Lonnie gets to avoid surgery. For now. His weakness has gotten better but it isn't normal yet. The doctor said it could take 4-6 weeks to go back to normal. We will see. He can't play softball this year and he can't run anymore. He is not happy about any of that. Thank you all very much for the well wishes for him. He appreciates my bloggy friends :)
Speaking of softball, we had our first 2 games last night and I got my first softball injury. A nasty scrape on my elbow from doing a beautiful head first slide into third for a triple. No. That is a lie. It was from doing a major face plant in the outfield because the ball was stroked over my head and APPARENTLY my upper body moves faster than my lower body. Hence, the face plant. Oh and that was the FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME. I told my teammates that it was okay to laugh at me. I would laugh at them. Let's hashtag this one out, shall we?
#iamnot17anymore
#getwiththeprogramlegs
#icannotmovethismorning
#ididawesometherestofthegame
#wellmaybenotawesome
#itwasstillsofun
but most importantly #iamnot17anymore Let's move on.
Is it cooling off where you are? (not you Fiona ;) ) I'd say it is trying to cool off a little here. Low 90's and upper 80's on sunny days. You can smell fall in the air though and I am pumped. We had a gloriously mild summer (which I am sure means a hellish winter) and I do feel like we took full advantage of it. Now I am ready to take advantage of the fall weather. Already on the search for a pumpkin patch.
You know what it is time for right? PUMPKIN PAINTING! Sarah and I have already been discussing our color schemes for our pumpkins this year. I am leaning towards traditional Halloween colors but am always looking for ideas. I am really wanting to do lots of purple. Maybe shades of purple with some gold. Or purple and black and white. I'm not sure yet. Do you paint pumpkins? If not, you should...it's easy!
I am about to go on a pinning spree. I am looking for some great (and preferably clean) fall recipes. Doesn't the change of weather make you want to change your meal plans? Not that I am a great meal planner but I do try. I am ready for soups and crockpot meals and pumpkin anything! Feel free to share if you have any ideas.
We have got to get some family pictures done. The most recent one we have is from our beach trip in May and it is of our backs looking out on the ocean. This is not acceptable. I think I'll call and schedule today!
And because it doesn't seem right to have a post with no pictures I will leave you with this one from Saturday during the Razorback game.
***just one thing before starting this post. I just got my refund check in the mail from our screwed up IVF. Some of you had asked so I wanted to update on that! It was about damn time*** So last Thursday Lonnie called me from work and said that he got a cramp in his hip during a biopsy and it just would not let up. When he got home that night it was still bothering him so I helped him stretch it out for an hour. This was actually pretty comical because neither one of us are flexible at all. Friday. He goes to work and has a horrible day. He was in pain all day and could barely stand up. He had to take some breaks during cases {unheard of} and even tried bringing in stools and chairs to help take some of the weight off of his leg while working. {Obviously he stands up all day doing cases} Friday evening he comes home and he looks rough. He has been dealing with severe pain all day and he said the day was a blur. He went directly to the couch and fell asleep until the next morning. Then our whirlwind weekend happened. What I didn't mention in that post is that Lonnie was in bed or on the couch from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The pain got a lot better but he noticed that his leg was weak. For example, he could not lift it as high as he wanted. {Think if you were trying to march...he couldn't bring his knee up very high} He also noticed that the medial part of his calf was numb. We both started thinking maybe this was an issue with his back and not his hip. We both went to softball practice Sunday afternoon. He was feeling better and said he was in no pain. He is not the type to complain about every little ache {like I do!} so I know he was in some pain but he didn't say that. He didn't do much at practice but it was obvious that his leg wasn't working right. He was favoring it more than he had been. He went to work on Monday and had an "okay" day. He said he wasn't in pain {lies} and that the weakness wasn't getting worse. The problem is that it wasn't getting better. I told him to get an MRI. He said that wasn't necessary. When he came home Monday he went straight to the couch again and didn't get up. Finally, on Tuesday morning he decided that he should go ahead and get that MRI. {may have been my nagging} So yesterday after work, he did. Here is a normal MRI of the lumbar spine. I added some text just to show you the discs and the spinal canal....basic stuff...I am no radiologist!
And here is a snapshot of Lonnie's MRI. Sorry for the terrible quality...it is a picture of the computer screen.
So here is what that picture means. He has a severely herniated disc with a fragment of the disc causing severe spinal stenosis. Lonnie looked at the MRI himself and also had the neuroradiologist in his group look at it. Both agreed that it may require surgery. Not good. Need to talk to a neurosurgeon. Yesterday. Wednesday. He talked talked to the neurosurgeon. He suggested getting an epidur.al stero.id injection pronto and then resting until Monday. He said that if his leg weakness wasn't better by Monday then he will need surgery next week to fix it. If you don't fix it soon enough then the damage could be permanent. {As of right now he can't walk without a limp and feels like his leg may buckle every time he takes a step} So that is where we are now. Of course he couldn't get the epi.dural stero.id injection yesterday because he was too busy. He went in early this morning and his partner did it. {Irony...Lonnie does those but obvi can't do it on himself...ha!} Now we just wait and see. He is at work today but says he is feeling a little better. We were supposed to leave for a trip, just the two of us, on Saturday and be gone until Wednesday but that has now been cancelled. I am sad about that because we were really looking forward to having some hubby/wife time but I am way more concerned about his back. We are REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping to avoid surgery. Back surgery would be major. Like avoid back surgery if at all possible. He was scheduled to be off next week anyway {the trip} so hopefully he can get through work today and tomorrow and I can just take care of him after that. Just UGH.... I want him to be better. Blakely is totally freaked out that Daddy is "hurt". I should have never even said those words. I wasn't thinking. I was trying to explain to her why he couldn't throw her up in the air 15 times and chase her around the dining room table when he got home from work....like he does every single day. I said Daddy's hip hurts and now she cries every time she sees him. I feel terrible about it. Here's hoping he has an easy day at work today and tomorrow and then the doctor becomes my patient. Which requires doing everything I say. You reading this, Lonnie?
Whew. What a weekend around here. I am exhausted! I guess technically the weekend started on Thursday night. Hello football! B even wore her football jammers...
B and I spent all of Friday playing. She wanted to go outside so bad so I finally sucked it up and went out in the blazing heat. She looks like she is ready for kindergarten here....
Saturday was the Razo.rback game. B dressed up in her gear and I was trying to teach her to call the hogs. She has the Wooooooooo part down and she yells "RAY-BACKS" at the right time. Might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Will get it on video soon. The best part? This dress was from last fall but fits because of no cloth diaper booty. Panties for the win! I am now pulling out all of her clothes from last fall because I think most of the stuff will still fit now.
My mother in law also came on Saturday and brought C and S. She had them for the weekend so she brought them down to play with B. Blakely was beyond excited for one big reason. Collier built her a fort within the first 3 minutes of being here. She loved it and played in it the whole day. They all stayed the night and had a big time.
Cousins!
My mom and my aunt Jenni's birthday was on Sunday so we (me, them and all their friends!) went to eat on Saturday night. I meant to take my good camera to get some pictures of them but I forgot. My house was a crazy place and I tried to sneak out of there and ended up leaving it on the counter. Boo. Anyway, it was a good time. We went to Jenni's house after and chatted and gave them their presents. I got them both a photo album full of pictures of Blakely from 18 months until now. I wrote out beside most of the pictures a little tidbit about where we were or just something funny about the picture. I think they liked it ;)
Sunday was a big day mostly because it was FOOTBALL! It was my first experience with my new N.FL Su.nday Ti.cket. Needless to say I am in love with it... Blakely went to my mom's house and Jenni and my Grand went over to spend the day with Blake. They have a big time. Blakely yells DAN-DI, GIGI, GEE-MAMA the whole way over. Sunday afternoon Lonnie and I had softball practice. Have I mentioned we joined a co-ed league? I can't remember. Anyway, practice. At 430 in the afternoon. In the 100 degree heat. Let me tell you something...that is not awesome. And then it lasted for 3 hours! I had been loading up on water for 2 days knowing it was going to be so hot. It was good and I am so glad we joined because it is going to be really fun when it cools off a bit. But I don't think I can do another one of those practices. I felt fine after practice, just exhausted and hot, but on the drive home I started getting nauseated. Got home and proceeded to puke for 5 minutes. Then I was better! Crazy. Here's to cooler weather soon. Oh and I can barely move today. Ouch. A good ouch but still... I haven't played softball in 13 years and my body definitely is reminding me of that today! I am looking forward to getting back into it though. There is a girl on our team that has a little girl Blakely's age. I see a lot of playing in the dirt together in their future. And it is something fun that Lonnie and I can do together. I can't wait! Did you do anything fun this weekend?
Linking up with Megan today for a bunch of randomness!
You want to know what is embarrassing? Having to go to the doctor and have your ear cleaned out because it is impacted with wax. Yesterday morning when I was using a q-tip {I know} all of the sudden my ear just sealed up and I could not hear a thing. I took B to school and then went and worked out hoping it would get better. No. It was driving me so crazy that I couldn't even wait for Lonnie to get home with some utensils to clean it out himself. Off to the doctor I went. My doctor cleaned it out and it felt amazing. It was totally disgusting and I wanted to die when I saw what he got out of there but I was so happy even though I was embarrassed. And then all of the sudden I was not happy....I was insane dizzy. Like almost fell off of the table dizzy. Apparently shooting water that is too cold in your ear causes vertigo. So I sat there for about 10 minutes trying to get back to normal. I can't tell you how weird it was to be so so dizzy but not nauseated. I have vowed to never use a q-tip again. Oh how I will miss them though...
B is going to school 2 days a week now {which is why I am able to blog in the middle of the day...yay!}. She loves it and I love that she loves it. She woke up this morning chanting her teachers names. I think she probably dreamed about them and school all night...ha!
When I picked her up yesterday this is what she did all the way home. Non-stop. I think they talked about letters at school?!
I have no idea what to do with myself when she is gone. I am literally able to do things around the house that used to take me hours when she was here with me. For example, I paid bills this morning in less than 30 minutes. That used to be an all day process full of interruptions and toddler "helping". I am so much more productive and when she does get home I am able to focus on her instead of trying to do other things during my time with her.
Ok. I am saying it. She is potty trained. The last time she wore a pull up was on our trip to Pittsburgh. She did well the whole trip but did have a wet pull up a few times. But she wasn't scared to go potty in the airport, on the airplane or at Bridget's house. She even showed off her potty skills to Emily! It was pretty cute. I was nervous about her regressing on the trip and once we got home but she hasn't. So I ditched the pull ups and we are panties full time now. Even at school and she has stayed dry. I do not miss cloth diaper laundry!!! {fingers crossed this doesn't jinx us!}
I finally decided on a theme for B's 2nd birthday party. I am excited about it after not being able to get that way for a while. I think I am going to do a Sunday afternoon party that is a little more low key. The Saturday of her birthday weekend the Razorbac.ks play at home so I wanted everyone to be able to go to the game {3 hours away}. And if I do Sunday afternoon then I don't have to have as much food so maybe it will be less stressful?
I still haven't gotten my refund for our last IVF. I was supposed to get a check in the mail soon after I spoke with the nurse about it. Well, that was 6 weeks ago. To say we are frustrated would be an understatement. They have had plenty of time. Lonnie is calling today and demanding answers. He is doing it and not me because 1) I would probably cry and 2) they will be way more scared of him (I hate confrontation and am terrible at it anyway).
Y'ALL. This is the most important bullet in this post. NFL football starts tomorrow!!! OMG. You know I love me some football and I may be a *little* obsessed with fantasy football. I am in 2 leagues this year. The one with all of my girlfriends that we do every year and then another one with some people Lonnie works with. I used to work with them too so I know most of them. There is only one other girl in that league so I named my team A Woman Among Boys. HAHA! I am seriously so excited and I will try not to talk about it on every post. Unless you want! Who do you root for? Do you hate football? Lonnie hates it but I think it is mainly because I love it so much. He is more of a baseball guy. :)
I mentioned a while back that I am the matron of honor {that could not make me sound any older} in my friend Sarah's wedding. Well, this weekend we went and picked out her dress and the bridesmaid dresses.
She picked the most amazing dress and it was the 3rd one she tried on. It is beautiful and so very flattering on her. I knew it was the one right when she put it on. Perfect!
Then came time to pick out our dresses. The plan was for us all to get a different dress but all in the same color {plum}. What a great bride right?! Here is the one I chose. And I never do strapless because, well, you need boobs to hold up a strapless dress. But this dress is tight below the boobs so that holds it up. But do you know what tight below the boobs means? Tight on the tummy! So I need to tighten up this tummy of mine so I don't look pregnant on her big day. I have been working out but, I can't lie, I have been slacking off a bit lately. I don't always enjoy working out. I have to have some motivation to keep me going. For example, knowing I have to wear a bathing suit in front of my teensy tiny sister in law {who had twins} motivates me to hit the gym. Knowing we have a pool party to go to motivates me to hit it even harder. And knowing I have to stand up there with Sarah in front of hundreds of people in a dress that is TIGHT AROUND MY TUMMY makes me want to never leave the gym. I was doing so well leading up to our last IVF {big motivator} but once that went bust it was harder to get up and go to the gym.I usually do pretty good in the summer since we live on the lake and I know a bathing suit can happen any day. But during the winter? I am terrible... And the wedding is at the end of November, literally days after Thanks.giving. OMG... I am happy that I have found some motivation to get back into the gym like I was before. Hopefully it will stick around for the next 3 months leading up to the wedding! And if not, well, I'll blame the winter.... What keeps you motivated?
Recently I mentioned that my little family was going on a little trip to see another little family. And this past weekend we did it! Lonnie, Blakely and I packed up and headed to Pittsburgh to see Bridget, Steve, Emily and Gavin!
Bridget and I have been super close for the longest. It all started when we went through IVF together and got pregnant with our miracle babies. That was almost 3 years ago. It was time to meet for realzz.
We had been talking about planning some sort of trip for a while but it just never would work out quite right. When our last IVF failed, I told Lonnie that the next time he was off we were going. End of story. I needed it and Bridget did too. He said ok (didn't even question it!) and I booked the trip!
I have never met a blogger before and, to be honest, I wasn't nervous. I mean, it was Bridget. We text every day. But when you tell other people (who don't know you have a blog) that you are going to Pittsburgh to meet someone you met on the internet, well, you get some funny looks. And some c.atf.ish comments...HA!
Anyway, we flew out on Thursday and I won't even tell you about our day of traveling. You don't want to know. I will say that we got up at 5 that morning (for a 10 o'clock flight) and were supposed to get to our hotel at 3 and then head over to Bridget's house. We ended up getting to our hotel about 900 that night. It was a long day and I was sad that I had to wait another day to meet them but we were exhausted.
Finally on Friday morning we went to their house. On the drive over there Lonnie asked me if I was nervous. I wasn't but when we turned onto her street my stomach did do about 10 backflips. I mean we were really here. Finally, after a zillion emails, even more texts, and too may skype chats to count I was going to see her in real life! Crazy.
And, just like I suspected, it was like we get to see each other every day. :) If only we did get to see each other every day. :(
So I know all you want to see is the pictures of our adorable kiddos, right? Well here ya go!
We went to this awesome zoo where you can pet and feed the animals. Emily just loved feeding them and squealed with delight every single time.
Blakely was like no way in hell I'm feeding that thing. I'll just eat the carrot instead.
Gavin was just happy to chill. That baby is the best. I'm not even kidding. He just giggles and smiles all.the.time. Awesome. But we can all agree that Bridget deserved an easy baby after the honey badger baby, amiright?
Love this one of the girls checking out the lions. They kept saying RAWR!
The first thing Lonnie said when he saw E is WOW! I thought Blakely was tall!
Look at those adorable shirts Bridget had made for the girls. I haven't been able to get B to take it off.
After the girls napped we headed back over to their house to cookout and lets the girls run around and play. We had beautiful weather and they have the perfect backyard setup.
we weren't excited or anything ;)
E and G had on their Arkan.sas Ra.zorbacks gear that I got for them when we showed up the next day. Those are some pretty cute HOG fans!!!
We didn't get a pic of the kids in the jammers I got them but I just have to share because OMG CUTENESS.
Saturday was spent playing outside even more and meeting Steve's parents who live across the street.
The plan was to have them watch the kids while we went to the Stee.lers game that night. I was nervous, I can't lie. No one besides family members have watched B and only a few of them have put her to bed. I was nervous until I met Stan and Jeanne. Y'all. They are so sweet and you can just see the love they have for Emily and Gavin oozing from their eyeballs. It is awesome to see. I immediately felt comfortable and B instantly warmed up to them too. So to the Steelers game we went! When we left they were outside playing on the swingset so B didn't care a bit that we were leaving. WIN!
The game was super fun but the best part was getting to talk with Bridget the whole time. I don't think we shut up at all. The people around us were probably so annoyed! I do love me some football but I am a Patrio.ts fan for life! But this may have made me come around to the Steel.ers...I even bought a shirt! It was really a fantastic two days but two days is just not nearly long enough. There were plenty of "pinch me" moments. Like when our girls were taking turns going down the slide {50 times}, when I got to snuggle that chunk of a baby G-buddy or when Bridget and I were having cocktails and chatting on her patio {omg}. All things that we have talked about doing for the longest! Really I could go on and on... I wish so much that we could do those things more often. Thank you to Bridget {AND STEVE!} for opening your home to my family. We had the best time and I can't wait for the next time. Blakely is still saying "Em-meees howsh" {Emily's house} every time we get in the car so I guess we will have to come back this weekend?!?!?!
