Baby J came through his surgery ok...

Wppppppppppe had to have him at the surgery center at 6:30 in the morning to get his adenoids out. We signed some papers and waited for a few minutes before they were ready to bring him back. She took his vitals and then they gave him some "goofy juice" to calm him down. I felt bad that we were laughing at him, but he was a hoot. He was tilting his head and looking at his funny, his words were slurring together, and he was drooling everywhere. Andy took some pictures for his scrapbook page. It's too bad we didn't have him on video. Anyway, they carried him back to the OR around 7:30 and we were told it would take anywhere from 30-45 minutes and that we couldn't leave the building. I couldn't imagine actually leaving the building, but she said a lot of parents go out for breakfast. That wasn't even an idea that I had...anyway they come out to tell us that everything went well, but that the whole back of his nose was covered in green goo and so we got some antibiotics for him. They called us back a few minutes later saying that we could come back and see him although he wasn't awake yet. I walked up to that bed and it took everything that I had not to start crying. He was crying and I thought he was coughing, but he picked his head up to look at me and then went back to sleep. They got some more vitals and then they told me I could hold him and sit with him in the big chair. They told us recovery would last about an hour. We got settled in the big chair and he threw up some mucous. She brought him some apple juice and that came back up. The doctor came in to check his throat for bleeding and said that we could go home once he stopped throwing up. He'd be back to check on him after the next procedure. We got some more juice down him after he had a little nap and that came back up as well. The nurse gave him some anti-nausea meds and had us try to give him a little more juice. He threw that up as well. He took a nap and she came in and checked him and I told her that I could feel his chest just rattling and I didn't know if that could happen or if it needed to be checked. She asked me if he was like that before surgery and I said no. She listened to him and then she said she was going to give him some different anti-nausea meds but that it would make him very sleepy and once he fell asleep she was going to give him a breathing treatment. He never fell asleep and that shocked her and the doctor. He did his breathing treatment on my lap and he threw up again. The doctor told us that he didn't know why he was still having such a hard time, but that he was apparently just very sensitive to anesthesia. At this point, Baby J was becoming a bit more active and they all just thought he was absolutely adorable. The doctor couldn't understand how he could look like so good while he was feeling so miserable. I told him that I always have a hard time knowing when he's not feeling well as he acts completely normal...he'll be running around like normal and all of a sudden with throw up all over the place. He doesn't get sick much either and he has a high pain tolerance as well, so it's hard to tell when he's not feeling all that well. Anyway, they had me feed him a popsicle slush and see if that would stay down. He was getting mad because he was hungry and I would only give him a little at a time. He kept the popsicle down for a few minutes and he wanted more. They brought him in another one and he was able to eat that whole thing and then he started not looking so good and up everything came. They also discovered that his IV wasn't working and so they took his IV out. Then, we were all confused on whether he had even managed to get any anti-nausea meds. She had him sit there for awhile to let his tummy rest and the doctor said that once he could hold fluids down for at least 30 minutes that we could go home. He gave me a perscription for some Phenergan to help him at home. They gave him a sip of water and had him sit for 30 minutes. He kept that down and so they let us come home at 1:30 pm. They took one last set of vitals and he was so cute...the nurse wrote his vitals down on her hand so she could chart it later and he says to her "hey, you wrote on your hands...you only write on paper." We all just giggled.

He was crying that he was hungry once we got home so I gave him a tiny amt of apple juice and a little chicken noodle soup and up it came a few minutes later. Poor baby! He took a long nap and got up and I gave him some Phenergan to try to eat some dinner and he was finally able to keep some soup and juice down. He wanted to go back to sleep after that and he wound up sleeping until 7 this morning. He is not a sleeper either which tells me that he felt miserable yesterday! However, I went to bed at 8 myself last night and didn't wake up until he woke me up this morning. He is still acting tired and wants to cuddle a lot, but he has spurts where he wants to get up and play and he kept his saltines down this morning that he wanted. So, hopefully today will be more like normal. He is still sounding really croupy though. I'll let him smell some of the cool air this morning and see if that helps.

Giving back...

Well, this past couple of days I have been thinking about some things. Andy's been really into playing frisbee golf and playing with his co-workers and such. I was handling it ok until he started wanting to go more and more. He's been gone more Saturdays than he's been home in the past month and I found myself getting resentful because I'm always home with the kids. Granted, a couple Saturdays he had to work and it was out of his hands, but I was just tired and burned out and he wanted to go out and play. I think part of me getting upset is due to the fact that he has people to hang out with and I don't and I don't like having to be home with the kids without a break while he's gone all the time. I want to meet other people, but with the kids it's hard sometimes and my shyness majorly gets in the way. I don't know what I can do to meet people and I started hearing little whispers "go volunteer." I wondered if there were any places to go volunteer in any soup kitchens to feed the homeless or something. I found a meetup group that does random acts of kindness and they volunteer at the Salvation Army in Dallas once or twice a month feeding the homeless and they do other things throughout the Dallas community as well. I joined. I thought maybe my Mom may want to go with me sometimes and once Deidra gets a bit older she can come with me too if she wants. She has to be 10 first. But, this will give me a chance to go do something to give back and hopefully meet some people along the way as well. And it gets me out so I'm not just dealing with kids day in and day out.

Time to make some friends and do some stuff for me and others...

Andy has really been getting into frisbee golf lately and he's been playing with his co-workers. They're talking about starting up a team and playing frequently. I got rather resentful about it and I know I'm in the wrong. I told him to go and play and not to worry about me. Just because I don't really know anyone down here doesn't give me the right to hold him back because I want his company when he's not working. I've been thinking about it and Andy told me if I wanted to go out a couple nights a week or something that he'd be glad to watch the kids so I can have a break. I have such a hard time with me being so shy with making friends. He asked me why I didn't ask another fosterparent out for coffee or something. I don't know who to ask...

But, I also had the thought of getting involved in some volunteer work...maybe volunteering at a homeless shelter to feed the homeless or something. I feel a pull in this direction and it would be a way to serve God at the same time. So, I may look into doing something like this one or two Saturdays a month. I'm going to keep praying about it and see where God leads me...I know He'll open the door if I take the steps forward.

Christmas

Our family had a very blessed Christmas. I took Deidra with me to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and it was absolutely beautiful. She slept through about 90% of it, but it was still nice to have her with me. I also saw an old friend that I used to work with and it was great to see him too. We talked for a bit afterwards and he went and said hello to my Mom and prayed with her for a bit and I think that did her good too. It was really nice to see him again as I hadn't seen him since last Christmas. We came home and I got Deidra settled in bed and then I went to bed myself as it was already almost 2 am. We were up at 7:30 to see what Santa had brought. The kids were definitely spoiled and very blessed in all their gifts. Deidra got a Playstation 2 (it was my brothers but he just upgraded to an XBOX 360) and we all got her a ton of games to play. Besides our new living room furniture, Andy got me an iced tea maker that I had been wanting and a double stroller (the sit and stand) so now I can actually get out with all the kids and do stuff when I want to now rather than worrying about the kids all running in different directions. I got Andy some spicy hot sauce to make chili with (it was a set of 3 as he's been on a hot kick lately), 2 beer kits, and some playstation 2 games. The kids all were definitely spoiled...lots of play stuff...they got a new kitchen, cottage, tent, and shopping carts, play food, tea sets, new bikes, puzzles, craft stuff, dolls, toys galore...my brother got me a pear bath set, a Christmas card that literally brought tears to my eyes, and my Mom got me some outdoor chairs, a book (The Shack), a picture frame for above our mantle, and some fridge magnets and a kitchen cooking tile. It was a beautiful Christmas...dinner was good. Mom and I took a long walk afterwards and I enjoyed the time I spent with her. It was a beautiful day.

Baby, it's COLD outside!

It was just 76 the other day (although with the wind it definitely felt a lot colder) and that night the winds picked up even more and the temps fell to 32. My Mom emailed me yesterday to ask if we were staying warm. She said that she could see me bundling all the kids up like we used to have to in MI. We were all at home yesterday due to being sick, but I did have to go run to the drugstore once and man was that cold enough.

Andy got up this morning and had to scrape the ice off of all of his windows before he could leave for work. Just as he went outside the phone rang...I thought it was going to be Andy telling me something. It was the school. They had an automated message telling us that "due to increment weather they had issued a 2-hour delay." I don't see anything on the roads at all. Granted, Texans WORRY about snow/ice badly and they are pro-active about their concerns. Sometimes I'd like to set them in the middle of a MI snowstorm just to see what they would do. Andy left for work and I guess Deidra will be going in 2 hours late today.

My poor little girl...

She has really been feeling bad the past couple of days, super tired, stomach hurts, won't eat or drink, and running a fever. We were in Wal-mart yesterday and she had a melt down and started crying that her stomach was hurting so badly. We came home as we were out as a family, I got some books for us to read and I got some motrin into her again and we left for the ER.

Well, they did a urinalysis and some blood work as the doctor thought with where she was experiencing the pain that she had appendicitis. With as little as she could pee and with me telling them that I was having a hard time getting her to eat or drink, they did an IV and gave her fluids. Labs came back showing that she was dehydrated, but nothing showed that her gall bladder or appendix was acting up. So, they're thinking at this point that she has a virus. However, the doctor said he had a 13-year-old that did the same thing she was doing this week...getting sick, thinking she was better, getting sick and hurting again, thinking she was better, etc. that wound up coming back with worse pain and they were able to compare labs and see that there was a significant shift and they did a CT and found out that she had early appendicitis. So, he's not ruling that out at this point either. However, he said we could come home and I could watch her and if she got worse or her fever lasted more than a couple more days he wanted her back in for repeat tests right away so they could compare her labs. I really liked the doc and her nurse was so awesome. So, we're home for now and hopefully she'll feel better soon.

Prayer Request...

I have a friend that is in the middle of adoption. They are trying to adopt a 4-year old and 2-year old sibling group (girl/boy) from Uganda. They just learned at the end of this week that they are no longer able to continue the adoption as they are having trouble with the village elders. She's putting it into God's hands. I told her that she had my prayers for a change of heart and that they'll be able to continue soon. Please say some prayers for them and I'll keep you guys posted as she keeps me posted. ;-)

We're getting a new living room set delivered on Wednesday!

I had been saying for awhile now that we were in need of a new couch. We bought ours from IKEA about 8 years ago and I swore I'd never get a couch with removable cushions again as the kids (mostly Little E) will not leave them alone. She's got to get her feet underneath them to push them off or she's unzipping them or trying to pull the stuffing out. She pulled the zipper off one of my pillows the other day and Andy safety pinned it. She started bringing me the safety pins the other day and finally I had no choice that I just took that pillow off the couch as I didn't want anyone getting hurt since she will not leave them alone. Well a couple nights ago I went to sit down after the kids were in bed and noticed that one of my pillow covers was now torn. Andy went to a work fun day on Saturday and Deidra called him to tell him something and he asked what we were up to. She told him I was looking at couches. I was looking at IKEA, but he said he didn't know if he wanted another IKEA couch...so I went to Rooms to Go to look and fell in love with a chocolate brown set. Come to find out it was the same one that I fell in love with before when the house was being built. Andy asked me if I was buying it or just looking at it. I was like "I can buy it?" I decided I wanted to see it in person first and so we went to go look at it when he got home. We're getting the couch, loveseat, and recliner and we also decided to look at the entertainment centers because we're still using Deidra's little table as a tv stand. Our salesman told us that there was 2 they had on sale right around the corner and so we decided on this one! The one I saw online was really nice too, but they wanted a whole lot more for it. We decided to stay within our means and decided on the one on sale since that was do-able.

I so cannot wait for Wednesday!

My goodness...

I am trying my hardest to get ready for Christmas. I went out today and picked up most of Deidra's gifts...man is she hard to buy for this year! The wants of electronics have hit! And she has expensive wants at that. Anyway, I got a gift for Andy and then got stumped. My Mom and brothers haven't given me any ideas yet either. We're sending out Texas themed baskets for the people out of state. I just can't believe that Christmas is 2 weeks away. I got my Christmas cards, am printing out photos tonight and will work on those this weekend so I can mail them on Monday. I missed getting address labels (I usually order them on ebay), but may see if Andy can make some up for me with his graphical talents.

The kids came home from MDO and I was trying to get in the CHristmas mood by turning the tree on (Baby T is SCARED of it), turning the Christmas music on (Baby J gets mad) and I have a holly berry candle burning. I had a bunch of boxes of gifts delivered today by the post office and UPS and they're sitting in the play room. I need to go rearrange my closet so I have a place to put all this stuff. Sunday, we have to go get Baby J's gift from his county. Then, next week we'll be getting the girl's gifts from their CPS office. We'll be getting a call from our agency at the end of the week to come pick up our gifts for all the kids. And then when Baby J's CPS worker comes out, she'll be bringing out all his gifts. So, I definitely have to make room this weekend. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to get clothes out of my closet once all the gifts are in there.

Baby T joins the club!

Baby T started throwing up last night before bed...she is burning up this morning and doesn't want to eat or drink much. She decided she wanted to join the flu club as well...UGH!

Business is hopping!

Wow, my candles are doing awesome on ebay. I should have ordered more Christmas and seasonal candles than what I did. The seasonal ones that I have left for Christmas is Frosty's Happy Hour and Pumpkin Frappuccino. All my Elf Farts and Reindeer Droppings are gone. I guess I'll know to order way more than I did for next year. I have a huge order coming after the first of the year as well and I cannot wait to get them.

We sold $1000 for the first month on ebay and we're desperately trying to do it again this month. We really got serious about wanting to make ebay a real side business after selling here and there since we got married. I can't get things listed fast enough! Of course, listing has taken a back seat over the past few days as I've been trying to get other things done too.

That's one thing that I am thankful for though...my little side business is doing very well!

I'm so overwhelmed...

I wrote this yesterday and for some reason it never posted...

I've got so much on my plate right now that I have to get done. UGH!

The girls have speech this morning.
Deidra's got the flu really bad.
The girls need to go get their next round of immunizations today.
I need to do our fire drill.
I need to do a clothing inventory on each child.
I need to do our paperwork for last week.
I need to finish our med logs so I can turn them in.
I have a bunch of laundry to do...that seems to be neverending.
I need to schedule our home visits for this month.
I need to go Christmas shopping as I only have 1 gift bought.
I need to catch up the girl's lifebooks in case they do move them come the first of the year...still waiting on homestudy results so I know for sure and getting ahold of their CPS worker is very hard.
Baby J goes to see the ENT doctor tomorrow to check his hearing and I'm nervous about it.
The kids all have occupational therapy to reschedule for this week as well.
And I told our agency that I would take a sibling that was just born that is a sibling to some previous foster children that we had if they removed the baby. So, we're on standby to see what they do with the baby.

Deidra's got the flu...

She threw up during the middle of the night on Sunday night and I thought it was her reflux acting up again as she was fine the rest of the day. She said her stomach hurt on Monday morning and I got her a Prevacid and she went to school. She was fine all day. She went to bed last night and about an hour later she came stumbling down the stairs acting really drowsy. I thought she was sleep walking or something and we asked her what she was doing. She says "hold on" and walks into the little bathroom and we heard the splatter and went running to her. She was projectile vomiting everywhere. I got her in the bath afterwards to clean up and I got her back to bed with her trusted bucket (she sleeps with one as we never know when her reflux is going to act up). She was up 5-6 times last night getting sick. I don't know how I'm going to get the rest of the kids to leave her alone to avoid getting sick...they're always crawling all over her and stuff as she loves to give them all piggy back rides and they're always sitting on her lap and so forth. So today will be interesting. Not to mention, I don't know how I'm going to get the girls in for their shots today (it takes 3-4 people to hold the girls down so they're still enough to get their shots and they are screaming, crying, and kicking the whole time they're at the doctors (from the minute we walk in the door). I don't have a choice but to go today either with them possibly being moved to friend of Mom's. I want to make sure that they are caught up on immunizations before they go anywhere else. I guess Deidra will have to go with me and we'll have to make sure she brings a bucket with her. I just hope the rest of us don't get sick.

My neighbors are going to drive me crazy...

I just get the kids to take a nap and the neighbors come over and ring the doorbell to tell me that Deidra touched their newspaper with her foot. Well, did she do anything to it? "No, she stepped on it when she was walking down the sidewalk and it's flat now." I told Deidra that she didn't need to be touching anybody else's things and she said that she was just walking down the street and she accidentally kicked it with her foot. I asked the neighbors if it was still readable. They said it was, she didn't do anything to it but step on it once. They woke up Tracie to tell me this...UGH!! These kids have been nothing but a problem and they try to tattle on Deidra for everything. The other day, the boy came over to tell me that Deidra stole his notebook and his truck that he had left outside. I asked him when it happened and he said "just now." I told him that was funny since she had been at a friend's house since she got home from school and hadn't been home in a couple of hours. Yesterday, they came over to get their dog out of our backyard and they thought they were just going to walk right through my house to go get it...I told him "no, stay there and I'll go open the gate and let him out for you." I'm really getting tired of all the neighbor kids wanting to just try and cause problems. UGH!

This stuff with my Mom...

We haven't talked a lot since Thanksgiving. We saw each other last Sunday at church and although we were nice to one another not much was said. She came over Friday after work to drop off some stuff that we had left at her house on Thanksgiving and to drop off my Dad's check card that my brother had borrowed to pay for his car parts. Anyway, she wouldn't venture into the kitchen where Andy was and I had to tell Andy to say "hello" to her at least. Deidra wanted to spend the night with her and so Grandma took her home with her. I told her depending on how late Andy was going to work (he had to work all weekend doing some big computer updates and stuff this weekend), I would have him drop by to get Deidra since it's pretty much on his way home. Deidra called Saturday morning to tell me what they were going to do that day and that Grandma said she'd drop her off at home when they were done because they were going to be out this way anyway. She dropped her off at 7 and when Deidra asked where Daddy was I told her that he was still at work. I told my Mom that he had gone in at 2:30 in the morning and he was still at work. She said "well, maybe they can count this towards the times that he takes off early...with all the layoffs and everything happening it's a miracle that he has a job." This is the 2nd time that she's brought this up in about a month or two. I told her that he works at least 10 hours of overtime a week and that his boss is ok with any of them having to leave early as long as the hours are made up. I don't know...she's always talking about being positive and planting seeds and how she hates sarcasm because it's so negative and talks a person down. She left and it hit me "so it's ok for her to talk negatively and make me worry about things I don't have a reason to worry about, but Andy can't make a sarcastic joke?" In the end, which one causes more damage? Andy got home a littler after 10 last night and I talked to him about it and he reassured me that his boss was fine with him leaving when he had to as they know that Andy will work from home if need be and that he goes in early as well or he stays late if he needs to get something done. He also told me that his boss told him that he'd be getting a nice Christmas bonus this year for all his hard work. And as I got to thinking about it...my Mom was leaving work early to go get my brother from various things and driving here and there...how is that any different than Andy taking lunch and coming home to help me take the kids to the doctor or help me out with a home visit so that one of us can talk to the caseworker while the other one supervises the kids. She certainly likes to plant negative seeds lately. Andy told me to let it go and I'm going to put it back into God's hands, but I wish she could see sometimes what her comments do as well.