Sickness & Kindness: Part 2

Well, Tristan is totally well, but now Mommy's caught the stomach bug. I felt great until early this evening, then all of a sudden... Ugh! I do NOT like throwing up. But I've just taken some phenergan, and I've had some Sprite, thanks to my good friend, Michelle. I just hope that my bout with this only lasts 24 hours, same as Tristan's did. And, I hope Logan isn't next. Thanks for all the prayers & offers of help. I love you all! Headed to bed now. Night, night.

Sickness & Kindness

Late Tuesday afternoon, Tristan started throwing up. Poor kid. He was projectile vomiting all over the house. By bedtime, he had thrown up on most everything in the living room. All the couch throw pillows, and the covers for the couch cushions, had been in the washer. I had cleaned puke off the chair and the floor, my clothes & his hair. Ugh!

But even in the midst of all that, we had a really sweet moment. I was feeding Tristan ice chips, and rubbing his back, while he lay on the floor. I told him that when I was a little girl, Grandmommy would feed me ice chips & rub my back when I was sick. He said, "That's right, because Grandmommy is your mommy. So she taught you how to take care of me when I'm sick." Awwwww. I almost cried. There's something powerful in doing for your children what was once done for you. Thanks, Mom, for all the times you patiently & lovingly cared for me when I was sick. You always knew just how to make me feel better. Actually, you still do, come to think of it. I love you, Mom!!

Tristan was supposed to have swim lesson at 5:30 yesterday, but I called Katie to cancel. He hadn't thrown up since early that morning, but I just didn't want to take the chance of him throwing up in the pool. That probably wouldn't make us very popular at the gym! Katie said we could reschedule for Friday instead, and said she hoped Tristan got better soon. Well, a couple of hours later, she called me back. She said she'd started thinking about how Matt's gone, and what would I do if I needed something, but couldn't leave the house since Tristan was sick. She asked if there was anything she could do to help us out, or if I need her to pick anything up for us. How sweet is that? I only met Katie about 3 weeks ago, and we only see her for 1 hour a week. But she still thought to ask if we needed any help. Pretty cool, huh?

Doctor Updates

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. To be honest, I have trouble getting inspired about much of anything when it's so dang hot. I've heard of a disorder called SAD. Apparently, people get it in the winter, when the days get shorter, when there's less sunlight. For me, it's the other way around. I start feeling lethargic when the sun is out for hours on end, beating down on everything with unrelenting heat. Ugh! Give me fall & winter anytime! I mean, heck, you can always put on more clothes, ya know what I mean?

Anyways... I now have the updates for you on my numb feet. In case you missed my earlier post, my feet have been going numb when I work out at the gym. It happens every time I get on the treadmill, or the bike, or the crossramp machine. Not painful, but annoying just the same. Well, I went to the Sports & Orthopedic clinic first, where he asked a lot of questions, then ran several blood tests. The tests all came back normal, including the one for diabetes. When he called me with the results, he said he was stymied. He had no answers, and said maybe the neurologist would figure something out.

My neurology appointment was yesterday morning. The doctor performed a nerve conduction study. The doctor was great, but I definitely wouldn't recommend the test. First, they send electrical shocks into the nerves in your legs, to check that the nerves are properly conducting impulses. The shocks near your feet aren't so bad. But as they go further up your legs, the nerves apparently get deeper, because he kept turning up the power on the electrocution machine. With every shock, you involuntarily jerk and yelp. After a while, I started laughing, just because I felt so silly squirming all over the table! Part two was the needle torture. For this part of the test, the doctor takes acupuncture needles, and inserts them into various muscles in your legs. Then, he wiggles the needle around, as he listens to your muscle. Finally, he asks you to flex your muscle, as he wiggles the needle around. Big ouchie!!! At the end of the testing, he said that I did better than a lot of people. He said many people tell him to stop, and actually leave the office without completing the test, saying that it's the worst pain they've ever felt.

Final results? He teased me that I'm obviously just crazy, since I (that is, my nerves & muscles) performed better on the tests than about 95% of the population would. He said he's seen other cases just like mine, where no cause is ever found. The answer is to just deal with the numbness, and be really thankful that the experts didn't find anything, since if they did, it would probably be "really bad". So, there's my answer. There is no answer. But hey, I'll definitely take that over a "really bad" answer anyday!

I love the things Tristan says!

A few minutes ago, Tristan made this request...

"Mommy, can you please get my Things That Go book for me? It's right over there. Can you do me that favor, please?"

So sweet!

Fun Fruit

Both of my kids are very easily entertained... just like their mommy! Here's a video of Logan eating his snack yesterday. I just love his laugh!

He Can Too!!!

At the gym, you can leave your children in the child care area for only 1 hour, until they learn to walk. Once they learn how to walk, they can stay for 2 hours. That means that you actually have time to do a good workout, and then go swimming, get in the hot tub or sauna, and then take a shower. Cool!

So at the end of last week, I decided to take advantage of my new freedom, since Logan is walking now. I worked out for an hour, then spent some time in the hot tub, sauna and pool. After that, I took a hot shower, got dressed, and dried my hair. After 1 hour & 40 minutes (and feeling stupendous!), I went to pick up the kids. They met me at the door.

"We've been looking for you!" Oh my gosh! Are my kids OK? What happened? "You know that you can only leave Logan for 1 hour!" But, but, but, I stuttered. He's walking now, so he can stay for 2 hours. They informed me that they have never seen Logan take a single step. They've never even seen him stand up on his own. And then they asked me if I was sure he knew how to walk. Can you believe that?

Well, I have news for them! My child can too walk! I have video proof on my camera, from yesterday morning at my friend Anna's house. I plan to show it to them in the morning. Just because he's taking total advantage of them, and getting them to hold him the entire time he's there, doesn't mean that I'm lying. It just means that they're suckers.

So there! Take that, gym people! :)~

Our Brave Boy

Tristan did a great job in his swim lessons last week. Tristan & Katie did all kinds of fun stuff. Then, on Wednesday, Tristan surprised us both by letting go of her, and swimming by himself on his noodle. He was kicking like crazy, and he even did a pretty good job of steering himself around. (Not an easy feat, steering a noodle! lol) We were both so proud of him! Like Tristan always tells me, he's really brave, just like his daddy!

You're Invited!!!

Hey, gals! My best friend, April Tindall, has just started her own Mary Kay business. This is a great opportunity, and I'm really excited for her. Her debut party is this Thursday night. This isn't going to be a typical Mary Kay party. It's more just a chance for us to help April celebrate the opening of her new business. There will be refreshments, door prizes, a special pampering beauty treatment, chances to play with some of the new beauty products, and most importantly, the chance to show April that you love & support her. I know it would mean the world to her if you came. Here are the details...

Date: Thursday, July 24th

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: April's house - 2445 Mountain Park Rd

RSVP: April @ 329-1829

Come on, y'all. Let's really make this a great night for April. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Fun Weekend

My fun weekend started Friday night. Our community group gals went to On The Border mexican restaurant for a night out. April & I drove up together, and dropped my kids off at Stu & Ruthie's. (Thanks again, guys, for babysitting!!!) We all met at the restaurant about 6:00, and I didn't pick my kids up until about 8:30. We had so much fun eating, talking, eating, laughing & eating. Thanks for such a fun night, girls! (I tried to take pics, but it was too dark inside the restaurant... oh well.)

On Saturday, we went out to Rodney & April's house. We all played and hung out, and Rodney grilled hot dogs & hamburgers for us. For dessert, we had watermelon. Yummy! Logan especially enjoyed the toddler swing outside, and practicing his walking inside. Tristan had a blast on the seesaw & tricycle outside, and playing with cars inside. April let me go shopping in her "Mary Kay store", and we had fun practicing our supermodel poses, complete with hairdos by Logan. Thanks for another fun day, guys! We love y'all!

He Walks!!!

Just within the past few days, Logan had started taking 1 or 2 steps. It didn't really seem intentional, though. More like he forgot that he didn't know how to walk. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he would plant his bottom firmly on the floor again.

Tonight, we went to Granddaddy & Grandmommy's house for dinner and a visit. Suddenly, something seemed to click in Logan's brain. Ohhhhh, that's what walking is all about. He took 2 steps, then 3, then 4. Within an hour, he was walking back & forth, balancing well, obviously very excited. Mommy is very excited, too.

Go, Logan, go!!! You've just made your Daddy a very proud man! (I love you, Matt!)

Doctor Visits

We've all been to the doctor today. Here are the results.

Logan & Tristan have "beautiful ears." Tristan was on meds for an infection in his left ear, but that has cleared up. I wondered if Logan had developed an ear infection, because he's been having so much trouble sleeping. Nope. Still just teething. Have I mentioned that he's cutting approximately 27 new teeth? Well, it seems like it, anyway.

I just got back from my visit to Orthopedic & Sports clinic. My feet have been going numb when I exercise, so I went to the foot specialist to get it checked out. He said he's never seen a case like mine, where both feet go numb, just during exercise. I told him I was so glad he would get featured in a medical journal because of me, and he laughed, and said they'd probably even include his picture. Anyway, he said my circulation is fine. The pulse in my feet is very strong, so he ruled that out. One of the other likely possibilities is diabetes. When I told him I have family history, he sent me straight over to the hospital for blood work. I should get the results by noon on Friday. If diabetes is ruled out, we'll go from there.

P.S. Michelle did a great job at community group last night. She got her lines just right! Tristan was very happy. :-)

Predictions

We're heading to community group in a little bit. We'll be at Todd & Michelle's house again tonight... er, Mr. Robinson and his wife, Michelle, that is.

We usually get babysitters, but tonight is a bring-the-kids evening. Tristan just announced to me that he's going to take his Dale [Earnhart] Jr racecar tonight. Then he told me the conversation he'll have with Michelle when we get there. Here's how he told it to me...

When when go in, Michelle will say, "Whatcha got there?"
Then I'll point my Dale Jr. car at her, and say, "See?"
Then she'll say, "A Dale Jr car? Wow! OK!"
And I'll say, "That's right!"

Come on, Michelle. Don't let him down!

A Big Bloggy Welcome to Rodney!

My friend Rodney Tindall now has his own blog. I love the title of the e-mail he sent me yesterday. It said... The blogosphere got me!

His site is Arkhiker's Vicinity. I've added it to my blog list, but the link to it is http://arkhiker.blogspot.com/

Come on, everybody! Head on over there & give him a big welcome. (And check out the cute pic of Savannah with her "boxing gloves" on!)

Swim Lessons: Take 2

Quite a while ago, I posted about Tristan's swim lessons. The first one went great. The second one - eh, not so good. The third was a nightmare. Why? Because they were group lessons, and Tristan is a 3-year-old boy. There was one teacher, with 6 kids, for 45 minutes. I did the math, and that meant that Tristan was getting the teacher's direct attention for just over 7 minutes per lesson. The rest of the lesson, he was supposed to sit still, pay attention, wait his turn, and not drown. By the third lesson, it was obvious that it wasn't going to work out. We dropped out of the class, and I lost my $50, since they don't offer refunds.



I was really disappointed, though. I grew up loving water & swimming, and it's really important to me that my kids feel the same way. So I decided to try private swim lessons. I'd seen a girl at the pool teaching individual lessons, and the kids she taught all seemed to do really well. I had a talk with her, signed Tristan up, paid the (exorbitant) fees, and they started last week.

In the very first lesson, Tristan was already ahead of where he had been after 3 group lessons. Thank goodness, since again, they don't offer refunds! These lessons are only 30 minutes each, but they are one-on-one, so he gets all the attention, all the time. That works much better for him. (Like, duh!) Plus, if I do the math, private lessons are actually a better deal. He's getting more quality time for my money. We're both excited about swim lessons now! I've signed him up for 12 lessons. Katie is really good with Tristan, and I can't wait to see what he'll be able to do by the end of their lessons. This video is from his 2nd lesson with Katie.

Favorites

Yesterday, I asked Tristan what some of his favorite things were. Here's the list...

Favorite Ice Cream: blueberry (he said because blue is his favorite color)
Favorite Photograph: "daddy playing with me"
Favorite Food: blue popsicles
Favorite Shirt: his shirt with sailboats
Favorite Book: "a car book"
Favorite TV Show: the Daddy movie (this is a video we made before Matt left with him reading books to the kids, to play at bedtime)
Favorite Store: the library (I love that his favorite store is free!)
Favorite Animal: fishies
Favorite Game: cars
Favorite Word: car
Favorite Person: Aunt Stephanie

I thought his answers were pretty cute, and sweet. Aunt Stephanie (aka favorite person) came over today, and played with Tristan so I could take a nap when Logan did. When Logan & I woke up, we found them snuggled up in the recliner together, watching the cars movie. They were sharing a bowl of popcorn and a Diet Doctor Pepper. Later, she read him a book he asked for. Here are the pics...

Crazy Hair

Logan's love affair with hair is still going strong. He constantly has his hands in my hair. I bought him a couple of very furry lions at Wal-Mart, so he could play with their hair instead of mine. He really likes his lions. He has to have both of them to go to sleep at night, and when he wakes up, he grabs them both before I get him out of bed. But he still loves my hair the best. I took some pics of the lions & of me, to show you what he does to us.

Prayer Request

Matt asked that I post a prayer request. On Saturday, his company lost a soldier, Sgt. Anthony Woodham, of Rogers. This is someone Matt has known for some time, through the Guard. Please pray for Sgt Woodham's family (he was married with 3 children), and for the company, as they mourn their loss. The memorial service in Tallil will be tomorrow. (Matt will be speaking during the service.)

Here is a link to the news story...
http://www.nwarktimes.com/bcdr/News/63519/

Family & Friends

I was just sitting here, getting ready to go to bed, thinking how thankful I am for my family & my friends. I am so lucky to have people who really know me, and genuinely care for me. Some people think that power, or money, or prestige are important things in life. I think that love, and friendship, mean infinitely more. No amount of money could make me feel as good as Mindy Choinard did at church today. She called me over, just to sincerely inquire how I was doing. It wasn't a perfunctory kind of question. She really cared. You can't buy that for any amount of money. My friend April knows me in and out. I can tell her anything. And you know what? She still loves me. That's powerful. My family, including Matt's family, are all the same way. They know me, and they love me. I just feel overwhelmingly grateful today for these people, and others who care for me. Life just wouldn't be the same without them. Thank you all. I'm crying tears of gratitude tonight. You mean more to me than you know!

Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday, we went to Rodney & April's house to celebrate Independence Day. We had a wonderful time. I took dessert, but they did everything else. At one point, I asked if I could do anything to help. April said no. She told me that since Matt is away serving, it means that I'm serving too, so they were just going to take care of me for the day. Isn't that nice? They served us hot dogs, chicken, potato salad, chips & strawberries. Yummy!

Tristan and Savannah had so much fun playing together! At one point, Savannah gave Tristan a big hug, which turned into a wrestling match. I grabbed the camera & took a video of it (see below.) After it was over, I asked Tristan who had won. He didn't even hesitate. "Savannah won!"

Logan was trying to push random things around the house as walkers, so April dug out Savannah's old walker. After that, Logan was off & running! I took a video of that for you, too. Boy, that kid can really get around! I think he could walk by himself right now, if he really wanted to.

Thank you, Rodney, April & Savannah. We had a great time!

After dark last night (about 9:15 pm), Tristan, Logan & I went out in the back yard to watch fireworks. From our back yard, we have a perfect view of the fireworks show the country club puts on every year. Both kids loved it. Tristan kept yelling, "Yeah! It's fireworks time! They're very pow-y!" Logan clapped repeatedly. I'd say the fireworks were a big hit.

The only thing that could have made this day any better would have been having Matt here to celebrate it with us. We love & miss you, Matt, but we're so proud of you for what you're doing. Hope you had a great 4th of July, too!!

Baby Einstein

Tristan, trying on Mommy's glasses yesterday morning...

The Pow Game

Greetings for Matt

Happy 40th, Mr. Robinson!!

Last night at community group, we celebrated a big milestone. Todd will be turning 40 tomorrow. I plan to start calling him Mr. Robinson, since I was brought up to show proper respect for my elders. Here is the front of the card I made for him...

The inside of the card read

So it's your fortieth birthday;
Four decades have gone and passed.
They say when you get older,
Time goes twice as fast.

I wouldn't know, of course,
Since I am still quite young,
But for you, the music is over;
Your last song has been sung.

You're just over the hill at forty;
You went down without a fight.
Time rushes on, and soon
That "hill" will be out of sight!

Happy Birthday Anyway!

(I found the poem @ http://www.poemsource.com/birthday-poems.html)

We had a great time hanging out, and eating the delicious cake Michelle made. (Michelle, feel free to post the recipe in the comment section of my blog!!) It was great to see everyone again after being out of town & then stuck at home sick. I love you guys!

Chaplin or Hitler?

I just made frosted brownies, and I let Tristan lick the frosting after I was done. He got it all over his face! I told him to go look in the mirror, to see how silly he looked. He came running back, telling me he looked like a man. I can't decide if he looks more like Charlie Chaplin or Hitler.