Animals!!

Some of you might not be aware but K loves animals. He enjoys the zoo so much and our natural wildlife around the house. We have to check for lizards whenever we head outside after I pick him up. We also have quite a few animal books and flash cards to run through and he enjoys it every time. Well, our newest animal fascination is llamas. The GP llamas are down from our neighborhood so we have to look for them whenever we go that way. Granted, we talk about the "Mamas" at home, outside, at church, and just about anywhere we go. He seems to be saying "Mamas" every minute so it is kinda driving me nuts, but it makes me smile to know that he is so excited about God's creatures. I feel so close to God whenever I tune into nature and it is so neat to see that in my son!!

BTY, if you haven't read R's blogs about dance class, you need to!! Click on The Dees link on the right side.

Ahhh.....boys!

So, my little blessing has confirmed this week that he is truly a little boy. We love dirt, especially in our mouths. We have stinky feet. I am not looking forward to teenage K's feet already!! And, last, but certainly not least, we enjoy tooting our own horn! As I was getting him out of his car seat after church this evening, he let quite an impressive one rip. I looked around to see if my neighbor had dropped something while he was getting into his car. I turned back to my precious gift and he was smiling so big. It was then that I realized the sound had come from him. AND HE WAS PROUD OF IT! I asked, "What did you do?" (Giggle.Giggle) "Keegan, did you toot?" Yes. Toot!" So many thing that I am leary of.

Gotta brag....

so, I have been recovering this week from surgery and I have not been the best patient. Since it was abdominal surgery, I had a hard time getting up from sitting down. Once I was down, I was down!! C was great in bringing my liquids to drink and letting me sleep!! He literally took care of everything!! He has changed all of K's diapers. He has gotten K ready for bed and put him to bed. He has fed the dogs, done the laundry, done the dishes, and done the cooking. He is really living up to the "for better or worse...in sickness and in health" of our vows. I have felt better each day but him stepping up to the plate has truly been the best meds for my recovery. I have known that he is the man God created me for and this just proves it before my eyes. I love you, Babe and look forward to our future adventures!!!

Some new words

Here a list of new words that K is using:

"Thanks." He says this word with extra emotion so it sounds like he is super happy to be saying it.

"Mommies". We pointed out the llamas that live near us and he keeps asking about the mommies.

"Moo Moo Book". This is the book that gets read over and over again. We have taken to hiding it. But he gets so excited when he finds it!!

Feeling better

Ok, so yesterday was not a good day. I didn't sleep very well. I guess I was that I didn't get a deep sleep so I was tired. I was also REALLY sore on my left side. That's where the port is and it is usually the sorest place since it is not really deep under the skin. I have a hard time getting out of bed but that is to be expected since you use your abdominal muscles so much in that activity. So, since I am feeling better, I wanted to go ahead and write about the surgery. I promise not to make this blog all about my band but I did want to write it out for those who are not familiar with the process.
C took me to the surgery center Tuesday morning. I had to be there by 7:30 and my surgery was for 8. We got there and there were quite a few people in the waiting room. They called my name after a bit and I headed back to change into the fabulous hospital gown, circulation hose, booties for my feet, and hairnet - I looked awesome!! This was my first experience with circulation hose. They are REALLY tight and make my blood keep moving so I don't get blood clots. They were supposed to be knee highs. With my short legs, they were more like thigh highs!! The nursing staff at the surgery center was fantastic! They were all cheery and happy and my nurse took extra care of me. She got me a longer set of circulation hose so that they went all the way to my hip and didn't roll. She also put in my IV and I seriously felt a small pinch - not a lot of pain. After I was all prepped, they allowed C to come back. He came back carrying one of those coasters that restaurants use to let you know your table is ready. Here, it lets you know when you can come back to see the patient after surgery. So, I felt like a table for one! C's mom had come to sit with him during the surgery. C went and got her so that she could sit with me for a few minutes. It was so nice to have someone there for C. One things I did not have to worry about! My doc came out to see if I had any last minute questions. I was ready to go but they were finishing up the gal who had gone before me. Oddly enough, her name is Sarah too! The anesthesiologist came over to talk with me about what meds he was going to give me. We were all waiting for the green light to go into surgery. I honestly do not remember going to the surgery room but I do remember being in there for a few seconds and then the next thing I knew, I was waking up in recovery. It was really foggy waking up but I did notice the clock. I went into surgery at 9 and I was waking up in recovery at 10:30!! WOW! I felt really nauseous so they put a patch on me and I felt better after a few minutes. They then made me get up and walk to the X-ray room. I had to drink barium and they watched on the screen to make sure that the new stomach opening was large enough to let liquids in. It was pretty cool to watch! Granted, I was still pretty drugged but I do remember that. They let c come back a few minutes after I got back in bed. They had given me morphine and I had to wait 30 minutes before I could go home. I pretty much slept. Nurses came and talked with C about what I needed to do to recover. One thing they made me do was inhale in this breathing thing. I have to breathe in and make this little ball hit the top of the container and hold it there for a count of three. No problem for me. The nurse said that the other gal had a hard time with this one. I guess she didn't want to go home as badly I as I wanted to!! They wheeled me out to the car and I don't remember much of the drive home. My mom was over watching K along with my nephews. When I walked in the boys looked really worried. I hadn't told them about the surgery. The youngest asked if I was pregnant. I laughed and said, "Cam, I know you want more cousins but it's just not going to happen right now." I went back to me bed and fell asleep. It was the second best part of my day. The first was the awesome hug K ran over and gave me when we got home.
Currently, my diet is liquids. I have been drinking two protein shakes a day. I also drink water, tea, chicken broth, and Gatorade. I am so excited about Sunday since that is the day that I can start eating mushy foods. C is going to make a roast and we're going to put in a lot of veggies. C makes a great roast and the veggies are so moist! I'm figuring just eating the veggies will be my first challenge. But I am so excited to try them! Yum!

Happy to be Home

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got home around lunchtime. Doing really well. Not a lot of pain but more discomfort. It feels like I am cramping on my left side. So, I'm enjoying my room temp water and Gatorade and watching K run around. Thanks so much for the prayers. I felt very much at peace and am so thankful for that. I will type more tomorrow. Gotta get some sleep!

So, how did you spend your St. Patty's Day?

I hope you are all having a great St. Patty's Day. I am actually having a life-changing one. Today, at 8:30 A.M., I will be having lap band surgery. I started this whole journey in August 2008. In order for my insurance to cover the cost, I had to do a lot of things, including meeting with a nutritionist for 6 months. I had my last nutritionist visit in January and was approved a few weeks later.
Most of you know that have I struggled with my weight for years. Honestly, it has been since the 4th grade. Coming to the decision to have this surgery took lot of talking with C and research. I decided on this surgery since it was less invasive and safer for pregnancy. The why and how I became overweight really aren't important. I have been able to lose weight but it is the keeping it off that is a big problem. I feel like this surgery will not only help me lose the weight and keep it off but it will drastically improve my quality of life. This is something I am doing for myself but also for my family.
Feel free to ask me questions. I'm not going to hide the fact that I had surgery. Personally, I see no reason to. It will be pretty obvious that something is going on. I have kept this pretty quiet since I was waiting for approval and really wanted to wait until I had all my info. So, if you would, please, just say a little prayer for me. I'm not really scared but just ready to get it done and start getting healthy. But I can always use prayers!

Sad, sad day

I have really enjoyed blogging. The best part: I can blog from school! I hardly get interrupted unless someone has a question on their packet. I usually blog in the mornings since my kids really aren't awake yet. But today, that all changed. I click on our blog looking forward to adding in some fun things about K (he has started saying, "Thanks!"). It takes it an unusually long time to load. When it finally does, I almost cry. The school upgraded our already picky firewall to include blogs as blocked sites. Say it isn't so!!! I am really kinda ticked about it since the firewall is a big pain. I mean I understand why it is needed but come on!! SO, my blogging will get a bit of a hit on frequency. Sorry!

What a weekend!!

I need a vacation from my weekend!! It was busy and filled with family fun. Friday night we went with my parents, nephews, and grandmother to eat dinner at Steak N Shake. It is one of our favorite burger joints. K seemed to like it too, especially the shake part!! Afterwards, my parents and nephews came over for a Tut-orial. We were going to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. You may not be aware but I am a complete nut about ancient Egypt and King Tut in particular. I got out some of my Tut books and told them some facts about Tut and the discovery of his tomb. It was so nice to be my inner geek!! We went to the exhibit early Saturday morning. It was FREEZING in downtown Dallas!! The wind was really. It took forever to get the money machine to take our bills for the parking lot we found. We hurried to get inside. Here's a tip for those of you who might be making your way down to the exhibit: Get your tickets on-line and get the earliest time slot. The later you go, the longer the line. We were able to walk right into the first room with no wait. By the time we left, there was line waiting outside the first room and into a tent outside!! C and I had seen the exhibit before. He took my to Chicago one summer and we went to the Field Museum to see this same exhibit. We really wanted to take K so that he can get used to being in a museum. Unfortunately, he got a little scared since some of the rooms were darkly lit. He is not afraid of the dark but we think the objects glowing from the light kinda scared him. Also, he couldn't see all of us so that kinda scared him too. C took him to the last room to wait for us. That worked good since it was a large room without exhibits. Plus, people hadn't made their way their yet so he could be loud without interfering with someone's museum experience. I walked with my Dad and pointed things out to him. About halfway through, C came and took over while I went and waited with my mom and nephews in the gift shop. K had a great time looking at all the goodies!! When we saw it in Chicago, we got our names printed out in hieroglyphics. We went and made K a print out too. He had fun trying on the Pharaoh hats - so funny!!
After we got done with gift shop, we set out to leave the museum. On the way out, there was a really cool exhibit. I have no idea what the point was. It was very out of the box art. On piece was a large circular fan that was suspended from the ceiling by a bungee cord. The fan was on and was just moving all around the room. The boys thought it was so cool. We then went through this tunnel. The sides of the tunnel were paneled with iridescent sheets and there such a beautiful purple and royal blue color. As you progressed down the tunnel, things began to change color. The tunnel ended in a room that was lit with yellow-orange lights. It made everything look black and white! The boys were thoroughly impressed!! K kept running out of the room and back through the tunnel!!
For lunch, we headed over to Knox-Henderson. There was a hot dog place we have always wanted to try and knew it was just THE place to take our family. It was a hit! One nephew ate two hot dogs!! It is called "Wild About Harry's" What we really liked was that the kid's meal came with a dog, drink, chips or fries, AND a kid's cup of custard with sprinkles!! K was in heaven!! We also tried their custard and it was so yummy!! I got chocolate-peppermint shake - oh so good!! They also have Thin Mint Blast custard and it was fantastic!! After our meal, we walked down to Froggies. It is a great toy store and everyone had fun playing with the toys. We had been in earlier that week and saw some big, plastic, magnetic letters. After getting home and talking, we decided that K needed those for the easel he got for Christmas. It came with these little foam letters that are way too small. After Froggies, we walked over to PBK to get K a toddler pillow. They had them for only $10!! But they did not have any pillow cases for that size. The gal suggested that I just go get a standard pillow case and cut it in half and sew the edges. It has been a long time since I sewed but I have been feeling the need to be creative so I asked my mom if I could borrow her sewing machine. Luckily, it was easy to get to in their garage! After PBK, we headed home. K slept in the car on the way home and for a bit after we got home. After nap, it was time for the boys to get their haircuts. It seems like every haircut ages K. When then headed out to Cedar Hill to pick up dinner for the family and go by Jo Ann's to get fabric. I was able to find some fabric on sale to practice with and some with baseballs on it to go with his new room. We are moving him into the other bedroom and decorating his room with a baseball theme. We stopped by Papa Murhpy's for pizza and then (finally) headed home. The family came over for dinner and games. We taught the boys a new card game that we learned from Kristen and Chris called Up and Down the River. At first, the boys were not into it but by the end of the game, they were hooked!!
Sunday was church. Since we are not teaching our Sunday School class, we decided to go to the Gracepoint service. We really enjoyed it since they play modern Christian music and we know the words!! It was also fun to sit with our friends and, of course, to let Luke "get" C's hand!! church, we headed out to Target and Home Depot and then out to my BIL's house in Midlothian for a birthday lunch for my nephew. We really like sharing birthdays at someone's house rather than at a restaurant. The kids can run around and be loud and it's OK!! It is so fun to watch K with his older nephews. He seems to have no idea that he is younger than they are!! Afterwards, we headed home. K slept in the car but would not sleep more when we got home. My mom and nephews came over. The boys wanted to play the card game and Momma came to help me sew the pillowcases. After much trial and error, my stitches looked like actual sewing!! I got one case made - yippee!! Since it came to be that the boys were going to be staying at my parent's that night, we decided to keep on playing cards and would eat dinner together. I tried the Bacon Cheeseburger roll-up and it was a hit! Dad came over after work. He brought some potato salad from Red, Hot, and Blue. It is the best!! We then played cards and had a lot of fun. I think my sides are sore today from all the laughing we did!!
So, as you can tell, it was a super busy weekend but filled with lots of memories. When's naptime for me??

Menu Monday

Forgot to do this last week but I promise we ate!



Sunday: Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up **New recipe** Click here for link

Monday: I have a Children's committee meeting at my house. We are all bringing something to eat. Who knows what's for dinner!! I'm making King Ranch Casserole

Tuesday: Chicken and Potato Casserole

Wed: Martha's BBQ pork samiches

Thursday: Taco Soup

Friday: Pasta

Saturday: Tilapia



Verdict on Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up: YUM!! Super cheesy and very filling. Served it with mixed veggies and some potato salad from Red, Hot, and Blue. Was able to feed 7 with a slice leftover. Next time, I'll probably add a can of green chilies for some spice. I used ground turkey and no one could tell the difference.