Daddy

So for the past few months, Mikey has refused to say Mama which he used to say all the time and all he now says is Daddy.  He calls me Daddy and he calls Justin Daddy but he won't say mama or mommy or anything related to me.  Hopefully this is a phase that will end soon!  He can say Allie and Tee eee for Timmy and it's so sweet.  I mentioned this to the doctor at his 18 month checkup and he said it was unusual but he said he probably just likes saying Daddy more.  It's like he knows he's doing it and is just trying to tease me.....little punk!  Just kiddin, I'm sure he doesn't know what he's saying too much but he is so funny :)

Halloween Party Bust!

So this weekend I planned a huge Halloween party for my neighbors and friends here in Syracuse and I spent a lot of money decorating my house and making fun party food and only 6 people showed up.  There were 12 confirmed guests and another 14 or so maybes and only 6 showed up.  Now, they all had good reasons why they didn't come.....one got electrocuted and felt ill, two couples were dealing with the flu, one couple got stuck at a work party and some others ended up spending time with family but all in all, I am feeling a little lame, lol.

I thought for sure more people would show up and I was so excited planning a great party and then it was a bust.  I guess I needed a good dose of humble pie.  Of course, then I had to go to church and hear all of the excuses and all of the "Oh I wish I could've come" lines but really, I just wish I could ignore them and not pretend that it was awesome, lol.  Then as a cherry on top, I was looking at facebook to see if a new girl in my ward was on fb and she wasn't, but it brought up a screen to show recommended friends and it showed a girl in my ward who was already my friend and I had invited her to my Halloween party and she has unfriended me, uh, thanks for that.

So, I usually shake these things off pretty easily and don't let many things get me down, but I can't seem to shake this one yet.  I think it was a culmination of sooooo much work and so much effort put into it, and then it was just kind of boring and of course you could tell everyone that did come felt bad for me and didn't leave early because they didn't want to hurt my feelings.  However, by about 9 PM I just wanted it to end and go to bed.

Oh well, I am going on a getaway trip with Justin this week so hopefully getting away for a while will get me out of this funk.  I'm feeling kind of done with Halloween.......

Here are the pictures.

Doing Better

I went to see my family doc about a month ago and he put me on Meloxicam, a long time release anti-inflammatory drug so that I can rest all night without pain as well as prilosec for heartburn.  The first afternoon I took the prilosec it gave me a bad headache so I am taking it at night with my Meloxicam and it is no longer causing headaches. 

The first night I took the Meloxicam I had no pain and could've slept in til 10 AM, it felt so nice.  Since then I haven't been completely pain free but that usually happens when I do too much with my upper body like mow the lawn, trim and fold a ton of laundry all at once.  I also have some pain when I don't take it every day.  The only question now that I am doing a lot better, do I keep taking this drug the rest of my life?  I guess every few months I could stop taking it and see how I'm doing without drugs but it sure feels nice to feel so much better.  I need to call the doc soon and discuss furthering my treatment.

It does have a side effect of possibly preventing pregnancy so that may be something to consider and of course if I do get pregnant, then I can't take it or any nsaid's for that matter.  Anyway, life is getting better and I am feeling so much better.

I have also been battling a cold/sinus infection for over 2 weeks but I refuse to pay to see the doc for this.  It is getting better but still there a bit, sheesh.

Still trying to figure it out.....

It has been a year of chronic back pain and while it got better when seeing the physical therapist in June and July, he told me I could go on my own.  I was pretty diligent about doing my exercises and icing for a few weeks and then I stopped because I just didn't have to be accountable anymore.  He told me to do it every day for a month, 5ish times a week for the 2nd month and 3-4 times a week the 3rd month and if it got bad again, to come back.

Well, as you can guess, the back pain is back in full force, the heartburn is back (although my regular doc did a blood test and says there is a 90% chance I don't have an ulcer) and last night I was miserable.  I woke up at 3:30 AM with extreme back pain and some heartburn (not as bad as the night I ended up in the ER).  I took my heartburn meds as well as a percocet as recommended by the ER that night and tried to go back to bed.  Percocet makes me feel happy and relaxed but I have a hard time actually falling asleep.  Around 5 AM I woke up with severe nausea and spent 20ish minutes with the bathroom on hand but never threw up although I tried.  I finally had some doterra peppermint oil and it calmed my stomach enough for me to go to sleep til 8 AM.

All day long I have felt nausea on and off and it has calmed down some but I still feel ill to my stomach and still have some back pain.  I did go to the chiropractor and get an adjustment and I had Justin and my home teacher Chris give me a blessing.  I have another appt with my family doc tomorrow to discuss if anything else may be going on (perhaps an issue with my gallbladder?)  Anyway, still trying to figure out what is causing so much back pain when I was nearly back pain free seeing a chiropractor once a month for 5 years.

Apart from the back pain, I have really tried hard to read my scriptures focusing on the women in the scriptures and I have felt very content and peaceful lately.  I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Timmy has started school and we are back in a good routine and it is finally September and cooling down a bit, but I feel happy and peaceful and just, content.

Summer Swimming Lessons

We all participated in swimming lessons this summer.  Timmy and Allie in wave 2 and Mikey and I did a parent/tot class at the same time.  Mikey started out so well, floating on his back and blowing bubbles and pretty much doing whatever I had him do.  Then as time went by, he started fighting everything and crying quite a lot and the Thursday morning before his last class I took him to the doctor because of a high fever and he had an ear infection.  No wonder he had cried and cried the few days before when going under water. 

Also, Timmy was still pretty shy in the water, did not pass level 2 and was even recommended to go back to level 1 or 2.  Allie, my little fishy passed level 2 no problem and is ready for level 3. 

Here are some pictures from the last day, hence Mikey is not dressed for the water.

Take time to be Holy

I heard the phrase, "Take Time to be Holy" a few weeks ago and it has really stuck with me.  For the past several years, I have read scriptures with my family in the evening and Justin and I have read scriptures on and off through the years, but I have not done personal scripture study in quite some time.  When I heard this phrase coupled with another one, "If you don't have time to pray and read your scriptures daily, you are more busy than God ever intended you to be," I am feeling prompted that I need to spend some personal time with the Lord every day. 

I read on Pinterest about a Women in the Scriptures Challenge (see link on the side) and I am ready to do it.  I got a fresh new Book of Mormon and started reading the first few chapters and I am marking everything to do with women with a pink highlighter.  I even wrote my name on the inside cover and wrote below it, "Women in the Scriptures" so I would always know that this Book of Mormon is the one I followed the women in. 

I am also going to try and watch better television.  I have been watching Desperate Housewives and shows like the Bachelor Pad which are entertaining to be sure, but probably don't bring the best spirit in me and in my home.  It's time to make better decisions and behave in a more righteous way. 

Summer Fun

I have never felt super busy before, but I seem to be going all the time these days!  Isn't summer supposed to be a more relaxing time?  Well, not here!  Here are some pictures, not necessarily in order of things we have done in the past few months.

 Allie and I went to City Creek

 Visiting Fountain Green near Wales, UT

 Fountain Fun at the Gateway with Aunt Liz

 At the Gateway Fountains

 Allie on Bulgy the Whale at Lagoon

 Allie and her friend on the swings at Lagoon

 Mikey at the Zoo

 My Mom's 58th Birthday at Murray Park

 Hiking in Maple Canyon near Wales, UT

 Timmy on Bulgy the Whale

 Mikey loving the water ball at the Zoo

At the big elephant at the Zoo

Justin and Allie in the Wales children's parade

32 is the age I guess

32........It's the age when I'm starting to feel old.  Not really old, but having issues with my body.  First I had my leg injury 6 weeks ago, I have had chronic back pain for 9 months, and then I ended up in the ER a few weeks ago.  I woke up with severe chest pain and after a priesthood blessing and a call to a nurse, I was advised to go in.  It was decided that my heart is fine after a chest x-ray, EKG and blood work and that I probably have an ulcer due to taking so many ibuprofen and nsaids for my back pain.  I am now on meds for a month so hopefully things will get better and so far they have.

Since then I have started physical therapy to help with my back, stopped taken nsaids and I even started running again a few days ago, just 2 slow miles. 

Other than that, life is going well.  Justin is working less hours and is around more working the 9-80 schedule which allows him to take off every other Friday.  Timmy finished up Kindergarten and is enjoying the summer.  We have lots of fun activities planned and we are going to go on vacation up to Snowbird with Jer and his family instead of Portland which we had originally planned on.  Once we saw how many hours we would be driving, we decided Mikey wouldn't do so well in the car that long.

Today is Father's Day and Justin enjoyed going to church with Tim and Allie and I stayed home with Mikey since he is still sick a bit from him shots on Thursday.  We are headed to a BBQ with my family at Sherri's and hopefully we'll have an enjoyable evening.  It's been a nice day!

Torn Calf Muscle

On May 3rd I was playing futsol (indoor soccer) with the stake women and I was playing defense.  I kicked the ball and stepped backwards and felt like someone had thrown a baseball at my leg.  I kept turning around looking for the culprit and quickly realized there was no one behind me and the pain was coming from inside my leg.

I couldn't walk and others started noticing I was in pain so a timeout was called and I hopped over to the chairs on the side.  It felt like the worst charlie horse ever and I couldn't calm down.  One of my teammates helped me to relax but I couldn't find a comfortable position.  They called Justin and he came quickly to get me and left the kids home alone (Mikey was asleep).  I had to have help out to the car and we decided a doctor visit was in order due to the amount of pain I was in.  I called my neighbor Sarah and she ran over and took care of our kids for us.  I was so grateful for her help.

We went to the Instacare by Syracuse High School and the wait for about a half hour.  I had Justin get the wheelchair to get me inside and I still couldn't find a position that didn't hurt like crazy.  I saw the doctor and he ruled out an Achilles tendon injury and deduced that I had torn my gastroc calf muscle.  He said the recovery time was about 3 weeks and the likelihood that it happens again is really high unfortunately.  No surgery required, just rest and allow it to heal on it's own.  They tried to fit me with a cam walker walking boot but it hurt too much so they gave me crutches, a prescription for pain, a muscle relaxer, and an anti inflammatory.  He told me to use crutches for a week and then try and walk after that.  The entire visit Justin kept making jokes.  I guess that's how he handles worry and seeing his wife in pain, lol.  I got home and tried to settle in but was in so much pain.  Justin had to go get my meds and I didn't get to bed until 11 PM.  I didn't really fall asleep until around 2 AM with so much anxiety running through me.

The medication worked so well that my pain went down considerably during the night and in the morning I wasn't in very much pain.  The doc said the next day would be very painful with several muscle spasms but that wasn't the case for me.  He also said my leg would turn black and blue but it didn't started bruising til a week later.  I used crutches for about 3 days and then started hobbling around on my own, it was just easier and not painful if I didn't put too much weight on my right leg.

I rested all weekend and let my husband take care of the kids and allowed ward members to bring meals in, it was so nice and relaxing!   I canceled all of my plans for that weekend and just stayed home to heal.

On Monday my Mom came to help and she slept over and over the next 3 days I had some help from women in my ward.  They would come and help get lunch on the table and get Mikey down for a nap so that I didn't have to work so hard. 

I didn't end up driving for 12 days and finally tried to drive on Tuesday, May 15th.  I only drove a mile to Walmart and went grocery shopping very slowly.  Each day since then I have gotten better and better and now I don't walk with too much of a limp.  In another week or so, I think I'll be walking normally again and look forward to my other strained leg muscles to heal and feel better.  Because I have been limping, the muscle below my calf has become strained and hurts also.  When I wrapped my leg, it helped the lower leg muscles but then my upper leg muscles and butt muscles started to ache, I just couldn't win!

Anyway, as hard as it is to get injured, it sure is nice to have everyone take care of you and give you extra love and attention.  I got to sleep through the night for over a week because I couldn't get around very well.  I started to not even hear my kids wake up in the night, wow, what a nice feeling.  Since my injury occurred a week and half before Mother's Day, I felt like I was receiving Mother's Day treatment for 10 days instead of just 1.  On Mother's Day, Justin still treated me like Gold, he's the best.
 

Picture of Me

Here I am in my red dress I love.  Really just posting it so I can make it smaller, lol!