Surgery

Friday morning BJ had his surgery on his arm.  We rolled out of bed at 5:00 am and made it to the surgery center by 6:30.  They rolled him way around 7:30.  Then I got to wait all by my self.  It was freezing in the waiting room.  Thank goodness I had on my winter coat.  I might have lost fingers or toes without it.  at 8:30 the let me know that BJ was done in surgery and that he did well.  Once he came out of the anesthesia enough I would be able to see him.  I thought this would be very quick.  It wasn't.  It was almost a whole hour more before I was able to see him.  When I was finally brought back the nurse let me know that BJ was slightly flushed and he had been complaining that he was cold.  As I went into his recovery area he was whiter than snow and wrapped from head to to in about 8 blankets.  He even had one wrapped around his head.  I told him he looked like Mother Teresa, it made him smile.  He was also very proud that the nurse was able to see his underwear.  Ahhh, the things that are important to us when we are highly sedated.  Once we got home he slept most of the day but then couldn't sleep at night.  Today we were able to get some clothes oh him so we are real sure he can leave the house without freezing or getting arrested. 

Tomorrow we will take off the bandages.  I'll post pictures if I remember. 

Message from beyond

I'm not one much to believe in ghosts and being contacted from people who are no longer living, but sometimes the signs are just so obvious I can't help but acknowledge them.  I have also been reading a book titled "Heaven is for Real."  I don't know if the whole book is real but I like to think it is, plus it also gives you a better idea of what the unknown is.  So needless to say it has had me thinking a lot lately about heaven.  As we were going into BJ's surgery I told him that if he goes to Heaven while he is is in surgery to say hi to family and friends that are there.  We smiled about it and BJ told me the people he really wanted to see if he could.  We were the first ones scheduled for surgery that day and at 6:30 in the morning we walk into the surgery center.  When we opened the door to the center a perfect monarch butterfly fell out of the door.  BJ and I just looked at each other and smiled.  Reason being, his grandma loved butterflies and is remembered by butterflies.  We thought it was a nice way to let us know that his grandma was with BJ during his surgery.

Birthday Cake

I know I'm a bit behind on the blog.  I have had a busy life this last week so blogging has had to take a backseat to that.  However, the other night we went to my dad's house to celebrate his birthday.  It was Wednesday, my late night at work.  BJ and Elijah showed up at my work and we took one car there the at the end of the night we went back to my work and got my car.  We didn't get to my dad's house until about 7:30 but dinner was ready and it was delicious as always.  However, before we started eating we noticed that the chocolate cherry cake my sister made earlier that day had all the candles in it and they were all droopy.  BJ and I being annoying went to straighten them but they wouldn't straighten.  That was when BJ pulled one out.  All that came out of the cake was the wick, no wax.  Um okay.  We tried another one, more wick no wax.  Weired.  Finally we decided that the cake must not have been cool enough when the candles were put in.  We left most of the candles in and had dinner.  By the time we were done eating we waited a bit before singing and doing all the fun stuff.  However, as we were pulling the rest of the candles out of the cake they came out with all their wax.  What the heck?  So weird.  Guess the cake wasn't cool enough initially, but when it did cool down enough the wax reformed around the wick and came out of the cake.  We just had to be careful while eating it.  While I was eating the cake I almost broke my tooth on a cherry seed.  My sister just looked at me and said, at least we know they were real cherries.

Even with the seed and the wax it was still a delicious cake.  Even if BJ took all the cake he brought home to work and didn't leave any for us here. 

Cramp, Cramp

This has happened to me once before, and I have no clue why I didn't blog about it.  If I did blog about it, I can't find it.  Sooo...

I am off at a resource fair for people in our close district as I'm setting up our table I begin thinking about how long of a day it has been and how once I get home I'll have been gone over 13 hours.  As I'm thinking about it I realized my throat was itching so I tried to itch it, with my tongue.  All of a sudden it happened.  The back of my tongue middle got a cramp.  The first time this happened it was a huge cramp.  I actually started thinking what am I going to do?  Am I going to stop breathing?  How will I tell people what is wrong if my tongue is cramped? 

Tonight I did not freak out.  It passed but man that would have been a rough night if I, as a Speech person, couldn't talk to people.  That would have been funny but not cool.

P.S.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

My life...

I don't think you all realize how funny my life actually is.  When you read my posts, I can't convey the facial expressions that go along with most of my life.  I mean I can only put into words the look on my face, the look on B.J.s face, the look on Rescue's face, and best yet the look on Elijah's face.  Like right now BJ's face is a mix of angry eyes and pure frustration.  But it would be better if you could see my imitation of BJ's angry eyes and all that other fun things.  As I spent the day with my sister and my step-mom we figured out that my facial expressions add so much more to the stories of my life.  Most of them have to do with BJ or Elijah.  It would just make you laugh that much harder at me.  I promise. 

Halloween

For Halloween, Elijah will be Mr. Potato head.  That is if I ever get around to making his costume.  After getting Elijah feed, and in bed and the house sort of straightened up I don't really want to do work on his costume. 

On another hand, BJ last night had a weird force take over his hand last night and it woke me up.  As I lay in bed watching his hand become a spider it ran up and down the bed and finally on me.  It was the weirdest thing in the world.  I was laughing so hard I HAD to wake up BJ.  He had no idea what he was dreaming about but I still think it was funny.

If this is fall...

I'll keep it.  Normally Fall is cloudy, gray, and cold.  Not currently, it has been warm, with bright colorful leaves, sunny, and wonderful.  I love this weather.  It's like its early summer.  Love it!  I have the windows open, and the doors.  I just can't be more happy with how the weather is. 

Free is not always good

In Sunday's paper there was a coupon for a free small Dunkin Donuts pumpkin latte.  So what the hey, I thought I would treat myself today.  I show up and fell into the total guilt trip for using them without giving them any money.  I told them to throw in a donut just because.  Then as I get to the window the lady hands me a medium coffee.  They goofed and I still got it free.  However, the issue was that I don't ususally drink coffee and when I do I only have small amounts.  A medium coffee does crazy things to me.  I was wired from 8:30 until 1:00.  My poor co-workers think it's funny when I have coffee, I feel like I'm going to crawl out of my skin.  Even now at 9:45 at night I'm not sleepy.  What should I do?  Try to sleep?  Maybe.

Amber is that you?

When I was in Jr. High we got a dog.  Her name was Amber.  I wanted to post a picture of her but I quickly realized that we had her before the time of digital cameras.  Can you even remember that time?  Anyway, tangent, Amber was a quarky dog.  She had some weird habits, like having to have the water bowl full to the top and not to close to the wall or the food bowl.  One of our favorite was when Amber would be given a rawhide bone.  She would eat half of it then try and hide the other half.  However, her hiding spots were not that great.  She would put it in the middle of the floor or in the middle of the bed and try to put the covers over it.  What could we say, she was a weird dog.

The other day as I was cleaning up some extra blankets upstairs I found a pig ear hiding in there.  As soon as Rescue saw the ear she jumped off the bed, grabbed it and ran downstairs.  I didn't see her much the rest of the night but when I came back down stairs she was hiding under the table and her bone was sitting in the middle of the floor.  Really Rescue?  I can see it.  It's right there.  After I walked almost right up to it she grabbed it and ran upstairs.  Now the ear sits "hidden" next to the bed and every time I see it I can't help but think, "Ah, Rescue, there must be a small part of Amber hidden in you."

What happened?

Some kids ask "why," some kids ask "what's this," some kids ask "wha happen?"  Translation What happened?  BJ and I are starting to think this is a frequently used phrase at daycare.  I like it.  When ever Elijah asks he has the sweetest tone in his voice.  as though he really is caring about what is really happening or what had happened.  Some times we even get a bit of a hand flip too.  However, as with the lovely question of why coming up with an answer is not always easy, especially when you take into consideration that only about half of what Elijah says is understandable.  The kid also has eagle eyes and can see things that normal people cannot, let alone ones with glasses that are not the right prescription.  Then throw in a moving car, your lucky if you even know what he is talking about let alone have any idea about how to answer the question. 

If the shoe fits, wear it.

If it doesn't fit wear it anyway.  That would be what I have been telling Elijah for the past, um, 3 months.  So Elijah apparently has needed new shoes for the past 3 months and I have been jamming his feet into his size 5 shoe.  Grandma and Grandpa bought him new shoes today and they would be a size 7.  Yeah that's right, Parent of the year awards right HERE.  We are awesome and didn't get the hint that the reason Elijah learned to take off his shoes was probably because they hurt his feet.  Poor kid.  Never fear though, thanks to Grandparents, Elijah will have shoes that fit. 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa. 

Angry

The thing that made me angry today: Mrs. C. 

I have a student currently and I have been working with her for 6 weeks.  She is fresh.  She has only been applying her book knowledge for a total of maybe 3 weeks.  So I have to take everything with a grain of salt.  I have to look and assess her differently from some one who has been working in this field for years as an aid or assistant or anything else.  With that being said my student is doing amazing.  I am floored at the progress she is making.  Today I was even talking to her and as I was making suggestions she was 2 steps ahead of me.  It was amazing.  I'm rubbing off on her, I'm so happy.

However, today my student's supervisor came to observe her.  The end result of this was meeting was tears.  The last time this supervisor was in charge of one of my students the result was the same.  I mean really lady?  What gives you the right to make these girls cry.  You barley know these girls.  You don't know how many hours they spend prepping, researching, writing, planning.  You don't know how much they talk with me, ask me what my opinion is, what I would do.  If anyone on this planet has the right to make these girls cry it is ME.  If anyone needs to tell these girls they aren't working hard enough, or doing enough it is ME!  LEAVE THEM ALONE!

Plus at this stage in the game, the majority of the sessions have bits of me.  My idea, my games, my models, my help, my brain.  So when this lady comes in and criticizes therapy she is criticizing ME.  I have been a therapist for over 6 years now.  Every year I grow more, I learn more and I re-assess and change.  This past year I have learned WAY more than I have in probably the past 2 years combined.  So lady, you coming in 2 years in a row and making these girls cry and tell them that they are not good therapist you are telling me that.  And you know what?  I have spent way to long listening to people tell me that I am not good enough, that I am not "smart" enough to succeed at what I want to do.  It's people like you that make me hate school, that made me call my parents weekly, made me think I should leave school because I just couldn't do it.  People like you should not be teachers.  You are dream crushers.  I might not be the best report writer, or practical application person but gosh darn it I am a fantastic therapist.  My kids love me, my parents love me and I get results.  I connect with these kids and parents in a way some of your straight A students never could.  You want to know why?  Because these parents are coming to me telling me that they are being told there child won't be able to X Y or Z.  And I can honestly look in their eyes and tell them that's non-sense and their child will do what ever they set there mind to. Just look at me. 

So Mrs. C, Mrs. Foster and all you other teachers that told me I won't be able to do it.  :-P

I think I'm done now. *sigh*

The Doctors

Not the show, the Okel family.  So remember Thursday when I said I had a doctor appointment on Friday?  Yeah apparently it was the week before.  Missed that one.  However, I was able to get in today and I have a whole lot of blood work in my future.  That's the problem with getting a new doctor.  You have to get a bunch of blood work to see if you are "normal" and have a base line in case you do change somewhere down the line.  We also think my eyes are weird and I have to go to an eye doctor and see why I keep getting headaches if I drink over 4 glasses of water in a day.

As for BJ, on October 21st he will be having surgery done on his shoulder.  With that being said he will be out of commission for several weeks with me helping him do...EVERYTHING.  Just think how awesome our marriage will be.  Let's view it as bonding

What we do to our child

Elijah currently has a very large scrape on his chin.  The way he got it... BJ threw him off the swing set while yelling "I'm the king of the mountain!"  Okay maybe not.  It was more of a slow dismount from a porch swing that ended up with Elijah face down in a pile of wood chips.  Poor kid.  Now if you ask him what happened he tells you, "Daddy did it."

My turn...

Tomorrow I get to go to the doctor.  I recently have had to switch doctors because mine moved to Ohio.  I have been lazy and refused to get a new doctor.  I mean when I got sick last year that was not really the time I wanted to try and find a new doctor.  I finally need a new doctor so I have to go meet and interview a new Doctor.  BLAH. But now that I have Elijah and if I get sick from something he decides to share with me, I need someone to make me healthy quickly.  So wish me luck.

I'll fill you in more on BJ's visit to his doctor after we come to a final decision.

Modern Family

IT'S BACK!!!!  I love this show.  It makes me laugh every time.  Tonight lived up to it's expectation.  I can't tell you what exactly I liked because I liked it all.

Tomorrow is BJ's meeting with the Orthopedic surgeon.  So we will see what they say.  Cross your fingers, let's hope for a recovery that includes softball playing in the spring. 

SLAP!!!

Guess what BJ has... a SLAP tear.  If you know what that is good for you, for the rest of the real world it is a tear in BJ's shoulder.  Sometime during the summer while BJ was playing softball he tore a tendon in his right shoulder.  After polling some PT's it has been discovered that surgery is the best option.  After surgery comes the rough part.  BJ gets to be in a sling for a while (like 5 weeks).  Now BJ and I are sitting around and thinking about all the things he won't be able to do while in the sling.

• Picking up Elijah
• Putting on a shirt
• Buttoning pants
• Putting on socks
• Buckling Elijah in his car seat
• Cut food
• Showering
• Lift things
• But I love BJ and we will make the 5-6 weeks work.  I might be venting on here though when I can't handle the pain in the rear or the shoulder. 

I goch you mommy!

As the weather turns colder getting out of my nice warm bed gets harder and harder.  Actually, the weather is just a new excuse for me to not get out of bed in the morning.  I have the same trouble all year long.  But that's beside the point.  Today was another one of those days and I was running a tid bit behind.  BJ was not running as behind as I was and after getting dressed told me he was going down stairs to eat and leave.  He did then came back up as I was about to go get Elijah.  We both got our crabby kid up and today must have been sponsored by the word "NO."  Any question asked was answered with our favorite word.  "Elijah, do you want to wear this shirt today?" NOOOOOO.  "Do you want to wear these pants or these pants? Naaooooo. It was everything.  At that point BJ exited stage Left.  That was fine with me.  I had the patients for this today.  I finally convinced Elijah that since he did not want to wear socks today he needed to take off his footie pajamas.  It was a deal.  I have basically mastered the stand up diaper change so as long as I had the PJ's off I was good.  I just pulled down his PJ's but did not take them off his feet.  I needed leverage if he broke down later.  I took off his diaper and it was FULL.  The kid must have had a gallon of water to drink before he went to bed last night. 

As I took off his diaper I wrapped it up...and then it happened.  It took me a while to realize what "it" was but "it" was pee, and "it" was on me.  I freaked.  Ahh, pee.  What do I do to stop it?  I don't know, grab something, THE DIAPER.  As I put the diaper up to catch the pee I realize I had the water proof side catching the pee which means it was just spraying all over me.  I then yell at Elijah to "STOP"  I think I frightened him so he did.  Then I tried to gain my composure and figure out what to do next.  Thought to long more pee.  This time I decided to hold my hand out so it wouldn't spray on me.  Great idea.  Now I had a hand full of pee.  Now what genius?  I finally just pick him up and carry him to the bathroom.  He was done peeing by that time.  I wash my hand, call BJ who was only a couple of blocks away and he came back home.  I then had to change my pants and clean up pee while BJ got Elijah dressed.  From the bedroom I hear Elijah say, "I pee Mommy"  BJ laughs and Elijah follows it up with, "I goch you Mommy."

Well that was Croupy

Yes, as in Croup.  We had our first experience with the lovely virus.  On the up side, I learned a lot about what croup is.  If we could have any disease at least it is part of the one area of the body I am super comfortable with, the larynx. 

So it all started Sunday when Elijah woke up just a bit warm.  Not really a fever but not normal. We make it through the day with no other issues.  He goes to sleep that night and we think we are all good.  He then wakes up at 10:30 with his temp at about 99 degrees.  I give him some ibuprofen and go and watch the police drama in the hood.  At 11:30 we come in and fall asleep.  at 12:00 Eli wakes up screaming.  We bring him into our bed for the next 3 hours where he sleeps but I don't.  At 3 or 3:30 it doesn't really matter, I move him back to his room and put him to sleep.  He wakes up at 6:30 and is warm but not technically a fever I give him some more medicine and send him to daycare thinking he will be sent home during the day.  He makes it to the end of Monday but his fever rises again around 5:00.  We make it home and we are doing well.  We put Elijah down at 8:00 since he didn't sleep well the night before. 

He was up at 9, 10, 10:30, 11:30, 12, 1.  Not the normal snugly sick, but the I'm going to scream, if you touch me I scream louder, if you put me down I scream even louder.  All while he sounds like a duck/dog with his cough.  At 1 I decide that we will be heading to the hospital.  Even if they couldn't do anything for Elijah, I was hoping it would give BJ some time at home to sleep.  We walk in and Elijah goes into "I'm with other people mode" and is a doll.  As soon as we walk through the door they diagnosed him with Croup.  That was fast.  They give him some oral steroids and tell me somethings about croup that I don't comprehend because it's 2:00 and I'm sleepy.  During our wait I check on my brother who is on his European trip and realize he just woke up.  We get home around 3 and Elijah melts down again.  More screaming.  He finally falls asleep on the airbed that we had in his room that we thought would be used by company but wasn't. Thank you to them for having us blow it up.  It was much better than sleeping on the floor. 

By 10 we headed to his pediatrician and got some more medicine.  I think he will be fine, I just hope for sleep tonight. 

I'm Losing Momentum

Friction is taking effect.  The friction is being life.  I am starting to slow down in my will/want to blog.  I just feel like getting home from work and going to bed.  I don't like it getting dark out earlier, I don't like it getting cooler out.  I am just blah.  I'll get over it.  I'm also a bit sleepy, due to the fact that I now have a new student at work and for some odd reason it's hard. 

Last weekend we had a garage sale that we made a couple of bucks.  Then we we went out to B.J.'s parents house for a surprise anniversary party that his brothers planned.  It was amazing.  They did such a wonderful job.  It  was also nice to see his family from Minnesota.  But I'm just so sleepy from it all.