Weigh In

Going to do a quick "weigh in".  Friday was such a crazy busy day, and yesterday as well. 

Still stubbornly stuck at about .2lbs from the tens digit dropping, but at least I didn't go up any!  :)  And yesterday I wore a dress that I haven't worn in a long time!  It felt SOOO good!  I've also gone down a skirt size!  WOO HOO!!!!! 

BONUS!!!!  For the first time in a VERY VERY VERY long time, a picture was taken of me that I actually didn't hate!  I HATE seeing myself in pics...like seriously?!  Am I really that big?!  But I really wanted a pic of me with my beautiful 84 year old grandmother, whom I call Grommie!  My hubby took it for me and I almost hated to look at it, but was excited when I actually didn't cringe!  Yes I'm still overweight...yes I am still working on it! But progress...I should add...this precious lady is one of my biggest cheerleaders!  Everytime she sees me she says, "You are looking good honey!  Keep up the good work!"  :)  Love her!!!!!!

Our 20th anniversary is in July...I'm trying really hard to give him his "bride" back! ;)

Hopefully the weight isn't,

All My Babies

As I have been trying to encourage a friend, who just miscarried twins, it has caused me a lot of reflecting.  Yesterday I texted her that even though she is hurting right now, and we may never understand "why", this will mold her and her husband's character and make them better people in the long run.  It will bind them closer together as long as they honestly communicate their feelings to each other. 

I have since been thinking about what I said to her, and over my own experiences.  I'm going to share some of them with you today...

My first pregnancy was a fairly good one.  I was very very sick for the first 3-4 months, but otherwise pretty uneventful.  Second pregnancy, had a little bit of blood pressure issues, not too bad and slight gestational diabetes.  This labor was the bomb though!  2 hours and 40 min from first pain to born.  (Dr. was mean and impatient, but we made it.)  But I must add, he was 7 days overdue, and the dr. was pushing me to be induced.  She had set a date.  I called my mom, "I really don't want to be induced, I just want it to happen."  Her and my grandmother went to prayer, and that night, the day before the scheduled inducing, I went into labor!  God had answered prayer!

A couple years later we decided we wanted number 3.  I seemed to be having difficulty conceiving for some reason.  My monthly was being irregular which was not normal for me and I honestly didn't know what was going on.  I had finally made a Dr. apt to try to figure out what was going on.

In the meantime, one day at church I felt inspired to be anointed and prayed for.  I don't think I gave any details to the ministry, but while they were praying I literally felt what felt like an adult size hand rub across the INSIDE of my abdomen.  I knew then that God had touched whatever was wrong.  The next week was my dr.'s appointment.  First thing they done was a urine sample.  A few min later the Dr. came in and said, "Congratulations!  You are pregnant!"  Again God answered prayer.

This pregnancy was a little more difficult.  I had major blood pressure issues, severe migraines, and gestational diabetes.  About 4 weeks before due date, dr. put me in the hospital on bed rest.  She was trying to get me a few more days then wanted to induce me b/c I was toxemic.  Again, an inducing date was set.  Again...we went to prayer.  The middle of that night...(the day before set date...again...) my water broke.  They did end up having to start a very small amount of Pitocin b/c water had been broken for several hours and I wasn't doing much anything else.  But that was all it took, just the smallest amount of Pit and we were off.  4 hours later, a 5lb. 3oz...baby boy was here! 

Now don't be haters, but I never had an epidural with any of mine...there wouldn't have been time if I had wanted one...and I was told that if I had gotten one it probably would have slowed things down.  I also will say, I do not for the life of me understand the women that WANT to be induced.  My 3rd had the smallest amount of Pitocin and that was the WORST labor pains EVER...and I had back labor with them all!  The pains were definitely magnified!  That is true!

Since number 3, I have had 7 miscarriages, one of those we are 95% sure was a set of twins.  The last one I had, the Dr. was convinced was a tubal, b/c they could not find the baby in an ultrasound.  Of course they wanted me to take medicine to "dissolve" it, but I just couldn't do it.  They had me nervous...We went to prayer...called others for prayer...and the night before Mother's Day I completely miscarried.  I sent my Mother a Mother's Day gift that year.  She has plenty of babies to rock and cuddle in Heaven! 

But I'm telling you, all these events, not to mention other things in our lives that can be crucial, have made my husband and I who we are!  It has drawn us close...so very close.  These hard things either make you or break you. 

There are a couple key things I would offer as advice for these hard, tear jerking, heart breaking situations.

1.  Pray...pray together...
2.  Communicate...communicate to each other HONESTLY how you feel.  Don't be afraid to say how you feel b/c you don't want to upset the other.  It is so important that you understand how each other feels.  I know when I had the first miscarriage, I didn't realize for a few weeks, that my husband felt guilty.  Felt like it was his fault...that he had somehow hurt the baby during an intimate moment.  As soon as I understood that, I was able to help him understand how that was not his fault.
3.  Listen/Understand...Listen to the others feelings, and try to understand them.  If you can try to understand where they are coming from then you can learn to understand how to work through these situations.
4.  Always remember that everything happens for a reason and even though we may never understand the reason(s) here on earth, they will bind you and your spouse closer together if you will let it!

Don't do these things and they will drive you away from each other.  We have seen it over and over and over!  In the CF community we have watched marriages split up and fall apart time and time again...but that is another story for another day!

Sometimes it's not easy,

The Boys

Growing up in a house of MOSTLY females...my brothers had to endure a lot of "girl talk".  Well now in a home of being the ONLY female, I am having to endure laugh my way through a lot of "boy talk"!  ...well this post is totally "boy talk"...CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED!!! 

One day last week, school (college) was out, no clinicals, no work hours...and Firefighter was b-o-r-e-d!  So what does he do when he is bored?  Picks on everyone...esp. his little brother!  (In all fairness, LegoMan often comes "asking" for it, and enjoys it...the testosterone levels in this house are out of control...lol!)  Firefighter was giving LegoMan Charlie horses all day long.  (If you kick or punch someone hard enough on the outside of their upper thigh you can give them a Charlie horse...I did not teach you that!) ;)  Well, since my boys are ALL BOY, it becomes a contest to see who can catch the other off guard and cramp their leg!  Well LegoMan seemed to be the target this day.

I do not know how many times it had happened, and every time LegoMan would try to get Firefighter back, but was being unsuccessful.   After a while LegoMan disappeared.  He comes in from the garage in a few minutes sporting a pair of knee pads...with the pads on the outside of his upper thigh.  We were dying at this point.  Too funny!  I grab my phone, b/c this needs a pic.  He catches me before I could get the picture and tries to hurriedly take them off.  In the process of taking them off so quickly he gets them turned around so the pad is on the inside of his leg. 

About this time Pilot walks into the room.  Following conversation takes place.  (everyone is laughing...)
Pilot:  Why are you wearing knee pads on the inside of your leg?!
Firefighter:  He's never heard of a cup.
LegoMan:  I know what a cup is.
Firefighter:  What's another name for a cup?
LegoMan:  It's a crotch protector.
Firefighter:  crotch protector...it's called a jockey strap.
Mom:  You know to protect the boys...(pause...) You do know what the boys are, right!?
Firefighter: (at the same time as mom) you know your DNA...genes...your future...
LegoMan:  The boys...yes, if you are talking about Firefighter, Pilot and me...yes I know what the boys are.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  UNCONTROLLABLE LAUGHTER....OH MY GOODNESS!  ARE YOU SO SERIOUS.  Laughter so hard, mom is sitting on the floor in front of the fridge with tears streaming down her face.  Firefighter is punching his own leg, Pilot...I don't know.  We were all laughing so hard. 

Poor LegoMan seriously had no idea.  He had never heard it referred to as that.  He was a really good sport about the whole thing.  We did decide, however, that it was probably time for him and his dad to have a chat...bless his heart!

In all seriousness though, I am so grateful for his innocence!  One of the blessings of homeschooling...they can keep their innocence a little longer.  He is a tender, sweet, fun loving boy and I love it!  I hate that it's time (probably past time) for his father/son "chat".  I want him to keep that innocence...They grow up so fast!  He still enjoys his legos...I hope he does for a long time yet!  But I am afraid...this is the first Christmas he didn't give me a long list of legos that he wanted.  In fact, in his initial list he never even mentioned them to me.  I was so sad.  I looked at my husband...about to cry and said, "this is the first Christmas that none of our boys asked for toys"...I mean like toys to sit on the floor and play with toys.  Yes they all asked for "toys"...bigger toys, but you know what I mean.  Eventually LegoMan came to me and said, "I want this lego set."  You so know I got online and bought that thing like right now! 

Bittersweet,

Friday Weigh In

Yes, I am still doing THM.  Life has been so crazy busy it has been hard for me to get on here and post!  Some days I'm like, "wait!  Just stop for a few minutes!"  Things just keep happening!  For example, Tuesday...I had my day all planned out.  I was going to get all my baking done.  I had to briefly leave to go visit a sweet new momma and her baby at the hospital.  (And I'm so glad I did...for various reasons.)  Of course I held that sweet baby!

While I was out, someone had contacted me that a couple older Saints wanted to come by and see the boys before we left the next day for an appt. in another state...5.5 hours away.  I had gotten home got the butter in my mixing bowl, and the door bell rang.  These 2 sisters just love my boys for some reason!  LOL  They actually stayed and visited for quite a while, which was nice and sweet, but needless to say I did not get done everything I had planned.  Oh well...

 

Today I am hoping to get the baking done...guess what!  I just got a text...a dessert order for TONIGHT!  MAYBE I won't get mine done today!  LOL 

 

Rewind.....bbbzzzzzttttt...ok...WEIGH IN:  I've lost a total of 14.8 lbs!  I had hoped to hit the 15 mark today because my 10's digit would have gone down a number but it is stubbornly stuck at the .2!  I have a strong suspicion that I have Candida...(The home test came back positive, so I am trying really hard to not eat any sugar/carbs until Christmas day. (Yes and people keep wanting desserts...LOL).  But I'm also doing some other Candida fighting supplements.

I am feeling better so that's what matters!

 

Since I already mentioned it, I guess I should give a brief update on the boys.  They did have a checkup/clinic appointment on Wednesday.  Both their PFT's were good...at baseline for them.  Which was a huge relief since Pilot's was SO bad last time!  Dr. could hear a little junk in his lungs, but felt we could just do a round of oral antibiotics for now. 

 

The most exciting part of the visit...He gained 14 lbs!!!!!!!  He is now in the 42nd%ile with his BMI.  Goal is 50th%ile...the highter their BMI the better their lung function.  But the absolute most exciting thing????  For 11 years they have fussed and fussed and fussed about LegoMan's weight.  They pressured us for a g-tube and everything over the years.  We kept putting them off...we really just didn't want to go that route!  For one thing he didn't look unhealthy, and he was eating like crazy.  For another, the males in my husbands family were always "small" until they hit puberty and then they seemed to take off overnight.  I really wasn't concerned, but the dr's look at numbers...and they have to report numbers.  I didn't care about what it looked like on paper...to me that's a dumb reason to do some things.  Anyway, any of you that know LegoMan know this dude has grown like a weed out of control over the last year.  But height with no weight only makes BMI look terrible.  We have been praying, the Saints have been praying...This visit, I don't know exactly how much he gained, but LegoMan hit the 54th%ile!  EVERYONE was so excited!  The dr. was hugging me, and asking "what did you all do?  Tell us so we can share it with others."  Well, I believe prayer is the biggest thing!  God has always helped these sweet boys.  We have beefed up the exercise which also causes them to eat more.  Anyway!  It was an awesome answer to prayer!  A decade of struggling and resisting the dr.s (in all fairness, only one of the 3 Dr.s was very pushy...we have been extremely fortunate and blessed with great dr.s that listen to the parents, and children...hence the reason we chose to keep driving the 5.5 hours to keep seeing them!) 

 

Anytime they have a significant weight gain, the clinic issues them Walmart gift cards.  The Dr. told them they were the only ones that got gift cards that day! LOL  We are thankful!

 

Need to go get busy on my order and baking for the day!

 

Still,



Thanksgiving 2014

...was a good day.  I had hoped to have posted this before now, but my week kind of got weird.  Monday, it seemed like it was just one thing after another...the devil seems to be fighting my family really hard right now.  Well, Mr...just so you know...I have some big boxing gloves!

Anywho...so our Thanksgiving.  Most of my family came to my house this year.  2 of my sisters and their families were not here.  I am a "fancy" person and like things to be nice.  So I wanted to do a sit-down-pass-the-dishes meal...and everyone dress up.  To me that is "fun". :)  And we all know that how we dress affects how we "feel" and "act".  Don't believe me?  Try it!  When I have a day that I feel somewhat discouraged or down...if I put on some nice clothes and make my self "feel" presentable...it helps the mood.  But I digress...

My handsome hubby wanted to smoke the turkeys...He smoked 3...one was for some friends.

The Kind of the castle...carving said Turkeys...

 Some of my "fanciness"...china was my mothers...of course we had to use it...yes it all had to be hand washed...:)

Had to put the adult table in the garage...so I had to try to fix it up some...:)  You know make the most with what you have!

Kids' table...wanted them to feel like they were important too :)

My dad's wife made this cute turkey. :)

 Kids at their table.  With all their own dishes.  One of the girls was worried if they had everything on their table that the adults had on theirs.  LOL  (yes they did.)

 

The adults at their table.  My brothers made "bow ties" out of the napkin rings...LOL  We had a good time!  Sorry for the "blurry" pic...one of the kids took it. 

 After dinner and after we cleaned up, we played games and just hung out.  Overall, I'd say it was a good day.  Of course we had plenty of leftovers! Still have some hanging around! 

Still,

Being Thankful

I am hosting my family's Thanksgiving this year.  This is the first time EVER having my family for this holiday and I'm super excited!  Of course 2 of my siblings and their families will be missing b/c they have to go to their outlaws husbands families this year. ;)  (Just being silly...so if my sisters see this they don't get upset with me...:))

Anyway, I have been busily making preparations (and probably spending too much money...but hey, everything has to be just right you know...), cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning.  ;)

Of course I have to make it fancy...that's my way!  So for the first time since mom passed away we are digging out her china and having a sit down, pass the dishes, dress up, fancy dinner!  Mom would be so excited! Of course my dad will love that we are having a sit down dinner...he hates buffets!  LOL

I have my napkins for the adult table all ready...

My sister found them for me super cheap...and the napkin rings too!  I have some other pre-prep things done as well, but I'll do a full Thanksgiving day post after the fact, so I need to save some stuff for then...besides I don't want all my family to see everything early. ;)

 

Today I made my noodles, so they can be drying.  Have to have homemade noodles...I mean it's part of the dinner!

 

In "other" news...Firefighter must be totally stressed out with school, clinicals, work, social life, no sleep...I found 3 more grey hairs in this dudes head!  He is trying to claim it's the lighting, but uhhh...NO!  I found one over the summer and it's so funny b/c I haven't found any on myself yet...(yes I know I will probably find 10 tomorrow, but so far...or else they are where I can't see them!)

 

And finally for today, I seen this quote the other day and it couldn't have come at a better time for me.  Someone...who thinks I need "old-hurts-to-be-resurfaced-over-and-over-again" tried again last week...and this quote was so perfect!  Love it!

 

I remember my mother telling about someone who had hurt her so terribly and she remembered a devotion in Streams in The Dessert that talked about digging a hole and burying the hurt.  (I don't know the date right off, but if I find it I will edit the post.)  She said one day she was determined to bury that hurt.  She got down to pray and she started mentally digging a hole.  She got so far, but no, that's not deep enough, that's too shallow to easy to dig it back up again...She wanted it buried so deep that it would be very difficult to dig it up.  I have been thinking about that a lot the last couple days.  Mom finally got her hole deep enough and let it go.  I'm trying...I'm working on it.  I'm digging that hole...

 

Hurts are all part of,



  

If you can read...

...you can travel anywhere!  Right?  We've all heard that.  But my Lego Man has struggled, for YEARS!  And because of that he hated reading.  He has been behind on his reading level.  I was determined that this year we are catching up.  If we learn nothing else this year he will be reading...at the level he should be at. 

He has a condition called binocular dysfunction.  Meaning his dominant eye changes.  If he is looking at something and looks up when he looks back the dominant eye changes and he loses his place, making it difficult to follow a story or thought.  He went through eye therapy for this and was pretty much finished when we moved to another state, and things kind of got away from us.

While trying to figure out how to make this year be "THE" year...I was spending a lot of time praying about this situation.  I then remembered a set of small chapter books I had as a child.  Each book only has like 4 or 5 chapters in them.  I thought these would be perfect.  Not too big to "scare" him but no pictures and fun at the same time. 

My aunt was currently borrowing my set so I got them back from her.  On the first day of school I introduced them to Lego Man.  I said, you have to read 1 chapter a day.  That's all...one chapter, then you have to tell me what that chapter was about.  The first day he spelled...out loud...about every other word and asked what it was.  It took him all day long to read one chapter...bless his heart.  I was feeling a bit discouraged by the end of that day.  The next day wasn't much better.  The third day, I was like, "Lord, I can't do this!  This is insane!"  But I felt strongly, just keep doing what you are doing.  Don't quit, just keep going.  I honestly feel that God was encouraging me to just keep going.  So that is what we did.  When he started on the third day to ask every other word, his older brother, Firefighter, and I had a discussion with him about context...and all that.  He asked a few words but not nearly as many.  The next day I think he only asked about 2 words.  Friday-one word.  Now he very rarely if ever asks!  There are 23 books in this set and he is on book 14.  He is enjoying them!  He often reads more than one chapter a day...some days he reads the whole book and asks for the next one!  Brings tears to my eyes!

 
One day he brought his book to the table for family game night.  Firefighter was like, "Whoa!  I never would have gotten away with that!  Bringing my book to the table!"  But I was like, "Leave him alone!  I'm so happy to see him reading AND ENJOYING it that I don't even care!"  When he is done with this series I will give him a bigger chapter book, but I am so elated!  So thankful!  So thankful that I kept plugging on!  Like it was some kind of test or something and I passed!  THAT made ME feel good!  And to see him reading and loving it!  He gets so excited about some of the stories he is so funny!

Love my sweet boys!  Yesterday I fell off a chair and landed hard on my backside.  Kind of stoved my back a little.  When the boys found out, they hugged me and said, "I'll pray for you momma!  I'm praying for your back, hope it gets better fast!"  Just hearing them say that made my eyes quickly fill with tears...and suddenly my back didn't hurt so bad.  These boys could be giving there momma a rough way to go, but they are praying for me!  I have much to be thankful for!  So much...

Thankfully,