Major Pain!!!

This past weekend i was just feeling awful, with a tired/weak feeling I just couldnt shake. the left side of my mouth was hurting pretty bad, too. So monday i went to the Doctor. And he said I had a bad gum infection! My wisdom tooth on the upper left is coming in sideways or something, and theres this big gap/space where little bits of food keep getting caught and it caused a bad infection in my mouth. I am in sooo much pain. it hurts to open my mouth, swallow, yawn, and especially EAT. ive had to get used to eating mostly with the left side of my mouth which is really aggravating. The pressure and infection is also causing my left ear to hurt, and my head to hurt, and me just feel really bad and achy all over! Not cool when i have so much going on during the day- taking care of 3 kids-- and all i want to do is sleep i feel so bad :(


Anyway, ive known for awhile that I was going to have to have my wisdom teeth taken out.. I was seen at thedentist a year or two ago.. and we were going to have it done but decided to wait b/c they werent really bothering me and it was soo expensive. But now the dr is telling me basically that i HAVE to.. im going to keep getting infections if i dont. So im on an antibiotic this week to hopefully get rid of the infection.. then I have a consultation with an oral surgeon on Friday for them to look at my teeth and hopefully they can make me an appt soon to get it over with. The dr is planning on taking me off my blood thinners for a few days so I can have the surgery, then Ill go right back on them. I just hope everything goes ok-- ive been thru so much lately, medically, and Im ready to feel like my normal self again! Wish me luck! :-P

2009 Halloween Party

Last Friday night I had a kids/family Halloween party. So much has been going onlately and I wnated to do something fun for the kids. So we started planning a Halloween party. We invited lots of people and i was surprised at how many people were able to attend! We decided to have it at our church gym, b/c theres nooo way we could fit that many people in our house :-P I think it went pretty well, we had the party from 6:30-8, We had snack foods, cupcakes and drinks. We had the big bounce house set up.. and the kids LOVED playing with the karaoke machine that the church has.. they would stand on the stage and sing.. it was so cute :-) My SIL brought the Kids Bop Halloween cd, so that was cool. Brooke and Caleb ran around like CRAZY the whole night--they had so much fun! They love playing with other kids. Rachel slept through mostly the whole thing in Aunt Nancys arms :) After the party it took forever to clean up and we were EXHAUSTED but it was so worth it.. everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We might have to make it an annual event ;-)



Heres some pics I took-- I wnated to post a few more but the internet is acting up..

My Sister-in-law and I

Brooke all covered in cupcake! ;-)

Jen, Ladybug Whitney :) And Ryan

Me, Shannon, Kelly, and Amy :)

*Recent Health Updates*

The other day I got an appointment set up with a Therapist. As many of you know, my DR diagnosed me with Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder after I got out of the hospital,and thats whats been causing all my anxiety and panic attacks. He advised me to get set up with a Therapist, and he thinks the therapist can help me learn ways to cope with the anxiety and learn to talk myself down before it turns into a full-on attack. He said its essential to work on this so I can get back to my normal life. So i called a program that is offered thru Arnolds work, and they set me up with a Man in Morganton. My first appt is going to be on the 27th. The first 3 sessions are free, which is nice, because Therapy isnt cheap! But i really hope this helps me, and I cant start to move forward in my life... I am looking forward to feeling like my normal self again! Im trying to stay positive!

Also, I had my blood checked yesterday and they called me with the results yesterday afternoon, and for the first time in SEVERAL weeks, it was normal!!!!!!!!! So i was thrilled. See, when youre on Coumadin they check your blood to see how likely it is to clot, and there is a number system-- youre supposed to be between 2 and 3 to be "normal." And for the past several weeks I was at a 1.4 and they couldnt figure out why. They kept upping my dose of meds over and over and then FINALLY yesterday my number was a 2.6! I was shocked that i jumped over a whole point in just 5 days, but I am just glad its up. When the numbers are between 2 and 3 I am at a VERY low risk of developing a clot-- that means the Coumadin is working the way it should be. If it gets over 3 though, then im at risk for bleeding and not being able to stop it (nosebleeds, gum bleeding, internal bleeding etc ) and thats very dangerous, so i hope my levels stay consistent at where they are! I get re-checked again in a week.

*Monday*

We didnt get to go see my mom Sunday night for her birthday, because my sinuses were acting up really bad, so she decided to come over and visit us Monday morning. (She had taken the day off work for her Birthday) I love it when she comes over because she always makes us breakfast-- I miss her cooking! I cant cook good at all, so its always nice when she cooks me something :-P So we had some biscuits and bacon and yogurt. And she spent the day helping me with the kids, and helping me clean up the house. Our laundry had piled up more than you can imagine over the weekend, since i hadnt been feeling well. So we did all the laundry, folding and putting it away-- felt so good to get that accomplished! Then we worked on cleaning and rearranging Mine and Arnolds bedroom.. I really like how it looks now. Now all it needs is some new decorative things to hang on the wall-- the walls are pretty much bare right now. Mom even put us dinner in the crockpot so itd be ready that evening so I could eat before I went to Scouts and so ARnold wouldnt have to cook anything for the kids. Lastly she watched the kids while I got a shower and got dressed. Then i got all the kids down for a nap and mom left. It was a great day and Im glad she came to visit :)




Monday evening I was going to a GirlScout Leader Seminar at the Girl Scout office in Hickory. I went with my Sister-in-law since shes the other leader of the group. She came and picked me up and we went over there around 6. The class was supposed to last from 6-9pm.. which seemed like FOREVER but it wasnt that bad. I had my notebook, pen, and was taking notes, so it felt like being in college again :-P But the class was really helpful. The woman leading the class taught us how we were supposed to run a Girl Scout meeting, and what things to cover. She told us important things to remeber to do, such as get health history forms from our girls, and to set up a list of Rules for our troop so things dont get out of hand. She told us different fun things we could do with our troop, and how to earn badges. And she also went over the Leader handbook with us. I have 1 more class o take, and an online test and then im "officially" a leader of my Brownie Troop :)

*Rachel is 4 Months Old!*

Rachel turned 4 Months old on Sunday. Sunday was also my mom's birthday, so I think thats pretty neat :) I wont post my moms age though-- dont think shed appreciate that too much :-P

Rachel is growing like a weed. She doesnt like tummy time too much, but when I lay her down on her tummy she can raise her head up really well and look around. She is trying hard to master rolling over. So far she only gets over halfway, on her side, but i can tell shes close! Brooke and Caleb both rolled over for the 1st time around 4 1/2 months, so if she follows them itll be any day now!


She has her 4-month well visit checkup at the Dr today, so ill post about that later :)

*One Year Ago*

I forgot to post this the other day, on the 15th. But exactly one year ago last Thursday, I found out I was pregnant with Rachel! I cant believe its been a year since all this happened! :)

I remember it like it was yesterday-- I wasnt even "late" yet but I just had a feeling I might be pregnant. Arnold kept saying I wasnt-- he didnt want any more kids, at least not yet :-P That evening we had to go to Target to pick up some things, and I picked up a 2-pack of pregnancy tests. Arnold thought it was a waste of money, but he just went along with it. As soon as we got home i ran off to the bathroom to take a test, b/c I just couldnt wait any longer. I stand there for a minute or two and i swear I see a pink line show up. But its very faint and I think my eyes may be playing tricks on me since i knew i wanted it so badly. But then it starts to get a little darker and Im about 99 percent sure that its for sure positive. So i run back outside (Arnold is out at the van still bringing stuff in that we had bought). I said... Ummm I have something to show you". And i showed him the test. And he went about as white as a ghost. He went to the fridge and got a beer after that :-P That evening I sat on the living room floor assembling Halloween Goody bags for a party I was taking the kids to the next day. Arnold sat on the couch and kept saying things like "ARE YOU SURE its positive? You should take another test". Eventually i ended up taking another test, and this time the line was even darker so he finally believed me. :-P I was letting it all sink in, and i was so excited. I got online right away and started telling my friends. I feel bad now that I didnt tell our family first, but I just HAD to tell someone! :-P



The next day I took the kids to a Halloween party and all my friends were coming up to me and congratulating me and asking me how i was feeling. I still was in shock that i really was pregnant! We werent trying or anything, but we werent really preventing it. I know Arnold didnt feel ready, but I did. I always wanted 4 kids. Anyway, that evening Arnold and I were going to a Joe Bonamassa concert in Charlotte w/ his dad and his friend Eric and his daughter. Arnold had told Eric... but we still hadnt told our families yet, so the whole night we knew we had a big secret and it was so hard not telling Arnold's dad... but we managed to keep it a secret.


The next night my inlaws watched Brooke and Caleb while we went out on a "date night." We stopped by Hallmark and bought a congratulations card. Inside we wrote "Congratulations, youre going to be Grandparents again" and when we got back to their house that evening to pick up the kids, we handed the card to Arnold's mom. She read it and just smiled real big and said WOW. Then she passed the card over to his dad to read, and I cant describe how he reacted... hes a tough person to "read." They asked us if we had told MY parents yet and we said no. I was afraid... i knew my parents didnt approve of us having another child so soon, and I was afraid they wouldnt be happy and they would just be so worried for us.



The very next day we left for Myrtle Beach. We were going down there for a week with my parents. We were planning on telling them sometime on the trip but everytime i got ready to, i chickend out. It was tough explaining why I was so tired in the afternoons and felt nauseous a lot of the time. The trip came to an end and we STILL hadnt told them the news. So the next weekend when were at their house, I went into the kitchen where Mom was cooking and said I had something to tell her. Im pretty sure she knew what I was about to tell her because I was crying at this point. After I told her,she just hugged me and said everything was going to be ok. She said she was excited to be having another grandbaby. I was glad she took it so well. I know i should be a Grownup and not care so much what my parents think anymore, but i still do. :-x



Anyway, we finally went to our 1st DR appt a few weeks later and found out that we were INDEED 100% pregnant, and my due date was set for June 25th :)

The Positive Pregnancy Test

Very first Pregnancy Pic- At 4 Weeks

And the very end-- Day before my C-section! :)

*My Little Pumpkin*

I was taking some pics of Rachel this morning in one of her Halloween outfits, so I just had to share :) I got the parts for the pumpkin last year at Target when all their Halloween stuff went on clearance. They have all tons of kinds-- puppies, kitties, characters, etc. I need to find a "boyish" one for Caleb.

Rachels Sleeper says "I take after my Mummy" :)

Rach & her Princess Pumpkin :)

What is this thing, Anyway?!?