Practically Pikasso Creations

Last week I told you that we went to Practically Pikasso for my birthday. Here are the final products of our creative day.

Wednesday Was Zoo Day

Yesterday we enjoyed a trip to the zoo with friends. Walking is supposed to be good for helping to heal Jadie's back, so we did plenty of it! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Caleb, 27 months and Oren, 11 monthsChris, Oren, and Melanie

Lauren and Caleb sliding down the tube through the Otter Exhibit

Jadie's picture of the otter pushing off the side of the tank

Caleb and Jadie with the otter statue

You know what these are...

Manly Men

As you might have guessed, Jadie has been spending most of his days in front of the television. This particular Tuesday afternoon, both of my boys cozied up in the recliner. Jadie worked on building up his player on Tiger Woods PGA Tour for Playstation, and Caleb showed off his milk & juice belly. True men, that's for sure!

Monday Night Madness

It's amazing that I can move a couch across the house when I'm motivated enough. Monday evening, we decided to steam clean our carpets. Several Christmases ago Jadie's dad and Fran bought us a steam cleaner (and yes, we do use it!). We got rid of 3 stains and at least 3 batches of cloudy, dirty water. We should do this more often!

Doesn't the house look different without any furniture?


Here's where it all got stashed...in a tiny tiled area by the front door. Caleb enjoyed hanging out on the couch with all of the pillows and his toys!

Egg Hunt at Home

Posting almost a week later...

Jadie and I hid eggs for Caleb to find last Friday morning. Since I was leaving town that afternoon with Caleb, we decided to do our Easter Egg Hunt before Easter Sunday. Caleb was much more into the hunt this year. We still "hid" most of the eggs out in the open, but a few were out of sight. He did a pretty good job of finding all 23!

The Hunt is On!

Give me a break, we just woke up :-)

As part of his Easter basket, we got Caleb 101 Dalmatians and this cute little puppy.

Funny little story:

When I heard Caleb talking in his crib this morning, he kept saying, "Owie, owie." I went into his room to pick him up and he handed me this puppy. He pointed to the puppy's head and said again, "Hurt, owie." I asked if the puppy had gotten hurt. He put his had on the crib rails near the wall and said, "Hurt, puppy, owie." Apparently, the puppy had bumped his head on the crib rails and needed a kiss from mommy. Isn't it amazing how the mind of a two year old works?

Something To Be Proud Of

Jadie and I would like to say how proud we are of Jadie's mom, Debbie. She has been working hard for the last few months to find a better paying job. She has finally done it! Way to go!


Debbie,
We look forward to watching you excel in your new position and hope that you find challenge and enjoyment in the years to come. We love you!


I know this picture is such a flashback, but I thought Debbie would enjoy seeing it again. This was taken when Caleb was only 12 days old.

I Miss My Dad Today

It's not that I don't miss my dad everyday. I think that I experience varied levels of awareness of how much I miss him and varied levels of emotional depth with which I feel the longing for his company. I would really like to still be able to see him in the flesh and be able to talk to him.

What I really mean is that I missed him today for a specific reason. Not a very important reason; I just wanted to call him up and ask him some questions about how in the heck to get rid of these annoying weeds in our back yard. I flashed back to the front yard we played in when my sister and I were little. I have memories of doing cartwheels in the St. Augustine grass and climbing the tree as well. I don't have a visual of there being any weeds in the front yard. How did he do that? Or have I deleted the weeds from my memory? Anyway. That's basically the conversation that I was longing for today. Just a normal everyday conversation about life (or at least the life of our lawn).

Tagged--4 Things

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Office Assistant at Mr. Henderson's Insurance Agency
2. Counselor Assistant at Sky Ranch
3. Teacher at the Rappoport Academy
4. Administrative Assistant for the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. Steel Magnolias
2. Cars
3. 8 Seconds
4. Sweet Home Alabama

Four Places I have lived:
1. Dallas (13 years)
2. Keller (5 years)
3. Van (just for 1 summer)
4. Waco (9 years)
Add that up, it's my whole life...

Four T.V. Shows that I watch:
1. LOST
2. Rachel Ray
3. Law and Order: SVU
4. Notes from the Underbelly

Four Places I have been:
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Branson, MO
3. Akron, OH
4. Fredricksburg, TX

Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Xanga.com-Subscriptions-Melanie :-)
2. Tracy
3. Desiree
4. Stephanie

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Ice Cream
2. Broccoli Cheese Soup
3. Breakfast
4. Texas Roadhouse

Four Places I would like to visit:
1. All 50 states (I count this as one goal)
2. Australia
3. Italy
4. France

Four Things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
1. More memories with Melanie
2. Summer Weather
3. Growing our Family (not there yet)
4. Vacation with Jadie (and maybe Caleb too)

Four Friends I'm tagging:
1. Kristin
2. Bonnie
3. Tricia
4. Amanda

Venting

Facts:
Jadie just had his staples pulled on Tuesday.
Jadie is only allowed to lift items under 10 pounds.
Jadie's work ladder weighs over 75 pounds.
Jadie is not allowed to drive.
Jadie must drive 30 miles each way, to and from work.

Piece of Trash Rule that Jadie Must Abide By:
If you're well enough to travel out of town and stay overnight, you're well enough to return to work.

The Rest of the Story:
We are totally annoyed (which is code for totally ticked off) that Jadie's doctor (who performed his back surgery) released Jadie to travel to my grandparents for Easter, but the disability group will not allow him to go.

What's at Stake (if we were to ignore the travel denial):
6 weeks worth of pay.

Final Decision:
I plan to go to visit my family without Jadie. Thank you Chris and Melanie for inviting Jadie to join you for church and lunch on Easter Sunday. Your friendship is like no other.

Happy Birthday to Me

I am catching up with Jadie again. For the next 2 months we'll only be one year apart! I counted on my fingers today and figured out that this is the 7th year to celebrate my birthday with Jadie (since I met him). Then I tried to remember what we'd done each year. That's when I was reminded that I am seriously lacking the ability to remember things. Is 27 too early to be forgetting these things? I guess all of the other meaningless information that IS actually stored in my brain has crowded out some of my memories. Or maybe it's the pressure of actually trying to remember that causes me not to remember...

This year, we celebrated by meeting Kristin for lunch at Cheddar's and then going to Practically Pikasso. And Jadie helped me figure out a way to avoid going grocery shopping (my last trip was Monday, March 3rd). "You shouldn't have to go grocery shopping on your birthday," he said. Thanks, honey.

Thank you for your calls and birthday cards. It always makes me feel special when people think of me on my birthday. I hope do the same for you!

P.S. Happy 3rd Anniversary Melanie and Chris!!!

Ketchup Time...I mean, Catch Up Time

First up, a blog entry I forgot to add almost 3 weeks ago...

Both Amanda and Desiree came to town and were both at our February 21st MOPS meeting. Bonnie, Amanda, Desiree and I spent some catching up with each other at Chick-fil-A for lunch...and then for pretty much the entire afternoon. I think when we looked at the time it was almost 4pm. Anyhow, here's how cute our boys were once they got bored with the Chick-fil-A playground (minus Desiree's cutie-pa-tootie since she travelled sans-children this time).

Peyton, Ryan, and Caleb

Later that same evening, a Girl's Night Out at On the Border. We almost closed the place down! We showed up at six o'clock to eat and visited until after ten.

Bonnie and Amanda

Me and Desiree

Cinda and Danielle

Also present was the always beautiful Stephanie! I didn't get a shot of her that night...

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu...

An update on Jadie...he's feeling much better and can't wait to get those staples ripped, I mean, plucked out of his back tomorrow. One last look before they go into the hazardous bio-watse bin at the doctor's office...

If you don't want to see, go ahead and click the little "x" to close out your browser. They really aren't that bad...anymore :-)

Here's What We've Been Up To...

In case you feel like you're in need of a little peek into our lives since the surgery...

• Watching 3 movies a day
• Lauren cross-stitching
• Jadie sleeping
• Watching the Price is Right
• Putting Neosporin on Jadie's 8 staples
• Spoiling Jadie with a hot breakfast every morning
• Lauren playing Sudoku
• Jadie doing word searches
• Starting a new puzzle (today)

Nope, you haven't really missed much.

Hunkered Down at Home

Jadie spent a painful 2 1/2 days in the hospital, the surgery was a success! As the doctor predicted, Jadie's leg pain was immediately alleviated. The trade off, however, was that he's in a great deal of pain at the incision site. I tried to take a picture, but 1. I couldn't get a clear picture, 2. I figured most people wouldn't really want to see the 8 staples anyway. On Tuesday, he was pretty loopy, very nauseous, and couldn't keep food down or keep his pain in check. The doctor kept changing his pain meds to try to relieve his nausea. By Wednesday, he was able to eat normal food and keep it down, but they still kept him another night to make sure they could get the pain under control. Thursday we came home! I helped Jadie take his first shower since Monday night because he can't bend or twist at all. We had a couple of friends bring over Bush's and share a meal with us. She had insisted on bringing a meal because her husband had surgery last June and she remembered how much she needed help at that time. For now, I think I have meals under control for at least another week; I stocked up on groceries on Monday night before our trek to the hospital Tuesday morning.

Friday morning it snowed while we were sleeping and this is what we awoke to find in the backyard...

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the day...roughly 12 hours from now, we'll be getting in the car to drive to the hospital. Please be praying. You are appreciated as are your prayers. Thank you all...