A Day in the Life of a...

Kenny's appointment

We just got back from Kenny's gastroenterologist appointment and she says that Kenny has symptoms that fit with several different diseases. 

SO she sent us to the lab for some tests...urinalysis, 4 vials of blood, stool samples (which I have to do here at home).  She is testing him for Celiac's Disease,  Crohn's Disease, and Cystic Fibrosis. She is going to schedule him for an endoscopy/colonoscopy combo (or as we are calling it around here, "The Great Inside Camera Exploration"; it makes it not sound as scary to Kenny).  They are supposed to call me to schedule that procedure and I will let y'all know when I find something out. 

The doctor did tell me that she was almost 100% sure that Kenny's problem is one of the 3 diseases listed above.  With that said, let me say this...Please, please, please pray that it is not Cystic Fibrosis. 

I would actually like it if the doctor was 100% incorrect and Kenny does not have any one of the 3 listed above, but if it has to be one of them , please let be one of the other 2 (Celiac or Crohn's). 

So until I find out more, please keep Kenny in your prayers and pray for me...pray that God will grant me the strength to get through this sane and that He will help me be the best advocate for my son as possible. 

Talk to you soon!

A couple of cute pics and a couple that aren't

Yesterday my brother-in-law, Edwin, and my 20 month old nephew, Nicholaus, came for a visit.  They live in Illinois and we have not seen Edwin since before Nicholaus was born. I had never seen my nephew in person before yesterday.  Let me tell you...he is one of the cutest, happiest, and most loving babies I have ever met.  Take a look for yourself...

See...isn't he adorable?  He really enjoyed playing with Kenny while they were here and Kenny really enjoyed playing with Nicholaus.  He even told me after they left that he wished they lived closer so he could play with Nicholaus more often. 

Would you look at the smile on Kenny's face.  Nicholaus enjoyed playing with Mechelle, but not as much as he enjoyed Kenny.  Mechelle wants to hold him all the time and Nicholaus has way too much to do to be held all the time.  But I did manage to get a picture of Mechelle holding him too.

Tamara got to meet Nicholaus, but she left with Charity before I got my camera out, so I did not get any pictures of Tamara with Nicky.  I think we are going to try to go visit them in Illinois while the kids are out of school for Christmas, so I will get some pics of them together then.

And for the pics that aren't cute.  Let me warn you...they are awful.  Paul went and got his haircut today, and I hate it.  He knows that I don't like his hair as short as he got it cut, but he did it anyway.  I believe that my wonderful hubby looks much better with a little bit of length on his hair, but what did he do today?  He went  and let the woman cut his hair with no guard on the clippers.  Yes, he got a zero everywhere.  I could hurt him.  Take a look and tell me what you think.

Awful, I tell ya, just awful.  I think I will make him sleep on the couch for a few nights.  ;)

We are on our way out the door now headed to Kenny's appointment and I will post again as soon as we get back.  See ya then!!!

Another quick update

Well, we didn't see the gastroenterologist today because they never received the referral letter from Tricare and I did not have my copy with me, and of course, no one at Tricare was answering their phones.  All I got was voicemail.  So... we have another appointment tomorrow afternoon at 1:30.  I am going to go by the Tricare service center and pick up a copy of the referral to take with me.  Sometimes I really hate Tricare, but then I remember I don't pay for it and I don't have a co-pay, and they are pretty good about granting referrals for specialists.  So anyway, I will be back tomorrow evening with an update about how the visit with GI guy went.  And I will also have some pictures that I took today while Edwin (Paul's brother) and Nicholaus were here.  That baby is so adorable!  Talk to y'all tomorrow evening!!!!  Have a great night!! :)

Just a quick note...

Just a quick note to let you know that we are all still alive and doing okay here in Montgomery.  It has been a crazy busy week with unexpected medical issues with Kenny and trying to get caught up on laundry so I would know what clothes my kids need to start school in 2 1/2 weeks. 

Paul's parents, brother, and our nephew that we have only seen in pictures will be here tomorrow for a short visit.  Hopefully I will have some really cute pictures of Nicholaus and the children to post tomorrow. 

Kenny also has an appointment tomorrow morning with the gastroenterologist; maybe we can find out why he is losing weight instead of gaining weight.  I will be back with more tomorrow, I promise!

It's Real Life...again!

Jessica over at Farm Fresh Iowa is holding the "It's Real Life" blog fest again this week and the topic of discussion is "MOMENTOUS Occasions"!

Sounds like fun doesn't it?  You should all join in!  Just click on Jessica's name up yonder or click on the badge over there! 

First of all, I don't have pictures of all of the momentous occasions in my life; who does?  I mean really, everyday that I wake up and have my husband by my side and my children are healthy, then it is a momentous occasion.

There have been many momentous occasions in my life, and I am going to share pics of what I have.  Hope y'all enjoy them!

I think I will start today off with a picture that represents what should have been a momentous occasion in my life, but that never came to be; my senior year of high school topped off by my high school graduation!  When this picture was taken, that is what I thought would be happening!

The picture quality isn't that good because I scanned it in, and to be honest my scanner sucks!

This is one of my senior portraits and was taken the day after I got braces! (Which should explain the pained expression on my face)  When I took this picture I had no idea that a few short months later, my time in high school would come to an abrupt end.  In February of my senior year, I found out that I would be failing my senior English class because I had missed so many days of school.  I made the decision to drop out. (Side note: if I could go back and change one thing about my life; that would be it.  I would have finished high school and would have gotten my diploma.)

A couple of weeks before the date I would have been graduating from high school, came my next momentous occasion.  I married my high school sweetheart, Shane.  Regardless of how that marriage ended, it was a momentous occasion, and my marriage to him spawned many more momentous occasions.  Here is a picture from my 1st wedding day.

If I had not married Shane, I would not have had the privilege to have the best in-laws ever known to any woman.  My mother-in-law and father-in-law always treated me like I was one of their children, even after their son and I got divorced.  And, for the first time in my life, I had a sister; an awesome sister that is still one of my bestest friends ever!  And I got a grandfather that loved me no matter what or who I was. 

During the next couple of years came the next three momentous occasions.  The births of my three beautiful babies.  I could not locate any pics of them when they were babies (which completely upsets me because I know I have tons.) But here is a picture of all three of them at the Fall Dance at school a couple of years ago.

Several years later, Shane and I got divorced.  A couple of years later I met the most wonderful man in the world.  Here is a picture of the goofball!

Two months after Paul and I met, we got married.  Sorry, don't have any pictures of that wedding because we were the only ones there, well except for the judge that married us.  We got married on January 16, 2004.  And let me tell you, the last 4 years have been the best years of my life. 

Although I have no pictures of the next momentous occasion, I have to talk about it because it really changed the way I thought about life and how I lived mine.  In July of 2004 my ex-husband's mom (remember earlier that I said she treated me like one of her children.  I thought of her as my mama...still do) was killed in a car accident.  When my phone rang that afternoon, I had no idea that the world about was about to stop on it axis, but it did.  Mama was one of the most loving, generous, funny, crazy, beautiful women I have ever had the privilege to know and without her in my life I don't know what would have happened to me.  When she was killed so suddenly, I think it made all of us think about how fragile life is and how we should live each day to the fullest, tell the people you love just how much you love them every day, and never forget that tomorrow is not guaranteed, that we only have the present and should not dwell in the past or live for the future.  We should live for today and not forget the ONE who put us here.  We love you and miss you Mawmaw Betty!

So that is my Real Life this week?  What about yours? Feel like sharing some momentous occasions or reading about others' momentous occasions?  What are you waiting for...go visit Jessica!

Look up the word "blonde" in the dictionary...

And you will a find a picture of this child!

Tonight as we were headed to bed, Tamarama asked Paul and I this little question; "Would we evaporate if there was a tornado?"  Yep, you guessed it...she is a natural blonde!  For those of you that don't know my oldest youngun, Tamara has a way of being quite the airhead, even though she is very intelligent.  She says things sometimes, and I wonder where this ditz came from.  SO anyways, what Tamarama-ding-dong meant to ask was, "Would we evacuate if there was a tornado?"  She just couldn't figure out why Paul and I were rollin on the floor laughing.  She didn't help matters any by repeating the question over and over again either.  We just couldn't quit laughing at her.  In fact, I grabbed my camera and videotaped her asking the question, but I couldn't figure out how to get it on here.  Maybe I will figure that out and I will be able to share the video with y'all.  Oh yeah, just so Chell Bell doesn't feel left out; here is a picture of her and Paul and Tamarama dancing the happy dance the other night.

I have a video of that too; I can't wait to share that with y'all.  You will pee your pants watching that one.  If you want to get a better look at the face Chell Bell is making, just click on the picture.   SO I promise I will be back soon with more pictures.  Talk to y'all later!!!

As promised...

here are some pictures of the children. We had a blast at my Mama's today, and I was able to get some really great pics of the younguns.  I have a couple of funny tidbits to share from today, but I will do that later.  Enjoy the pics!!!

Tamarama

Slim

 Mechelley & Cheese

So there you go!  I will be back tomorrow with some more pics and more details from our 4th of July!  I hope everyone had as much fun as we did today!

It's Real Life...

Every Thursday, Jessica @ Farm Fresh holds this little thing she calls "It's Real Life".  I have been wanting to participate for the last two weeks, but I did not have a camera until last Friday.  She gives you a list of things to photograph (no prepping, no cleaning, just as it is)  and you post them.  I have decided that since I now have  camera, I am gonna do it.  So without further adieu...here is my real life...

First up...Under the bed.  I was not prepared for what I saw!

Let's see... we have one of Kenny's Nerf guns, a LilKinz golden retriever, and it looks like Tam's water bottle.

Secondly...what is on and in your dresser.

 On my dresser you will find a picture that Paul stepped on and broke the glass, Paul's ABU hat and belt, a pair of shorts that did not quite make it into the drawer, and posters that need to be hung in the kids' rooms.

In my dresser you will find my wide variety of pajama pants.  I love lounge pants; in fact, I buy a new pair almost every payday.  Wow, that is pretty sad, if I say so myself.

Next up... what is on your nightstand?

Let's see...a multitude of Coke cans (what can I say? I am addicted), my sleeping pills, my CPAP (or my elephant trunk as my kids would say), a lamp with no bulb and no lampshade, and my Bible.

Let me see.  What is next? Oh yeah, the pictures and decorations.

 Pictures of my three beautiful children from a couple of years ago.

A couple of rocks that Kenny painted in art (the one on the left is a hotdog and the one on the right is a video game controller), the weaving that Kenny did in art, and a small photo album from my big sis April!

Up next is what I love about my bedroom...The big walk-in closet.

See my pretty purple vacuum?  I love that thing.

Next is what I hate about my bedroom.  My husband's choice of decorations. (The bedroom was the only place I would let him hang them though; nobody goes in my bedroom but us.)

 

Let's move on, shall we?  What makes my bedroom uniquely me would have to be these two things right here.

A pillowcase that April painted for me the first time I went to camp so that I would have a part of home with me.  And my stuffed koala bear that my Pawpaw gave me when I was a baby.  I know he has seen his better days, but I would not take a million dollars for him.

Next we have what I sleep in...  Are you really ready to see this?

I don't know about you, but I sleep in a bed.  This big huge King size bed that I love.  I know it is not made, I jumped out of bed this morning, got ready and left the house in a hurry because I was late to a function that Paul's squadron was having.  At least I pulled the covers up.

So...I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my bedroom or as Jessica put it..."Where the magic happens!"  Hahahahahaha...yeah right!  Go check out more people's bedrooms over at Jessica's and come back next week.  I think I just might be doing this again.

THE MOVIE WE ARE ALL DYING TO SEE

Guess what!?!?!

I GOT A NEW CAMERA!!!!   Can you tell I am excited?  I know what all of you are thinking...it's about time, right?  Paul surprised me on Friday and took me to Best Buy  so I could pick out a camera.  Isn't he the greatest???

He gave me the amount I could spend on the camera and let me go.  It was really hard to decide, but I finally decided on this.......

That is a Canon S5 IS digital camera.  It is absolutely awesome!!!  Since the kids are gone until after the 4th of July, I have no subjects to take pictures of.  Which really sucks, but once again, my amazing husband came to the rescue.  He woke me up this morning and told me to get dressed because he had another surprise for me.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out, but of course that got me nowhere.  As we were leaving, Paul told me to grab my camera because I was gonna need it.

SO I did what he said because I always do what my husband tells me to do :)   We got in the car and Paul drove us to the Montgomery Zoo so I could play with my new toy.  He knew that I had been chomping at the bits to play with my new camera, and he knows how much I love to go to the zoo and watch all of the cute animals.  Once again...isn't he wonderful?

So I played with my new toy and I absolutely love it.  It is soooooo awesome!!!  It does some really neat things to, like this....

Isn't that cool?  There is a setting that allows you to pinpoint a specific color and that is the only color that shows in the pic.  I just think that it looks really neat.  That was one of the features that sold me on this particular camera.  I know, I know..I am a nerd. 

Ok this is my favorite animal in the zoo.  Her name is Makena and she is a baby elephant that was born here at the Montgomery Zoo last year I believe.

Just to let you know...I was standing so far away from this cute little thing and was able to zoom in this close and the picture is still so clear.  I love it!

Here is another pic of Makena and her mama that I love.

Isn't that just too cute for words?  Paul thinks I am such a dork...I could stand at the elephant exhibit and watch these two all day long. 

But of course then I would miss all of these cute animals.

That is Rocky and his mama.  He is cute, but not as cute as Makena!

This is a picture of Paul's favorite animal.  I literally had to pull him away from this exhibit.

And this is Mechelle's favorite animal!

That is a squirrel monkey and if Mechelle could bring one of them home from the zoo, she would.

This picture is of Tamara's favorite animal (at the zoo)...the kangaroo.  This kangaroo was way back by the back fence of the exhibit and I love that I was able to get this close to it with my camera.

I could't get a picture of Kenny's favorite animal, the Canadian Lynx, because the little sucker likes to hide behind the rocks.  But I did get a picture of his 2nd fave.  The Jaguar!

And last but not least...since it is the week of the 4th.  The symbol of freedom, the symbol of America and all that it offers, the symbol that reminds us what all men and women in uniform are fighting for...

Ok that should make up for the lack of posts lately. Expect more pictures, more often since I have a camera now.  And I promise I will post some pics of the kids after the 4th of July. We are having a cook out at my mama's on the 4th because her birthday is on the 3rd.  She tries to act like the cookout is because of the 4th of July, but we all know better.  We all go to her house on that day to celebrate her birthday.  So if you see her...tell her Happy Birthday!  See ya soon!!!!