Learning to breathe.

I don't know where to start this post, so I will just jump in.

All that work to password this dealio

and we took it off.

Family was having too much of a difficult time reading it.

I am supposed to be writing a 100 word letter for Stephen.

However, inspiration is failing me.

I can trim it to 122, but that is the best I have got.

So much is happening!

Mom was cleared of Lymes.

Now is has reared its ugly head again.

Her specific strain goes into a spore like state that throws a false negative on tests when it discovers antibiotics in the blood. Once it believes the antibiotics are gone, Lymes sends out "scout-like" spores and if everything is clear, it comes back.

If you believe I have been ignoring you, dear friends, I have been.

Don't take it personal.

I knew I was uncomfortable lately, but didn't know why.

My precious husband has felt the brunt of it.

Well, now we know that my problem is still my kidney.

Pray for that one.

I avoid & go loner when I feel myself getting grumpy.

In my typical, convaluted fashion, I was protecting you.

If I don't realize you are waving or smiling or coming to say hello, don't take it personally please!

I'm working to block out my discomfort until they get it taken care of.

There are lots of good things going on, we will focus on that right now!

Well, the discomfort has been taken care of.
November 28th we were able to laser out some scar tissue that had blocked my kidney a 2nd time. That was highly uncomfortable. My darling body decided to cramp on it every other second and I could always feel it as a dull ache in my back.

Christmas came with all of its hustle and bustle! The kids went with their mom, Stephen & I spent some time together and we all had a wonderful break. January flew by with basketball games, job searches, homework, etc. February 5th dawned bright and early! The day my stent was to be removed! Some fabulous friends took our babies for the night and delivered them to school the morning of the 5th. Stephen and I made it safely to McComb and back. May I just say one thing?
This getting stents business is for the birds!
However, we have fabulous friends/staff at the McComb hospital and all went well. Dr. D did say that there was some scar tissue and it wasn't as open in there as he had hoped for.

Are you sitting down?!?! One of the places I applied for and interviewed for called back! Yes! I started work on February 6th! The people were great and very accomodating considering I started the day after the stent removal. 2 weeks flew by. Stephen was home more, which was nice for me! Kyle was released from the ear doctor! No more procedures in the forseeable future! Abby was doing fabulously at basketball as well! Everything was wonderful! (still is!)

End of February I called Dr. D to report some tenderness and general discomfort. The next week we did a Lasix scan. Followed up with an appointment that I had to bring both kids to due to work schedules. Dr. D walked in & I greeted him with, "Please tell me I'm crazy and this is just normal." ....pause... (a tad too long of a pause if you ask me)..."Elizabeth, I'd love to. But your kidney is blocked & you lost 10% functionality."

Not what you want to hear, right? Doctors, they just don't seem to understand that they should be magical creatures that wink or blink or waive a wand and fix the wrong. Anyhoot, I asked if I were a relative of his, what would he recommend?

"I want to put a stint in next week. We will schedule the next procedure later."

"Next procedure?"

"Yes, I want to redo the original procedure with the DaVinci machine."

Can we say.....bombshell?

Indeed.

I called to do pre-op for my stint and went to have it inserted on 3/19/13.
Those fabulous friends I'm always telling you about once again saved the day and helped with our babies. I was emotional and anxious throughout the entire procedure. Seriously people, when the out patient WARD knows your voice? There's an issue.  They were all wonderful, kind, reassuring, and couldn't have been sweeter if we'd been friends all of our lives. I was called two days later with the date April 5, 2013 for my procedure. There was a flurry of phone calls and coordinating schedules in order to find people to help. Keep in mind military never know their schedule so we had to have a plan if Stephen was here and if he wasn't. PLUS that means coverage by family to help post op for approx 4 weeks total. I was an emotional mess because, come on, all of this past year and it still isn't fixed?!?! It's my own body's fault, but still! Stephen ended up being here. I am so incredibly grateful that God allowed that because it was a much tougher pre-op than before. Jim made it into town safely and had the kids well taken care of. We left home at 4:15am the day of the procedure. Everything went smoothly until time for IVs. Please understand that God orchestrated us getting the absolute sweetest people EVER to take care of us! ...and I don't pass out compliments like that just to pass them out. Suzanne did most of my pre-op prep & made us comfortable. My right IV went in easily. The left took 5 sticks. After the 3rd I was hurting so much I held Stephen's hand with my right. He was compassionate and helped me gently laugh and lickety-split, it went in! I couldn't have held still that last time without him. From what I am told the procedure took about 4+hrs. Brandi, Jennifer, Brenda, Lola, & Brittany kept us in good spirits & good comfort from Friday through Sunday afternoon. We laughed, I cried (laughing post op isn't comfortable, FYI,) we shared stories, and it was great!

Let me just say that medical staff are highly under-appreciated!
We had a couple of loud demanding people on our hall. We've no clue what was wrong, it could have been legit, it could not have been. We might never know. However, on our last morning there, we were jogging (ok, shuffling) a couple of laps around our wing when a young boy came flying out of one of the loud rooms.

"Ma'am! You've got to come quick!"

"What's the matter, honey?!" as nurse hurriedly collects her things...

"He's got the hiccups! You've got to give him something quick!!!!!"


Seriously?

Hiccups?

Stephen & I had to "dash" for our room as we burst out laughing!

Is there medicine for hiccups?

From Frankie

The one that we all call Mom is a little tired. 

PLUS she got this new job, and I'm not really sure I like it. I don't think she will give accurate details so while she is doing dishes, or laundry, or scratching that big oaf of a brother's belly (they call him Kaden and think he is just "so cute!), I will write the truth.

This family is absolutely awesome! I am SO glad that the one they all call "Dad" decided to pick me from among my brothers and sisters. He is so kind, loving, and loves to snuggle with me! "Dad" even protects me from Kaden! I have 2 beds and one of them is inside of a cave that has windows. They call it a crate. I call it heaven! When I am in there, I take all the best toys and hide them under my blanket! Kaden gets so aggravated! My favorite thing? When Kaden sleeps, I like to go nip his ears, neck, lip, anything I can! He gets upset and tries to get me but I dart back and forth so fast he can't get me!

I'm like LIGHTNING!

Anyway, this week...."Mom" worked 3 days. The day they call Monday we all stayed home together and played. It was SO rainy outside Kaden & I had to stay inside. Which was fine with me! I don't like to get wet! "Mom"took this picture because, "It's just cute!" That seems to be her reasoning with a lot of things.

It rained so much that "Dad's" garden and the yard got all flooded!

We all stayed inside and they (the kids and "Mom") did something called homework and something called "crafts" and then danced in front of the TV. 

WEIRD!!!!!

Do you see me on the bottom right? They gave me this tiny bed and Kaden has the HUGE bed!

Kaden hogged the WHOLE window and saw the only 30 seconds of sunshine we had one day.

I felt bad for Kaden on Tuesday.

He got really dirty and ended up getting a bath.

Poor Kaden even laid down and wouldn't climb in.

"Mom" is MUCH stronger than she looks. 

She picked him up and put him in the tub.

I helped him get warm by laying next to him and telling him I loved him like a brother!

"Mom" went to work Wednesday through Friday. It is at something called a "flower shop."

She seems a lot happier, but we (Kaden & I) aren't too sure about this arrangement. I get shut in a room with my bed, food & water, and a couple of toys. Kaden roams the rest of the house and she is gone as long as Kyle and Abby are! BUT the good thing is she plays with us for about an hour once everyone gets settled in the afternoon. 

"Dad" came home on Thursday!

It must have been a love day, because he and "Mom" sure were sharing a lot of kisses and smiles!

They kiss really weird.

I mean, I kiss by  licking their faces.

They kisses by putting their lips together.

Isn't that weird?!

Today (Saturday) the kids and "Mom" shut us out of the study and worked on tying knots.

Man this family is just odd!!!!!

Kyle is cool.

He always tells me I am his good boy and gives me lots of hugs!

Abby talks a lot. Hugs a lot. Tries to pick me up a lot.

but best of all is....SHE RUNS!!!!

Everywhere!

We have SO much fun!

Kyle says that is a piece of his heart with a K in it.

Abby says that A heart is hers too.

By the way, "Dad" had a birthday!

That cake is made of ice cream!

It must be really good because...

"Daddy" had a HUGE piece!

"Dad" & Abby also worked in that thing called a garden a while back.

He is a hard working man.

Oh! This is "Dad" reading the Valentine's card from Abby!

It was all pink! He loved it and she was really happy!

Do you see that smile on her face?

Kyle gave him a card with a monkey on it.

They both thought it was pretty cool!

They pulled out the big knotted thing and "Dad's" smile got even bigger!

He says he is going to use it on the boat.

I think that is where he goes when he is gone for a few days.

I love it when he comes home!

They also gave him a mouse pad (what is that?!) and two coasters with a bulldog picture. I think they should take my picture and put it on there! 

 Most importantly, I have something awful to tell you.

One of my big dog teeth came in so fast that my baby tooth didn't fall out first. 

It was hurting so much that I haven't been eating a lot lately.

Momma found it yesterday and started to mess with it.

Daddy did too.

It hurted  A LOT!

When I finally cried about it, they stopped.

Today I heard them talking about...ora..ora...orajel?

They put some of it on my gum and then started messing with my tooth.

It hurt!

But it came out!

I am not at all happy with Mom!

It hurt!

Daddy likes that I am snuggling with him and not Mom.
He says I am his dog.

He doesn't realize I chose him....humans!

Anyways, I don't think I'll give Mom love and snuggles or anything.

All in all, I love it here!

They play a game called "Go Fish."

I'll see if Mom will put it up here one day.

They give lots of snuggles, good food, go for walks. and give treats!

My mouth does feel better now that that tooth is out....

I'll think about forgiving Mom.

Oh how time does fly!

My momma always told me that when you are bored, time just crawls. If you think about it, she is right! When you are waiting without a magazine, book, etc. in the doctor's office it feels as if you wait for an eternity! When...well, my mental camera is off - I'll explain why. Usually I can come up with a million examples, these past 3 days it has been out of film. Bear with me. Shall we simply start with all that has happened?

 

 

Our Kyle and Abby are home! Christmas break seems like it happened an eternity ago! They acclimated to life in LA again pretty quick. Kyle had a gun-ho week! Saturday evening everyone was together again, Monday school started again, Thursday Kyle had his final (we pray!) ear procedure! We had our same wonderful doctor and incredibly sweet staff taking care of us.

We went with the plan of making it as relaxed and fun as possible. Thankfully, Stephen drove that morning. It was pouring literal buckets of rain! Schools were delayed because of roads being flooded out. We made it safely to just south of Jackson when we had our first taste of just how crazy the weather was. We were nearing an overpass and spotted a police car parked with lights on in our lane. No flares - nothings. No sirens to help draw attention. We had to quickly hit the brakes, change lanes/merge with traffic. Being the wonderful God He is, He protected us and kept us from hitting anything. That isn't to say we didnt' start hydroplane and almost connect with that police car. Stephen was already down to about 30mph and kept the truck under control! When we arrived at the hospital, Kyle was much more relaxed throughout the entire time. Abby has decided that going to the hospital is nothing to be jealous of. All you do is sit, play on your tablet, watch a TV until Mommy & Daddy realize what is on TV (30 seconds after we got in there) and tell you it's not a good show for you. Despite the odds being against her, Abby did absolutely wonderful! She never got grumpy and loud - just quietly bored. When Kyle came out of his procedure I went to visit with him. He was a pale green. My heart broke to see him drugged. The doctor said everything went beautifully and doesn't think Kyle will have to be restricted with his activities as long as last time. Last time Kyle was restricted for 6 weeks! We moved Kyle down to his 2nd recovery (we being the nurse with the family following.) He did get sick eventually, but that is normal for someone who has had a double ear procedure. Poor Abby didn't know what to do with Kyle. Her tender little heart wanted nothing more than to help, but she was scared and didn't really know what to do. We had a movie playing, but as we all know - new scary things right in front of you are hard to block out. We were able to load the kids and head home around 5pm. God kept us safe coming and going.


These are pre-op!

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. The kids helped me clean the house up. Stephen spent some time in the woods. Monday Stephen left for work. It is amazing how much the dynamics change. Abby had tryouts at basketball! She did really well and I had several coaches coming up to me to ask if she had played before and compliment her spunky personality! That all made Abby's day. We were....strongly encouraging her despite her desires otherwise to try basketball. She was in tears with nerves in the morning and quietly shy before we left. Once we arrived, Abby spotted a friend and immediately just started playing. That was it. Abby was sold! She hasn't stopped begging to go practice instead of eating dinner, doing homework, completing chores, etc! This past week was one of those where, if your tail wasn't solidly in the saddle - you were going to get bucked off! Thankfully, I have been attempting to get into God's Word more on my own. So I had my grip on the saddle, God had the reins, we all survived the speed and craziness!

Wednesday I went to the Baton Rouge for an eye checkup. I just love checkups that have good news. News like, "Ma'am your prescription is.5 too strong." YYAAAYYYy!!!! Let me tell you! That is exciting news! Last year, we discovered my prescription had improved. Since then it has improved even more!!!! At this rate, I am praying God will just heal up my eyes the rest of the way! AND my optic nerves have been nasally inclined and I'm guessing slightly discolored from the comment this doctor made after reviewing my file and checking them. My optic nerves are now at the correct placement again (yay!) and so slightly discolored that he said he had to almost convince himself they were off - if they even were!

Thursday we discovered snow had fallen on the MS side of life. Abby was dropped at a friend's house because Kyle & I had to go to Jackson to get the packing taken out of his ears. It was 6:30am when we left. We gassed up the truck and left. Just outside of Natchez a few miles, we crossed a slippery bridge. I immediately took off cruise control and slowed down. Both hands on the wheel. Kyle reminded to let me focus with slippery roads. All morning long I was striving to count my blessings and gifts God has blessed me with. I noticed a car off the side of the road in some trees, 2 other vehicles on the shoulder, and several people standing on the shoulder of the road. The truck slipped. I gently moved my hands to the left just a tad so that once we got off the ice the truck would ease back onto our lane. The ice didn't stop. The truck tires got onto the dirt and I slammed the brakes. There was water immediately to my right- and it was deep. 20 yards up or so there were trees between the road and water. God slowed us and kept His angels around us. We slid down the hill and straight into the car already empty at the bottom of the hill. I sat back as soon as I knew we were going to have impact with the car/trees. I didn't want to get an injury due to the airbags. They never went off. I whipped my head around to check Kyle. Poor Kyle had his hands over his ears, pale as a ghost, tears streaming down his face, "Momma Liz that was the WORST dream ever!!!!!" I smiled, "Oh baby, that wasn't a dream." I checked him and he didn't have a bump of bruise on him. The Good Samaratins at the top of the hill came to help us out of our vehicle and into their warm van. We called the police. I spoke with the woman who's car had cushioned our stop. She was fine, no cuts, her car totaled before we got to her. Remember my friend? The wonderful woman who is forever helping me get out of scrapes? She was kind enough to take Abby on to school (accident happened at 6:45am) and keep her in the dark so Abby wouldn't worry. My poor husband was out on the boat. We made multiple phone calls back and forth as we decided upon the best plan of action. EMTs checked all of us and deemed us healthy. They were immediately called away due to an accident on the first slippery bridge with greater injuries. Kyle? He thought all of his was the coolest thing since pepperoni was invented! He got to sit in a warm van and play with my iPod touch. After which he was moved to an ambulance. Finally he got to stay cozy warm in the back of a police car. The towing company arrived and we got to ride in his truck to the storage lot. Our friend picked us up, took us to our other car, and we went home. Kyle got an excused day off from school and I made a million phone calls setting up an insurance claim, finding a body shop (also thanks to my friend for that!) setting up a rental, rescheduling Kyle's appointment, etc. It was crazy busy! Our wonderful MC sent Stephen home from work so he could help me. We are all healthy and fine! Abby came home to find a rental car instead of good ole Betsy in our driveway. I showed her how Betsy had been hurt, but we were ok. She got a very scared look on her face, so I allowed Kyle to brag about sitting in an ambulance, police car, and riding in a tow truck. Abby's response? "That's not fair! I want to get in a car wreck so I can do all of those things!" =)

In the ambulance.

Pretending he's putting his hands in the air inside the police car.

Betsy trying to give love to the little silver car.

Friday morning dawned bright and early! Kyle had zero soreness and was excited to go to school and brag about his adventure! I was sore but only because my right side hit the console when we finally came to a stop. The most irritating thing is the swelling. My abdomen is so swollen I look fat. It's yuck! The doctor says unless I am feeling some pretty specific things, which I am not, I am fine. That morning I went to apply for another job. Please pray - I would love to be involved in the community, make a few dollars, and just be productive! Cleaning the house, doing laundry, scooping puppy droppings, and running errands are not "productive." You can't say, "Look at what I did!" and have a week or so before it needs to be done again. It's a daily, numbing activity list. This past year off from work has been a God-sent, please understand. However, I am ready to be a productive part of society!

Poor Stephen had to deal with an emotional moment yesterday that blind sided both of us! I was getting dressed to go turn in applications. I couldn't squeeze into any of my dress pants! NOT A SINGLE PAIR! My work blouses? Forget it! Not even those! I put on an outfit, FaceTimed my mother, and Stephen tried to help me. Unfortunately, it was an "Oh my word! I'm fat! Not like fat as in fat, but as in I'm so swollen nothing is fitting! What do I do? My belly sticks out further than anything else! I'm not pregnant! This isn't supposed to be happening to me! What do I do?!" (insert tears!) I could hear myself spazzing, tried to stop me, and wound up just crying. Lol. That was probably the most scary thing ever! I'd rather wreck in the truck again! (No, not really, but - that was less scary to me.) My mother is amazing, calmed me, laughed, and said to just apologize, explain, and move on with life. Somehow, having my mom say that was absolutely perfect. Bless his heart, Stephen just stood there, told me I was beautiful and hugged me. He's wonderful!

We also got in a fight.



It's fuzzy cuz it's with a phone.
I had flour in my hair, in my shirt, EVERYWHERE!

 

As you can tell by that ridiculous smile, he won. =(

The rest of the day I would clean, rest. Rest, clean. Stephen in true form, vacuumed the floors for me (moved furniture out of the way and everything!) helped make dinner, and more importantly than that, he played. I am not the typical wife I guess. I would rather be teasing and playing than anything most of the time. We had a flour fight that resulted in the entire kitchen getting dusted!

Today? Today my gracious, kind-hearted, fabulous, loving & supportive husband is taking it all on. The whole day.
I am sitting in a coffee shop, as I have been for the past 1 1/2 hrs. Granted, my snobby self is only drinking their tea, but I did have a cup of my fabulous coffee earlier. Stephen is cleaning up the yard with the kids and possibly taking them to the circus.

Where did this past week go?!

I hope you all are doing well! Hopefully you are having a very relaxing and restful weekend! Kyle and I head to Jackson for his ear appointment on Tuesday. We are hoping to get the packing removed and get him released from his low activity level.
We love you and are praying for you!

God's people are seriously needing to support each other. A friend of mine is needing to know more of God's provision. Please understand, they are already Christians, however - they are climbing a very tough mountain right now. Please go read her blog and support them with prayers!
http://andyandcari.blogspot.com/

 

 

These two have been hard at it. Lots of growling, nipping, and coming to me for loving.

 

There is so much more to tell!

I'll save it for a later post.

Sweet dreams my friends!

 

Why We Had to PW

I edited this - no more password.

Family was having too much trouble viewing it!

      Life got chaotic, sugar high, and plain crazy on the days leading up to Christmas break! The kids were through the roof excited to be driving to IN to get their grandpa (Kristina's dad) and then to AR to spend the rest of the break. It was 3 weeks of non-stop GO! GO! GO! Somewhere in the midst of that we had our roof replaced, a plugged drain fixed, another minor work done on the roof, and now our refrigerator is also out. We had to pack the kids, make Christmas cookies, get homework done, study for midterms, and I was recuperating from getting my kidney repaired. NUTS!!!!! That's the best excuse I have for no Christmas cards! Well, that and I have yet to ask for many of your addresses. Please feel free to leave those in a comment below or email them to me.

     This CG post for Stephen has been what we would call a growing experience, a chance to build character is what my parents might have referred to it as. Character building as a child was usually hours of raking leaves, scrubbing toilets, picking up dog poop, picking up sticks - are we getting the picture? Jobs we would never have really volunteered for. Well, except raking leaves. As long as the parents were inside and we were doing it just us kids it was a blast! wE would rake up GINORMOUS piles of leaves, run, and jump! SO MUCH FUN! You think I kid about the leaves? We on average put out over 200 bags of MULCHED leaves each year. Yeah, that's a lot! So, scratch that off of the character building list...unless the parents were out with us. Then we had to rake, mulch, bag, rake, mulch, bag....BOOOOORING! Back to Stephen! Yes, character builiding and a growing experience. We all know that when our husbands are in lots of said situations, they slowly but surely begin to stop playing with the kids as much, stop teasing, and tend to just veg out. Can we blame them? With all of the chaos going on with the children, I was blaming him on the inside. I'd have to go off by myself, pray God would fix my heart, cry a bit, and move on. My parents were WONDERFUL because they usually would call to be all cheerful and "Hi! How are you? We love you! We are so happy for you all!" and I would be all like "Waaaaaahhh!!! (follow with tears) I'm fine! (tears) No really! (tears)" The kids were waking up in the middle of the night due to dreams (why? I don't know) staying up late because of SO much sugar at school (thank you teachers!) and waking on average 30 minutes earlier because they were excited. Add all of that up and you have exhausted volatile children!  I cried when my babies left for Arkansas. I hadn't spent even a full two hours with my Kyle and my Abby that day. It was just that fast! My fabulous husband the Magnificent (are you gagging? It's true - he really is amazing) came home the very next day! We went out for dinner, a first in the last 5 months outside of Thanksgiving break. It was wonderful! We spent the next few days just relaxing and enjoying the quiet. Christmas morning I woke up and snuggled with my puppies. Around 8am I went to wake up Stephen, he stirred, assured me he was awake, and I left to start breakfast! 8:15am - no Stephen. I went to wake him up again. More stirring and assurances he was awake. 8:30am - no Stephen. A third time I went back - grumpy! So I snatched up Frankie and let him do the honors! Voila! Stephen woke up smiling! Go figure a puppy can wake him up! Oh well, we spent the day eating too much food, wrapping presents for the kids, and had a WONDERFUL dinner! Smoked ham, mashed sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, and broccoli.. Definitely made up for the breakfast...which ended up being stale tasting cinnamon rolls, cold bacon, hot coffee, and eggs. Yeah - poor guy!

    Much of Stephen's spare time was spent out in the woods during the day. He saw a beautiful doe 20 - 30yards out from him...the day after doe season ended. ; ) Later in the week he got a new hunting rifle (new to him) and went to sight it in. After firing several rounds, he and his buddy went to go check the target. First he laid his gun down, climbed down the 35ft deep ravine, up the other side and to the target. But wait! Deer tracks! *GASP!* Big ole buck picked his head up, saw the guys and took off like a shot! Remember his new hunting gun? The one with the scope that is in great condition? Yep, it was back by the truck!

     Friday was my favorite. Friday Stephen promised to take me to Jackson! You might think that is no big deal. Dear friends, let me assure you, it is. FL friends, imagine living in a town smaller than Homosassa with no Brooksville, Inverness, Ocala, or Crystal River for 2 hours in any direction. Indiana friends, well, it's smaller than Marion, IN with half the shopping of Marion.Yeah, YIKES is right! So he took me to finish Christmas shopping, get a few necessities, and spend time in a book store. A REAL bookstore! A Barnes & Noble! YES! He spent over 2 hrs in there with me! I did my thing...he patiently waited for me. We followed that with a run to Bass Pro Shop. He got a few things and we went home. We didn't have to worry about rushing or making it back by bedtiem. He & I haven't had time for just us without worries from work since July 2011. It was much needed! That was the day MY Stephen came back. Now we're back to reality, but we both needed that time. I am so thankful for it. God knew we needed some rejuvinating. We are both very extremely ready to have our Kyle and Abby home again! Yes I know, we will fall into the rhythm of school, work, homework, housework, etc. But it's all of those little moments of snuggles and giggles that we miss!

     Kyle is having his 2nd procedure done. There is a tiny slit like hole in the right and left ear drum. Thursday, January 10, our wonderful ear specialist will take a small graft of cartilage from the back of Kyle's ear and repair his eardrum. If it's in God's Will, this will allow Kyle to no longer have to use ear plugs when he plays in or near water. He will not have to worry as much about ear infections. This poor boy is literally petrified at the thought of water getting in his ears because of how bad his infections have been in the past.  Abby's tummy is doing well! She is finally starting to eat like normal again - which means she out eats me on average. (That's saying something since I can out eat Stephen!) My stent comes out on February 5th. I went for a follow up last week and the K.Dr. said everything seemed to be going fine based upon my lack of symptoms and my swelling decreasing. BY THE WAY!!!! My swelling is going down enough I can now buckle my belt where I did BEFORE my March procedure! Those of you who have never experienced kidney surgery, let me explain. You go in wearing normal clothes, in fact, all of your clothes are very loose because you've worked hard to lose weight. You wake up, go home 3 days later, and nothing fits. NOTHING! Your husband's sweatpants, but that is it. Even those are not comfy on your waist. That lasts until June. June you start wearing your normal clothes but do little tricks to keep them from being uncomfortable. Your belt? You wear that on your loosest hole possible and change into said sweatpants as soon as normal. NO I don't want sympathy - I'm laughing at this as I write it. You should be too! So yes! Swelling is going down! YYAAAYYY!!!

     Dogs? Well, the dogs, they are crazy! They went from being walked 3 miles a day from July through October, to nothing. My lab is being stubborn. My boston is - holy moly! Hyper! Antagonistic! And frankly (haha! his name is Frank) is hilarious to watch! Poor Kaden is content to eat and sleep. Frank is content to nip and bark and steal toys/bones from Kaden all the live long day!

See? Nothing has changed! My posts are just as ridiculous and random as ever!

Pray for our country! A new congress member is being sworn in on the Hindu scriptures and at the opening address the Bible's New Testament and Old Testament will be read IN ADDITION TO THE KORAN!

We are all praying for you! Praying you had a wonderful Christmas & New Year! (If you say "Happy Holidays" odds are we are going to have a "fun" conversation. Just which holidays would you be referring to? There are many!) Oh, by the way, also very important! We love you!

It's Christmas Eve Eve!!

The day after tomorrow is Christmas! Can you believe it!? We are going to be taking it easy. There will be ham, rolls, Christmas cookies, candy, and Christmas movies! Most likely an adventure or two As well.

These past few have been very exhausting. The kids have been on sugar high after sugar high! Lol. Steve has been hard at work and me? I start to get going and am reminded to chill. So instead I was here for the new roof, hopefully new thermostat (heat got down to 63 due to miscommunication between the thermostat and furnace). Our wonderful landlords came quickly to our rescue.

Thursday I go to the K.Dr for he midway check of my stent. We will most likely schedule the stent removal as well. I tell you, it is SO wonderful to not feel full of fluid all th time! The tater tot timer is calling. So much live to you all! Adios!

Gingerbread & Espresso Kind of Morning

It's just one of those mornings.

Believe it or not, my friends, you have not been forgotten.

There have been so many moments when I have started to write and had to stop; finished a post and my computer has blipped - effectively erasing everything I just wrote; words have welled up inside of me until I felt ready to burst!

 

I am not free to write everything that is going on. Embarrassingly enough, my focus has gone from counting gifts to counting frustrations in this the season of joy.

 

So...let's starting those gifts and joys, shall we?

 

 

1. November 28th went as smooth as butter.

K.Dr. was able to go in, remove my scar tissue and insert my new stent.

Did I already tell you that? Anyhoot, it goes from kidney all the way down to my bladder. It's rather large. Thankfully, my body is no longer cramping down on it like it did in the beginning.

 

2. My momma, who has Lymes, has begun her antibiotics.

If you are unfamiliar with Lymes, you don't know how awful it can be. Most people's cases are caught quickly, Mom's took years to discover. Last time the antibiotics were shutting down her liver, causing intense pains, and multiple other issues. Her body is reacting again, however in a more positive way. Her adrenals are improving and the Lymes is responding as we had hoped. However, that means that she is overall not feeling well. You know how it is with medicine (and storms) it always gets worse before it gets better.

That's a gift/joy that she is responding well and a prayer request for her.

My Momma is bar none the absolute most amazing, compassionate, loving, gentle hearted soul. I hope that some day I can be a fourth as wonderful as she is.

 

3. Frankie is no longer messing in the house!

He is limiting his accidents/fits to the concrete back porch, the bed of the truck and Steve's office.

 

4. Steve's and my Christmas gifts came in!

We bought ourselves a new living room set! It is so comfy that I tend to sleep better on it than I do my own bed! ...well, except for last night. I was so exhausted last night that outside of when Stephen decided it would be a good idea to squoosh (sp?) me by rolling on top of me in his sleep, I slept like a log! It was that lovely sleep where you feel as if you are just floating and cocooned safely where no grumpy thing can reach you.

Unfortunately, my darling husband's MULTIPLE alarms went off and there went the feeling.

 

5. Our new espresso machine has arrived!

Our old machine (not even 2 yrs old) had gone kaput. After emailing Cuisinart, we learned that if we paid to have the old one shipped they would send us a brand new machine for free! So let's see, continue living in a town where I make the best espresso (it's not bragging if it's true) without an espresso machine, or buy a new $200 machine, or pay $30 to ship the old one back. We chose option three!

 

6. The aforementioned option three is being helpful at this very moment!

Espresso, steamed coconut milk, and gingerbread cookies.

 

Nothing is necessarily wrong, so don't be alarmed or concerned.

I am being selfish and emotional.

This year is a little tough on all of us, it seems. God is so good though. He pours out His blessings each and every day. I know it's selfish to ask for prayers right now when so many are truly suffering. But I am. Family is more important to my Stephen and me than anything else in this world. This Christmas is flickering between spending it with family and not. My personality does not do well with flickering, I do solid and steady. So please just pray that we remember that as long as we are focused on Christ He will carry us through and be the reason for our joy regardless of what happens this Christmas.

 

7. Kyle received a pretty good report from the ENT!

He will need to have one more minor procedure and then we should be fine! The left ear is mostly healed. (That is the one repaired back in Sept/Oct) There is only a tiny slit of a hole below where the graft (sp) was placed. Kyle's right ear only has a tiny little hole as well. The ENT will be going in and repairing both of those hopefully next month. If all goes well, Kyle will be able to play in water without fear of getting ear infections! You have no idea how big of a deal that is until you have to be concerned about it. His ears have been so sensitive that the little water that wiggled around his ear plugs at Blue Bayou gave him a minor ear infection this past summer!

 

I need to go eat some real breakfast. Here are some pictures for you. =)

 

Frankie has been feeling a little under the weather. Did he come to me? Nope, big tough Stephen! Frankie's problem? It's COLD! He is not at all a fan of cold weather!

(Sorry the picture is bleached. Trying to get Stephen to take anything less than a "manly" picture at that moment was  a little difficult!)

Cousin It came to visit!!!

 

We LOVE Christmas!

 

Christmas cookies!

Christmas trees!

Plus - my baby is just the best looking 4th grader EVER!

 

 

My puppy knows when I need some extra lovins and stayed on this cold hard tile floor while I typed this.

Follow that up with me allowing him to put his front paws on my lap. He tried to literally climb his 96lb self up onto my lap, finally settling for giving me lots of kisses.

 



October through November! YIKES

My oh my how time does fly. It has been a month and a half dear friends since I have written you. That month has been full of all sorts of activities! However, those are mere excuses for not letting you see all the fun we have been having.

 

Typically, when Stephen comes back, we both hit a point where we are ready for him to go underway for 2 - 3 days. This time - well, it is not at all what either of us wants or even slightly desire. It has been a time of growth and laughter for us all. Growth came mostly on my part, since I seem to be the one who most desperately needs to learn. Up until now, it has been easiest to just stay the one in charge. The one who does bedtimes, getting up, errands, behavior, dog training, chores, cooking, cleaning, etc. God used the St. Louis trip to teach me. I had to be the one in charge for the majority of that time. Talk about exhausting! These past 6 weeks have been full of God helping me open my hands on control. I don't need to be the one jumping on everything all the time. Stephen needs to be allowed to be the head of the household. Thankfully my husband is absolutely fabulous and has not ever complained or belittled or checked me harshly for  how I have acted. He took it in stride and loved me despite all of my short comings! We have all jelled more as a family and the kids are much more at ease with everything now that Stephen is at home. They are pretty upset still over the fact that Daddy knows everything with this new way of handling things. Lol. They both have let it be known on various occasions they'd rather me keep their mistakes to myself. Sharing it with my husband has helped them understand what a family team is truly supposed to look like though, and Stephen & I love that!

 

Fall Fest and Trunk or Treat were wonderful! The kids had a wonderful time eating too much candy and playing games! Kyle was Spider Man! We found a costume complete with muscles and a mask!

 

 

In reference to how slender my darling daughter appears, she had been sick off and on for about 3 weeks. Poor baby could not shake off the bug! Guess who she dressed up as! We even found silver sparkly slippers and put a cotton ball on the toe! After our church Trunk or Treat, we learned of a nearby gentleman who worked with the police to block off several blocks of streets. He coordinated hot dogs, chips, pop, and a variation of hay rides! Kyle and Abby LOVED it!

 

Kyle went back to the ear doctor. His ear (left one) is healing nicely. However, the graph/patch has not completely bonded with his ear drum. What this means is that there is still a very tiny hole. Overall his hearing has improved though! Yay! We go back the last week of school to have another check up on that ear.  Please pray God lays His hand upon Kyle's ear and heals it. We won't mind if you also ask God to miraculously heal his right ear too!

 

Abby's tummy aches during the past 3 months great to a point where she was doubling over, not eating much, and joining me every night just to get some comforting snuggles. I didn't mind at all that I got to snuggle. Neither of us enjoyed the reason she came to me though. =/ We immediately got her into a GI specialist. A number of factors caused her system to become constipated. We adjusted her diet, added some Miralax and Barley Grass. Abby & I are happy to report she only VERY rarely gets a tummy ache! Usually when she cheats behind my back and has too much dairy or any chocolate. The GI specialist did bloodwork, stool samples and an Xray of her digestive tract. Bloodwork and stool samples came back normal. The Xray showed the constipation.

 

Me? Well, I spoke to my kidney Dr (will call him K.Dr. for short) back in June/July to ask if we could see why I was literally fuller on the right side of my body than the left. If you used your hand to span my depth, my right side without fail measured fuller. He said I should be fine, but ordered a Lasix test. It showed kidney function as better than before surgery and he recommended waiting. I asked for a stent. As God would have it, the scheduling didn't mesh with Stephen going to St. Louis. As soon as Stephen came home again, I called to request the stent be scheduled. I included the fact I had painlessly passed 3 clots in about a 2 week time period in addition to a kidney stone. (not all three at the same time.) K.Dr. immediately called for a Lasix and a CT Scan with contrast. The short version of this story is I get my kidney fixed on Wednesday November 28th! YAY! Let me tell you, I will be THRILLED to lose these 2 extra inches around me. My kidney is back to pre-op size. The procedure is outpatient. K.Dr. will laser the scar tissue and put in a new kind of stent.

 

Stephen is still as healthy as a horse and stabilizing the kids and me! Which is awesome! Abby had her 7th birthday! She was thoroughly spoiled and her entire day was covered top to bottom side to side with pink! It was fabulous! Facebook has all those pictures.

 

Due to the way things on the boat were going with engines being repaired, etc. we weren't sure if we would be able to travel for Thanksgiving. God is good and allowed us to leave on the Friday before Thanksgiving for Florida! Yippee!!!! True to form, we surprised my favorite mother-in-law! I just LOVE surprising people! The entire week was a time of sweet reconciliation and refreshment! Kyle and Abby were able to spend time with their cousins, both grandmothers, all uncles and aunts on the Langenmayr side PLUS see their aunt who works at Disney! Well, two aunts, we've pretty much adopted Esther's roomie. A fabulous friend who takes both of my babies in stride and helps spoil them rotten!

 

The lights synchronized with music were AWESOME!!!! We got home around midnight that night. The puppies were supposed to stay in their crates, but my amazing father in law (Jim Langenmayr) let them out, played with them, and overfed both! Neither dog complained and neither am I!

I have always loved all of my in-laws. My sister Kelly though, I am learning how wonderful she is! Let me tell you! She and her hubby, Jacob, are seriously the best! They are both raising two kids, going to school full time (sometimes a 3hr round trip car drive) and still manage to keep up with all the FL family down there and smile through it all. Did I mention they have THE cutest 3yr old and 18month old ever?

Audrey absolutely LOVED talking with Frankie through the window!

 

Audrey & Luke got lots of kisses through the window

and when they played outside with the puppies!

 

 

Cutest baby girl ever! Yes, I know she is eating. However, part of her being so darn cute is how she goes from stoic, to smiles, to upset, to ballerina toes! All that to say, this is the only smiling pic. Every other pic she would smile until I hit the camera button!

 

 

The many faces of Lukey!!!!

 

 

 

Kyle's best buddy came to visit for the afternoon!

 

 

Mimi had herself plenty of fun with her babies!!!

 

Mimi even got to soak up a few moments with Stephen!

 

Mema got in on the lovins too! Mimi & Abby worked very hard on Kyle's birthday cake!

 

 

The kids LOVE their Mema!!!!

 

Saturday morning around 2am we left for Louisiana.
It was not a happy moment.

The Lord looked out for us and gave us smooth sailing the whole way!

Around 9am or so, I think, I woke up. Stephen and I had switched to him driving around 8am. We were about 30 - 45minutes away from some family members that we had not visited since last December! We contemplated dropping in and what an inconvenience that might be. However, our love of family won out!

 

Aunt Kathy played, did crafts, and cooked us a FABULOUSLY delicious and huge meal!

 

Jeremy (Aunt Kathy's son) hung out with Kyle, Abby, and Stephen all by turns. He made Kyle's day by just sitting and listening to him. Jeremy also set up the Kinect so Kyle and I could play!

 

Uncle Jack and Stephen had a lot of "man" time with Jeremy as well. Stephen needed all this family time! Don't get me wrong, I needed it too! However, Stephen's job is a just a tad bit more stressful than mine.

 

There are no pictures of me with Jack, Kathy & Jeremy because I was off. All of the driving and going caught up to me on Saturday.

 

So, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Jack, and Jeremy, if you read this, please for give my rudeness while I was there. I didn't try to be. My dumb kidney was making me nauseous. As an adult, I should still be able to use my manners and say things politely, but I failed. I hope you'll forgive me.

 

 

We are all home and happy to be in our own beds again. Frank & Kaden are MUCH more chill now that they are back in their own territory. Hopefully it won't be another 6 weeks before I write to you my friends. I love and am praying for you all!

REmember!

Jesus is the reason for the season!

Put up the lights and cherish all of the warm fuzzies of the season! God meant for us to celebrate Jesus coming to save us from our sins! Let's celebrate this season!