Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Day After

Yesterday I put up a post on how the day was spent as well as the fact that Nic fell and busted his mouth open. He was real swollen and bruised last night. Poor little man went to sleep with a wet washcloth over him because the cold feel to it made his mouth feel a little better. This morning when he woke up he still looked pretty rough, but some better so I decided to take a picture of "the day after" in order to share with everyone. Off and on today he would tell me his mouth was hurting, then awhile later he would say "much better mom". Lol. I just feel terrible for him!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Daddy's Boots


I
I LOVE these two pictures of Nicholas! I took them earlier this evening when he walked into the living room telling me "Look at Daddy's boots. I wear Daddy's boots". He had the biggest smile on his face. It is impossible not to fall in love with this little guy! (this was before his fall). He is getting so big on me and it is all happening at a speed that I am not ready to admit! Earlier he asked if he could go in the backyard. I told him not right now, not thinking that he would question me. He typically doesn't. Then he proceeded to prove me wrong when he said, "why mom?" What just happened there? Now he is asking me about my decisions. Of course I had to tell him it was lunch time then we had to head to my appointment. He didn't ask again until late this afternoon.....

Talkative Tuesday

What a busy day today seemed to be! However, it was an AWESOME one to say the least! 


I started of my day with a pretty irritating wake up... The neighbors puppy once again whined and barked all night! Past that, I got up and got my day started at about 430 this morning, right as Kev was getting up and ready for work. Around 730 or so, I was able to play catch up with a great friend of mine for a couple of hours. We talked off and on on the phone. It is always so nice to talk to someone that can relate to what I have been through and am still going through, both with the home life, health, as well as Army and kids. *** Thank you so much Carla. I cannot tell you how much talking to you today means to me. We definitely have to make a better habit out of it and not wait so long! Lol.***


Following the much needed chat time, I then got ready for a doctors appointment I had. One with Dr. Gomez. He is the surgeon that saved my life at Providence. We had to go in to find out my blood levels and see where my anemia is, in hopes of no longer needing to have the blood transfusion. Our prayers we answered today! Turns out all the meds I have been taking for the past six weeks have worked! My hemoglobin and other levels are working their way back up! Thank you God! I cannot be any happier over this. 


From there we just hung out at the house with the kids for the most part. Kevin had some work he had to do from home, so he has been somewhat occupied with that. Nicholas ended up with a busted lip tonight. Two hours after the injury, his lip is still swollen and bruised. He was playing outside and somehow fell over a truck. Ended up beating himself up pretty bad, but he is okay. The funny part was before bedtime I asked him to let me see his lip. I turned for a brief moment in order to turn the lamp on so I could see better. When I turned back around to look at him he was almost in my face with his lips puckered out. Truthfully, he looked like a duck with his huge, busted lip! Poor kid! We gave him some motrin to try to ease the pain some. I do believe it worked for the most part. 


Hope everyone is having a nice beginning of the week! I know we are looking forward to humpday tomorrow since it symbolizes the weekend is just around the corner!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Fabulous Football


 What a GREAT football weekend! We had games for awhile Saturday for some college games and again most of the day Sunday for some NFL! Of course, both go over so well in our house! Kev and I were able to sit down and actually watch the Florida game, where of course they won. Then on Sunday Kev had to pull duty, so it was just me sitting at home watching the Cowboys and then some of the Falcons games. I did more cleaning and organizing than I did watching the games, but I was always able to hear! I absolutely love weekends like this one!

27-13, beating the Houston Texans

27-24 Beating the Saints in OT!
48-14 beating Kentucky








Saturday, September 25, 2010

Another Battle We Will Beat

About two weeks ago we were hit with some unsettling news..... Kevin went into the dermatologist for some spots that were showing on his face. These spots have been popping up since he returned from Iraq in December of 2007. In one area he was starting to become real sensitive to the touch, which became pretty alarming. On his way home from the dermatologist he called me and in his tone I could tell something just wasn't right, which led me to worry. At that point he went on to tell me that he has skin cancer. They type he has is the second most common form and the slowest form in growth. He has Squamous Cell Carcinoma. He also informed me that he would be undergoing Topical Chemo, followed by the laser if the chemo didn't kill it all. This was all on a Tuesday afternoon. The doctors explained to him that it looks to be only skin deep, which is a great sign, so treatment should be no problem at all. The treatment should put him into remission. Wow, just the fact that my husband, the love of my life, has cancer and we are looking into remission is something that is difficult to say and write. It breaks me up inside to feel this kind of helplessness.

They were able to get Kev in very quick for the chemo treatment. He went in the Friday afternoon following the dermatologist appointment. The applied the topical chemo ointment to his entire face, excluding his eyes and mouth. They also applied it to his ears. Before this, the docs informed us this was the best treatment because over 80% of his face had the cancer and precancerous cells. Also, this treatment is 93% effective, where as others are still in the 80's if not lower. Once the ointment was applied, Kevin had to sit for about an hour as it soaked into his face. Following that hour, they put him under a light for about twenty minutes in order to activate the topical chemo. His face was bright red when he arrived home that afternoon. He was sensitive to heat, sun, cell phones, and computers for almost a week. The rays put off from cell phones and computers are what cause the sensitivity. He looked like he had an extreme sunburn. By late Monday his chin started to peel and flake off, then by Tuesday the remainder of his face did. The way it works is, the ointment only effects the cells that have the cancer in it. Therefore, only those areas peel and flake off. I keep praying this treatment took care of everything, though we won't know for certain until he goes back in. They will call when it is time, so no we have no answers as of now. As soon as we do know we will gladly update it on here. Please be patient, as we are having to do the same thing. The great news is, his face looks so much better! It is more clear with only a couple small spots remaining, which could still disappear before he goes in. They said it will take a couple of weeks. Right now we are at the end of week one and there is already such an amazing, noticeable difference. If there is any left, he will be put under the laser for removal. Kevin has said his face feels a lot better and the spot that was real sensitive before, is no longer an issue!

Thank God this was caught at a good time!

A New Blog

After a lot of thought and back and forth pondering, I have decided to set up a second blog. I will continue to keep up with this one as far as our life goes as a family, nothing will change at all with that. However, I have also decided to set another one up as more of my escape goat. One that I can write on random topics and just use as my outlet. I guess that is the best way to word it all. Feel free to take a look and follow that one as well...

http://perfectlyimperfectsoutherngirl.blogspot.com/

It will have the most random and honest topics that are on my mind!

Hope you enjoy and hope everyone is having a safe and enjoyable Saturday!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Oh My Goodness..... It Actually Rained!

What else can I say, besides I LOVE when it is cloudy and rains here! Why, you may ask? Easy enough, because that RARELY happens in El Paso! Yesterday it started to storm in the early morning hours and stayed very cloudy and rainy until late afternoon. I had to go to Bliss to handle some things, as well as the company FRG, the picture below was taken when I was at a traffic light on my way home. (For those of y'all that know the area I was on Transmountain. I was taking the mountain to get home in place of the interstate). On the way to post, my vision was very limited to what was in front of me because of how thick the fog was. However, I was still very excited over the weather! Just wanted to share my excitement!


A Week With Grannie.....Thank You

Abrams we saw on the rail while we were downtown. The kids loved this!


As many of you know, Kev's mom, Terri, came out to stay with us for a little over a week and left almost two weeks ago to head back to Georgia. We had a very enjoyable week with her being with us, the time spent was wonderful! Terri flew in to help me out around the house and with the kids. Let me just say, the help and just the simple fact of having her here was awesome! I could not have asked for a better week. The visit actually worked out well with Kev's schedule since he had a four day weekend for Labor Day. It gave him time to see his mom, which was great! We tried to get out of the house and walk around in random places in El Paso, trying to build my strength and energy back up. Plus, it was fantastic to be able to get out some. Over the weekend we all went downtown for about an hour and walked around, something Kevin and I have never had the opportunity to do. El Paso is so small compared to everywhere else we have been, lived, and grown up in! Nothing like Atlanta! Lol.

 On the Thursday that she was here, the two of us took Nicholas to the zoo. It was real cool to see him and his actions that day. Him having the whole day out without the girls is something he is not at all use to and he took it all in! We learned that one of the elephants at the zoo is actually retired from the Ringling Brothers, so that was pretty neat to see her and watch the zookeepers in action. 

As always, the kids ended up being totally spoiled by Grannie! They are so thankful for everything! The girls absolutely hated the fact they had to go to school for five of the days she was here. So, out zoo trip has been kept a secret! Good things they don't read this yet! 

When Saturday rolled around we all went to McDonalds to eat before we had to take Terri back to the airport. It was a sad day, no one wanted her to leave! Hopefully it won't be a year or so before we are all able to see her again!

The only part I am upset about for the time Terri was here..... We didn't take more pictures! We both kept forgetting we had the camera with us. Next time we have to take a ton! ☺

Terri, thank you so much for your help while you were here! I cannot tell you what that meant to me and what your continuing support means. I had such an amazing week and loved all of our talks. It made me feel more of a closeness to you, and that means the world to me! I could not have asked for a better family than what I have been blessed with when it comes to you and David. Thank you! I cannot wait for the next time we are able to see you! We all love you so much. 


 Caitlin before school

This moment was awesome! Kevin kept messing with the kids and Terri asked them if he should go to the corner. Nicholas said no, but the girls were quick to jump on it! So as a joke he walked and stood there for like two seconds. Luckily I was able to capture the moment! 

The kids being crazy in the backyard! Caitlin was on the tricycle with Nicholas hanging on to the back


Overlooking downtown El Paso from Scenic  

Overlooking West El Paso from Transmountain


Zoo Pics Below












Say A Prayer

Since yesterday afternoon into early this morning I have had something weighing so heavy on my mind and heart. Something that every time I think about it (which feels like a constant thing), the tears begin. Yesterday afternoon while I was sitting at the lab, waiting for blood work to be completed, I found out some horrible news from a close friend. She found out awhile ago that she was pregnant and this week when she went in for a sonogram they could not locate her precious baby girl's heartbeat. My heart is breaking because it seems so unfair. This is the fifth baby she has lost due to medical reasons. She does have one adorable little girl that is two now, who is the light of her life! It makes you think about all the women that can have babies with no complications and either abort them, let someone else raise them (whether it be through adoption or pawning them off on someone else), or just simply complain all the time and take it all for granted. It makes me think back to all the complications I had with my three and all the hell we went through to get them all here. How close we came to losing Bre on multiple occasions before and even a couple of times after her birth. The fact she was an emergency c-section because her heartbeat kept stopping. The fact that Bre and Nicholas were both preemies (even though Nicholas didn't have the complications or low birth weight like Breanna). Yet, through it all, I thank God all the time for these three and would do it all over again! At 25 the chance of me ever having another baby was totally taken away from me due to medical reasons. After all the health issues I have had thrown my way and the multiple times I have been told I would never have children, I am eternally grateful that I have been blessed. So, if you are one of these pregnant women that have a non-complicated, healthy pregnancy, QUIT complaining and be thankful! Stop and say a prayer that you have been blessed with something so many of us dream about! I have another friend that means the world to me that cannot seem to get a break. She has been pregnant seven times, but due to genetic problems, she does not have one that is here with her now. I went through her last pregnancy with her in 2003/2004 and it was heartbreaking to get the phone call that her baby went into cardiac arrest. Her baby that lived for three days. One that she would call me in the middle of the night just because she wanted me to hear her babies heart beat on the Doppler...... It crushed me to see my best friend go through that.

I know I am just going on and on right now, but I am upset and wish I could do something to change things. Not only for these that I have mentioned but also for friends that have gone through the still birth, friends that can't seem to get pregnant and want a baby more than anything.....

Just be thankful for the pregnancies and children you have... if you're going through a normal pregnancy suck it up and put a smile on your face. If you are tired or a little swollen, that's part of being pregnant. You should be happy if you are sick, it means your baby is healthy and your hormones are working properly. You child is getting what it needs. Just stop and think before you speak, you never know or understand what others have gone through with being pregnant or trying to get that way.

Please just say a prayer for the loss of a baby that my friend is going through. She needs as many prayers as she can get right now.....