Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
T-Minus 4.5 Hours
At 9am this morning, we're scheduled for the final hearing for Logan's custody hearing. It's bitter-sweet really. On the one hand, we love Logan to pieces and can't be happier that we get to the be the ones that get to watch him grow. It's been an honor to laugh with him daily, to laugh at him daily, and less so to listen to him scream daily. On the other hand, that also means having to point out publicly to the court and our daughter why she's still not fit to be a parent. As parents that love our daughter dearly, this is an extremely difficult task.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we head to court...
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we head to court...
Friday, August 08, 2008
See? Told you I would keep up!
So. I posted a long time ago about really making an effort to keep my blog a little more updated. See how great it turned out?
My dad called me a few weeks ago and told me that he had come across my blog. I thought that was sweet because my dad doesn't really surf. Or email. Or anything. He thought I should update. So here's for you, Dad! Let's make a deal...I'll update if you read! (I'm from Colorado and my whole family is there.) I'll make a concerted effort to post more often with lots more pictures of the kids for you and mom, k?
I don't have the energy to post any pictures now, but have a quick funny story to tell.
Logan found Michael's wallet on the bed the other day. Michael had left it there while he was in the closet getting out a change of clothes. Logan climbed up on the bed and started chucking everything out of the wallet. I was in our bathroom straightening my hair, but could see him in the mirror. I turned around and told Michael what was going on. Michael went out and told Logan, "Hey, Buddy! Don't do that! Papa needs that stuff!" Logan NORMALLY gets the wallet out to steal Papa's police badge. You know, so he can go to work, too. In a Papa car (Logan speak for police car.)
Logan looked at him with the most innocent expression, held up one of his palms, and just as matter-of-factly as you can possibly imagine said..."But, Papa...I just need money for pizza!" Then came the eye-roll, followed by the duh look that our teen-agers are so skilled in giving.
Seriously. How can you NOT laugh at that?
My dad called me a few weeks ago and told me that he had come across my blog. I thought that was sweet because my dad doesn't really surf. Or email. Or anything. He thought I should update. So here's for you, Dad! Let's make a deal...I'll update if you read! (I'm from Colorado and my whole family is there.) I'll make a concerted effort to post more often with lots more pictures of the kids for you and mom, k?
I don't have the energy to post any pictures now, but have a quick funny story to tell.
Logan found Michael's wallet on the bed the other day. Michael had left it there while he was in the closet getting out a change of clothes. Logan climbed up on the bed and started chucking everything out of the wallet. I was in our bathroom straightening my hair, but could see him in the mirror. I turned around and told Michael what was going on. Michael went out and told Logan, "Hey, Buddy! Don't do that! Papa needs that stuff!" Logan NORMALLY gets the wallet out to steal Papa's police badge. You know, so he can go to work, too. In a Papa car (Logan speak for police car.)
Logan looked at him with the most innocent expression, held up one of his palms, and just as matter-of-factly as you can possibly imagine said..."But, Papa...I just need money for pizza!" Then came the eye-roll, followed by the duh look that our teen-agers are so skilled in giving.
Seriously. How can you NOT laugh at that?
Saturday, April 05, 2008
THAT woke him up?
My husband is so going to kill me, but it's too funny! I can't help it!
Then again, he is a man, and takes great pride in all things immature..
Then again, posting it may make some people decide that I'm not mature enough, or well-mannered enough, or something enough to be their friend...
Warning: If you find potty-humor offensive, then don't read this entry. Or talk to my sons. Or my husband. I don't think they'll ever grow up!
Oh well...for the sake of a good laugh and an embarrassing story, here goes!
I just have to tell you this becauase it's so funny and immature and gross and funny...did I already go over that?
Michael gets off at 6am and comes in by 6:30. Because Logan sleeps in our room, he goes to bed at 10 or so as Michael is leaving for work. Therefore, he sleeps until 10:30 or 11 the next morning.
When Michael comes in, Logan will even tell him hello in his sleep, but at least doesn't wake up to hearing his voice anymore. Those early mornings made for a cranky baby!
Well, this morning, Michael & I were talking because we had things that we had to do today and needed to work out the logistics of our schedule and him getting sleep for work, etc, etc. Logan does his normal, "Hi, Papa!", never waking up. We talked for over an hour, never once disturbing him!
Then as we're settling in to sleep, Michael rips this big old fart, and Logan bolts upright in his bed, and starts cracking up, "Papa farted!!!!"
I couldn't stop laughing! So then Logan gets all serious and scolds ME, "Be quiet, Grammy! My Papa seeping and he farted and woked up!"
Which made me laugh harder..."It woked him up?" I asked.
And he was like "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It did! I heared it!" Saying with the most dramatically big eyes and voice you could imagine! And yes, that's HEARED and WOKED...that's how he still says it!
Then again, he is a man, and takes great pride in all things immature..
Then again, posting it may make some people decide that I'm not mature enough, or well-mannered enough, or something enough to be their friend...
Warning: If you find potty-humor offensive, then don't read this entry. Or talk to my sons. Or my husband. I don't think they'll ever grow up!
Oh well...for the sake of a good laugh and an embarrassing story, here goes!
I just have to tell you this becauase it's so funny and immature and gross and funny...did I already go over that?
Michael gets off at 6am and comes in by 6:30. Because Logan sleeps in our room, he goes to bed at 10 or so as Michael is leaving for work. Therefore, he sleeps until 10:30 or 11 the next morning.
When Michael comes in, Logan will even tell him hello in his sleep, but at least doesn't wake up to hearing his voice anymore. Those early mornings made for a cranky baby!
Well, this morning, Michael & I were talking because we had things that we had to do today and needed to work out the logistics of our schedule and him getting sleep for work, etc, etc. Logan does his normal, "Hi, Papa!", never waking up. We talked for over an hour, never once disturbing him!
Then as we're settling in to sleep, Michael rips this big old fart, and Logan bolts upright in his bed, and starts cracking up, "Papa farted!!!!"
I couldn't stop laughing! So then Logan gets all serious and scolds ME, "Be quiet, Grammy! My Papa seeping and he farted and woked up!"
Which made me laugh harder..."It woked him up?" I asked.
And he was like "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It did! I heared it!" Saying with the most dramatically big eyes and voice you could imagine! And yes, that's HEARED and WOKED...that's how he still says it!
Please Join Us in Welcoming Officer Squarepants
As in, Officer SpongeBob SquarePants!
Anyone that knows Logan knows that he's, well, smitten, with his Papa. Life for him revolves around his Papa. And Papa is a police officer. Papa doesn't drive police cars; he drives Papa Cars. He collects Papa cars. All police cars anywhere on the road, regardless of color, shape, or size, are Papa cars.
For some reason that we may never know (I mean, who really knows how the mind of a 2-year-old works?), Logan got it into his head that SpongeBob was going to work with Papa. I explained that Papa was already AT work, and SpongeBob was staying home with us. No, that wasn't good enough, and SpongeBob needed to get ready to go to work in Papa's Papa car.
So I called Papa, and asked him if he could think of anything that would have confused him so, but nobody could think of anything. Papa talked to him and told him that SpongeBob wasn't coming in tonight, that he was staying here to sleep with Logan. However, Logan is also a HUGE talker! Even after talking to Papa, all he could talk about was his concern that SpongeBob was still here and Papa had not picked him up.
Being that I really wanted to get him into bed so that I could start my laundry and such for the night, I used my 2-year-old reasoning skills to get SpongeBob ready in the event that Papa might have the time to come get him. Of course, WE all know that can't happen, but it was good enough for Logan, and I didn't have to fight to get him to bed!
Officer SquarePants, waiting for duty!
Or perhaps, his duty is watching over Logan!
Whichever the case, he seems pretty happy doing it!
We'll see if these "accessories" become a permanent part of SpongeBob's wardrobe!
Too! Funny!
Anyone that knows Logan knows that he's, well, smitten, with his Papa. Life for him revolves around his Papa. And Papa is a police officer. Papa doesn't drive police cars; he drives Papa Cars. He collects Papa cars. All police cars anywhere on the road, regardless of color, shape, or size, are Papa cars.
For some reason that we may never know (I mean, who really knows how the mind of a 2-year-old works?), Logan got it into his head that SpongeBob was going to work with Papa. I explained that Papa was already AT work, and SpongeBob was staying home with us. No, that wasn't good enough, and SpongeBob needed to get ready to go to work in Papa's Papa car.
So I called Papa, and asked him if he could think of anything that would have confused him so, but nobody could think of anything. Papa talked to him and told him that SpongeBob wasn't coming in tonight, that he was staying here to sleep with Logan. However, Logan is also a HUGE talker! Even after talking to Papa, all he could talk about was his concern that SpongeBob was still here and Papa had not picked him up.
Being that I really wanted to get him into bed so that I could start my laundry and such for the night, I used my 2-year-old reasoning skills to get SpongeBob ready in the event that Papa might have the time to come get him. Of course, WE all know that can't happen, but it was good enough for Logan, and I didn't have to fight to get him to bed!
Officer SquarePants, waiting for duty!
Or perhaps, his duty is watching over Logan!
Whichever the case, he seems pretty happy doing it!
We'll see if these "accessories" become a permanent part of SpongeBob's wardrobe!
Too! Funny!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
December Busi-ness
For the first couple of weeks of December, we just hung out and rested. That kind of trip was hard on both Grandma & me. Chad, Jennifer, & Kaylei were still staying with us at the time.
The first real order of business we had was taking care of Logan's birthday party. His birthday is actually in October, but he was in Tennessee with his Daddy & Rachel for his birthday. We decided to have a party for him during his winter visitation.
Logan's Second Birthday Party, December 15, 2007
The next day, we went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags in Arlington. Logan LOVES Scooby, so he was so excited to meet him!
Logan meeting Scooby Doo, Holiday in the Park, December
16, 2007
On the other hand, Nikiya hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks. In fact, she was pretty miserable. She still insisted on going with us to Holiday in the Park after making arrangements with her dad to trade weekends and all. She rode with me in the wheelchair most of the night.
Nikiya & Grandma, Holiday in the Park
Family Entertainment, or Child Torture
You Decide!!
This was not the first time that Miss Nikiya has had a bout like this. In Kindergarten, she ran a fever of over 102 every single day and just plain felt miserable for over 2 months. She was in the Dr's office every day at first, then every other day after awhile. They ran blood work & checked vitals at each of those visits. She also went to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth on 6 separate occasions for further testing and evaluation. While her blood counts were "off", whatever that means, they could never pinpoint anything. Then after about 9 1/2 weeks, the fever and misery went away just as mysteriously as they appeared. Every now and again, she would still run fever and feel bad, though now when it happens, it's also accompanied by severe headache & nausea. This has happened a few days at a time for the last few years.
Then in December, it started again at the beginning of the month. She'd already missed a few days of school for a day or two here and there for this, but that day it started as a constant again. High fever every day, blinding headaches intensified by noise, extreme nausea. She went to the Dr on Monday, the day after Holiday in the Park. He put her on some pain meds for her headache and nausea meds for her tummy, and ran some more blood work. The next day was unbearable though. Nikiya is NOT my cry-baby! I have 4 kids, 4 step-kids, 4 grand-kids (hmmm...never realized that before now!), and was a daycare provider for years when my kids were little. I have them at all ends of the spectrum. Cody will ask for Advil & Tylenol & Excedrin if he thinks he MIGHT get a headache tomorrow. Nikiya is on the least end of the spectrum, having broken bones I didn't even know about because they didn't really hurt. She fakes WELL to go to school. If that child WANTS to stay home, she gets my attention. She leaves early every morning to spend time at the school visiting. Strange. But, whatever. The point is, she'd missed several days by now, was worried her teacher would be mad at her, was miserable, was throwing up every day this time (when normally she had nausea, but not vomiting.) So that day, Grandma & I took her back to Cook's.
Nikiya getting her IV at Cook Children's Hospital
December 18, 2007
After the relaxation drugs to perform her tests that day
I'm not kidding...that was the first smile I'd seen in days! Nikiya is the one that you hear laughing throughout the house for NO reason what-so-ever. She laughs at anything, everything, everyone. It was good to see!
And frustrating that while this time we got some meds that are controlling the symptoms MOSTLY, we still have no answers. She's in the Gifted & Talented program at school and may be held back this year for attendance only. Being held back for any reason gets her kicked out of the program, and she devastated over it and now on days she doesn't feel good, I really have to be in tune. She does everything she can to avoid me, so I won't know, so she can go to school. Not that that works either because it's OBVIOUS and they send her right back home. Now when she's rushing off "just because," I stop her and give her a once over before letting her out the door!
Anyhow, still dealing with the attendance issues. Forget that she's always been a Straight-A student, or that her teacher, who works with her daily, thinks it's crazy to consider holding her back. We are still fighting the school board to pass her on to 4th grade.
But you know what? She's doing better. So far they have found no signs of any of the bad things that so many other children go through. She's been screened thoroughly for cancer and tumors and other illnesses. Maybe I'll just be thankful instead!
The first real order of business we had was taking care of Logan's birthday party. His birthday is actually in October, but he was in Tennessee with his Daddy & Rachel for his birthday. We decided to have a party for him during his winter visitation.
Logan's Second Birthday Party, December 15, 2007
The next day, we went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags in Arlington. Logan LOVES Scooby, so he was so excited to meet him!
Logan meeting Scooby Doo, Holiday in the Park, December
16, 2007
On the other hand, Nikiya hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks. In fact, she was pretty miserable. She still insisted on going with us to Holiday in the Park after making arrangements with her dad to trade weekends and all. She rode with me in the wheelchair most of the night.
Nikiya & Grandma, Holiday in the Park
Family Entertainment, or Child Torture
You Decide!!
This was not the first time that Miss Nikiya has had a bout like this. In Kindergarten, she ran a fever of over 102 every single day and just plain felt miserable for over 2 months. She was in the Dr's office every day at first, then every other day after awhile. They ran blood work & checked vitals at each of those visits. She also went to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth on 6 separate occasions for further testing and evaluation. While her blood counts were "off", whatever that means, they could never pinpoint anything. Then after about 9 1/2 weeks, the fever and misery went away just as mysteriously as they appeared. Every now and again, she would still run fever and feel bad, though now when it happens, it's also accompanied by severe headache & nausea. This has happened a few days at a time for the last few years.
Then in December, it started again at the beginning of the month. She'd already missed a few days of school for a day or two here and there for this, but that day it started as a constant again. High fever every day, blinding headaches intensified by noise, extreme nausea. She went to the Dr on Monday, the day after Holiday in the Park. He put her on some pain meds for her headache and nausea meds for her tummy, and ran some more blood work. The next day was unbearable though. Nikiya is NOT my cry-baby! I have 4 kids, 4 step-kids, 4 grand-kids (hmmm...never realized that before now!), and was a daycare provider for years when my kids were little. I have them at all ends of the spectrum. Cody will ask for Advil & Tylenol & Excedrin if he thinks he MIGHT get a headache tomorrow. Nikiya is on the least end of the spectrum, having broken bones I didn't even know about because they didn't really hurt. She fakes WELL to go to school. If that child WANTS to stay home, she gets my attention. She leaves early every morning to spend time at the school visiting. Strange. But, whatever. The point is, she'd missed several days by now, was worried her teacher would be mad at her, was miserable, was throwing up every day this time (when normally she had nausea, but not vomiting.) So that day, Grandma & I took her back to Cook's.
Nikiya getting her IV at Cook Children's Hospital
December 18, 2007
After the relaxation drugs to perform her tests that day
I'm not kidding...that was the first smile I'd seen in days! Nikiya is the one that you hear laughing throughout the house for NO reason what-so-ever. She laughs at anything, everything, everyone. It was good to see!
And frustrating that while this time we got some meds that are controlling the symptoms MOSTLY, we still have no answers. She's in the Gifted & Talented program at school and may be held back this year for attendance only. Being held back for any reason gets her kicked out of the program, and she devastated over it and now on days she doesn't feel good, I really have to be in tune. She does everything she can to avoid me, so I won't know, so she can go to school. Not that that works either because it's OBVIOUS and they send her right back home. Now when she's rushing off "just because," I stop her and give her a once over before letting her out the door!
Anyhow, still dealing with the attendance issues. Forget that she's always been a Straight-A student, or that her teacher, who works with her daily, thinks it's crazy to consider holding her back. We are still fighting the school board to pass her on to 4th grade.
But you know what? She's doing better. So far they have found no signs of any of the bad things that so many other children go through. She's been screened thoroughly for cancer and tumors and other illnesses. Maybe I'll just be thankful instead!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Grandma Comes for a Visit
My Grandma came to visit from Colorado from December 8, 2007 - March 1, 2008. She was lucky enough to be with us through illnesses, court hearings, sibling fights, hospitalizations, among other fun things. Something tells me she needed a vacation from her vacation and may not be returning next year! We can hope...She has been here the last couple of years during the worst of the Colorado winter to avoid illness, falls on the ice, and general aches from the cold. We sure do enjoy her visits! I'm not so sure she enjoys surviving our teenagers.
Some of the things that I'll go over during the next few days will include pictures and excerpts from her time here so that she can have them at home. Grandma, I know they're late, but I hope you enjoy them just as much! Michael also assures me that he's working on getting the before & after pictures of his car ready to send to you. He took care of a few more interior pieces today that we did both before & after shots of.
Logan & I flew out of DFW Airport early December 8. Being from the DFW Metroplex, snow is a rare site, and Logan being only 2 years old, hadn't seen it recently enough to remember it. It was early in the winter season, so we hadn't really even talked about snow at all. When we got into Denver, it was snowing. He was too excited about the plane and such to notice, until we walked out of the terminal and out to our rental car. It was a fairly perplexed voice that had me cracking up all morning on the drive from Denver to Greeley saying, "Grammy, what's going on here? That's not rain!" Over and over. When we got to Grandma's house and got out of the car, he kept saying, "It's so beautiful!" And he was in the best mood!
Logan's first view of the snow:
However, the beautiful site was too much to bear and wait for Grammy to get his gloves out of the car. This was the face for the rest of the day:
Watching the planes & the snow was ok.
Beautiful Colorado Snow:
When we got home, he told Papa about that nasty, cold snow that hurt his hands! Sadly, we never got the word beautiful about the snow again...
Some of the things that I'll go over during the next few days will include pictures and excerpts from her time here so that she can have them at home. Grandma, I know they're late, but I hope you enjoy them just as much! Michael also assures me that he's working on getting the before & after pictures of his car ready to send to you. He took care of a few more interior pieces today that we did both before & after shots of.
Logan & I flew out of DFW Airport early December 8. Being from the DFW Metroplex, snow is a rare site, and Logan being only 2 years old, hadn't seen it recently enough to remember it. It was early in the winter season, so we hadn't really even talked about snow at all. When we got into Denver, it was snowing. He was too excited about the plane and such to notice, until we walked out of the terminal and out to our rental car. It was a fairly perplexed voice that had me cracking up all morning on the drive from Denver to Greeley saying, "Grammy, what's going on here? That's not rain!" Over and over. When we got to Grandma's house and got out of the car, he kept saying, "It's so beautiful!" And he was in the best mood!
Logan's first view of the snow:
However, the beautiful site was too much to bear and wait for Grammy to get his gloves out of the car. This was the face for the rest of the day:
Watching the planes & the snow was ok.
Beautiful Colorado Snow:
When we got home, he told Papa about that nasty, cold snow that hurt his hands! Sadly, we never got the word beautiful about the snow again...
Catching Up...
In an effort to catch up the last couple of months, I'm going to attempt to get on for a few minutes at a time each day and work my way forward. But first, I wanted to share a picture from yesterday morning. This has actually been our morning the last 2 mornings, as we've had Kaylei since Monday night.
Papa, Kaylei, & Logan
I mean really...is there anything better to wake up to? Logan is normally smitten with Baby Sister, but the last couple of days he's actually been a little jealous. It was nice to have a moment that he wanted to hold her. That one second before he SHOVED her off of Papa's lap was pretty special!
I'm not sure yet if Kaylei will be going home tonight or if we'll take her to her mama in the morning, but for now we're enjoying her, and have had the great privilege of helping her cut her second tooth! I suspected the first when they were here on Easter with her extra drooling and crabby demeanor, and that first bad boy made it's appearance Monday. Go, Kaylei!
Papa, Kaylei, & Logan
I mean really...is there anything better to wake up to? Logan is normally smitten with Baby Sister, but the last couple of days he's actually been a little jealous. It was nice to have a moment that he wanted to hold her. That one second before he SHOVED her off of Papa's lap was pretty special!
I'm not sure yet if Kaylei will be going home tonight or if we'll take her to her mama in the morning, but for now we're enjoying her, and have had the great privilege of helping her cut her second tooth! I suspected the first when they were here on Easter with her extra drooling and crabby demeanor, and that first bad boy made it's appearance Monday. Go, Kaylei!
Friday, March 28, 2008
MIA
I have gotten several phone calls from family & a few friends (who apparently don't understand the concept of the comment section...hehehe....) about my lack of updates. It's been a rough 6 weeks or so, and I've hardly been online. I need to spend some time catching up my email, blogs that I read, this one that I pretend to write, etc.
Starting with my post last month about the flu...while flu is fun in itself, it's even more fun when it progresses to a secondary infection that lasts for another couple of weeks. It's even more fun when you have an allergic reaction to some of the meds you happen to be taking for one affliction or the other. And it's even more fun when that reaction turns to a blistering, disgusting, itchy, painful rash from head to toe. And it's even more fun when you spend two separate occasions in the hospital for treatment of said rash and adjustment of said medications, only to still have the original problems for which you're being treated, still have an out of control rash, finish an entire course of steroids only to find that you need to do another 20 day course....and that as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm still a blistery, itchy, scratchy, bloody mess! I have a follow-up this afternoon and can only hope that we'll start making some progress. I hope. So please bear with me during this MIA stint. I've taken lots of pictures to help me remember the events of the weeks and to catch up as soon as I'm feeling up to it.
Thanks!
Starting with my post last month about the flu...while flu is fun in itself, it's even more fun when it progresses to a secondary infection that lasts for another couple of weeks. It's even more fun when you have an allergic reaction to some of the meds you happen to be taking for one affliction or the other. And it's even more fun when that reaction turns to a blistering, disgusting, itchy, painful rash from head to toe. And it's even more fun when you spend two separate occasions in the hospital for treatment of said rash and adjustment of said medications, only to still have the original problems for which you're being treated, still have an out of control rash, finish an entire course of steroids only to find that you need to do another 20 day course....and that as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm still a blistery, itchy, scratchy, bloody mess! I have a follow-up this afternoon and can only hope that we'll start making some progress. I hope. So please bear with me during this MIA stint. I've taken lots of pictures to help me remember the events of the weeks and to catch up as soon as I'm feeling up to it.
Thanks!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Loser With a Capital "L"
Am I seriously that big of a loser? I always think of all kinds of things that I'm "going" to blog about. With this big a family, there's never a lack of material!
I have some pictures that I've taken to do a week (ahem...or more it seems) in review of our crazy household events. Until then, please don't make "loser" signs at me as you pass by...
I have some pictures that I've taken to do a week (ahem...or more it seems) in review of our crazy household events. Until then, please don't make "loser" signs at me as you pass by...
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sleeping Success!!! Major Milestone!!!
News Flash!!!! News Flash!!! Majorly exciting news in fact!!!
Logan is asleep for the first time since May in HIS OWN BED!!!!
Since we’ve had Logan, he’s had serious sleep issues. S-E-R-I-O-U-S! Like as in, has-to-be-touching-you-at-all-times-or-will-cry-the-entire-night-until-he-vomits issues.
But, Mommy & Daddy bought him a bed, and Grammy & Papa brought it home last night. Logan was “fixing” it with a screwdriver so that he could sleep on it. The idea of fixing it himself and using tools was just too tempting!
Today, we went shopping for new sheets. While we had anticipated and talked about Spiderman, when we got there, he was all about the SpongeBob ones! He even PROMISED to sleep in his own bed if I would get him the little SpongeBob pillow. Therefore, he was incredibly excited tonight to have SpongeBob ready to sleep! We also got the fishy lamp with “Nemo.”
Woohoo! I won’t know how to act without feet in my face or getting head butted in the middle of the night! Papa won’t know what to do without his Velcro buddy up against him with every turn in the night!
We’ll see how long it lasts. At the last minute, he did want to come up and lay with me, and it’s hard to resist those long eyelashes, but I reminded him that his SpongeBob pillow would be lonely, and he finally settled in for the night. Without me lying with him. Success! At least once!
And last but not least, the slumbering Princess. No, she doesn’t have sleep issues. She’s just too cute not to take pictures of!
And while my precious grandbabies are sleeping, I’d better head that way too! Night!
Logan is asleep for the first time since May in HIS OWN BED!!!!
Since we’ve had Logan, he’s had serious sleep issues. S-E-R-I-O-U-S! Like as in, has-to-be-touching-you-at-all-times-or-will-cry-the-entire-night-until-he-vomits issues.
But, Mommy & Daddy bought him a bed, and Grammy & Papa brought it home last night. Logan was “fixing” it with a screwdriver so that he could sleep on it. The idea of fixing it himself and using tools was just too tempting!
Today, we went shopping for new sheets. While we had anticipated and talked about Spiderman, when we got there, he was all about the SpongeBob ones! He even PROMISED to sleep in his own bed if I would get him the little SpongeBob pillow. Therefore, he was incredibly excited tonight to have SpongeBob ready to sleep! We also got the fishy lamp with “Nemo.”
Remember, this IS Texas. The weather was HOT today, and it’s humid and sticky now. Both pairs of pajamas that we put on quickly came off!
And finally, proof that he’s asleep in his own bed for the very first time…
And finally, proof that he’s asleep in his own bed for the very first time…
Woohoo! I won’t know how to act without feet in my face or getting head butted in the middle of the night! Papa won’t know what to do without his Velcro buddy up against him with every turn in the night!
We’ll see how long it lasts. At the last minute, he did want to come up and lay with me, and it’s hard to resist those long eyelashes, but I reminded him that his SpongeBob pillow would be lonely, and he finally settled in for the night. Without me lying with him. Success! At least once!
And last but not least, the slumbering Princess. No, she doesn’t have sleep issues. She’s just too cute not to take pictures of!
And while my precious grandbabies are sleeping, I’d better head that way too! Night!
Questions...
Well, sending out my blog to family and friends has spurred a few questions that I'd assumed everyone already knew the answer to. Typing that, I feel a little conceited now...because that would imply that I’m SO important that EVERYONE must be talking about me in order for EVERYONE to already know what’s going on, right?
Anywho…the question that has flooded my email today is what’s wrong with me? Am I ok? The answer is both yes & no. For the last several years, I’ve had problems with chronic pain in my left hip and thigh. It would vary from slight to severe. The last 3 years, it’s steadily progressed, and for the last year and a half, it’s been unbearable most times. I’ve been to several doctors and have been diagnosed with degenerative bone disease. The bones deteriorate away, making rough edges where the nerves go through, so they are constantly irritated. In my lucky case, I got it in my lower spine and pelvis, which are weight bearing bones, which causes more rubbing of the nerves, which causes more inflammation, which causes more pain….you get the idea. It’s to the point now that I’ve been told that I will be in a wheel chair soon. As in, staring it in the face. Ironically, the way to prolong that, is to use a wheelchair now when a lot of walking or standing is in order. That way there is less “wear & tear,” thus enabling me to do things longer. My wheel chair was ordered a few weeks ago. I’m supposed to go pick it up, but have been prolonging that as well. Denial can be a great tool. NOT!!!
I’ve been off of work because of the pain. I was missing so much work that I was gone more than I was there. I’m also on very high doses of pain medications at all times. I’ve been to 3 pain management clinics. All have procedures that such that they want to do and that they seem to think will be highly effective. The problem is that my insurance won’t pay for them. When Michael started working at the hospital way back when, we didn’t put the entire family on his insurance. We only put him on because I had family insurance available at the airport for a much lower cost. Overall, my insurance has been great! This is the only thing that we’ve run into trouble with. Well, the hospital that Michael works at has their own pain management center at their central location. They don’t have to get any kind of approval on his insurance because, well, they ARE the hospital providing it. Therefore any care provided at the hospital or by the hospital staff is 100% covered. There’s not even a copay. Michael had gastric bypass surgery in September, and we had to pay a total of $700 for services not provided at the hospital. Not bad for a surgery that costs THOUSANDS of dollars. Anyway, during open enrollment we added the family to Michael’s insurance for this year, thinking that January 1st, I could be in the pain management clinic getting some much needed treatment, and get back to work. We then found out that any added members to insurance don’t have coverage for the first 90 days of the year. **Sigh** So, now we’re looking at April 1st. My short term disability is for a maximum of 6 months, and will therefore run out April 9th. Hopefully, they’re magic! If not, hopefully I can go back on limited duty or something while we work out the things that we need to with pain management. Now that I’ve written a book about that…
Question number 2 has been about Logan, and why we have him, and what the status is, etc. Logan is Jennifer’s son, our grandson. There was an *incident* Memorial Day weekend. I picked him up from Springtown at about 2am on that Monday morning. He went home for a few days before CPS removed him and did a placement with us. We had him until September, when Gilbert (Logan’s dad) petitioned for custody and won. Gilbert also messed up quite a bit. Being in the army, he moved to Tennessee with his family and things seemed to be going well. Logan came back here November 19 to start his holiday visitation time. He was supposed to stay until December 29. The entire time that we had him, we couldn’t get a hold of Gilbert. Just before he was supposed to go back, we filed the petition for custody. Gilbert & Jennifer both agreed to give Michael & I custody to keep Logan out of foster care. The judge granted us custody on January 10. We have a hearing in August to determine Jennifer’s status and to see if she can have unsupervised visitation yet or not. At this time, her visitation is 100% supervised until she resolves the issues that she has. Once they are resolved, she may be able to petition the court for custody. Right now, we’re taking it one step at a time. Logan is adjusting well and of course spoiled rotten by Grammy, Papa, and all of his aunts & uncles!
Hope that clears up some of the blanks!
Anywho…the question that has flooded my email today is what’s wrong with me? Am I ok? The answer is both yes & no. For the last several years, I’ve had problems with chronic pain in my left hip and thigh. It would vary from slight to severe. The last 3 years, it’s steadily progressed, and for the last year and a half, it’s been unbearable most times. I’ve been to several doctors and have been diagnosed with degenerative bone disease. The bones deteriorate away, making rough edges where the nerves go through, so they are constantly irritated. In my lucky case, I got it in my lower spine and pelvis, which are weight bearing bones, which causes more rubbing of the nerves, which causes more inflammation, which causes more pain….you get the idea. It’s to the point now that I’ve been told that I will be in a wheel chair soon. As in, staring it in the face. Ironically, the way to prolong that, is to use a wheelchair now when a lot of walking or standing is in order. That way there is less “wear & tear,” thus enabling me to do things longer. My wheel chair was ordered a few weeks ago. I’m supposed to go pick it up, but have been prolonging that as well. Denial can be a great tool. NOT!!!
I’ve been off of work because of the pain. I was missing so much work that I was gone more than I was there. I’m also on very high doses of pain medications at all times. I’ve been to 3 pain management clinics. All have procedures that such that they want to do and that they seem to think will be highly effective. The problem is that my insurance won’t pay for them. When Michael started working at the hospital way back when, we didn’t put the entire family on his insurance. We only put him on because I had family insurance available at the airport for a much lower cost. Overall, my insurance has been great! This is the only thing that we’ve run into trouble with. Well, the hospital that Michael works at has their own pain management center at their central location. They don’t have to get any kind of approval on his insurance because, well, they ARE the hospital providing it. Therefore any care provided at the hospital or by the hospital staff is 100% covered. There’s not even a copay. Michael had gastric bypass surgery in September, and we had to pay a total of $700 for services not provided at the hospital. Not bad for a surgery that costs THOUSANDS of dollars. Anyway, during open enrollment we added the family to Michael’s insurance for this year, thinking that January 1st, I could be in the pain management clinic getting some much needed treatment, and get back to work. We then found out that any added members to insurance don’t have coverage for the first 90 days of the year. **Sigh** So, now we’re looking at April 1st. My short term disability is for a maximum of 6 months, and will therefore run out April 9th. Hopefully, they’re magic! If not, hopefully I can go back on limited duty or something while we work out the things that we need to with pain management. Now that I’ve written a book about that…
Question number 2 has been about Logan, and why we have him, and what the status is, etc. Logan is Jennifer’s son, our grandson. There was an *incident* Memorial Day weekend. I picked him up from Springtown at about 2am on that Monday morning. He went home for a few days before CPS removed him and did a placement with us. We had him until September, when Gilbert (Logan’s dad) petitioned for custody and won. Gilbert also messed up quite a bit. Being in the army, he moved to Tennessee with his family and things seemed to be going well. Logan came back here November 19 to start his holiday visitation time. He was supposed to stay until December 29. The entire time that we had him, we couldn’t get a hold of Gilbert. Just before he was supposed to go back, we filed the petition for custody. Gilbert & Jennifer both agreed to give Michael & I custody to keep Logan out of foster care. The judge granted us custody on January 10. We have a hearing in August to determine Jennifer’s status and to see if she can have unsupervised visitation yet or not. At this time, her visitation is 100% supervised until she resolves the issues that she has. Once they are resolved, she may be able to petition the court for custody. Right now, we’re taking it one step at a time. Logan is adjusting well and of course spoiled rotten by Grammy, Papa, and all of his aunts & uncles!
Hope that clears up some of the blanks!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Hyperventilating!!!! Panic Attack!!!!
Cody & Grandma LAST year. And he's even taller now!I mean, seriously! I woke up this morning, and for some reason with the week looming before me, I started an all out panic attack! As of Thursday, February 28, at 12:30pm, I will have an official 16-Year-Old!!!!
That's right...my sweet, snuggly, giggly little man, the first baby I ever had, will be 16. How did this happen? However it happened, something happened right. He's polite, responsible (more than enough for a 16-year-old!), handsome, TALL, smart. Doing well in school. Doing well in JROTC. And getting better all the time. We won't be doing the driver's license thing just yet because we had to wait so long on his social security card, which I thought I knew where it was and didn't, so his permit has been late. Hopefully soon though!
I'm already a mess. I mean, that's only 2 more years to 18! Only 2 more years til I can't tiptoe up to his room at night and peek in at his sweet little (well, hardly! he's well over 6-foot!) slumbering body and know he's ok. I can't just holler to him from across the house for a hug or a favor or whatever. Only 2 years away!
I got seriously trashed on his 13th birthday. SERIOUSLY! I totally didn't mean to. We're definitely not casual or social drinkers. When asked how often I drink, I mean it's like 3 or 4 drinks per year! But as we sat at Joe's Crab Shack, Michael & I across the table from Cody & Mikey, I started panicking that day that I officially had a teen-ager! I ordered a shaker-ita! With an extra shot! Then, as I downed that as fast as I could, I still couldn't get over that he was getting that big. I mean, yeah, he was taller than me, & yeah, he had a lot of responsibility, but now I could no longer look at him as my baby boy! On that realization, I ordered another shaker-ita, even before the dinner order was taken. There's a funny story in there about me & Michael's salad & some fork thing that I'll never live down. I swear it's not true. Urban legend if you will. Ahem. I wouldn't do that. (insert angelic face here) (also insert 3rd shaker-ita here)
Well. By the time that dessert came, and we sang happy birthday, I had successfully convinced myself that we were "practicing" for when he REALLY turned 13. That must be it. I couldn't walk unassisted when we left, but I was successfully in denial.
The next morning, I decided I'd better start counseling NOW for when they turned 18. For real. I'm totally not even joking. I mean for serious for real.
Somebody lock the liquor cabinet & throw away the key before Thursday is all I'm saying!
Recovering
Our first ever ENTIRE family picture!!! Finally recovering from a week of being sick! Oh, and I got around to posting pics from our family portrait session in November. They're in an album on my myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/elena_515
Those that know me that for me, that's fast!!! I'm working on the organization thing. It's just not there yet.
Those in Colorado...yes, I know I USED to be organized. USED to is the key word. Since I've started having trouble with this bone disease, most days are hard to get out of bed and do the have to stuff. A lot of that doesn't even get done. Thankfully, my cousin Kirsten recommended a new medicine, and it's helped tremendously. I've been getting out to do errands once a week, and then taking the rest of the week to recover, but that's improvement! I seem to be walking better, too. Working on dose adjustment now, so hopefully we'll get some improvement soon!
***Logan's funny for today***
I was giving Logan a bath, and he had a strange look on his face. Here is the conversation...
Me: What are you doing?
Logan: Peeing.
Me: What?
Logan: Peeing. (Stated very matter of factly.)
Me: Um, well ok. Let's change the water and clean the tub BEFORE I wash you with it!
Logan: Ok. Next time go in the potty?
Me: That would be nice.
Logan: Ok.
We're working on potty training, but lately he hasn't been interested. I've had the flu this week, so haven't been pushing it. Guess that's what happens when you're two?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Flu, Flu, Go Away
DON'T come back another day!
We've got it running through our house and it's been awful! Hopefully we'll get over it soon so that we can do some fun stuff before Grandma goes home.
We've got it running through our house and it's been awful! Hopefully we'll get over it soon so that we can do some fun stuff before Grandma goes home.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Ahhhh!!!
So Logan has a new thing...
Logan: "Grammy, know what?"
Me: "What?"
Logan: "I love you!"
Me: "I love you, too!"
A minute or two goes by...
Logan: "Grammy, know what?"
Me: "What?"
Logan: "I love you!"
Me: "I love you, too!"
Repeat. Again. And again. And again.
I love it! The thing is, he's started doing it at night, too, while I'm trying to put him to sleep. The only exception is that he inserts kisses in between each of them as he holds my cheeks with both hands. How do you say no to that, that it's night-night time, not play time? So cute.
Anyway, Katie went to her first dance tonight. *sigh* Those of you that know me know that that was torture! However, she said she didn't dance with any boys, because in her words, "All the boys at my school are idiots." Right on! Let's keep that attitude for a few more years! She's so pretty...how am I going to handle this?
Well, I best be getting off of here and getting ready for the big party tomorrow...Nikiya's so excited she can hardly sleep. What's she most excited about? The party? You would think. Alas, no. It's the fact that one of the girls spending the night is her 14-year-old sister, whom she sees every other weekend at her dad's. Those two have a very special relationship that I'll have to explain sometime. I need to post the paper she wrote about Jordan when she had to write on someone that she admired. It's sweet. How can I get my other children to act like that? Any suggestions?
Logan: "Grammy, know what?"
Me: "What?"
Logan: "I love you!"
Me: "I love you, too!"
A minute or two goes by...
Logan: "Grammy, know what?"
Me: "What?"
Logan: "I love you!"
Me: "I love you, too!"
Repeat. Again. And again. And again.
I love it! The thing is, he's started doing it at night, too, while I'm trying to put him to sleep. The only exception is that he inserts kisses in between each of them as he holds my cheeks with both hands. How do you say no to that, that it's night-night time, not play time? So cute.
Anyway, Katie went to her first dance tonight. *sigh* Those of you that know me know that that was torture! However, she said she didn't dance with any boys, because in her words, "All the boys at my school are idiots." Right on! Let's keep that attitude for a few more years! She's so pretty...how am I going to handle this?
Well, I best be getting off of here and getting ready for the big party tomorrow...Nikiya's so excited she can hardly sleep. What's she most excited about? The party? You would think. Alas, no. It's the fact that one of the girls spending the night is her 14-year-old sister, whom she sees every other weekend at her dad's. Those two have a very special relationship that I'll have to explain sometime. I need to post the paper she wrote about Jordan when she had to write on someone that she admired. It's sweet. How can I get my other children to act like that? Any suggestions?
Less Than One Month Left
Well, we have a date for Grandma to go home. Well, sort of. She wants to go home between March 1 & 8. We had decided on March 8, but then Michael mentioned that he might like to go, too. His days off are Tues & Wed, so we may look at those dates instead so that he can make the trip also.
This Saturday we're having Nikiya's birthday party. Then, she's having a few girls spend the night. Hopefully that will be fun for her. It's her first ever slumber party! She's excited & can't wait. Me? Not so much. I'm totally not ready for it. As in, the house is a mess, I haven't shopped for food, cake, ice cream, decorations, or party favors. Hmmm...should get started on that sometime today I suppose, right?
Next weekend we're going to Houston to take Grandma to visit the son of a family friend. She hasn't seen him much since he moved to Houston, but their family is close enough to ours that they really are family. Hopefully that will be fun. Hopefully Grandma, Logan, & I will get out some next week to do a few things. Maybe the Princess Kaylei too since I'm taking care of her while her mama works and looks for another job. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being Grammy.
Speaking of being Grammy...I hate that I go anywhere with the kids and everyone says something about being his Mommy, and he will tell them I'm Grammy. They inevitably say, you can't be a Grandma yet! (Insert self-righteous looks like we must have been parents at 14 and our children were parents at 13.) Anyway, how do you explain, they're my STEP-Grandchildren, and my husband is 9 years older than me, therefore his children are older than mine, and so on and so forth? And that it's none of their business. And that we never consider the STEP relationship, with our children or our grandchildren, neither do our extended families. We are a family, and happy that way. Please keep your self-righteous looks to yourself and let me enjoy my time being Grammy!
We got a letter from Cody's school the other day that his test scores were enough for him to take AP classes next year, so he's excited about that. Katie has already been in Pre-Ap classes, and told him it's nothing exciting, it's HARD! Katie, 12, is very smart, but truly only goes to school for the social environment. But Cody while he's always gotten good grades, has never been really serious about it. In the JROTC program, he's gotten really serious and now would like to be ready for college and the Marine Corp. Thank goodness for that.
Speaking of school, Nikiya is not looking forward to moving. When we were in the other school in NRH, the gifted and talented program was a couple of hours a week that the g&t teacher pulled her out of class to work with her. Yes, I say her because she was the only one in grade level in the program. When we moved to Mansfield, she's in a g&t CLASS, as in all the time. It's awesome! They do experiments all the time, they can bring bugs and birds and pets and plants or whatever to school and share it and study it. They have already had several independent studies, so that they can explore and study whatever they choose with no limits and then share it with the class. Her homework is the same as Mikey & Cody's. I'm not exaggerating. It's the SAME stuff, same requirements, same time to do it in, etc. The difference? They are sophomores in high school, and she's in 3rd grade. When we move back, she won't have the same freedom of discovery and the same exposure to so many things like she does now. Erica told me about some private schools around that take scholarships. I've been checking into those and see if anything pans out.
As for me, I've started a new medication that seems to be helping with the pain. This is the first time we've made progress in over a year. That for me is especially exciting. I'll start with the new pain management clinic in April and let me tell you, my hips can hardly wait! For now, I've spent the last two days actually getting things done and up and around. It's amazing!
Anywho, my to do list for today won't be getting done with me sitting here, so for now I'll say goodbye and *really* I'll get the new pics posted soon. The family pics are awesome, which is hard to say when you have 15 people in one shot!
This Saturday we're having Nikiya's birthday party. Then, she's having a few girls spend the night. Hopefully that will be fun for her. It's her first ever slumber party! She's excited & can't wait. Me? Not so much. I'm totally not ready for it. As in, the house is a mess, I haven't shopped for food, cake, ice cream, decorations, or party favors. Hmmm...should get started on that sometime today I suppose, right?
Next weekend we're going to Houston to take Grandma to visit the son of a family friend. She hasn't seen him much since he moved to Houston, but their family is close enough to ours that they really are family. Hopefully that will be fun. Hopefully Grandma, Logan, & I will get out some next week to do a few things. Maybe the Princess Kaylei too since I'm taking care of her while her mama works and looks for another job. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being Grammy.
Speaking of being Grammy...I hate that I go anywhere with the kids and everyone says something about being his Mommy, and he will tell them I'm Grammy. They inevitably say, you can't be a Grandma yet! (Insert self-righteous looks like we must have been parents at 14 and our children were parents at 13.) Anyway, how do you explain, they're my STEP-Grandchildren, and my husband is 9 years older than me, therefore his children are older than mine, and so on and so forth? And that it's none of their business. And that we never consider the STEP relationship, with our children or our grandchildren, neither do our extended families. We are a family, and happy that way. Please keep your self-righteous looks to yourself and let me enjoy my time being Grammy!
We got a letter from Cody's school the other day that his test scores were enough for him to take AP classes next year, so he's excited about that. Katie has already been in Pre-Ap classes, and told him it's nothing exciting, it's HARD! Katie, 12, is very smart, but truly only goes to school for the social environment. But Cody while he's always gotten good grades, has never been really serious about it. In the JROTC program, he's gotten really serious and now would like to be ready for college and the Marine Corp. Thank goodness for that.
Speaking of school, Nikiya is not looking forward to moving. When we were in the other school in NRH, the gifted and talented program was a couple of hours a week that the g&t teacher pulled her out of class to work with her. Yes, I say her because she was the only one in grade level in the program. When we moved to Mansfield, she's in a g&t CLASS, as in all the time. It's awesome! They do experiments all the time, they can bring bugs and birds and pets and plants or whatever to school and share it and study it. They have already had several independent studies, so that they can explore and study whatever they choose with no limits and then share it with the class. Her homework is the same as Mikey & Cody's. I'm not exaggerating. It's the SAME stuff, same requirements, same time to do it in, etc. The difference? They are sophomores in high school, and she's in 3rd grade. When we move back, she won't have the same freedom of discovery and the same exposure to so many things like she does now. Erica told me about some private schools around that take scholarships. I've been checking into those and see if anything pans out.
As for me, I've started a new medication that seems to be helping with the pain. This is the first time we've made progress in over a year. That for me is especially exciting. I'll start with the new pain management clinic in April and let me tell you, my hips can hardly wait! For now, I've spent the last two days actually getting things done and up and around. It's amazing!
Anywho, my to do list for today won't be getting done with me sitting here, so for now I'll say goodbye and *really* I'll get the new pics posted soon. The family pics are awesome, which is hard to say when you have 15 people in one shot!
Friday, February 01, 2008
Has it really been that long???
I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated my site! I've been getting requests from family and friends for new pictures of the kids, for holiday updates, etc. It wasn't until tonight that I spent some time catching up with some of the blogs that I read and realized that it really has been awhile!
With that being said, it's 2:22 am, and I'm sure that Logan will be up before I'm ready. I'm going to just hit a VERY FEW highlights; then fill in the blanks later.
Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had Erica, her boys, and her grandma over. I can't believe how big the boys are getting! Daniel and Louisa and their crew came by to eat a bit. Sheri, Todd, & the girls visited for a few minutes later in the day when they came to get Katie. She stayed the night over there so that she could watch their girls while they hit the Day-After-Thanksgiving sales. This was the first time that I got dinner together all by myself, and it didn't kill anyone so I'll take that as a success. ***A little Thanksgiving funny...that morning, Logan was watching me put the turkey in. He was very concerned, and in the sweetest little voice & with the sweetest little face, he kept cracking us up saying, "Ah, poor turtle!" Then as I went to put it in the oven, he started screaming, "No, don't cook my baby sister! Don't put her in there!" I have NO idea where that came from, but after close examination and once he was satisfied that this was in fact NOT his baby sister and she was safe with Mommy & Daddy, he was fine with the turkey making it into the roaster.
My Grandma is here visiting from Colorado. She's been her since Dec 8, and will be staying at least through the end of February. She's tentatively planning on leaving early in March depending on the Colorado weather. My aunts and uncles don't really want her to be there during the worst of the winter weather. It's much more mild and no slick roads (ok, RARELY!) here with us. However, with our brood and our busy household, I'm not too sure that she hasn't gotten more than she bargained for! We're really enjoying her being here, if only we could keep everyone well long enough at the same time to do more while she's here. Last year we went to the Stock Show & Rodeo, Waco to the Dr Pepper Museum, down to San Antonio & the Alamo. The stockyards. All kinds of stuff. We haven't done much this year but work on the other house, sleep, and go to church. Must be pretty exciting for her, huh? Oh yeah...she's almost caught up my laundry, and if you know me, you know that's NO small feat! Hopefully we'll get down to Glenrose and stuff while she's here. We're hoping to get to the Stockshow this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Christmas was fun with the babies here! Most of you already know that I'm very sickly obsessed wtih pink. I'm an 8-year-old fairy-princess wanna-be stuck in this 32 year old body. Crazy yes, but I do love it! All this time I've only had grandsons. I've made my own daughters sick to death of pink, but now I have my Princess Kaylei! I'm taking full advantage! Hoping to tweak my approach so that she'll still like it when she learns how much I like it and not want to run and hide. Anyway, Logan was helping his beloved Papa pass out presents. He's so funny! He's been very good with manners...Please, thank you, & you're welcome. So much so, that whenever he does anything at all he deems as nice or appropriate, you're met with a "You're welcome!", whether there's a thank you or not. He was handing out the gifts, and kept saying "You're welcome!" as he handed them over. However, with a bunch this big, that's a lot of presents. He didn't want to give up helping Papa play Santa, but at the end, he was yelling in a cross manner, "YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" as he handed over the packages. Which of course made everyone laugh. Which of course made him crabbier. But it was pretty funny. The night before as we were headed home from picking him up with Jennifer, Chad, Kaylei, & Mikey from their Nanny's (grandmother's) house, he was doing the same crabby thing yelling, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" He was better than scrooge!
Jennifer & Chad & Princess Kaylei stayed most of Logan's visitation with us (Nov 19-Dec 29.) They went home to his mother's house on some weekends and such. However, we didn't hear from Gilbert the entire time that Logan was here, but Rachel visited a few times. Just before time for him to go back, we learned that Gilbert was in jail, Rachel wasn't going back to Kentucky, and we had no idea where Logan would be. We filed a temporary restraining order to keep Logan here until a hearing could be had. We had the hearing on January 10 and now have custody of Logan. However, the judge was NOT happy about Jennifer being here and would not place him in our custody with them in the house. She wanted Jennifer to have only limited completely supervised visitation until her other issues are resolved; then unsupervised visitation options can be explored at that time. So for the time being, they are staying at our other house in NRH. Chad is doing a fantastic job fixing up the place. We need it to be ready to go very soon. He's already completely torn out the kitchen floor, leveled it, and replaced both the sub-floor and the concrete wonderboard so that it's ready to lay tile. The floors are stripped. He just put up the wall between the laundry area & Mikey's room today. He's getting ready to start building our cabinets once the tile is down and the drywall is up. He's done some awesome work at the cabinet company he works for and we're excited to have him available to help us with it. It gives them a place to stay while saving up for a good place for them to stay with the baby and be close enough to visit Logan often. The judge was pretty hard on Jennifer so she's doing what she can to meet her demands before going back to court in August. Hopefully things will be much more settled by then.
Anyhow, that's it for now. We've gotten our photo session photos back, and we've taken lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded any of them yet. I'll do that over the next few days and get them posted.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season! Best to you and yours in 2008!
With that being said, it's 2:22 am, and I'm sure that Logan will be up before I'm ready. I'm going to just hit a VERY FEW highlights; then fill in the blanks later.
Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had Erica, her boys, and her grandma over. I can't believe how big the boys are getting! Daniel and Louisa and their crew came by to eat a bit. Sheri, Todd, & the girls visited for a few minutes later in the day when they came to get Katie. She stayed the night over there so that she could watch their girls while they hit the Day-After-Thanksgiving sales. This was the first time that I got dinner together all by myself, and it didn't kill anyone so I'll take that as a success. ***A little Thanksgiving funny...that morning, Logan was watching me put the turkey in. He was very concerned, and in the sweetest little voice & with the sweetest little face, he kept cracking us up saying, "Ah, poor turtle!" Then as I went to put it in the oven, he started screaming, "No, don't cook my baby sister! Don't put her in there!" I have NO idea where that came from, but after close examination and once he was satisfied that this was in fact NOT his baby sister and she was safe with Mommy & Daddy, he was fine with the turkey making it into the roaster.
My Grandma is here visiting from Colorado. She's been her since Dec 8, and will be staying at least through the end of February. She's tentatively planning on leaving early in March depending on the Colorado weather. My aunts and uncles don't really want her to be there during the worst of the winter weather. It's much more mild and no slick roads (ok, RARELY!) here with us. However, with our brood and our busy household, I'm not too sure that she hasn't gotten more than she bargained for! We're really enjoying her being here, if only we could keep everyone well long enough at the same time to do more while she's here. Last year we went to the Stock Show & Rodeo, Waco to the Dr Pepper Museum, down to San Antonio & the Alamo. The stockyards. All kinds of stuff. We haven't done much this year but work on the other house, sleep, and go to church. Must be pretty exciting for her, huh? Oh yeah...she's almost caught up my laundry, and if you know me, you know that's NO small feat! Hopefully we'll get down to Glenrose and stuff while she's here. We're hoping to get to the Stockshow this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!
Christmas was fun with the babies here! Most of you already know that I'm very sickly obsessed wtih pink. I'm an 8-year-old fairy-princess wanna-be stuck in this 32 year old body. Crazy yes, but I do love it! All this time I've only had grandsons. I've made my own daughters sick to death of pink, but now I have my Princess Kaylei! I'm taking full advantage! Hoping to tweak my approach so that she'll still like it when she learns how much I like it and not want to run and hide. Anyway, Logan was helping his beloved Papa pass out presents. He's so funny! He's been very good with manners...Please, thank you, & you're welcome. So much so, that whenever he does anything at all he deems as nice or appropriate, you're met with a "You're welcome!", whether there's a thank you or not. He was handing out the gifts, and kept saying "You're welcome!" as he handed them over. However, with a bunch this big, that's a lot of presents. He didn't want to give up helping Papa play Santa, but at the end, he was yelling in a cross manner, "YOU'RE WELCOME!!!" as he handed over the packages. Which of course made everyone laugh. Which of course made him crabbier. But it was pretty funny. The night before as we were headed home from picking him up with Jennifer, Chad, Kaylei, & Mikey from their Nanny's (grandmother's) house, he was doing the same crabby thing yelling, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" He was better than scrooge!
Jennifer & Chad & Princess Kaylei stayed most of Logan's visitation with us (Nov 19-Dec 29.) They went home to his mother's house on some weekends and such. However, we didn't hear from Gilbert the entire time that Logan was here, but Rachel visited a few times. Just before time for him to go back, we learned that Gilbert was in jail, Rachel wasn't going back to Kentucky, and we had no idea where Logan would be. We filed a temporary restraining order to keep Logan here until a hearing could be had. We had the hearing on January 10 and now have custody of Logan. However, the judge was NOT happy about Jennifer being here and would not place him in our custody with them in the house. She wanted Jennifer to have only limited completely supervised visitation until her other issues are resolved; then unsupervised visitation options can be explored at that time. So for the time being, they are staying at our other house in NRH. Chad is doing a fantastic job fixing up the place. We need it to be ready to go very soon. He's already completely torn out the kitchen floor, leveled it, and replaced both the sub-floor and the concrete wonderboard so that it's ready to lay tile. The floors are stripped. He just put up the wall between the laundry area & Mikey's room today. He's getting ready to start building our cabinets once the tile is down and the drywall is up. He's done some awesome work at the cabinet company he works for and we're excited to have him available to help us with it. It gives them a place to stay while saving up for a good place for them to stay with the baby and be close enough to visit Logan often. The judge was pretty hard on Jennifer so she's doing what she can to meet her demands before going back to court in August. Hopefully things will be much more settled by then.
Anyhow, that's it for now. We've gotten our photo session photos back, and we've taken lots of pictures, but I haven't downloaded any of them yet. I'll do that over the next few days and get them posted.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season! Best to you and yours in 2008!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Grammy in Heaven
Ignore the fact that I never look good without makeup, a straightener, and lots of photo editing...aren't those babies perfect!!!!
This picture was taken last weekend when we had our family photo session done. I was lucky enough to get to sleep with both the babies and it was wonderful! I haven't seen the pics yet, but Michael has seen a few previews while the wonderful Miss Amanda works on them. Check out her site if you get the chance...I'll post a picture or two as soon as I get them. She did an awesome job with the kids and everything else.
Yesterday, Rachel came over to visit with the kids. Michael made his famous signature homemade brownies, and I made my lasagna.
Logan enjoying Papa's brownie batter...he still had it in his eyebrow when I took him home!
Tomorrow, Logan comes for holiday visitation. I'll be picking up Chad, Jennifer, & Kaylei right after getting Logan tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to having them all together again for awhile! I'm trying to look forward to the time with Logan and not focus on the fact that it's only until the end of December, but it's hard! So for now, one day at a time, with lots of pictures!!!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Logan!!!
Logan & Papa on the stairs. Logan loves the stairs, so we spend a lot of time sitting at the bottom to play with him & keep him from going up.
Logan & Grammy eating oreos on the stairs. This was the last day that he was here before leaving for Kentucky with his Daddy. Since the day Logan could take an oreo apart, he & I have sneaked off to eat only the centers of the entire package, then leave the "cookies" in the package like nothing ever happened. Of course, I'd NEVER let my kids do this, but he's my grand-baby! Nobody knew who was doing it but Logan & me (and I suspect that super sleuth Papa had an idea of who the culprit was). Well, this day, we outed ourselves and ate them on the stairs, sharing with No One! And I wonder where this giant boo-heiny comes from? Such a mystery...
In my previous post I mentioned that we were supposed to be leaving for Kentucky to get Logan on November 19 for his holiday visitation with Jennifer. Because her visits continue to be supervised, we were going to go get him for her. The greatest thing happened this week though! Rachel came home to visit her mom for a couple of weeks, so Logan is here NOW and we will be picking him up tomorrow and keeping him until Sunday evening!
Chad & Jennifer were going to come over Sunday afternoon to get Kaylei’s newborn portraits. Michael works with a nurse at the hospital that also does professional photography. She was going to come over Sunday to do Kaylei’s before she gets too big, then again in a few weeks to get the entire family all together and in different groups. Well, Micheala is coming home for a visit this weekend for the first time in a while, and Jennifer & Chad are coming for pictures, and Logan will now be here, so that only left Erica & the boys. Instead of doing two sets, we’ll instead now be doing one large session all at once! Jennifer, Chad, & Kaylei are coming tomorrow night to spend the night for some extra time with Logan. It will be the first time that we’ve had ALL of our kids & ALL of our grand-kids together at the same time! I can’t wait to see the amazing work that Amanda will be doing working with our family! Thanks, Amanda! We really appreciate it! These pictures have been almost 3 years in the making! I guess that’s what happens when your family grows this big. *sigh* I can’t wait! Can’t you tell with my much OVERUSED use of the exclamation point!!!!!! Yippee!!
This holiday season should be awesome!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
So Not Ready for the Move!!!
Kaylei w/ Papa's thumb
I wish I could say that the reason for my lack of blogging has been getting ready for the move and being oh-so-busy getting our other house ready to move to. I wish I could say that I’ve been filling my time with worthwhile activities that will further myself or my family in some way. Alas, no. The plain truth is that I’m LAZY!!! Oh, and I spent a few days in the hospital and just got home yesterday, but mostly, just sheer laziness.
So we're supposed to be moving back to NRH here in a couple of weeks. And then right away we're supposed to be leaving on the 19th to Kentucky to get little Mr. Logan! You know I’m so giddy I can hardly contain myself! I want everything to be done so that I can spend those 5 blissful weeks playing with him and all the new Melmo (Logan’s version of Elmo!) toys that I haven’t been able to keep myself from buying every time that I see them since he’s left. I want to just snuggle him all up and soak it up before he leaves again and we won’t see him until summer break. However, if I don’t get off of my giganti-sized boo-heiny soon and get started, well, this move won’t be over by itself! That in itself should be motivation enough! Can’t wait to introduce Logan to his sweet new baby sister Kaylei.
But here it is, just past noon, and I’m still in Michael’s t-shirt, snuggled up under the covers, watching him sleep. I could say that I’m still recovering from my stay in the hospital. I mean, I just got home yesterday. However, I’m feeling much better and could at least be working on that mountain of laundry out there or packing the boxes that I’ve come to realize are NOT self-packing, as I ordered them. Don’t have time to return them as defective, so I’d better get right on that. Right after the other 14 million pages of to do list in my notebook. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I know if I don’t get started, I won’t do it while Logan is here either. We’ll just play around all that mess, but who wants to go through the holidays that way. **Sigh** No matter how cute and snuggly my honey is, I guess watching him sleep will just have to wait.
Updates on the last week… We did see Kaylei the weekend before Halloween. Oh, and of course Jennifer & Chad, too. She’s so stinking cute! This coming weekend we’ll be getting her newborn pictures done. She had some done at the hospital also. You can see them at http://www.growingfamily.org/. Choose “Visit WebNursery,” then search by her info. She was born Oct 15 in Texas. First three letter of mom’s last name are Erv. YES she wanted people to be able to see her and to post the info. The dress is one that I bought for her a couple of months before. I can’t believe it fit at well as it did. Logan is going to be so excited to meet his sister. At least I hope! He does get fairly jealous when I hold other kids! He tells them that I’m HIS Grammy!
Halloween was good. Michael dressed up as McGruff the Crime Dog for the hospital. We went up there for a bit and got some pictures of the kids with him, and him with his fellow officers and such. Then took the kids trick or treating. Only Nikiya dressed up - as a demon baby. Leave it to her.
Other than that, things have been uneventful. I better get up off of here and go GET SOME WORK DONE!!!
So we're supposed to be moving back to NRH here in a couple of weeks. And then right away we're supposed to be leaving on the 19th to Kentucky to get little Mr. Logan! You know I’m so giddy I can hardly contain myself! I want everything to be done so that I can spend those 5 blissful weeks playing with him and all the new Melmo (Logan’s version of Elmo!) toys that I haven’t been able to keep myself from buying every time that I see them since he’s left. I want to just snuggle him all up and soak it up before he leaves again and we won’t see him until summer break. However, if I don’t get off of my giganti-sized boo-heiny soon and get started, well, this move won’t be over by itself! That in itself should be motivation enough! Can’t wait to introduce Logan to his sweet new baby sister Kaylei.
But here it is, just past noon, and I’m still in Michael’s t-shirt, snuggled up under the covers, watching him sleep. I could say that I’m still recovering from my stay in the hospital. I mean, I just got home yesterday. However, I’m feeling much better and could at least be working on that mountain of laundry out there or packing the boxes that I’ve come to realize are NOT self-packing, as I ordered them. Don’t have time to return them as defective, so I’d better get right on that. Right after the other 14 million pages of to do list in my notebook. Seriously, what is wrong with me? I know if I don’t get started, I won’t do it while Logan is here either. We’ll just play around all that mess, but who wants to go through the holidays that way. **Sigh** No matter how cute and snuggly my honey is, I guess watching him sleep will just have to wait.
Updates on the last week… We did see Kaylei the weekend before Halloween. Oh, and of course Jennifer & Chad, too. She’s so stinking cute! This coming weekend we’ll be getting her newborn pictures done. She had some done at the hospital also. You can see them at http://www.growingfamily.org/. Choose “Visit WebNursery,” then search by her info. She was born Oct 15 in Texas. First three letter of mom’s last name are Erv. YES she wanted people to be able to see her and to post the info. The dress is one that I bought for her a couple of months before. I can’t believe it fit at well as it did. Logan is going to be so excited to meet his sister. At least I hope! He does get fairly jealous when I hold other kids! He tells them that I’m HIS Grammy!
Halloween was good. Michael dressed up as McGruff the Crime Dog for the hospital. We went up there for a bit and got some pictures of the kids with him, and him with his fellow officers and such. Then took the kids trick or treating. Only Nikiya dressed up - as a demon baby. Leave it to her.
Other than that, things have been uneventful. I better get up off of here and go GET SOME WORK DONE!!!
Nikiya & Michael...I mean, demon baby and McGruff!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
I'm So 'Cited!!!
I'm heading over to pick up Chad, Jennifer, & yittle Miss Kaylei!!! This will be the first time that she will meet the rest of her crazy aunts & uncles. Of course, they'll be lucky if they can get her away from Grammy long enough touch her...they'll have to settle for LOOKING!!! Looking at me being deliriously HAPPY that is!
But who wouldn't be? Sweet little slice of baby heaven...
Thursday, October 25, 2007
So Much for the Frequent Blog!!!
Why is it that I find getting online for just about anything EXCEPT the things that I need to easy, but everything else is so hard? I have blogs that I check frequently, and after a few days, I think, why haven't they updated already? I guess for me, I feel that my life while busy, is actually pretty boring. However, as I read over the blog entries that I've posted on various blogs (yes, plural, as in: more than one!), I find little snippets of information about my life and the things that my children say, do, etc, that I've already forgotten! I was reading the blog that I really enjoy, when she said something to the effect that she felt bad that she was spending too much time on the computer, and not enough time scrapbooking to keep the memories of her children alive. Then she realized, that was EXACTLY what she was doing by blogging the everyday life events, whether others like them or not! It's a record of all of the little things that make life enjoyable, and I'm going to try to do what I can to make a record of such for my amazingly wonderful family. I'd like to somehow find a way to link all of my blogs together, so that when I post to one, they all update. We'll see what I can come up with.
The most exciting recent news:
We have an absolutely BEAUTIFUL new grandaughter!!!
And Jennifer & Chad got married!!!
Kaylei Dawn Peyton Ervin was born October 15, 2007, just a few days before big brother Logan's second birthday! Chad and Jennifer can't be prouder of this sweet little thing. Neither can Grammy & Papa or any of her other grandparents! We've visited her a few times and have to say that Jennifer has been wonderfully lucky! So far, she's had two awesome babies! She hardly cries and is just the sweetest thing. Hopefully, we'll get to see them this weekend.
Nikiya was home from school with me today. She had a severe headache and has been getting them more and more frequently. Right now we're waiting for an appointment with Cook Children's Neurology clinic. She's having some teeth worked on and hopefully that will be the end of the problem.
Michael had gastric bypass surgery Sept 18. So far he's lost almost 50 lbs! He looks awesome and I can't believe the change already. He had some issues with hydration/protein intake in the beginning, but seems to be getting a better handle on it.
Cody is very active in JROTC and has events or practice most days after school. He's on the physical training team and it seems to keep him in pretty good shape. He runs most everyday and usually walks the few miles home from school after practice.
I have my second appointment with pain management tomorrow. This will be the third clinic I've worked with. This one is a comprehensive clinic though which was recommended by the last clinic I went to. The bone degeneration at this point is getting to be too much to handle in a regular pain clinic. I had my initial "team evaluation" 2 weeks ago. Tomorrow I'm supposed to find out what plan they have developed for me. Hoping for encouraging news...
Logan will be here November 19 for 5 weeks. I miss him so much! I can hardly wait until he gets here! We call to talk to him, but he's still not real talkative on the phone. It' a few sentences and he's done. I enjoy it though. We've picked up a few things for him for when he gets here. Cinnamon picked a ball dart game for him. It's like darts, only with lightweight velcro balls. It has Elmo on it, and we all know that he just loves his "Melmo!" I also got him some Mickey footie jammies at the Disney store when we got Cinnamon's birthday present there. I need to do some more work on his pictures and videos so that I can get them posted. Rachel sent me a text message a few weeks ago warning me that Logan wanted to call his Grammy, but didn't think he needed help with the phone, so to beware of strange calls from the little ham!
My husband seems to be finally stirring after being up for the last 36 hours, then taking a 3 hour nap, so I'm going to go curl up for some quality time with him before we hit the sack for the night. Have a great night everyone!
Friday, March 10, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy hectic awful. On Sunday February 5, I went to the ER for a rash that had spread all over my body. I had been feeling bad on Saturday, with pain in the lower right quadrant of my abdomen. It had been hurting off and on for several months, and a few months ago I had a scan that showed enlarged lymph nodes in the area. This time, they could see my appendix, but thought that it looked normal. However, the lymph nodes were still very swollen. Apparently, the rash was called a stress rash from the amount of pain that I've been in. While I was on morphine, the rash would subside. When I wasn't, it would come right back. Thursday, February 9, they took my appendix out and most of the problem has subsided. The remaining pain may just be from the surgery itself. Only time will tell. I got out of the hospital on Friday the 10th, and Dad also left the hospital to go to a rehabilitation facility for 2 weeks for physical therapy on his knee.
He went to Mimosa Manor in Keller, TX. He didn't really like it there, stating that it wasn't really home and that he missed his family, but that they treated him alright and the food was ok, though he had to eat the same things each day. There was one person that he complained of hurting him, but otherwise seemed to get along ok. He was looking forward to coming home and being with his family again. On Sunday the 12, the kids made 200 Valentine's cards and we took them up to pass them out at the Assisted Living Center where Dad was getting his therapy. Everything still seemed to be going ok.
That night, Michael went to the ER at Harris HEB. He had been feeling really bad and had bronchitis, but hadn't had the opportunity to really take care of himself. He went to the ER that night with fever of almost 104, shaking uncontrollably, and in a lot of pain. He had pneumonia, but refused admission. Instead, they ran antibiotics and gave him ibuprofen for the pain, and then sent him home on antibiotics as well.
I was going to go back to work yesterday afternoon. Michael was going to drive me because I haven't actually been released to drive yet. As we were getting ready to leave, the Center called and said that they were sending Dad to the hospital via ambulance. We went to North Hills, and it turned out that he had double pneumomia, and he died this morning at 1:00.
He's at Mount Olivet funeral home. Sunday afternoon we're having visitation from 2-4, and the funeral on Monday at 1:30.
The strangest thing is that when we were at the funderal home making arrangements today, we realized that he and mom both died on Thursday, had their viewing on Sunday from 2-4, and their funeral on Monday at 1:30. Saturday would have been their 51st wedding anniversary, and yesterday, he kept saying that he couldn't think of a better gift to give her than to be with her. We were caught totally unprepared because he seemed to be getting better and was looking forward to coming home in a few more days.
He went to Mimosa Manor in Keller, TX. He didn't really like it there, stating that it wasn't really home and that he missed his family, but that they treated him alright and the food was ok, though he had to eat the same things each day. There was one person that he complained of hurting him, but otherwise seemed to get along ok. He was looking forward to coming home and being with his family again. On Sunday the 12, the kids made 200 Valentine's cards and we took them up to pass them out at the Assisted Living Center where Dad was getting his therapy. Everything still seemed to be going ok.
That night, Michael went to the ER at Harris HEB. He had been feeling really bad and had bronchitis, but hadn't had the opportunity to really take care of himself. He went to the ER that night with fever of almost 104, shaking uncontrollably, and in a lot of pain. He had pneumonia, but refused admission. Instead, they ran antibiotics and gave him ibuprofen for the pain, and then sent him home on antibiotics as well.
I was going to go back to work yesterday afternoon. Michael was going to drive me because I haven't actually been released to drive yet. As we were getting ready to leave, the Center called and said that they were sending Dad to the hospital via ambulance. We went to North Hills, and it turned out that he had double pneumomia, and he died this morning at 1:00.
He's at Mount Olivet funeral home. Sunday afternoon we're having visitation from 2-4, and the funeral on Monday at 1:30.
The strangest thing is that when we were at the funderal home making arrangements today, we realized that he and mom both died on Thursday, had their viewing on Sunday from 2-4, and their funeral on Monday at 1:30. Saturday would have been their 51st wedding anniversary, and yesterday, he kept saying that he couldn't think of a better gift to give her than to be with her. We were caught totally unprepared because he seemed to be getting better and was looking forward to coming home in a few more days.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Dad's Knee Replacement #1
This morning Dad has his right knee replaced. Overall, it went smoothly. There's always some anxiety surrounding a procedure like that on someone his age (87), though we were told that it should go smoothly. This man amazes me. He's 87 years old, and takes only medication for Parkinson's Disease, and a temporary one for UTI. He always has a great attitude and is friendly. If only our kids today were as polite and had such high morals! Well, if only the last several generations did... Anywho, he's been looking forward to this surgery for so long. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such independence, and derive so much dignity from that; then to suddenly, or not so suddenly as the case may be, loose that independence. I'm sure he's looking forward to getting around again and doing some of the things that he enjoys doing. Last night he was sorry that he couldn't hold Logan because of how much his knees hurt even to sit up anymore. I'm sure that he's looking forward to doing that again! Who wouldn't want to snuggle up with that little bundle of sweetness!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Mom's Birthday
Today is Michael's Mom's birthday. She died in November and it's been rough since. We'll be taking her some flowers as soon as I get home from work today. She's never far from our thoughts, but today, she's closer than ever. Mom, know that we're thinking of you today, wishing you were here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We love you!
This is one of my favorite pictures of Mom. She couldn't wait to get her hands on this little guy! She loved on him every chance that she got. Don't worry mom! I'll gladly carry that part on!
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