Family "Rules"

Just created this quick and wanted to share!  You are welcome to save a copy and print one for yourself, the original is a 5x7, just FYI!
Hoping to do a full blog post tomorrow or in the very near future!

Better Days

I'm hesitant to say that things are looking up.  The shingles seem to have gotten a little/lot better in the last 24 hours.  They aren't gone, but they are better.  They have been replaced with some muscle pain in the center of my abdomen, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that that is normal. 

I've been inactive for so long though that even a little bit of activity (read: walking to a chair set up outside and sitting down) is quite exhausting.  But that will get better.  I would think.  In time. 

So anyway, just wanted to pass that info along.  I apprecaite all of your prayers, I am so blessed!

Stuck in Bed and Pinning

I've found the most relief from the shingles when I'm laying still in my bed.  Not getting up and down, just laying here.  Every once in a while (who am I kidding, daily) prior to getting sick and having surgery I wished for a day where I didn't have to do ANYTHING.  But, now that I've spent the last almost 4 weeks laying around doing nothing, I'm over it.  Compeltely over it.  I want to be up, playing with the kids, going to the beach, cooking dinner, even cleaning the bathroom.  Yup.  I said it. 

I've watched a lot of "First 48" today, a little Hoarders: Burried Alive and I've done lot's of pinning!  I'll share a few of my favorite things I've found today.  I've found lots! (click on each picture for a link if you wish)

Pom Pom Flowers

Crochet Rug from old T-Shirts

I LOVE color!!!!



LOVE this color combo.  Maybe for Bailey's room re-do (someday)!

And this Pesto Bread.  Although, I can't read the recipe, so I think I'm out of luck, but I like to improvise, I'm sure I could come up with something!

That's only a very very small portion of all the pinning I've done today!  Feel free to see more here!

Ugh, the pain

It's horrible.  The pain has not gotten any better.  I'm miserable.  While I don't want to complain, I'm reaching out to my blog readers to see if anyone has any great ideas for pain relief (besides rx drugs).  I've tried an ice pack.  That didn't work.  I've tried wearing baggy t-shirts.  That didn't work.  I tried wearing a fitted shirt.  That didn't work.  I don't know what to do anymore.  I'm frustrated, I'm in pain, I just want to stay in bed all day.  Post your ideas.  Please!

2 steps forward, 1 step back

I knew it was to good to be true.  I was feeling great last week.  I couldn't believe how good I was feeling.  But Thursday I started getting pretty sore again.  So sore in fact that on Friday I called and asked for more vicodin.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  My skin was soooo sensitive.  It hurt to touch anything on my abdomen.  And then in an ambien haze of absolute pain on Sunday night I saw it.  A spot that very closely resembled shingles.  Seriously.  I just had shingles six months ago.  My worst enemy (who doesn't really exist) doesn't deserve to have shingles EVER, and absolutely no one deserves to have them twice.  In six months.  So, needless to say, I'm in pain.  Lots and lots of pain.  I would rather have surgery again than shingles.  Basically the only thing that relieves the pain is to lay in bed very very still.  Yuck.  I'm sick of laying around. 

Luckily I started some meds today and last time I was on these meds it went away pretty quickly.  Praying it does the same this time!

While at the doctor today he also "cleaned" out the wound again, took out the "debris" which is as gross as it sounds.  This whole packing the wound thing is getting old and from what I hear I have a ways to go.  Blech. 

In just two short days I will have a teenager in my house.  Seriously.  Almost 13 years ago I was  barely 20 years old about ready to have my first child.  Scared to death of what that mant.  He has been such a blessing to us, Love that boy!

Wishing everyone a great and safe holiday weekend!

Summer Reading

The weather so far has been good for pretty much nothing.  It's almost the end of June and we have done nothing summery (never mind the other obvious reasons for that).  It's wet, cloudy and cold today.  Landon had a baseball game last night, I wore a sweatshirt and jeans and was still freezing cold.  He has another tonight.  It's a home game, our home park is always very windy, meaning it will be about 10 degrees colder there. 

So, what do you do to keep your kids reading for the summer?  We used to participate in the summer reading program at the library, but we rarely completed it, not because the kids didn't read, but because I wasn't good at getting back to fill stuff in.  So, we don't do that anymore.  Last year we tried reading a set amount of time per day.  That was great for about a week, then we got busy and out of the habit and that went out the window.  So this year we are trying something new. 

The kids can read as much or little as they want.  But, thier screen time is directly affected by thier reading time.  For every minute they read they earn 1.5 minutes of screen time.  They can save thier minutes for the whole summer, I'm ok with that.  Landon is better at this than Bailey.  He currently has about 600+ minutes banked up.  Bailey might have 30.  600 minutes is a lot of screen time, but I know that there is very little chance that Landon will sit inside for 10 hours playing wii or watching tv.  Bailey on the other hand... well, we don't have to worry about it really.  Two very different kids, same mom and dad. 

Happy {summer} reading!

Messy

**Warning**** You may not want to be eating while reading this**

Ugh.  I feel like my house is such a mess!  Such is life.  We do indeed LIVE here! 

I'm feeling pretty good.  For the most part.  I'm really wanting to be back to normal.  I know for a fact that I'm doing much more than I should be doing.  I'm doing more than I should be doing if I was 6 weeks out from surgery, much less 2.  I'm very very sore.  My muscles hurt.  The scars I don't necessarily feel.  Which is a good thing considering I have a gaping hole in my stomach where they opened one spot back up.  (Yup, it's as gross as it sounds).  I have to bandage that twice a day to get it to heal correctly.  Good thing I don't have to really look at it. 

OK, enough of that fun stuff. 

Have you discovered Pinterest?  If you need another time waster in your life I would definitely encourage you to check it out.  It sucks up a lot of my time (but let's face it, what more do I have to do right now), and I'm sure it could suck up a lot of your time too!  :)  Happy pinning!

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to all of the wonderful fathers in my life.  My father, my father-in-law, my kids father.  All amazing men!  Thank you.  I'm especially thankful for my husband.  Wow.  He has been absolutely amazing these past few weeks.  He has worked full time (and then some), he has been an amazing dad, nurse, house cleaner, cook, driver, laundry washer, furniture mover... this man has doen it all!  And for that I am so greatful.  Never do I doubt that he loves us, never do I doubt his committment to his family.  So greatful for him!

Healing is going great!  I seriously thought that it would be much roughter than this.  But, like I said last time, that doesn't make it easy either. 
Most all activity is limited. 
I've spent a LOT of time on the couch, in bed or in my chair outside.  When I do to much walking, I know it.  Yesterday we went to a baseball game for Landon (in the scorching heat), the field was much further from the car than I was used to but I walked back and forth twice.  I can tell today. 
I'm still not taking pain pills until night time, but that may be because I want to convince my husband that I am capable of driving too!  :)  Where I am planning on going I don't know, but I know that I need to get out of this house!!!! 
I have a LOT of bruising.  There are bruises lining my scar and there is a LARGE one in the middle of my stomach.  It hurts. 

Many people have asked me if I'm happier with the results this time.  YES!  I am SOOOO much happier.  My chest looks 100x better, but honestly, I'm thrilled with my tight stomach.  It's no secret that I had a tummy.  My muscles just weren't what they were suppposed to be, my skin was stretched, it wasn't pretty.  But now, it's all better again!  LOVE it!  I recently had a birthday and received lot's of gift cards for shopping and I can't wait!  (first I need to be able to walk though...)

Landon is back from a great week at camp!  He's spent lot's of time with his family this weekend and I'm sure he can't wait to get back to hanging out with friends every day!

Bailey has been gone ALL weekend.  She got to spend Friday night and all day Saturday with her friend Sadie and then went to Michigan's Adventure today with the neighbor.  She will be TIRED!

Elliot get's to start both swimming lessons and VBS tomorrow.  He is not excited about either one.  Or maybe it's that he's tired and just needs some sleep!  I don't get to help with VBS this year for obvious reasons.  I will miss helping out.  I've been helping for... ever.  But, it will be nice to have time with Lila as well.  Maybe.

One week post TRAM Flap surgery

One week ago I was cut open on the operating table.  What a change in a week.  Seriously.  Going into the surgery I was really worried that I was going to be immobile for a while.  I had heard rough things about recovery from this surgery, but I was prepared for it.  I had heard of a lot of pain.  But I was prepared to be asking for lot's of pain meds.  No problem. 

It has not been all sunshine and lollipops.  There is and was definitely pain involved, but nothing like I expected.  For a variety of reasons I have gone from taking 2 dilauded pills every 4 hours to taking 1 vicodin every once in a while.  I'm not letting myself feel a lot of pain or being stubborn about taking them, because one thing I've learned is that pain pills serve a very good purpose.  On the other hand, I do not like taking them because they make me SO tired.  So out of it.  So anyway, pain pills aren't a bad thing, I just don't need them as often as I thought I would. 

I've still got four drains attractively draped from different angles of my body.  I still have to empty them a few times a day.  But, on the bright side, I am able to shower and wash my hair this time. 

I can not stand up straight yet, my skin is just still to tight.  Nor can I lay flat.  The couch has been my home!

I'm tired.  My body is working really hard to heal itself right now, it's not leaving me much energy to do anything else.  So, as much as I want to get out of this house, it's just not going to happen. 

I can't lift up my dear Lila, but on the flip side of that, we are able to snuggle on the couch and watch The duck song on YouTube or read Brown bear!

And, she's still as spunky as ever, finding a way to get exactly what she wants. 

And... I really am kind of excited about this Tummy Tuck I got!  It was an added bonus, and I'll take it!  Now, to keep a flat stomach!  :)

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, we've felt all the love! 

6 days post-op

Feeling pretty good. Honestly this isn't as bad as I expected so far. But who knows. Thank you for all of your prayers, help and notes of encouragement.   Its all been so appreciated.

Kristi is now celebrating in Jesus' arms.  Her positive spirit and warm smile will be dearly missed here, but she is so blessed to ne made perfect again.

Lindy has received some discouraging news this week.

Please keep them and their families in your prayers!
Thank you!

2 1/2 more days

Yikes.  School is done.  That means that:
a) I have an 8th grader and a 5th grader, and a "young-fiver"! (oh, and a 2 year old)
b) have very little to consume my mind until Monday
c) oops, I lied, there is plenty going on to keep me distracted
d) the kids are home... all the time.  blogger!! MMMOKMMMMMA

QQLQLQLLLP
The last day of school is pretty uneventful at our house.  Landon is gone fishing with Matt, while Bailey, Elliot and Lila anxiously await the arrival of thier friends!  Hudson is hanging out with us today as well!  I feel like I should be doing something fun and exciting to make up for the next few weeks, but...

So, surgery is scheduled for 7:30, arrival time of 6am.  Please pray.  Pray that it starts on time, for the doctor as he prepares for the surgery, for me as I prepare for the surgery, for Matt and my kids and for a quick and easy recovery.

(Obviously, this was not finished on the day I started it, as there is now about 18 hours until surgery, just typing that gave me a funny feeling in my stomach)

I feel an urgency to get a lot of stuff done.  Like cleaning out and purging bathroom cupboards, moving Lila into a big bed which happens to be the bottom of elliot's bunk bed, therefore moving her room into his room, so they share a room now, cleaning my closet and bedroom... unfortunately this all means that things like mopping the floor are being put off, but those are things that someone else (aka my husband or kids) can do!

OK, now it's 10 hours until my surgery and I"m still trying to type this stupid post, so, I'm publishing, not everything is one here, but it will have to do, until next time!almamm1.wt

I need this right now...

Feeling a bit anxious tonight as 6am monday morning draws closer and closer.  I've found plenty of things to keep me really busy up until now... Now I try to sleep, and even ambien is not helping.  I've got a few things to do tomorrow, but fully anticipate this getting harder. For now, one of my favorite verses...

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What has kept us busy...

Our Bird friends are growing!  While I'm not a huge fan of birds, they are awful cute to watch.  (Sorry for the blurry pictures, I don't dare get to close for fear of getting attacked)

I'm pretty sure they will be leaving the nest soon, they are getting very crowded in there!

Dressing up like Spiderman-AllBoy is always a hit.  Check out those webbed hands!  (Oh, and don't forget the snow boots with plaid shorts, did you know that's a new trend??)

 This little boy get's to spend a few days a week with us and we love it!  Lila is really really in love, often throwing a fit when his dad get's here to pick him up.

Bailey signed up for Girls on the Run this year for the first time.  I highly recommend the program, and I think
Bailey would as well.  She worked so hard all season and ran (run/walk) her first 5k.  She did awsome, I'm so proud of her and the 1,999 other girls that ran that day!

 Proud supporters of thier sisters!

 Coming in to finish.  (Bailey is the second one on the left)

 Some of the girls from her "team"!

 Matt planted our garden.  But first the boxes had to be weeded.  This will be our first year growing anything besides tomatoes.  We planted lettuce, snap peas, green beans, jalapenos, green and red peppers, tomatoes, and I think zuccini.  Can't wait to get some fresh produce (although, I'm so glad I have someone else to do the weeding!!!  :)

 All this rain has made for lot's of snuggle time!

 And, apparently, while we don't live near any bodies of water, we have a frog issue.  Ask my kids and they love it.  Me?  I'm scared to walk through the yard for fear of stepping on one or having it hop on me and "attack" me (Irrational?  maybe).  The kids have loved having them for pets though.  They take them for "walks" in the yard (a.k.a. tricking them into thinking they are being set free and then catching them again), check on them all the time and do lot's and lot's of handwashing. 

 It's torture I tell you!

 We used to be really good about Lila keeping her pipe in her bedroom, but recently we've gotten really really relaxed!  Here she was being crabby and tired, so she decided to take a little rest on the dining room floor.

 Elliot graduated from pre-school last night!  He's officially a "young-fiver"???  I need to find Landon's graduation pictures too, just to see compare the two, I have a feeling they will be hard to tell apart! 

And, to top it all off, throw a few baseball games in there, a choir concert, doctor appointments, and we are on a never ending move!  But we love it!

Surgery Planning

I'm trying to get everything in order for my life and family after I have surgery, blah, I definitely don't miss this part of last years medical stuff!

Anyway, please feel free, but DO NOT feel obligated (ANYONE) to sign up for meals.  With the kids being home, I did include some lunches on there as well, sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, whatever, sometime lunch is the hardest meal of the day to get together in reality (especially with Matt working throughout as well)!  Feel free to email me with information regarding dropping a meal off, or email matt (probably the better choice if it's after June 5) matt (at) distinctivegroupinc (dot) com (substitute an @ sign and a . in the appropriate places).

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/meals846

And, as ALWAYS, THANK YOU so much.  We are overwhelmed with the support that we continue to receive!  You are all AMAZING!

I am going to TRY to get Matt to update facebook during surgery, but no guarantees on that (he has a hard time typing on my phone, and he just doesn't like facebook).  If he won't do it, I will try to do it as soon as I'm able, who knows when that will be though!

Surgery Update

Yesterday I met with the plast surgeon to go over some questions I had regarding the surgery.  Matt and I discussed what we heard, we discussed recovery, I prayed about it and we are going through with it. 

I know that some of you were concerned whether this was the right thing to do or not, I want you to know that I appreciate your concern (really, I do), but I truly feel peace about this decision. 

Some of you expressed concern about the doctor.  Let me reassure you that the problems I am having now are not his fault.  When having the mastectomy and reconstruction, it was thought that I wouldn't have to have radiation.  But, as we all know, that all changed.  Typically he doe not do implant reconstruction on a person who has radiation for a variety of reasons, but for me it was to late, we had already gone this route.

In the next few weeks (week really) I will post some specific needs, if you want to volunteer to help, that's fabulous and will be very appreciated, but we absolutely do not expect anyone to help either. 

As of this moment, surgery is going to happen on June 6 (the first week the kids are home from school) at around 7:30 am (that's going to be an early arrival time... whew).  I will be in the hospital for 3-5 days (which could prove to be our biggest obstacle).  I will be able to drive again after about 2 weeks, (if you know me well, you know I'm not really good at this one, I like to sneak away)!  Despite the fact that I will have 3+ drains (if you know me well, you know this was the WORST part of the last two surgeries for me) I will be able to shower (which makes having drains about 50% better)!  I will be on some strong pain pills along with a pain pump for about 5 days.  I think overall, in my head it was going to be much worse than what he has told me it's going to be, but only time will tell!

Right now I do have one need that doesn't need to be scheduled, but can be done at anytime... prayers. 

Along with prayers for this surgery and recovery to go smoothly, I would also covet your prayers for my friend Kristi and her family.  Also for another friend and her husband who are dealing with cancer and surgery.

I hate cancer!