Good Bye 2010...a year in review

I refinished all the kitchen cabinets, after 5 years of John Deere green I finally did it!  All.By.Myself!  (and it is a huge kitchen, almost too big, I know...who says their kitchen is too big? but honestly, it's 13 feet across from my stove to my sink, 17 feet from one wall to another in the last picture (the sink wall), really, it's huge! 30 cabinet doors and 9 drawers and the fold out thing under the sink!)

Before

Before, cabinet doors off

After; still need to replace the counters but a huge improvement!

Kaleb turned 3

Jerry had nose surgery to fix his deviated septum - which greatly improved MY ability to sleep!
I finally painted the boys rooms

Kaleb's room

Zachary's room

Jerry had his first colonoscopy
We took the boys to Sea World in San Antonio

Zachary and Kaleb

Our credit card and debit card information was stolen while in San Antonio; $3500 was taken from us, our credit union was awesome and got all of our money back within a couple of days

3 weeks later my wallet was lost and the credit card and debit card were gone again

Zachary turned 5 and had his first birthday party with friends

Clayton, Zachary and Maddox

Both boys played T-ball for the first time

Kaleb

Zachary

We traded in the van and bought a new Ford Fusion

We finally bought a new dinning table which makes the newly painted kitchen and dinning area feel complete

This table folds out from the center to be square so 8 people can sit at it, it's awesome!  There is a "key" under the lazy susan to turn then each of the 4 'pie slices' fold out and viola it's square!

Maggie had to be put down for old age (she was 16 and had lost all bladder control amongst other things)

Maggie

3 weeks later Scooter had to be put down for diabetes and complications including seizures

Scooter

Zachary started Kindergarten

Zachary's first day of school at his classroom

The shower in the master bathroom is finally done (aside from the plumbing, Jerry did all the work himself)

The shower is complete!

We tried to sell our house and buy another house in town (still not out of the question but we're waiting til spring to make a decision)
I had knee surgery
I have a blood clot

So long 2010, it wasn't all bad but I'm hoping for a better 2011!

Prickly

*sigh*
December 15th Kaleb was diagnosed with strep.  *prickly #1*

December 22nd I was diagnosed with a blood clot and had to start Lovenox shots *prickly #2-17*, Zac was diagnosed with strep *prickly #18*.

December 27th Jerry was diagnosed with strep *prickly #19*

December 29th I was diagnosed with strep *prickly #20*.

We've been to so many doctor's offices in the last 2 weeks it's really ridiculous.  We've paid over $200 in just doctor co-pays this week alone.  I haven't had the guts to add up the prescription co pays yet, or balance the check book.
I had my first Coumadin Clinic visit on Monday.  It wasn't great.  My INR (blood level) was only 1.5 - by the way, they prick your finger (*prickly #21*) to get the blood sample.  A person not on any blood thinners is at a 1, they want me between 2 and 3.  I've been on Lovenox and Warfarin since the 22nd, so 6 days worth taken at that point and was only at a 1.5, I was put back on Lovenox for the next 4 days and the Warfarin was increased for the week to try to increase my levels to therapeutic.
I started back to physical therapy yesterday.  It was actually good, I have more range of motion in my knee then I thought I would on the first day, and as we went through the exercises things really loosened up so I was happy, it's just so time consuming and draining; especially since I was already feeling drained from everything that had been going on with clinic and the cardiologist and feeling sick already.
Before physical therapy I called my cardiologist because I had a pain in my right arm, just above the elbow and my right hand gets absolutely freezing for no reason.  I was afraid it could be another blood clot.  When I called the office they said to get there ASAP, so I did.  After a brief exam I was told it was not blood or vascular related and had nothing to do with the blood clot, so that was a relief but also a waste of the $35 co pay and quite a draining trip.
Since I had an appointment to be tested for strep today with my primary care doctor anyway (which as I said, was positive), I asked about the pain in my arm and the freezing in my hand, they think it's either arthritis, bursitis or a nerve problem, maybe from something like carpal tunnel but I cannot take any anti inflammatories while on blood thinners so we're going to wait until I'm done dealing with the blood clot then I'll go back and we'll deal with my arm.

Oh, one last prickly...while I was filling my antibiotic at Target I picked up an electric razor since I'm not supposed to use a manual razor while taking Warfarin...guess I need to get used to prickly legs too :(  *prickly #22*

Christmas survived once again...

 On Christmas Eve we let the boys open their gifts from Uncle David, a hold over tradition from when I was a kid.  I also let them open the bag of clothes from my parents so I could wash them, it was mostly pajamas so they were able to wear new pajamas to bed for Christmas.  We put the boys to bed fairly early with the hopes we could play Santa and get to bed at a decent hour...who were we kidding?
At 11:15 Kaleb was still awake!
At 11:30 he had just barely fallen asleep.
I normally go to bed at around 9pm, but I normally don't have to wait for Kaleb to fall asleep, so I was exhausted and ready to just put the gifts out and call it good, if he got up and caught us we could think of an excuse and put him back to bed.
So we finally put the gifts out at around 11:40 and got done around midnight...I was dreading an early wake up with the boys but I woke up at 8:00 and neither of the boys were up yet.  I got up, fed the fish, took my meds, drank some milk.  I took some pictures of the Christmas tree with all the presents just as Jerry got up then we went in to wake up the boys, Zac's reply was "What's the big idea waking me up?"

Kaleb just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep even after we told them Santa had come and there were presents to open.

Finally we had everyone in the living room, the boys opened their gifts and loved everything.  They didn't argue over one getting something the other didn't and have been sharing pretty well.
All in all, a good day.

And Now I Have A Blood Clot

As I mentioned in my last post I have had pain in my left calf since the pain medication wore off after my surgery, it felt like I pulled a muscle which I knew I did not do.  I really just figured I was walking weird because of the swelling in my knee and not being able to bend my knee and maybe that was why there was pain but that really didn't make sense for the amount of pain I was feeling either.  Blood clot did cross my mind a few times since I was taking birth control pills prior to surgery and no one told me to stop taking them until I had my lab work done about 6 days prior to surgery, you're supposed to stop birth control pills at least 14 days prior to surgery because of the risk of blood clots.  The other reason blood clot crossed my mind is that I get this whooshing feeling in my foot every so often, I don't know if that would make sense to anyone else or not but it almost felt like the blood flow is stopped for a while then all of a sudden it's let passed and that's the whoosh I feel in my foot.

So anyway, today I had my post op check to get the stitches out.  I had very little visible swelling (it still feels like it is swelling inside) last night and this morning and the pain in my calf was nearly gone.  When the nurse asked if I had been having any pain I mentioned that I had no knee pain but a little pain in my calf and just discomfort in my knee from the swelling but that it gets better every day.  Then the physician assistant Amanda came in and I told her about the calf pain and she said it was likely nothing but that there was an off chance it could be a blood clot so she wanted to send me for an ultra sound.  She tried to get me in for the in office ultra sound but apparently it was not working or not available so she scheduled me across the street at 5pm at the hospital so we went back this evening.

I had a great chat about Santa and Christmas and our kids with the tech doing my ultra sound and when she finished with the ultra sound I was truly shocked when she said I had a clot.  I asked if she was joking and she said no, she said she wasn't supposed to tell me but that we had such a good chat that she really wanted me to know.  I asked what they normally do and she said 90% of the time they admit and administer blood thinners and monitor blood levels or something.  She said she was going to contact my doctor and find out what he wanted to do and she'd let me know but that I could go out and tell Jerry.

About 10 minutes later she came out and said I was the lucky 10%, that my doctor wanted me to go across the street to his office and someone would be there to give me an injection and further instructions.  Apparently if I had been admitted I would not have been released in time for Christmas.  I'm still a little leery of not being in a hospital and having a blood clot but my best guess is that I've had this clot for a week now and I haven't been in a hospital this whole time so I'll be fine.

So we went across the street and PA Amanda was waiting for us, she had an injection of Lovenox and a phone number for a cardiologist.  She was so relieved she sent me for the ultra sound, she said that 10 other patients could have the same complaint and it would be nothing and she really thought that mine was nothing but that's why they always send patients to be checked.  The Lovenox is an injection in the belly and it hurts!  Apparently it's a daily injection and I am not looking forward to this, but I have to call the cardio tomorrow at 8 to make an appointment ASAP so we don't need to do the injection tomorrow until we talk to him.  I'll have blood work done tomorrow and probably be put on more medication (I can't remember the name of it) and then be on probably weekly visits to the lab for blood work for 6 months and medication/injections for up to 6 months.

And here's a lovely piece of info Amanda gave me...the Lovenox they happened to have on hand was turned in by a lady whose husband died and no longer needed it, it's sealed syringes so they are safe but she turned them in so they could have them on hand in case someone needed them....lovely to be reminded that someone died of this.

Oh and Zachary started throwing up at around 3pm...we think he has a stomach bug *sigh*

One Week Post Op

I have been really amazed that the pain I was in before surgery is gone, completely gone.

The swelling is the only thing really keeping me down at this point; it feels like someone is torquing on my leg, twisting it, not really causing pain, just a lot of discomfort.

The first 2 days post op I couldn't really feel anything in my knee, which wasn't really a bad thing, but wasn't a good thing either.  Not feeling pain meant that I was bending my knee which was not good and is probably why I'm still swelling a lot now.

Yesterday I was at a family get-together and while I was sitting the entire time my leg was not elevated for the first time since I got home from surgery, when I got home my leg was very swollen and a bit painful, some ice and some time with the Tens machine and all was better.

I was standing for about an hour today wrapping gifts and the swelling was horrible and that did cause a lot of discomfort again.  I've been keeping it elevated for the rest of the day and it's helped.  I have to give up my ice machine on Tuesday so I'm trying to get used to not relying on it all day.

I am supposed to use crutches until I can walk without pain or a limp.  I cannot walk without a limp because of the swelling.  I cannot bend my knee because of the swelling.  So the crutches are still a must.  I did try not using them around the house this morning and it was ok for a little while, but I had a very prominent limp while trying to get around but at least I was able to carry things from one room to another.  Again, I wasn't in pain, just uncomfortable and knew I was going to pay for not using the crutches in the form of swelling.

I was not sent home with any exercises to loosen up the muscles, in fact I was told to not bend my knee if I could help it, I really can't bend it past about 15 degrees anyway because of swelling and tightness.  I get the stitches out on Tuesday and will find out if I need to go to physical therapy or not.  One place that is painful is my calf, I'm not sure why, maybe because of the way I've been walking or standing.  Also the side of my knee, I was told the doctor did not cut the tendon so I'm not sure why it's so painful on the side, but it's not painful to bend just to touch.

One thing I am surprised with is that if I was told I had to have this surgery every 18 months to relieve the pain I was in prior to surgery (assuming the pain came back like it does with some people) I would do it in a heartbeat!  I am amazed that the pain is gone.  Sure there is discomfort from swelling and the crutches are annoying and I'm not even sure how long until I'm fully recovered but it's been worth it so far.

The pain has arrived

It would not have bothered me one bit had it never come but I knew that would be too good to be true.

The tens machine got here this afternoon, it's a sort of muscle stimulating machine, about the size of a cell phone with 4 leads that you put around the pain site and dial up the stimulus to a tolerable level, it kind of twitches the muscles and gets rid of pain.  I have to use it for a minimum of 3 hours a day.  And the machine is ours to keep.  At no cost to us, they won't accept any money from us, only what the insurance will pay.  So any muscle strains or pulls or just soreness in the future and we now have a way to get rid of the pain...works for me...

But the knee pain right now is not fun...In about 20 minutes I can take a 2nd Lortab and my antibiotics and go to sleep so maybe that will help.  It's just a dull achy pain but it's a lot of it.

Still No Pain

I'm sort of waiting for it to hit and hoping it doesn't all at the same time...I'm not sure if the pain meds the shot my knee up with during surgery haven't worn off (though I doubt that at this point since it's been over 24 hours now) or if I've just been able to stay on top of it with the Lortab and the ice machine keeping it numb but not being in pain is fine with me.  I have been sitting on the couch nearly the entire time since I've been home from the hospital with my knee elevated and ice on and have been taking the Lortab on schedule instead of waiting for pain to take it, which truly is against my nature, not that I like being in pain but I don't like taking medication just to take it either (added bonus to the Lortab, no migraine pain today!).  I've only gotten up to use the restroom and this morning to take my normal meds and brush my teeth so I was up for around 5-10 minutes and I was getting sore.

My doctor is sending over a tens machine...whatever that is, something for pain or something, I'll know more once it gets here.

I've also gotten a call from the hospital to see how I was doing and to see if I had any questions.  Again, I really like this hospital group.

Zachary's new glasses

Zachary's new blue glasses.

Kaleb wanted his picture taken too and who could resist :)

OSCAR pictures are finally up!

I finally posted the pictures for the O.S.C.A.R. assembly post...make me sit on my butt for a few days and see what I can get caught up on :-)

Saint Anthony is way better then that other hospital group!

I am thoroughly convinced Jerry likes to raise my blood pressure randomly by doing the one thing that is my biggest pet peeve in the entire world...arriving late for an appointment.  


My check in time for surgery was 7 am, it takes at least 20 minutes to drive to the hospital from the house and we had to drop Zachary off at a friend's house where he was going to catch the school bus for the very first time, I'm sad I didn't get to see him get on the bus and get a picture of it but glad that he was excited and had a fun time and no problems.  


Grandma Chicken didn't get to our house until 6:25 and Jerry wasn't ready to leave the house until 6:32, in my book, that's late.  I wanted to leave the house at 6:15.  So we rushed to Zac's friend's house and literally dropped him at the front door and raced to the hospital and checked in right at 7:00, though by the time the clerk wrote down the time he put 7:01 which rubs me the wrong way...no in the grand scheme it doesn't matter but it does bug me.

They only had one registrar working and literally when my paperwork was next she decided to have a 30 minute chat with another employee in the hallway which also rubbed me the wrong way.  I was the only one waiting to check in at that point, she could have checked me in then chatted until the 7:30 check-in patients stated showing up.  Instead we had to wait for her to finish her chat and didn't get checked in until 7:30.  This was literally the last bad part of the day.

Next I was called back to the prep are and nurse Erin helped me get ready, she was very nice.  The first thing she did was make me pee in a cup for a pregnancy test, yes it was negative, I told her since Jerry had a vasectomy and I've been on back to back birth control pills if it was positive we've got a problem :).  Next she said she needed to take my blood pressure so I took off my big thick hoodie and she took my temperature and she said "oh, let's take that again, it was 99.8 have you been feeling sick?" I told her no but I did just take off a huge sweater.  She took it again and apparently it was a little lower so we continued.  Then she took my blood pressure which was apparently high and she asked if I was nervous...ummm really?  I'm about to have my first surgery ever in my life, of course I'm nervous, plus my temp was just high and I was freaked she was going to post pone me on the spot and she was using one of those automated bp cuffs instead of the manual ones, my bp is always higher on those for some reason, so I took a few deep breaths and she took my blood pressure again and I guess that was fine then too because we went on.  Whew!   I told her of my previous bad experience with drugs in the Oxy family so she made sure to write very large on my chart to not give me any pain killers in that family at discharge, she did say that's what they usually give because it's stronger then Lortab which is the other option.  She then noticed my wedding rings and asked if I could take them off, I told her they were stuck on and she said they'd have to tape them which I was fine with, so they used that tape that only sticks to itself and wrapped it around several times then I got changed and she cleaned my knee and wrote a big "YES" on my left knee.  The pre-op area called for me during all this and she told them it would be about 10 minutes.  Then she called Jerry back to sit with me until it was time to go to the pre-op area, which wasn't long.     

My surgery was supposed to be at 9, by this time it was around 8.  The orderly came and got me and Jerry went out to the waiting area and I went to pre-op and I was told I could be there for up to an hour but it would most likely be less then 45 minutes, they'd start my IV, I'd speak to my surgery nurse and the anesthesiologist and then go back for surgery. I met the pre-op nurse Juanita who was very nice, she started my IV, and hooked me up to the blood pressure machine and pulse ox and I notice my ring finger was really cold so I asked if we could re-tape my rings looser and she said of course, she took one look and my finger we noticed it was really blue and she started tearing off the tape and my rings almost fell off (she joked that they found a new way to get rings off) so she called Jerry back so he could hold the rings then she let him stay with me.  Juanita was wonderful.  Her decision to let Jerry stay with me turned out to be really good because someone decided to delay my surgery 2 hours - but no one told me this yet!  


I met the first anesthesiologist at around 10:30 then the knee replacement guy came down and my anesthesiologist introduced himself to that guy as well.  My doctor came down and went in and talked to the knee replacement guy first which puzzled me, at that point I was already an hour and a half past my surgery time; he then came over and talked to me and explained that they would start the knee replacement but his portion of the surgery wouldn't be for an hour or so so he would do my surgery during that time then go in and finish the knee replacement...ok but the anesthesiologist can't be in two rooms at once and my operating room is still being used by someone else.  He said if the people currently in my operating room don't finish in my room and he is needed for the knee replacement I have to wait until after the knee replacement...Juanita was not happy at all.  She thinks I should have gone in first since I was supposed to go in at 9 and I have to say I agree with her :-)


I do have a feeling if I had been checked in when I first arrived instead of being delayed 30 minutes, then not being ready when pre-op called for me the first time I would have gone down just before 9 as scheduled. 


So at around 10:45 I met my surgery nurse Eric who was very nice and my new anesthesiologist, but I can't remember her name, she was way nicer then the first guy so I'm glad for that.  Jerry got a call from someone at the hospital that they needed to show him how to use some device for home for me so I told him to go ahead and go because it probably would not be long at that point.  I'm not sure what time I went into the OR but it didn't take long once I got back there.  The anesthesia went fine, they don't even make you count anymore, just 2 deep breaths and you're out.


Supposedly my doctor talked to me in post-op, I don't remember that at all.  I remember the nurse taking the tube out of my throat and the I took the pulse ox off my finger and the nurse telling me I had to keep it on and that I was out of surgery and that I was fine.  I remember bending my knee and being shocked that I could because I was told I would be in an immobilizer.  I looked at the clock and it took me a few minutes to focus and it was almost exactly noon.  I had a monster of a migraine and told the nurse that.  She asked me what I normally took and I told her I need Treximet and she wheeled me out to the recovery area.


I don't remember my recovery nurse's name either but she was awesome also.  She said that the pharmacy does not stock Treximet and asked if Immnitrex works for me, I explained that Imminitrex is in Treximet but there is also a muscle relaxer in it and she said she would find something that would work for me.  Meanwhile she brought Jerry back and got me some juice and crackers.  She and the pharmacist researched the 2 drugs in Treximet and got the correct doses of those and I just took those separately instead of all in one pill, those with the Lortab got rid of my migraine.  We went over all my discharge orders and home care.  Each nurse that I was assigned gave me a card that said "thank you for letting me care for you" with their name on it and then when I left I got a goodie bag with bags of gold fish, teddy grahams, pudding and some other snacks along with a card signed by all the nurses, orderlies and admitting staff; I've never seen a hospital that does that.


The nurses really rocked at this hospital, unlike at the Integris Hospitals I've been unfortunate enough to be a patient at, where Jerry had to hunt nurses down and go to the desk to get pain meds or blankets for me after I called the desk and no one had shown up after 30 minutes after they said they'd 'be right there'.

Like I said, they didn't put me in an immobilizer, apparently they do that at my post op check in a week because of swelling, I do have a vascutherm, it's an ice machine thing so I don't have to use ice packs and a DVT machine that goes on the non surgery leg to keep blood moving to prevent blood clots since I'm supposed to be sitting with my leg up as much as possible; so I'm all hooked up to machines right now. I have crutches but can walk but not with full weight which is actually hard to get the right rhythm. No pain yet but I know it's coming once the pain block wears off in a few hours.  Jerry has been very helpful so far and has taken off work until Wednesday to help out then he is sticking close to the city so he can drop off Zachary and pick him up at 10:30 when school is over and also be close in case I need help. 

As far as what the doctor found, he found a small spot of arthritis which he said should not cause much of a problem or pain at this point so that is good; arthritis at 33 isn't but the not much pain part is.  Of course I already have arthritis in the form of bursitis in both shoulders and have had that since my early 20's but since I've been on my thyroid medications I haven't had a flare up so it hasn't been an issue.  Other then the arthritis he did have to scrape off some cartilage from under my knee cap and now it's as smooth as a baby's butt ;)  He did not have to cut the tendon or whatever on the side of my knee to make my knee cap sit where it is supposed to but that likely means I'll have to wear a brace when I work out which is fine, but since the bottom of my knee cap is smooth like it's supposed to be it may not hurt even if it's not where it's supposed to be - if that makes sense to anyone whose not high on Lortab :) 

Oh, I almost forgot a bad part as far as I'm concerned...I can't get my leg wet for 48 hours so I need to figure out a way to shower with 1 leg outside the shower...

It's almost D-Day

The whole time leading up to this Monday, surgery day, I've been more worried about the aftermath and how I would handle limited mobility more then anything else.

Then this last week I started worrying more about getting sick and having to postpone surgery...

that would just be horrid...we've got everything planned, someone to watch the boys, someone to take Zachary to school and pick him up, Jerry has the day off work and will be in town all week to pick Zachary up from school and drive him home every day.  And in the event someone gets hit by a train and Jerry had to respond to that we have a back up person to pick up Zachary.  Plus Zachary only goes to school until Wednesday the following week so we don't have to worry about having to drive anywhere after that.  No swim lessons this month to worry about.

So now, all I have to do is get through tomorrow and wake up Monday healthy and we're good to go.

I even got the call the the check in time and surgery time have been moved up 30 minutes, which is good, less time to have to sit around and wait.

I'm still not looking forward to the aftermath, well, the long term aftermath of less or no pain I'm looking forward to but I know I'm in for a lot of pain in the next week or two...

Our Christmas Cards for 2010

May all your Christmas dreams come true.

Love Jerry, Kelly, Zachary and Kaleb

Surgery on Monday

So my knee surgery is set for Monday, supposedly I'm supposed to check in at 7:30 and surgery is at 9:30 but they are going to call on Friday to tell me the exact times.  Oh, and when I had the lab work done today the surgery orders were not at admissions so I'm kind of worried something is going to hit a snag but at least it should have been caught today and corrected.
And the best news is I got the okay to take my Topamax on the morning of surgery as long as I promise to take it with as little water as possible, whew...lord knows I don't need a migraine on top of surgery.  I also found out I'll be sent home in a knee immobilizer and that they will send me home with crutches so I won't have to hobble around; at my last doctor appointment they said they don't always send you home with crutches which didn't sound very appealing.

O.S.C.A.R. Award

Zachary received an O.S.C.A.R.award at his school assembly on Friday, which stands for Our Students Can Act Responsibly...so see, he's responsible...he even has a certificate that says so!

I'll post pics when I remember to bring the camera in from the car...some day....

Our Students Can Act Responsibly

Zachary receiving his certificate...he was so excited it has a trophy on it!

Zachary Goodwin...spelled wrong, not sure why it's spelled "Zachery" but it is correct on the certificate and that's what counts.

O.S.C.A.R. winners grades K-2 (the other grades are on the other side of the stage)

Snoring...

This past spring Jerry had nasal surgery to attempt to stop his very loud, very annoying snoring.  He had a deviated septum, which his doctor explained was actually flat so they fixed everything, cleaned everything out and sent him home.  He slept on the couch for a couple of weeks...the best sleep I had gotten in a long, long time and things seemed to be better.  He didn't snore, hallelujah!  Well, about a month or so ago, he began to snore again.  It's like he never had surgery.  He says I snore.  I don't know how he could know I snore when I spend most of the night awake listening to him snore.  Even if I do snore, it's positional, I move, even slightly and I stop.  He snores so loud, in any position.  He wakes himself up often but moves slightly then goes right back to sleep, snoring again.  He's sleeping in the recliner snoring right now.  It's annoying.  It gives me a headache.  I think he should go back to his ENT but he won't.  He says he already had surgery for it so there is nothing that can be done.  Oh contrare, I bet they could do the surgery and clean everything out again...I'm sick of not being able to sleep.  So today I bought some Tylenol PM, I'll sleep and he can get up and deal with whatever the boys need during the night.

King of Anything

I have been totally in love with this song for months now!  You should take a listen and enjoy :)

I've been having a terrible time with migraines for the past couple of weeks now, I've had several, like 5 a week.  I'm now on day 3 in 3 days...yes 3 straight days of a migraine... I went to my doctor yesterday and now have a referral to a neurologist...well, her staff is supposed to be contacting a neurologist but I've been through that before and I always end up having to call and find out who they are supposed to be contacting and calling to make the appointment myself and when I call (once the physical therapist and once the Orthopedic Specialist) my doctor's staff has never made contact, I always give them at least a week and a half.  That's plenty of time and when you're talking about someone in pain you need to get on the ball and make the calls.  Not being able to walk because of knee pain is one example of needing to make the calls, having constant migraine pain is another example of needing to call immediately.  Luckily my insurance does not require a referral so I may just call my doctor's office today and get the name and number of the doctor and do this myself.

O.S.C.A.R.

I have no idea what this acronym is for but Zachary was selected to receive an award this Friday at an assembly at school at 2:15.  Yeah, he gets out of school at 10:30 so I'll have to take him back to school for the assembly and we'll find out what it is all about.  I'm sure it will be a proud mommy moment, especially since Zac's teacher had 40 students to chose from (20 from her morning class and 20 from her afternoon class) and she chose Zac, so whatever it is... I'll let you all know Friday :)

Sunday Selects

Last Week:
1. Jerry was on vacation from work all week...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  We had some fun outings like to the zoo and movies.

2. We got the Christmas tree put up...it's not decorated yet but it is up.

3. We bought a new computer tower so the boys have a place to do their homework, yes, Zachary already has homework for the computer in kindergarten *eyeroll*

4. I don't think I'll survive 2 full weeks of the boys cooped up in the house during Christmas break...5 days has been too much....

Next week:

1. Oil change #2 for the Ford...yippee!  I get to entertain the boys at the dealership tomorrow...It'll take longer then normal because the fuel gauge is screwing up so they'll need to investigate that while they have the car...

2.  Luckily the Ford dealership is literally AT Target so we may walk to Target to kill the time.

3.  I have my last Ortho appointment before surgery, which is 2 weeks from tomorrow. YIKES!  I'm not so much worried about the surgery as much as after the surgery and getting around after surgery.

4.  I also have an appointment with my regular doctor for a follow up on increasing my migraine medication.  It's been going well so it should be a quick appointment, which irks me, it's a waste of $20 in my opinion.  I don't know why I couldn't just make an appointment if there was a problem instead.

5.  The boys have their last 2 swim lessons of this session this week then they have a month break until their next session...December is going to be a long month.

You know when something HITS you out of the blue?

Like the fact that Christmas is less then a month away?

Or that you've been driving for over 1/2 your life now?

Or that your youngest is nearly 4 years old? 

4...

4...

4...

When the hell did that happen???

Maybe it snuck up on me because I still lie about his age.  

Like when we go to the pizza buffet.  I'm not going to pay $4 for him to to eat a 1/2 a slice of pizza, so he's 2 at the pizza buffet. 


Or when we go to the drive in.  He's 2 there too.  He never watches the movies, he plays in the car, or by the car or watches the dvd player if we remember to bring it but he doesn't watch the movie on the screen so we don't pay for him to get in, except when they played Toy Story 3, we paid for him that time.

Maybe it's the fact that, in my opinion, he lost the 'baby' look early and has looked like a little boy for so long.  Or that he's so independent I forget how old he is and then when I stop to think about his age it just shocks me.  Or that he hit milestones early, like potty training, he was potty trained before he was 2 so he's always been a 'big boy'.  He does look younger than other 3 year olds, not in a baby way, just that he definitely doesn't look like he's almost 4.

In about 4 months I can legally convert his 5 point harnessed car seat into a high back booster if I so desire, not that I will, just that I can.  He'll be starting pre-k through the school district in the fall.  He'll be 4.  We won't even start on the fact that big brother will be 6 just 2 months after that...

 

Kaleb going home from the hospital

Kaleb 1 year old

Kaleb 2 years old

Kaleb 3 1/2 years old

It seems so long ago...

On Thanksgiving weekend 2006 Zachary was only 1 1/2 years old, see how cute he was???  Kahlua, our wolf, was still alive (we had to have her put down the week before Christmas in 2006, she was only 6 and started having strokes - I miss her)

I was 5 months pregnant with Kaleb, we were in the middle of finding out if he was a boy or a girl.  I had 7 ultra sounds to find out.  I'm not a patient person.  Well, I'm pretty patient but I hate surprises.  Each ultra sound we had they could not definitively tell me if he was a boy or a girl, one would say 70% sure it's a girl, one would say 80% sure it's a boy; it was driving me nuts!  Finally after a week of this back and forth we got a 100% sure it's a BOY! (wow, this is certainly not a flattering picture!)

As usual, we got our Christmas tree at the local tree farm on this weekend.  Odd tid bit of info...our Christmas tree has never been in the same spot twice in this house in the 5 years we've been here...wonder where it will end up this year...

Zachary wanted to help with the lights - his hair always stood straight up in the back so it looked like we shocked him :)  This is why to this day he has a buzz hair cut.

I miss those days...