go with Walmart. So we did. She sent it in, they filled it in under 10 mins and I got a text about it and we went to go and pick it up. I think we'll stick with Walmart. :) Two doses later and I was a new person. Amazing, right? God is that way, though. :)
Okay, let's recap for just a moment before moving on....yep, there's more! First, we had crazy party mania, then Brea's fever, then my dad's visit, then my kidney infection, then my dad's departure.
Friday evening, my mom came in for a visit. Poor mom. :) She had already arranged to stay at a hotel, so it wasn't a big deal trying to get anything ready. She got in and I was feeling a little better and was able to hand out in the living room for a while. She left for the night and came back the next morning and she was sitting out on the front porch when a police woman came up to her and asked if I lived here. She said that she had received a phone call from my dad asking for someone to come and make sure I was alright. I was still trying to recoup in bed when she walked in to my room. Yeah. She explained that he had tried to call me, got my voicemail and then all of a sudden heard a very disturbing conversation between two men and a woman and not nice things happening. After the policewoman left, I checked my phone and he did call and he did get my voicemail. I listened to the message and heard him say hi and then he paused and then he hung up. Now, normal procedure by most people would have been to try and call the person back or perhaps text them to make sure that it wasn't a weird mix up, but my dad decided to call the police. yeah. Whatever. I called him and we had a difference of opinion on whether that was appropriate and I had to cut the call short and text him the rest of what I was trying to say. Let's just say that it took a full week for me to want to speak with him again and the Lord had lots to work on in my heart during that time. :)
Saturday went along after that and then that night the older kiddos were to go and stay with my mom at the hotel. They were super excited. (Afterwards, Zekey got it into his head that my mom had moved to the hotel ;) Braden started saying that his throat was a little sore, but I didn't think too much about it because we all had drainage and I thought it was allergy related. Mom ended up having to give him motrin during the night and his throat was worse the next morning. :( She brought them all back to the house and by then, I was pretty sure we were dealing with strep throat....again.
I called for an urgent care appointment and we got one and headed on over to the clinic. Sure enough, that's exactly what he had. The time before that a few weeks ago, I had him get the shot. He was absolutely adamant that he did NOT want the shot! We got the liquid, but because it was a Sunday and Easter Sunday at that, only CVS was open and they were extremely busy. I had intended to use the Walmart pharmacy, but it was actually closed. Craziness! I got Braden a shake at Whataburger to help soothe his throat while we waited. We got his meds and then headed home. My mom had stayed with the kids so that Sam could go to church. It was a good break for him. ;p
Mom left that afternoon for her house. Braden was feeling a bit better by that evening and then much better by the next day. Yay!
We were good until Tuesday when Ailey started having a fever and then the next day Zekey had one. Yep. They were right as rain a couple of days later, though and never showed any other symptoms. The funny thing is that aside from Ailey and Zekey, no one's sickness was related to anyone else's. Well, it really and truly never is boring in this house.
If you were able to read through this whole thing without a potty, coffee, meal or sanity break, I congratulate you. Well done. I'm done now, so you can go take a jog around the block or just stand up for a minute or two to allow the feeling to return to your legs and head. :) Here are pics from my dad's visit:
Anywho, in the mean time, right after the party, I had a big WHEW! moment where I felt my body kind of start coming down off of the adrenaline high I had been running on for the last half of a week and I knew I was in trouble. I had trouble sleeping the couple of nights before the party because I was mulling over all of it in my mind. Yeah. That tendency needs to depart this here person. God is in progress on that and it may not happen in a way that makes me feel good during the process, but the outcome is absolutely desired, so...Please put the pressure on Lord!!! Ok, so I knew I was going to have some issues because I always do when I have prolonged adrenaline/stress/anxiety. My back had started to hurt a little that Saturday and then a bit on Sunday, but I thought I had possibly pulled a muscle and didn't give it more thought than that. Well, I wasn't able to rest like I had planned because Brea didn't feel good and I had to get the house back into some semblance of order. Like I've said before, if I concentrate on getting a particular thing done like cleaning the house, prepping for a party, any sort of craft thing, etc., something else always has to give.
Well, we were running out of snacks and stuff that I usually make from scratch, so I had to play catch up on that. Plus, my dad was flying in on Tuesday, staying the night and then flying out the next day on Wednesday. After that, my mom was scheduled to come in on Friday and stay until Sunday. So, my week was already looking pretty crazy.
My dad was supposed to get in at noon on Tuesday, so I packed all the kids up and took us all to the airport to pick him up. We sat there and waited for about 30 minutes and then I heard something about weather issues in Dallas and thought he might have gotten grounded there, so we headed back home. After several hours of waiting and texting and calling back and forth, it ended up that Dad would not be getting a flight out that day because of the tornados and all the planes had sustained hail damage and would need to be inspected before they were cleared for flight. He would have to wait until the morning. Okay. Then around 5 ish pm, I think, Dad says he's getting a ride with a lady going to Copperas Cove. Okay. I told him he was looking at about a 3 hr ride, so I was expecting him around 9 ish. Well, at around 8 ish, I call and they are stopping in Waco to stretch their legs. No prob, totally understand that. At a little after nine, I find that they are still in Waco because they stopped to eat. (It is about 45 mins - 1 hr away depending on route and traffic.)
Now, I'm going to tell on myself here. I was getting a wee bit agitated. I was tired. Really tired and super sleepy. I was grateful that someone had compassion on my dad and had given him a ride, but my dad has a tendency to not communicate well at all and so my agitation wasn't with the people he was riding with so much as my dad not keeping me apprised of the situation, plus other factors I won't go into. Trust me, I could write a book about that subject, but I'm totally not going there. :)
Anyway, it ended up that they dropped him off where I met them down the road a bit at 11:15 pm. Tiiiiiiired! So we came back to the house and basically it was a straight shot to bed for me....except, that I couldn't go to sleep. My back started hurting pretty bad and I couldn't find a comfortable position. Sam woke up around 4:30 and I was still awake and he prayed over me. I think I must have slept for a few hours until a little after 8. I got up and I was hurting even more by then. :( At that point, I thought I was dealing with a kidney stone and was waiting for it to pass.
It never did and a bit before noon, I decided a doctor visit was needed. I was able to get an appointment for 1:45 and Sam came home to hang with the kids and Dad was to take me to the doctor. I was in a huge amount of pain by then and couldn't hold back from crying. On a high note, the kids were loving their visit with their grandpa! I was really grateful for that. He was also such a distraction for them, that I was able to rest in bed that day without any sort of interruption by the older three! That's pretty amazing, I must say. :)
Sam sent out an SOS to our prayer warriors and off we went to the doctor and by then I could hardly walk. They got a wheel chair for me and wheeled me around. I was ushered in more quickly than I would have been, I think, because they were very concerned with the amount of distress I was in. I was so touched by everyone's compassion and gentleness!
I peed in a cup for the usual testing...I have to pause right here and follow a tangent. I know, shocking... The cup I was given had a handle attached to a ring that screwed onto the top of the cup. The package also contained the little wipies and had the lid that screws on for after the filling up. The handle was far enough away from the cup that there was no messy hand situation. Fantastic! In all the years I was in the Air Force and got "randomly" chosen to go pee in a cup for drug testing purposes and the peeing in a cup while preggers with Braden and then afterward with Zekey, never once did I get handed this fabulous cup with handle. I mean, if you have to go pee in a cup, it should at least have the handle to keep you from peeing on yourself! Potty training was supposed to encourage that whole idea and all...just saying.
Okay, so after the urine was tested, the PA said it could be a kidney stone or it could be a kidney infection. I hadn't even considered that because the last time I had a kidney infection, it started out as a UTI, worked its way into a bladder infection and then to my kidneys. I didn't experience any of that, but it made more sense the way it felt after she mentioned that possibility. Okay. At one point, she asked me if I had ever had Strep B. For any who do not know, you are usually tested for that near your due date or when you go into labor to make sure you don't pass it on to your baby in delivery. I was tested for it with Braden and Zekes because I had them in the hospital, but not with Ailey and Brea. As far as I was aware, I'd never had it. Right. So, she prescribed an antibiotic that was not in the penicillin family (the culture that was taken wasn't going to be ready until a few days later, so it was a guessing game at this point) as well as Tylenol 3 and then ordered a steroid shot for the pain. The shot did help a bit, but just kinda took the edge off. I also asked for a prescription for Flonase while I was at it. ;p Every little bit helps, right?! Anyway, there was a lovely mix up at the pharmacy. I called them to make sure they had received the prescriptions and to check on a time so that Sam could go and pick them up. First of all, it was going to take them 3 hours to fill them. Yeah. We aren't talking Walgreen's or the like. I won't say which pharmacy, but I will say this particular one needs a major system overhaul! I had instructed that the flonase not be filled just yet and to just fill the antibiotics and the tylenol. I was hoping it would speed things up a bit. So Sam goes and picks them up and gets back home and I open them up and find the tylenol and the flonase...no antibiotics. This particular pharmacy closes at 6 and it was 5:15. I was trying to keep a good attitude, but I knew that I wouldn't actually start healing until the antibiotics got in there and got a hold of the infection, so I was a wee bit in desperation mode. I called the pharmacy and asked if the prescription could be transferred to walgreen's or somewhere like that because I was thinking that if it took them 3 hrs to fill just those other two then it would more than likely take longer the the time left before they closed. Yeah. The lady on the phone told me that she could do that, but that the prescription could be filled in 15 mins. REALLY?! Does this make absolutely no sense to anyone else? They filled the prescription, Sam went and got it and I took it as soon as I got it out of the bag.
Time for another tangent. During all of this, I kept wondering how on earth I managed to get a kidney infection first and it not start out as a UTI. It didn't hurt to go to the bathroom at all, just my kidney was hurting.....still a head scratcher. Plus, I only drink water except for the occasional lemonade every two weeks or so when we go to Chic-fil-a. Hmmmmmm.....
Okay, all that occurred on Wednesday. Now, I did start feeling better after a couple of doses of the antibiotic, but not like I thought I should. Usually two doses and its waaaaaay better! Not so this time and I had to take more T3 than I thought I would. I was grateful for it the first day and part of the second, but I shouldn't have had to take it after that and I did. Thursday, I actually felt pretty good by the afternoon, but still really tired and I could still feel discomfort in my kidney. I just thought it was sore from being inflamed for such a long time.
Sam and the kids took my dad to the airport and I stayed home and rested. There is another story there, but I won't go there. :)
By Friday, I was still doing about the same as Thursday until a couple of hours after I woke up. I could now feel pain in my bladder and it was starting to burn when I went #1. I was thinking to myself that this didn't seem normal, so I gave the PA a little ringy ding and had to leave a message. I hadn't heard from her at 1-ish, so I called again because by this time the pain had come back in full force and if not for the T3, I would have been having a Wednesday all over again. It was still very painful even with the T3. I was told that she probably wouldn't be able to return my call until Monday. Well, I certainly didn't relish going through the weekend getting worse, so I planned to go to the urgent clinic the next day, but she did end up calling me and had gotten my messages and the results of the culture. Guess what grew. Strep B. Yeah. The irony was not lost upon me, I assure you. In addition to that, the antibiotics I was on wasn't the kind that kills Strep B. That would explain why it felt like it was spreading. So, she prescribed the antibiotic I needed and somehow in our conversation, I made a comment about THE pharmacy and she recommended we go with Walmart. So we did. She sent it in, they filled it in under 10 mins and I got a text about it and we went to go and pick it up. I think we'll stick with Walmart. :) Two doses later and I was a new person. Amazing, right? God is that way, though. :)
Okay, let's recap for just a moment before moving on....yep, there's more! First, we had crazy party mania, then Brea's fever, then my dad's visit, then my kidney infection, then my dad's departure.
Friday evening, my mom came in for a visit. Poor mom. :) She had already arranged to stay at a hotel, so it wasn't a big deal trying to get anything ready. She got in and I was feeling a little better and was able to hand out in the living room for a while. She left for the night and came back the next morning and she was sitting out on the front porch when a police woman came up to her and asked if I lived here. She said that she had received a phone call from my dad asking for someone to come and make sure I was alright. I was still trying to recoup in bed when she walked in to my room. Yeah. She explained that he had tried to call me, got my voicemail and then all of a sudden heard a very disturbing conversation between two men and a woman and not nice things happening. After the policewoman left, I checked my phone and he did call and he did get my voicemail. I listened to the message and heard him say hi and then he paused and then he hung up. Now, normal procedure by most people would have been to try and call the person back or perhaps text them to make sure that it wasn't a weird mix up, but my dad decided to call the police. yeah. Whatever. I called him and we had a difference of opinion on whether that was appropriate and I had to cut the call short and text him the rest of what I was trying to say. Let's just say that it took a full week for me to want to speak with him again and the Lord had lots to work on in my heart during that time. :)
Saturday went along after that and then that night the older kiddos were to go and stay with my mom at the hotel. They were super excited. (Afterwards, Zekey got it into his head that my mom had moved to the hotel ;) Braden started saying that his throat was a little sore, but I didn't think too much about it because we all had drainage and I thought it was allergy related. Mom ended up having to give him motrin during the night and his throat was worse the next morning. :( She brought them all back to the house and by then, I was pretty sure we were dealing with strep throat....again.
I called for an urgent care appointment and we got one and headed on over to the clinic. Sure enough, that's exactly what he had. The time before that a few weeks ago, I had him get the shot. He was absolutely adamant that he did NOT want the shot! We got the liquid, but because it was a Sunday and Easter Sunday at that, only CVS was open and they were extremely busy. I had intended to use the Walmart pharmacy, but it was actually closed. Craziness! I got Braden a shake at Whataburger to help soothe his throat while we waited. We got his meds and then headed home. My mom had stayed with the kids so that Sam could go to church. It was a good break for him. ;p
Mom left that afternoon for her house. Braden was feeling a bit better by that evening and then much better by the next day. Yay!
We were good until Tuesday when Ailey started having a fever and then the next day Zekey had one. Yep. They were right as rain a couple of days later, though and never showed any other symptoms. The funny thing is that aside from Ailey and Zekey, no one's sickness was related to anyone else's. Well, it really and truly never is boring in this house.
If you were able to read through this whole thing without a potty, coffee, meal or sanity break, I congratulate you. Well done. I'm done now, so you can go take a jog around the block or just stand up for a minute or two to allow the feeling to return to your legs and head. :) Here are pics from my dad's visit:
Monday, April 2, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Shamefully Overdue!
Well, the title says it all. It has been way too long since I have done a post. Me thinks this will be one of my usual marathon posts, so you may want to go ahead and use the restroom, get a cup of coffee or cocoa to keep your eyes open and find a super comfy chair so your bum does not fall asleep. Don't say I didn't warn ya! Ready? Here we go....
First up, here is our new bunny, Strawberry the 2nd:
This one is, indeed a girl. Yay. On the other hand, she is rather aggressive. Not yay. She chases Shortcake around and nips at her hiney and pulls tufts of fur off of her bum. Poor Shortcake! The funny thing is, shortcake still really enjoys her company...as long as they are in separate contained areas and can still see each other. :) Anyway, this means we will have to have a unit with two separate living quarters for the bunnies. Just keeps getting interesting! I let them run around the living, dining and kitchen areas in the evenings because they will go back to their cages to do their business. That's a plus. :) Oh, and in all the reading I did the night Strawberry started getting all Kra-Z, the consensus seems to be in favor of getting them both spayed since I have no intention of breeding them. They are apparently quite susceptible to getting cervical cancer. Not so yay, again. :( Oh, well, they are already part of the fam, so we will just figure it all out. :)
In other happenings, Brea is doing lots!
She is still very serious about her food and can pack it in like nobody's business! Its quite amazing to behold, to which many who have been present during the process of this astounding feat can testify. I think the most astounding part of it is that she is so stinkin' tiny and we are all very lost as to where she stores it all before it makes its way out of the southbound end! Remarkable, I'm tellin' ya!
She is very vocal while she eats, too and will let whoever is feeding her know in no uncertain terms if she is not satisfied at the speed at which her food is being shoveled down her gullet. Its pretty funny. :) She is a bananaholic. LOVES her some bananas! She can also put away some grapes. I'm thinking we need to plants some banana trees and some grape vines to keep up with her! Whew!
Since I am really bad with the concept of time and keeping up with dates and all, I will just go with its been several weeks plus, since she started mimicking sounds. Her first full word is Mama, but I'm pretty sure she tries to say banana, too, which comes out more of a Bah. She is pretty equally partial to both Sam and I, so I'm working on her saying Daddy, too... ;p
She has been able to toddle along holding on to the edges of furniture for some time now, too and was able to stand up, unassisted for a second or two at a time for a week or so, but I just witnessed her do the whole shebang and then stay standing up all by her lonesome for many seconds 'til she decided to squat down to crawl some more this very morning. She's getting there and then they will all be running around after each other. Curiouser and Curiouser! :)
We have had a bit of craziness for the past 3 weeks. Braden got strep throat, then antibiotics, then we went out of town to see Nina and Padrino (that will be a separate post after picture editing has been achieved ;) and the last day we were there, Braden's strep throat came back. Ugh. So, we traveled home and the next evening he was seen and sure enough it was a reoccurrence! This time I requested the shot. Braden tried so hard to be okay while it was being administered, but didn't quite succeed. Poor little guy! :( It did, however, make him feel better in a jiffy, so yay! The rest of that week was a blur while I readied us to travel once again. This time it was to East Texas for my Granny's surprise 80th birthday party (this, too, will be a separate post :). I really went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to go, but I'm really glad we did. We have double dvd players for the car that were bought quite some time ago, but for a time we could only use one of them because the cord that came with it would not reach across both rows of the van. Bummer. Then, at some point, said cord became lost in the shuffle that is the garage. Double bummer. So, I ordered two cords and this trip both players were in operation along with a set of headphones that got passed to whoever was sitting in the solo seat next to Brea. We also had a set of legos that was great entertainment. Both the drive there and back were quite tame and pleasant, I must say. I think we may have found a winning combination. I'm not willing to try it out again just yet, though. ;)
I have to mention something Ailey said the other day. We were driving in the van and I had the windows rolled down and we got going at a higher speed and she said, "MOM! You're blowing my head off!" Hahaha!
We have a little wrist rest for our track pad and one day Zekey came up to me with it on his chin and said, "I'm a daddy."
All the kids are doing well and really enjoy playing together....usually. We do have the occasional non-enjoyable occurrences, of course. ;p I will have to do a more detailed update later. Right now we are so stinkin' busy and I'm ready for things to SLOW DOWN! We'll see how that goes.
First up, here is our new bunny, Strawberry the 2nd:
This one is, indeed a girl. Yay. On the other hand, she is rather aggressive. Not yay. She chases Shortcake around and nips at her hiney and pulls tufts of fur off of her bum. Poor Shortcake! The funny thing is, shortcake still really enjoys her company...as long as they are in separate contained areas and can still see each other. :) Anyway, this means we will have to have a unit with two separate living quarters for the bunnies. Just keeps getting interesting! I let them run around the living, dining and kitchen areas in the evenings because they will go back to their cages to do their business. That's a plus. :) Oh, and in all the reading I did the night Strawberry started getting all Kra-Z, the consensus seems to be in favor of getting them both spayed since I have no intention of breeding them. They are apparently quite susceptible to getting cervical cancer. Not so yay, again. :( Oh, well, they are already part of the fam, so we will just figure it all out. :)
In other happenings, Brea is doing lots!
She is still very serious about her food and can pack it in like nobody's business! Its quite amazing to behold, to which many who have been present during the process of this astounding feat can testify. I think the most astounding part of it is that she is so stinkin' tiny and we are all very lost as to where she stores it all before it makes its way out of the southbound end! Remarkable, I'm tellin' ya!
She is very vocal while she eats, too and will let whoever is feeding her know in no uncertain terms if she is not satisfied at the speed at which her food is being shoveled down her gullet. Its pretty funny. :) She is a bananaholic. LOVES her some bananas! She can also put away some grapes. I'm thinking we need to plants some banana trees and some grape vines to keep up with her! Whew!
Since I am really bad with the concept of time and keeping up with dates and all, I will just go with its been several weeks plus, since she started mimicking sounds. Her first full word is Mama, but I'm pretty sure she tries to say banana, too, which comes out more of a Bah. She is pretty equally partial to both Sam and I, so I'm working on her saying Daddy, too... ;p
She has been able to toddle along holding on to the edges of furniture for some time now, too and was able to stand up, unassisted for a second or two at a time for a week or so, but I just witnessed her do the whole shebang and then stay standing up all by her lonesome for many seconds 'til she decided to squat down to crawl some more this very morning. She's getting there and then they will all be running around after each other. Curiouser and Curiouser! :)
We have had a bit of craziness for the past 3 weeks. Braden got strep throat, then antibiotics, then we went out of town to see Nina and Padrino (that will be a separate post after picture editing has been achieved ;) and the last day we were there, Braden's strep throat came back. Ugh. So, we traveled home and the next evening he was seen and sure enough it was a reoccurrence! This time I requested the shot. Braden tried so hard to be okay while it was being administered, but didn't quite succeed. Poor little guy! :( It did, however, make him feel better in a jiffy, so yay! The rest of that week was a blur while I readied us to travel once again. This time it was to East Texas for my Granny's surprise 80th birthday party (this, too, will be a separate post :). I really went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to go, but I'm really glad we did. We have double dvd players for the car that were bought quite some time ago, but for a time we could only use one of them because the cord that came with it would not reach across both rows of the van. Bummer. Then, at some point, said cord became lost in the shuffle that is the garage. Double bummer. So, I ordered two cords and this trip both players were in operation along with a set of headphones that got passed to whoever was sitting in the solo seat next to Brea. We also had a set of legos that was great entertainment. Both the drive there and back were quite tame and pleasant, I must say. I think we may have found a winning combination. I'm not willing to try it out again just yet, though. ;)
I have to mention something Ailey said the other day. We were driving in the van and I had the windows rolled down and we got going at a higher speed and she said, "MOM! You're blowing my head off!" Hahaha!
We have a little wrist rest for our track pad and one day Zekey came up to me with it on his chin and said, "I'm a daddy."
Then it became a mustache...
I honestly don't know what Braden was using it for....a sleep mask, perhaps?
Braden has taken to doing this, um, interesting facial expression with his face lately....Kid phases are so funny!
All the kids are doing well and really enjoy playing together....usually. We do have the occasional non-enjoyable occurrences, of course. ;p I will have to do a more detailed update later. Right now we are so stinkin' busy and I'm ready for things to SLOW DOWN! We'll see how that goes.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
My Granny's Surprise 80th Birthday Party and a visit with my mom...
This was in the morning before we went to help set up...they created a couch monster. Do you see it? The red pillows on top are the eyes and Braden and Zekey are in the mouth behind the teeth. :)
Setting up the party. Aunt Scarlet on the left, then Uncle Gary and Aunt Vicki
Now we have my mom on the left, then Aunt Peggy, etc.
These were all the table settings. I thought they came out very nice!
Great Uncle Glen who is married to Aunt Peggy
Great Aunt Peggy who is my Granny's youngest sister (of 13 total, if I am remembering correctly....)
The punch table
The cake table
The cake
Memory table A
Memory table B
A broader scope of things
My cousin Tyler and Brea
Broader view of the front of the room
Signing in to the party...I have the names of the people I didn't label below, but I will have to get up enough motivation to do all of that...someday. ;)
My mom's cousin Paula
Great Uncle Calvin, Granny's brother
Great Uncle Beuford, Granny's brother
Paula's husband George
The Birthday Girl! Granny. She did NOT want to come in. She was rather perturbed at being the center of attention. She did end up enjoying herself, though. ;)
Great Uncle Morris, Granny's youngest brother and his wife
This is Michael, he's a cousin, somehow, but he shall be henceforth known as George because that's how he introduced himself to me trying to tease me....we shall see who gets the last laugh! ;)
Great Aunt Katherine, Uncle Calvin's wife
Aunt Scarlet, my mom's younger sister, her husband Uncle Stacey and their youngest daughter Tyler
Uncle Gary, my mom's younger brother and Aunt Peggy
Aunt Liz, my mom's older sister and her husband Uncle Rick
The party in full swing
Ailey made good use of her time in the sand box
Cousins! I was really glad my brother and sis-in-love and my nephews got to come hang out with the fam. Gabe, Braden and Luke
Ben and Jen
Plenty of people who I am related to, but do not know, except the two on the end in the foreground there. ;p
Granny and her great-granddaughter Tatum
Aunt Peggy and Ailey
My cousin Andrea (eldest daughter of Aunt Scarlet) and her oldest Maddux
Landrie, Andrea's youngest
Tatum, Andrea's second
Elijah, Ben and Jen's oldest...man, he needs to stop growing! I'm feeling rather old. ;)
Maddux, Zekes and Uncle Ben
Maddux, Andrea's oldest
Brea took a snoozy for about half the party.
Granny's take on how to sport the Turbie Twist...
Aunt Scarlet's crew minus Uncle Stacy who was prolly outside talking...Justin is there on the left and is Andrea's husband.
I found out the location of the kids' hideout.
Uncle Ben and Aunt Jenny love!
Since I was acting photographer, I snapped a shot of myself for proof of presence. :)
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