I love my kiddo

Just going through my phone and found a cute picture. He put the bandana on himself.


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Sip n Doodle- McKinney

Awhile back I purchased a groupon for a place called Sip and Doodle in McKinney.  My mom purchased one too and we figured we would go right away to learn new painting skills.  Well, 6 months later it was 3 days from expiring and we booked a space. 

They provide the canvas and the paint- you provide the drinks and snacks.  You pick a picture of what you want to paint (or I guess you could bring your own) and they give some instructions and you get going!

Here's mine at the 1/2 way point.  You start with the background and chalk on the design and paint right over the chalk.

Here's my final painting.  I won't be giving up my day job but I think it's kind of fun and whimsical.

I'm so proud.

Here is moms.  The owners said she was the best in the class... and the best job on that particular painting they had ever seen.  Way to go mom!

Painting Babies

I was about to name this post "painting in the nude" but I thought that might attract the wrong kind of blog traffic.

Someone had the brilliant idea to let the kiddos paint on canvases and create brilliant works of art.  It wasn't my idea but I wish it was.  Not only have I discovered that Cason is a true talent, I also now have a masterpiece for my kitchen.

Cason is taking the opportunity to admire Jack's work of art.

Cason needed a snack break.  Painting is hard work.

It's finished!  I can't wait to show you the picture in the kitchen!  It's beautiful. 

And now it's time to get clean.  Painting is messy business!



Hug Your Youth Minister Today

Have you ever read the blog Stuff Christians Like?  It's so funny... and true.  This article was particularly hilarious. 

Treating Youth Ministers Like Silver Medal Ministers

Fortunately we go to a church that is very supportive of the youth ministry, and they are not silver medal ministers, but some of his points had me rolling.  Especially the first one as I picture something like that happening on one of the senior adult trips. 

I'm so thankful to have married a youth minister.  After 3 weeks of youth camps I'm ready to have him home for sure but I know how hard he has been working. 

So hug your youth minister today.  He's been working hard this summer.  Surviving on carbs, zero sleep, soft drinks and supernatural energy that can only come from the Lord. 

Mike is coming home tomorrow- YEA!

Minor Surgery is Only Minor for the Surgeon Performing It

I just wanted to clarify before I continue my story:
My mom took Cason home Friday night and that turned out to the the best thing ever.  Trying to manage a 2 yr. old in and out of a hospital would have been a nightmare. 

I had been craving some alone time- just me and my thoughts.  Sometimes God answers our prayers in the strangest of ways.  I got some alone time- it was attached to an IV and an oxygen monitor in a place that wasn't my home- but I got to be by myself. 

So Saturday morning I wake up waiting for someone to come take blood and tell me how my gallbladder was functioning.

Instead, my nurse comes in with some paperwork.  She tells me I'm about to have surgery and she needs to have me sign off on some forms.  She proceeds to tell me that they might cut an artery, nick another major organ, give me a blood transfusion that might contain AIDS or hepatitis (uh, haven't we fixed that?), and death is possible too.  Please sign here.

I proceed to have a melt down.  As the tears are flowing she looks at me with a questioning look and asks if I will be okay.

Between sobs I say "those side effects are pretty rare, right?"

She lovingly says "No, not really, just last week I had a patient with some major complications during surgery"

Best. Nurse. Ever.

For some reason I sign the forms and continue to sob.  I was not so much worried about the complications, I mean, if the Lord wants to call me home over a gallbladder than he will.  I just felt that I had no idea what was going on.  What happened to the blood test, the gallbladder function test, who was my surgeon, was my gallbladder really that bad?

Next a surgeon came in surprised to find me completely un-done.  I was looking for some re-assurance and questions answered.  When I asked if it was really necessary to have it removed he responded by telling me that medicine is not an exact science and removing the gallbladder was their best guess. 

Great.  Feeling much better now.

He then went on to tell me it was an easy recovery and I would be able to go to a birthday party that night.  No lifestyle changes needed and I wouldn't miss it at all.  He them mentioned the nurse would be in soon with some paperwork.  Ha.  Got that one a little mixed up didn't they.

I started feeling much better, calmed down and was ready to go.  (Too bad it was all lies)

They come and get me for surgery and I am wheeled downstairs.  I don't remember much about pre-op or the surgery (it's a good thing too).  What I do remember is waking up in pain.  Major Pain.  No one mentioned that I would wake up in pain, I thought I would wake up in no pain and the pain would creep in as the anesthesia wore off. 

I was the only person in recovery that day and there were 2 nurses.  Apparently they shoved a tube down my throat and scraped every side on the way down.  I whispered that it hurt.  She gave me some pain medication that didn't help and then proceed to spend the next 10 minutes complaining to the other nurse about how no one bothered to ask them if they wanted Chipolte.  Hello- still in pain over here.

I think I asked for pain meds 3 other times and finally they said they couldn't give me any more... yet I still hurt. 

After I "recovered" I was wheeled back to my room and got some pain meds that actually worked.  I tied to go back to sleep but kept hearing a loud beeping just as I would drift off.  A nurse stuck her head in the door and asked me to take big deep breaths.  Apparently as I drift off I stop breathing enough to make the machine happy.  I finally called the nurse and got hooked up to an oxygen machine so I could finally sleep. 

The rest of the day was pretty simple with the exception of the million trips to the restroom.  It was irritating because I had to unhook- the leg squeezers, the oxygen in my nose, the oxygen monitor, unplug the iv pole and lower the bed each time.  I think Mike thought I was just messing with him each time I asked until I pointed out the huge bags of water they were dumping in me through the IV pole. 

At some point my nurse came in to chat.  We were talking about the surgery and she tells me how important the gallbladdar was (the thing I just had removed) and how I will have to change my diet for the rest of my life.  I asked if there was a brochure or a nutritionist she could send in.  She said she would check.  How can you tell me all that and not give me some help?

By 11:00 that night I was still in a lot of pain.  The oral pain meds were not working and I was so frustrated.  What was the speech earlier about being at a party tonight?  The nurse said I could have another shot of IV pain meds and I got up to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time and had another melt down.  My expectations were completely different that reality.

Update

I'm so sorry I haven't posted about my surgery. The Internet is down here and typing the story on my phone sounds really annoying. So- tomorrow I will fire my Internet company and find someone else!


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Something New

I'm sure that you are all waiting to hear about my gallbladder removal but I have one favor first.  Please head over to my NEW EVERYTHING DESIGN web site and follow me.  Tomorrow I will post the rest of the story... If I have more than 5 followers :-)

Thanks!

My Second Trip to the ER

Friday morning I woke up in a little pain but nothing major.  They had given me some pain medication the night before but the Dr. had encouraged me not to take any because pain is a warning signal and if I was in too much pain I needed to go back to the ER. 

I didn't eat much breakfast or lunch that day and I spent all morning trying to get in to see a GI doctor.  None of the GI doctors would see me for weeks and I was so frustrated because they told me at the ER I needed to see someone the next day. 

After lunch I we got Cason down for a nap and I went to lay down as well.  It wasn't five minutes before I jumped up and thought my whole chest was going to explode.  The pain was a million times worse than the day before.  I didn't know whether to call an ambulance or go to the ER- I wasn't sure what would be faster but I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it either way.  Mike drove pretty fast- all while I'm whispering for someone to please help me.  I kept wondering if I passed out would the ambulance make it in time?

When we got to the ER I sort of hobbled in and asked the lady at the front desk to please help me.  I told her I was here last night and I needed help.  She asks my name, social, all the usual info while I almost died on the counter.  Then she asked me to sit and wait until they could get to me.  WAIT?  I sat in the chair and moaned for someone to help me- looking in the door of the ER hoping someone would feel sorry for me.  I just kept asking for someone to help and the other 10 patients in the ER kept looking at me... probably hoping I would just stop talking... or pass out so they could see some real action.

They got me into a room and I began the long wait for pain meds.  Do they not understand that is a top priority?  We started on more bloodwork and another sonogram only to see the same thing they saw yesterday.  Gallstones. 

As a side note, one of our very good friends was also in the ER.  Ben Wertz had come in earlier that day and was probably a few rooms down but we didn't figure all that out until later.

The Dr. came in later and said that they wanted to keep me overnight and they would do another blood test in the morning to determine the function of my gallbladder.  From what they saw, I would probably need to have the gallbladder removed eventually but he was not sure when.  He said the surgeon would visit me in the morning to talk to me more.  I mentioned that tomorrow was Saturday... that doctors don't work on Saturday and therefore I didn't want someone who would rather be playing golf stopping by to tell me about my health.  The doctor looked at me strangely and assured me that the surgeon who would see me would actually be okay with working on a Saturday. 

We began to wait until they could transfer me upstairs.  That took at least an hour.

While I was waiting a nurse came in to take more vitals or something.  She began to tell me not to let them just assign me a surgeon.  To do some research and make sure my surgeon was a good one.  She told me not to just let them do surgery if I didn't really need it.  She said to take ALL my valuables home and not to leave anything in the room. 

I told her thanks... I guess.  I said all I knew about the hospital I learned on Grays Anatomy and so far, this was nothing like that.  She looked at me like I was a little strange.  It wouldn't be the last time during my stay at the hospital. 

This began my experience with interesting nurses. 

We finally headed to my room on the 5th floor (which was very nice by the way) and got hooked up to an IV and an O2 monitor and settled in for the night. 

Michelle came and played Uno with me and Mike went around the corner to visit Ben... who was also on the 5th floor.  It was actually such a blessing to have Ben in the hospital at the same time.  We spent a lot of time visiting and I think it helped calm the nerves of both of us and our families in the unfamiliar hospital experience. 

Tune in tomorrow for my list of reasons never to have surgery. 

My First Trip to the ER

Last Thursday started as a normal day.  I woke up with a little bit of heartburn but it passed relatively quickly.  Cason and I played and played and around 4:45 when Mike came home the heartburn seemed to be flaring up again.  I rested for an hour before making dinner and eating it.

 As the time went on, the heartburn got worse.

I took 2 tums, drank some milk, took more tumb... nothing helped. 

We were supposed to go to the airport and pick up my brothers car.  He had flown out around 6 and left his car in 1 hour so we could pick it up.  We headed to the airport by way of CVS to pick up some Sprite.  I thought that might help.

I asked Mike to take the long way to the airport so we would pass the hospital... just in case I decided to go. 

See, I didn't want to go.  I didn't want to be the girl who went to the ER for heartburn.  How could I facebook that? 

Less than half way to the airport I told Mike to go to the hospital.  The pain was worse.  I couldn't get comfortable.  I had no idea heartburn could be this bad- and I had some serious heartburn when I was pregnant. 

Remember when we set out on this little trip we were just going to run by the airport.  As we walk in the hospital I realize my son has no shoes.  Classy. 

The front desk process was pretty easy and they got me right in to the next step.  They take your vitals and ask you like a million questions and most importantly how bad your pain is.  A 10.  The pain is a 10.  When can I have a shot?

She sends me back to room 11 and leans out the door to tell Mike that I will be here for a couple of hours at least.  What?  I have a shoeless 2 year old and I know you are about to send me home with gas or reflux- that will really take several hours?  I told Mike to call Weslee because she lived the closest. 

They sent me to the room and I began the big process of waiting.  Waiting in pain was the worst.  Somewhere in my waiting my brother texted and asked if we had retrieved his car yet.  Uh, not really.  If I tell him we were at the ER he would call my parents, and that would make them worry and drive down, and that would mean someone knew about my dumb ER trip.  I thought I would take a casual approach.  I texted him back "We will be a little late, had to make a quick stop by the ER".  I was hoping that was casual enough that he would NOT call my parents. 

No such luck apparently, within 5 minutes mom had mike on the phone and it wasn't much longer before she was driving over.  Something we turned out to be very thankful for.

Meanwhile I'm in the back and the FINALLY get an IV in and start pumping the anti nausea meds and at last, the pain meds.  Beautiful wonderful things. 

They started a billion questions, an ultrasound, bloodwork, an EKG, chest x-ray and other things.  All symptoms pointed to gallbladder problems but those typically occur closer to when you have a baby.  The ultrasound showed some stones on the gallbladder but for some reason they didn't feel like it was a huge concern. 

By midnight they were ready to let me go.  Told me to eat a fat free diet and call a dr. in the morning. 

We went home and straight to bed. 

Oh, funny story.  Since we didn't know we were going to the ER- I didn't have a diaper bag for Cason.  Gone are the days when I kept extra diapers in the car as well so poor Mike had to change a very wet and dirty Cason into a swim diaper.  If you are a mom, you know what happened an hour after that.

Tomorrow I will post about my second trip to the ER.  It's much more interesting.

Today's harvest

Yellow squash and a banana pepper!



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Green beans

I have gotten some yummy green beans from the garden! The green beans have been super easy to grow and fast too!


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The first zucchini has arrived

I am very excited to report that my first zucchini has arrived. May 17, 2011; 0 lbs, 1 oz; 3" long. He's a bit small but apparently if you harvest the first ones early they produce more throughout the summer. Here he is pictured with his sister the radish.




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Cute Shoes for Sale

Apparently, the rumors are true.  Your feet are never truly the same after you have a baby.  So, I have several shoes I do not want to part with but they are not going to fit again.  So sad.  I would love to sell them to a friend so I don't have to take them to goodwill.  

Poetic License brown shoes with hot pink on the top.  Size 8.  Worn maybe 5 times.  Comfortable but too small for me.  $15

Mia shoes.  Size 8.  dark brown with plaid around the flower.  I heart these shoes and sad to see them go but they are just not comfortable anymore.  Worn about 5 times. $15

 These are possible the cutest shoes I have ever seen.  They are actually my sisters and therefore I will be giving her the money if they sell.  They are a really deep red crock skin look with a super cute loop on the toe.  They are from shoedazzle.  Worn once to a party and the heel is just too high for me.  I think a 9 is a little big for me too cause my toe slips forward a lot.  $20

Steve Madden heels.  If you need a basic red shoe this is a good one.  Size 9.  They have been worn the most of all of these but are still in good shape.  $10

Beautiful Shoedazzle black suede shoes with gold chains.  worn once and they are a little big and high for me.  I dream of wearing heels this high!  Size 9.  $20

Let me know if you need more information or are interested in any of these shoes.  If they are local I'll bring them to you but if you want them shipped I can do that too for whatever the sipping cost will be.  

Squash

My zucchini today. There's some squash in there too. It's taking over.


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Radish

Here is the baby radish I pulled from the ground and then used in some mango salsa. Hopefully more radishes this week. See previous post for more on my garden.



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