Back from Surgery

I am doing as good as could be expected from surgery. We were at the hospital from 5:45am until 1:15. The two surgeons were very thorough and looked around my whole abdomen and pelvis. The general surgeon removed my appendix and found an adhesion/scar tissue around my small intestine. I was too out of it to remember what the doctors said but he showed E the pictures. It is possible that this band had been around my intestines from birth. The doctor told E that it was constricting my bowels and could have been causing my pain. This is exactly how I described the pain to the doctors several times "it feels like my intestines are all twisted up".

I have spent most of the day sleeping. My pain is in control with Darvacet and I plan on resting most of the weekend. Thanks for all of the kind words and prayers. I hope for a speedy recovery and also hope this fixed me for good.

Cavity is filled

Logan did great at his dentist appointment today. Logan was only supposed to eat something light before his filling and I made sure to brush his teeth really well before we left. We were sitting in he waiting room, talking and cuddling. Before I knew it he had reached in my bag and grabbed a big handful of goldfish crackers and shoved them in his mouth. I did not know what he ate and scooped them back out of his mouth as we were heading back for his filling. He had crackers all stuck in his teeth. This made him cry but that was the last of the tears.

The dentist explained all of the tools and devices she would be using calling them things like "Mr. Thirsty" and "Motorcycle". They turned on Dora again for him to watch. The dentist weighed him which said he weighed 32lbs. They gave him a nose mask for the laughing gas, waited for it to kick in and then distracted him while she gave him a few shots of Novocaine and he did not even notice! She started asking him if he knew what an earthquake was and wiggled his cheek around. He used a little "tooth pillow" to keep his mouth open, she drilled the cavity away telling him she was "cleaning the cookies from his teeth" and then filled it. Logan had to keep some gauze in his cheek for awhile so he would not chew on his completely numb cheek with out knowing. He did great and I was proud of him.

I felt so bad that he had to go through this at only three years old (even though he didn't think it was a big deal) so I took him to Chick-fil-a for a late lunch and to Target to pick out a new toy.

Bye, Bye Appendix

Friday I will be going for exploratory laparascopic surgery and appendectomy. We have to be there by 5:45 am! I get to wipe my body with big antibacterial wipes twice before surgery. The pre-op nurse described it a Round-up for the normal skin bacteria. Whatever helps me avoid post op infection is whatever I will be glad to use.

I am actually really ready for this. I have been miserable for too long and looking back I should have done this a year ago. It is entirely possible that the appendectomy will not fix my problems and they don't find the cause. It has been 5 years since I have had my last surgery when I had a D & C for a miscarriage. It is scary thinking about being put to sleep and having no control over what is happening to your body. It changes things when you have a family to take care of.

I hope and pray that the surgeons are very thorough, find something, and fix it. My two biggest fears are that they will not find anything at all or they will find something awful like cancer. So, if you have time on Friday morning say a little prayer that I will get through surgery smoothly and recover quickly.

I also wanted to thank the many friends that I feel like I have. It gives me great comfort to know that there are several of you that can help me with my children during this situation. I seriously cannot tell you how thankful I am to have you. I hope that I can one day repay you all for all of your help and thoughtfulness!

Bye, Bye appendix....good riddance!

Logan has a cavity

I just took the boys for their first dentist appointments. Logan did so great and followed all of the dentist's instructions. She had Dora the Explorer show for them to watch on the TV. Lucas did not do so great. He started crying and fighting us which helped her see his teeth better.

Unfortunately, Logan has a cavity on his upper back molar. He has to get it filled and they will give him laughing gas and possibly Novocaine if it is deep. They put a watch on two other teeth. I hate that he has to get a cavity filled at 3 years old but I guess I should be thankful it is only one.

Save the date

This is the save the date card we got in the mail for my brother's upcoming wedding. It cracks me up. Should be a very unconventional wedding.

Two times in one week!

We have been to the Dallas arboretum twice this week. We purchased a years membership because I love to go there for the children's programs, we really enjoy the live music at the amphitheater and of course the beautiful spring flowers. We played with a caterpillar and tried to feed him a carrot. The second time we did not have to park in overflow parking and take the bus over much to the disappointment of the kids. I plan to go again in two weeks when my Mom comes to visit.

spring break project

I really miss gardening and thought it would be great fun to plant one this year. I have been hesitant since we moved to Texas due to the blazing hot summers but thought we would give it a try this year. E and I removed all of the grass after the last rain while the ground was still soft, amended the soil with compost, peat moss and top soil, tilled everything together, edged the bed with something E could mow over and planted our seeds and plants. Actually it was Logan and I that did the planting.

We are going to try to grow 5 different tomato plants, two jalapeno pepper plants, cilantro...see where I am going....homegrown, homemade salsa. My favorite! Also, green beans, two different kids of basil for brochette and pesto, mint for mojitos, dill, thyme, tarragon, squash, radishes and carrots. And for a little color, some red Zinnias, dwarf sunflowers and red clematis.

Plants make me happy. I used to live at Lowe's, Home Depot and any neighborhood nursery I could find when we were newly married and had our first home. I loved going there right after work and spending hours walking around and learning all of the names of the plants. I grew a great vegetable garden in North Carolina in raised beds. It was great to go outside and get all of the ingredients for a salad in my backyard.

This will be my test year to see if I picked a good spot for our garden. If any of you CR moms need any last minute herbs for your recipes, call me in a month or two and I will try to hook you up.

Games galore

Over the weekend we went to family game night and played Bingo, went to Amazing Jake's for a pizza buffet and games there, flew kites down the street from our house and went bowling. The kids had lots of firsts and lots of fun.

Eating hot dogs before our CR family game night. We played several rounds of BINGO. I won a $5 gift card to Best Buy and a free meal at Dickey's.
Lucas' attention did not last very long so he spent the majority of the time sitting on the floor watching our portable DVD player.

Lucas and Logan played their first game of real bowling.

Logan getting ready for his turn.

Logan and his friend were dancing to a song together.

Lucas liked the hand blower at the end of the bowling ball return.

bath time and brotherly love

The boys were in the bath together yesterday and Lucas started filling his little cup up with water. Lucas said "I'm gonna drink this water!" and Logan said "No, don't drink it. It has dirty poo poos in it!" Then proceeded to scoop the supposed "poo poos" out of the water into a container.

I guess he must have heard that line from me at some point... I am always thinking about the things that can't be seen with the naked eye.

This evening the boys were playing so nicely together (which rarely happens) while I was catching up on a show. They were in Logan's room and Lucas was trying to climb up on Logan's big bed with him to read books together. I over heard Lucas say "but my Mommy can help me" and Logan said "Oh Lucas, you can do it by yourself....I know you can do it. Alright...I will help you, give me your hands and climb!" Lucas screeched with excitement after completing his task "Yay! I did it!"
Logan said "Yay, You did it, good job!"

It was so cute to hear them cooperating and playing so nice together. In my experience so far, they play the best when I don't get involved and they are in a different room from me.

Tour of the Ballpark

Logan and his classmates took a tour of the minor league ballpark.
They got to sit in the dugout.

Hangout in the locker rooms. The girls seem to congregate together.

Lucas on the playground at the ball fields.

In one of the many box seats or suites that are available.

Up on the party deck.


Every month Logan's preschool class has a play date scheduled. This is the second one we have been able to make it to all year. It is fun for the kids to get together outside of school and for the mom's to get to know each other. We all had a picnic lunch after the tour. They enjoyed the beautiful day, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and playing tag.

Logan wants to stay home

I guess I should take a hint. Logan is tired of going. He has always been a home body and all of this running around is too much for him obviously. We drove by the playground and Logan says "Mommy, I said I just want to go home!" Pretty bad when your kid turns down a playground on a beautiful day.

It has been a busy week. Monday we went to a free event at the Dallas Museum of Science and Nature. It was their one year birthday celebration. The admission was free and they gave the kids milk and cookies to celebrate. There were craft activities set up around the museum. It was such a fun time. The kids played in the bubbles, made crowns, dot to dots, pretended to work at the farm and explored the entire museum. We got together with some other friends for a picnic lunch outside when we were finished. Lucas kept running away and found the only mud puddle around to fall down into. It was great! He was covered from head to toe in mud. Thankfully we were leaving soon anyway. Tuesday Logan had school then Wednesday we met some of Logan's classmates for a tour of the Rough Riders ballpark. We had a picnic with them and then Logan has phonics class. Poor child is being run around everywhere. I think tomorrow will be a day of leisure for all of us!

Surgery is scheduled

I have spoken with both surgeons and have scheduled surgery for the end of March when both were available. I am very apprehensive about it and even have days when I think I will just cancel it. I am now working on trying to find out how much it is going to put us in the hole for all of this medical stuff.

On another note, I went last week for an evaluation to a physical therapist since my headaches and numbness in my hands. The x-ray showed a straightening of my cervical vertebrae which indicated muscle spasms. After the evaluation the PT said that I probably had thoracic outlet syndrome which can cause all of those symptoms. She said it takes a decent amount of therapy to fix. At $40 a pop that is going to add up quickly. My poor husband will probably leave me after all of the medical bills I am incurring this year!

A day at Fossil Rim

A baby Aoudad
The only animals that you were allowed to feed by hand were the giraffe. The giraffe's seem to only like to be fed out of people's sun roofs. This giraffe skipped us.

A favorite for the boys...brushing the goats. There was goat poop everywhere and Lucas kept falling down in it. While Logan was brushing this goat, he peed and Logan looked a little shocked. Imagine what he was thinking when the goat started drinking his own urine after that!

It was a beautiful, sunny but windy and chilly day. We had such a great time. The zebras were pretty but they freaked me out. We were told the zebras bite.

Logan feeding the adult daddy Aoudad.

E feeding the animals. I think it was a Arabian Oryx.

We had such a great day in Glen Rose at Fossil Rim. We paid $39 and spent four hours inside the wildlife center. We took some extra time driving through and stopping to feed the animals. At the overlook we had our picnic lunch in the car since it was pretty chilly outside. We got out and stretched our legs and spent some time at the Children's center. There were turtles, cockatoos, and goats to visit with. We enjoyed the giraffes and cheetahs. The boys seemed to really enjoy the trip and being able to spend some time out of their car seats. It was such a fun family day for all!

Lucas looking at a Fallow Deer.

Two ostriches in the distance.