Merry Christmas!!

 

 

Love – Luke, Abby and Jack

Remember me?

 

Hello there, it’s been a while now hasn’t it?

Well, all I can say is that life got busy, days got shorter and I got tired……. blogging was dropped from my list of “Things to Do".” But I am here to make a go at it again- Happy ‘Carrow and Amber?

So I’ll start with some pictures- who doesn’t like pictures right?

This was my attempt to play around with easy backdrops- Christmas lights, low aperture- we had fun playing around….

What inspired this impromptu photo shoot you think to yourself- well I found the piglets playing under the barstools and as I laughed at them, they all started asking me to take their picture. So here are the pictures that started it all-

I will try to make a better effort where the blog is concerned- I do love that I can go back and read and remember when they were all little piglets……but no promises!

help….

I’ve lost The Complete and Comprehensive Guide to Everything your Children will ever do Instruction Manual…..

….. please note my sarcasm, but maybe this will help you better understand my MIA status here on the blog.

It’s always something these days- my computer crashed, Brian bought a new toy (a jeep), Abby had a little surgery and got her second set of tubes, Jack got an ear infection that pushed one of his tubes out, I am working on my senior project for school, preschool for the piglets is in full swing, oh, and we do try to maintain some form of a social life.  Add in the new evaluations that Jack is having next week and the mountain of concerns and questions that we have regarding his development and you will hopefully understand why that instruction manual would be so handy right about now =)

A Little Sneak Peek….

Couples Retreat 2011, 2.1

3,287 days

 

3,287 days since I vowed to love you all my life.

Nine amazing years full of great highs and deep lows.

I can’t imagine not having you by my side through it all!

Happy Anniversary B- I love you!

We’re alive……….just barely.

Oh. My. Goodness. I had no idea what an adventurous week we would have last week.

Let me start from the beginning. Thursday July 28th, Abby went to her ENT for a one year check up on her tubes. After a quick check, at 14 months post-op, she still has the right ear tube and the left has fallen out since her 2 year well visit in early May. The Dr. said that her ears “looked great” and that he would see her again in 4 months to check her right ear again. We head to Brian’s parents’ house for the weekend and Abby wakes up screaming early Saturday morning and we couldn’t figure out why. Later that night, Brian’s parents kept the kids so that Brian and I could go out to celebrate my birthday. Brian’s mom told me that Abby cried for a while when she put them down to bed, which is not like her, but she was asleep when we got back, so we didn’t worry about it. Sunday morning when I went to get her up, there were yellowish spots all over the sheet where her head was- hmmm, interesting. I thought that maybe she had gotten so upset that she had thrown up the night before so I watched her that day and she appeared alright. Then Sunday evening at dinner, I went to wipe her face off after we ate and noticed that her ear was draining yellowish fluid, her left ear. Since she didn’t have a tube in that ear any longer, I immediately knew that if fluid was coming out she had ruptured her ear drum. I called her ENT first thing Monday morning, but since they’re office has been so busy the last few months, I also put a call into our Pediatrician and made a sick appointment for her- figuring that I could cancel once the ENT called me back. Surprise, surprise, her ENT didn’t call me back before her appt. with the Ped. and Dr. P said that yes indeed she had a severe infection that ruptured her ear drum. Needless to say, Brian and I were confused on how her ear “looked great” on Thursday and ruptured on Saturday, but we’ve moved on. Since that Monday was August 1st and Brian’s first day on COBRA insurance, we then spent two days fighting to expedite the paperwork and get us valid for coverage since Abby needed antibiotics ASAP- oh boy was that good times!

Wednesday rolls around and Jack starts running a fever out of the blue- still have no idea why? And I cried my way through the day, nervous about Luke’s surgery on Thursday. I had a hard enough time sleeping on my own so the storms that night ensured that I got about 3 hours of sleep all night. Thursday morning we had to be at The Surgery Center at 7 am for an 8:30 am surgery time. My anxiety was ok and it was all eased when the nurse anesthetist that was going to be taking care of Luke walked in and I realized that we were old friends! Kim and I went to school together at Alabama and also worked together at Outback! I felt so comforted that he was in such wonderful hands. The surgery was a quick 25 minutes, the Dr. said that he did great and that his tonsils and adenoids were HUGE, so it was a good call to remove them. He was sent up to the recovery floor for a few hours {where Kim’s husband, also a nurse, took great care of my little man} and we headed home. Oh and then the party really got started….

       

Here he is in Pre-Op watching a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which was made even more fascinating with  the “good relaxing medicine” they gave him =)

And here he is on the recovery floor- drugged to the gills with Demerol- watching PBS with Woody and Buzz.

The Dr. had given me warnings about what to expect and I felt prepared, somewhat, but I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. The pain medicine that they gave Luke causes him to become cranky and restless- not good =( Not to mention that it tastes awful, he hates taking it, it cost over $100 dollars and he spit out about $20 all over my bed. He wouldn’t sleep ALL Thursday night. I rang in my 32nd birthday with an all nighter…..only not the kind of days past, but of coffee and DVR’d cartoons with Luke on the couch. Two nights of no sleep wore. me. out. I returned to the pharmacy to have his medicine flavored on Friday morning and then we headed to Target to buy some bribery- I’m not too proud. I called in backup from my Mother to help us over the weekend and Brian took him Friday and Saturday night so that I could finally get some rest. Since B had to go back to work on Monday, I took him Sunday night and he did really well. He slept all night, only waking up once at 2am for a drink and a dose of medicine. The days have been a mix of ups and downs but I thought that the nights were getting better and I was thankful. Then I learned that I know nothing. I went to bed at 8:30 last night and B said that he would take him so I could get some sleep again. Luke woke up crying at 10:30 and that started a very long night. When he woke up crying again at midnight, I told B that I had him and I was up every 2 hours after that. I suddenly remember having newborns very vividly again…. and I am exhausted.  I have no clue what day it is anymore- because my body just knows that I have missed too many hours of sleep…

Pre-School starts tomorrow and after the “fun” we had at orientation yesterday, I think that I will be worn out again tomorrow night. Jack started crying as soon as we got into the parking lot and cried anytime I tried to walk away from him. He’s going to love it tomorrow, I can already tell….HA!! Luke is going to be home for at least the rest of this week, and we’ll decide about next week once we see how the weekend goes.

To end this post that is dragging on- I want to thank everyone for the calls, texts and emails to check on Luke and prayers for his recovery. Thank you all for the Facebook birthday love on Friday- you know how to make a girl feel good. And thank you to the friends that have so generously cooked meals for our family- Kim, Tracie, Ashley, Stephanie and Lindsey- THANK YOU!!! From the bottom of my heart, you are angels and I hope that you now how much I appreciate your kindness!!!

Now I am off to fall into bed for a few winks of sleep before Luke wakes up…..

Just for a laugh

 

Carter’s has the brother/sister shirts every season and just because I have that kind of sense of humor- I always buy a “Big Sister” shirt for Abby and a “Little Brother” shirt for Jack- because she is technically older by one minute! I can’t help myself, it’s seriously cracks me up =) Ha!