courtney and ben got married!

who doesn’t love a good wedding?!?  i would go to a wedding every weekend if i could.  i love them!  they just make people happy.  (or they should!)

i spent this weekend in monroe with one of my dearest friends…courtney got married!  it was so fun!  i’ve known courtney forever.  seriously, i don’t remember not being friends with her.  we started friday night with the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner.  after that i ended up at enoch’s with a friend and that was a blast.  i’m reminded on nights like that, that i’m 30 years old!  drums are a lot louder than i remember from college.  ha!

saturday started early!  i got to her hotel room before she did!  ha!  we had a fabulous day just hanging out with all the bridesmaids.  sometimes a girl just needs a totally girly day playing with hair and getting dressed up.  i really do love that; it’s so much fun!  we laughed and cried and gossiped.  and laughed and cried some more.  the wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun.  courtney, thank you for asking me to be a part of your day.  i was honored to stand next to you and wish you nothing but happiness.  you deserve it!

after the reception we ran down to shelley’s birthday party at coda.  we missed the actual party but did get to see a few people.  happy birthday shelley!

the bronch

it happened.  i’m glad it’s finally all over.  our morning started at 4:30.  rett got here to pick us up about 5:15 and we were on the road by 5:25.  mom beat us to the hospital by 15 minutes and i may never live that one down.  :)  after getting checked in we headed to the 2nd floor, ASU.  one up there we got o in her gown and let her open her “prize” from me.

(rant – barbie is NOT the barbie that we knew.  i picked the most clothed one i could find and she is STILL skanking it up.  hootchie mama dress; platform shoes.  the whole 9 yards.  if you’ve not experienced this please go to walmart and buy a barbie.  then you’ll know what i’m talking about!)

 

then it was time for vitals.  she passed with flying colors.

then time to meet the anesthesiologist.  it’s here we learned this was NOT being done under conscious sedation.  they were putting her under.  i was caught off guard by this.  just wish i’d have been prepared. 

she then got 2 cc’s of versi-something.  this was suppose to make her “drunk”.  well, she’s kind to her aunt jenny…i’m not sure she felt the least bit drunk.  she totally kept her cool and never let on that she may have been seeing 2 of each of us.  at one point i joked that she would be an expensive date MUCH later in life.  then it was time for them to take her back.  the sweet nurses came in and asked her if she wanted to “drive the barbie car” (crib) and they brought her “seat warmers” (warm blanket).  she got in that crib, sat on the blanket and off they went.  she NEVER whimpered.  about 20 minutes later dr. pepiak came out and told us she was fine.  they discovered that she has some “narrowing” of the left lung b/c of the way her heart is positioned but that this is not a serious issue.  she will wheeze for the rest of her life when she gets sick.  i can handle that.  then about 10-15 minutes later they brought her back from recovery.  she was kinda groggy and wrapped in that warm blanket.  when they wheeled her in the FIRST word out of her mouth was “pops”.  guess i know where i stand!  he was proud!  we got her up, she drank a little juice, we got her dressed and we were out of there! 

then on to breakfast at lea’s.  o was still pretty groggy but considering that they told us she may not eat all day (sore throat from the procedure) she did pretty well! 

once home she was her normal self.  she’s loving these boots a sweet friend gave us!  she played with her new barbie (i’ve named this barbie skank but i’m thinking i need to change that so she doesn’t take her to church one day and show her off as “skank”.  that’d be odd…)  mom kept her this afternoon and i went to work.  she did take a solid 2 hour nap but other than that she is back to normal.  glad to know that anesthesia doesn’t bother her too bad!

and i’m thrilled that all of this dextracardia stuff is finished!  we’ve met with all of the specialists and done all the tests.  we couldn’t have scripted this any better.  she has a heart condition that is basically a technicality.  we will see the cardiologist once a year from here on out just for safety’s sake.  the pulmonologist told us we were done with him unless something crazy happened and i don’t see that happening but i’m glad we now have her established as his patient just in case.  we can now resume our lives with our healthy little girl.  no more worrying!  thanks for the prayers.  they were felt!  especially when they dropped the bomb about full blown anesthesia!

oh, and i have pictures of her lungs.  when she’s 14 i’m going to show them to her and explain that she doesn’t have a “full” left lung so smoking and drugs would do worse things to her than a person with normal lungs.  hopefully this works and she’ll never smoke!

prep work

tmrw is the big day.  o’s bronchoscope.  my alarm is set for 4:30 am and i have a friend that is hopefully going to remember to call me to MAKE SURE i’m up.  we have to be at st. francis at 6 am so we’re planning to pull out of here at 5:20 am.  i’m not looking forward to it.

i’ve spent the evening ironing our clothes; getting o’s breakfast together to take with us so as soon as she can eat i’ll have it ready.  i’ve got her “prize” wrapped and ready.  she’ll be receiving her very first barbie doll right before the iv goes in to hopefully take her mind off the needle. 

i’ve got the necessary paperwork together.  what am i forgetting? guess we’ll figure it out once we’re there and i don’t have what they ask for!  ha!

when we were saying our prayers tonight i asked Jesus to keep her safe during the procedure tmrw.  this was the first time i’ve mentioned it in front of her.  she didn’t miss a beat so either she’s oblivious to our prayers every night or she doesn’t know what a “procedure” is so she just chose to ignore it!   :)

i know she’ll be fine and i’m pretty positive they won’t find anything glaringly wrong.  i just have a peace about this and i think it’s just a precautionary measure.  so, prayers tmrw morning are much appreciated!  thanks!

strep

oh my.  i was knocked on my butt tuesday and didn’t leave my house until saturday except to go to the dr on wednesday.  i don’t ever want this again.  and i sure don’t want olivia to get it; it was painful!  let’s recap (not that you care but b/c i want to remember it in case it happens again.)

monday – had a weird headache and thought that was weird b/c i never get headaches.  took ibuprofen all day long.

tuessday – woke with sore throat and extremely sore torso.  like my ribs hurt.  all morning at work i had chills and the pain extended up to my neck and down to my legs.  took temp at lunch (99.9 – i don’t consider that a fever.  it’s a temp; no big deal.)  took some ibuprofen, went back to work and started feeling better.  went to bed early (like 9 pm) b/c i was so tired i couldn’t keep my eyes open.

wednesday – woke with the same symptoms as before but with 102.3 fever.  it got up to 102.7 that day.  stayed on the couch all day except to go to dr.  strep test confirms.  got a shot.

thursday – temp got up to 101.9 this day.  laid on couch all day.

friday – temp got up to 100.9 this day.  did nothing except a trip to sonic for a slush.  it was good!

saturday – finally woke up with some energy, the desire to shower (i showered the other days, don’t worry, i just didn’t have the desire to do it!) and the need to get out of this house!  i think i’m on the mend!  later in the afternoon temp was 99.9 but i don’t consider that anything.

today – i think i’m over it.  finally.  the dr told me i’d start to feel better friday afternoon and by monday i’d be a new person.  well, i felt SLIGHTLY better on friday but not much.  however, saturday was a different story.  so he wasn’t too far off!

sadly, i had to miss the family trip to houston to visit my grandmother for her 90th birthday.  i hate that.  but i would have hated it more to go and then her get sick so i stayed back.  if you’re reading this mamamack, happy birthday!  hope it is a great one!

olivia had to be banished from the house for fear that she would also get it.  so basically i was quarantined for 3 days.  i’d like to thank jackie for offering to bring me lunch on thursday and jenny for actually bringing my lunch that day!  and my dad for going to the grocery store for me on friday b/c i ran out of water and was on my last roll of toilet paper!  and my mom for faithfully calling and texting all week to see how i was doing. 

i’m well now!  and i’m ready to get back to the real world!

future gymnast?

i want her to be a dancer or soccer player but of course i’ll support anything she wants to do!  i just hope it doesn’t involve lots of summer outdoor time!  ha!  i don’t know how “ballpark moms” do it!

please forgive the bad taping.  i don’t have an iphone so i was using my mom’s and i’m not really good at that!  guess i need more practice!

sunday fun day

mom brought olivia back about lunch time today so we went to lunch at log cabin with her and jenny.  o did so good!  she can be so good in public when she wants to be!  ha!  afterwards she got some dessert at home to try out her new booster seat.  that’s right; no more highchair.  i’m kind of sad about that.  had i known i was going to do it this weekend i would have documented her last meal in the highchair.  but it was a spur-of-the-moment decision so here we are.  i like it.  one, it cleared up some space in my “dining room” and two, i think this is going to force me to sit at the table to eat with her.  we’ve gotten into a bad habit of eating in the living room (her on the floor and me in the chair) while watching tv.  i don’t want this to be her normal growing up so i’m vowing to break it now.  i remember sitting down at the table every night growing up and having to discuss our day.  right now o doesn’t talk to me about her day but one day she will! and then…  we went to her first movie!  it couldn’t have gone better!  when i saw that winnie the pooh was showing in theatres i knew this would be her first movie.  she really enjoyed the movie and at the end was asking me for honey!  at least she got something out of it!  i had to remind her a few times to whisper but honestly, it’s a kids movie.  what do people expect?!? 

maybe i just wasn’t the biggest pooh fan growing up or maybe i just forgot but i don’t remember eyore being so depressed.  was he always the most depressing donkey ever?  they make meds for that now!  ha!

avie is 3!

saturday was avie’s 3rd bday party in monroe.  but first o had to get a haircut.  she didn’t love it like i do.  maybe one day.  she did, however, love the sucker adrianne gave her to bribe keep her occupied! then we met val and amelia to head to the party.  they had a blast! then we met my parents for lunch so o could go home with them as i was celebrating a friend’s bday later that night.  it was a fun saturday!

it’s not always roses around here.

this week is evidence.  monday evening started kinda rocky and tonight ended in hours worth of tears.  i’m not sure what’s going on with her but nothing is making her happy this week.  tonight was full on drama.  once i got her calmed down (2 hours after it all started) we talked about why she was acting like this.  i hope i explained well enough that it’s not nice to act out and that if something is bothering her she needs to try her best to tell me.  she agreed.  :)  we’ll see how that goes.  i’ve emailed her teacher to see if she’s not been napping or if something is going on at daycare.  otherwise i’m out of options.  unless maybe she’s having a growth spurt or something that i don’t know about.  do growth spurts make you cranky?  regardless, something’s gotta give!  it’s wearing me out.  could her 2 year molars be coming in?  but she’s fine in the mornings.  it’s just evenings.  idk…

this was tuesday when gg came to town.  minnie mouse now goes to dinner with us.  :)

tonight i tried a new activity since her current toys aren’t that entertaining anymore (apparently.)  i saw this on kelly’s korner and her daughter loved it.  o liked it for about 5 minutes.  i started her with 2 plastic bowls.  she ended with those 2 bowls, a pot, a colander and a measuring cup.  again, my childproof cabinets aren’t very childproof. also, the past few weeks she’s not wanted to go to the nursery at church.  she did LOVE that place.  what is up with my child? hopefully she’ll be back to her normal, happy self soon.  this has got to be just a phase that shall pass.  i hope!  pray for us!

wade’s 50th

this past saturday we headed to w’boro to celebrate my cousin wade’s 50th bday.  my parents along with a host of other people hosted it at the old post office museum in w’boro.  this really is a neat place and i’m so glad w’boro has it now.  i’ll let the pics do the talking with little commentary.  o had a great time and i’m glad some family that we rarely see got to see her.

wade’s gift from the hosts.    o with aunt nell (wade’s mom)the fish from the catfish festival helping gg open a gifti guess you’re never too young to learn to drink from a wine glasswyn putting lipstick on o.  she’s also the one that taught her to drink from a wine glass.  she was our “cool” older cousin growing up.  rumor has it she took the 3 of us everywhere with her including her high school games where she cheered.  obviously we were too young to remember this.  i do remember slumber parties at her various apartments and i vividly remember a convo we had with her when we were in high school that my parents might die over!  :)o loves doing “uncle ben” with wade! aunt nell, wade, wyn 

there were lots of people there but i failed to document more.  i just stuck with the fam!  we pulled out of the parking lot at 8:52 pm headed back to ruston and olivia finally fell asleep at 10:20 pm when i was passing trinity to exit in ruston.  she talked the whole way home!  but i’ll take that any day over crying!  ha!

memories

just for documentation purposes… 

monday night after bath i had o on her changing table doing our after bath routine and she looked at me and said “mama kiss” and grabbed my face and kissed me, then “mama ruv you” and then “mama hug” and hugged me.  i’ll never forget it.  i was so excited!

last night o was up a good bit past bedtime watching elmo.  (backstory – i ALWAYS lay o on her back when i put her in bed and she stays that way and talks to me for a minute.)  i put her in bed and she immediately rolled over onto her stomach and then flipped wig b/c she couldn’t find mimi (a pink lovey she sleeps with).  so i gave her mimi and she flipped wig again screaming (in a scared way) “natalie and baby in bed?”.  (we go through this EVERY night – she always asks if they’re in bed also and i assure her they are (they are her baby dolls.))  it was almost like a “i’m tired and so ready for bed but i’m their mother so i have to check on them first” kind of way.  normally we go through this at least 4 times every night; last night she accepted my answer the first time and was OUT!  i realized that she treats her baby dolls like i treat her.  i sure hope i’m setting a good example!

happy july 4th!

o and i have had a great long weekend!  we got up saturday and headed to monroe to spend the day with jackie and her in-laws.  we swam for a few hours at their house and then o played with brintley for several more hours.  lots of little girl fun was had by all!  they were allowed to jump on the bed.  i’m pretty sure o thought i was the devil when we got home and i wouldn’t let her jump on my bed.  :)  to bad i didn’t take a single photo of them together.  thanks bud and joni for having us over!  if you’re reading this we’ll definitely come back before the summer is over!

after church on sunday i decided to have a low key afternoon INSIDE b/c, let’s be honest, it’s too hot to do anything else!  we colored, read books, played dress-up, etc.  o reinforced my thought that she may be left handed.  she used her left hand for EVERYTHING!  a friend told me today that lefties are usually artistic so maybe she’ll be famous for her artwork one day! 

we then met shelley and avie for dinner at old mexico.  then to trinity to kill time before temple’s fireworks show.  this was shelley’s idea to let them play on the playground before the show started.  brilliant!  i live about 45 seconds from trinity (the church where we are members) and it has never occurred to me to use their playground!  it’s close by, it’s free, it’s fenced in and most importantly o loves it!  we will definitely start spending some evenings up there! then we made our way to the front where a pretty large crowd had gathered to wait on the show.  i absolutely love that temple does this for ruston.  it’s a great show.  the lawn in front of trinity was full of families and kids were running everywhere.  this was the first time that olivia has played WITH another child.  she LOVED avie and would mimic her every move.  it was so fun to watch!  i’m not sure why this started last night…  maybe b/c my friends either have boys or girls the same age as o and they are just too young to know how to play together.  i’m not sure.  avie is almost a year older than o and maybe o “sensed” she was with an “older” girl who “knew more”.  whatever it was, it was precious!  they played chase.  they turned flips in the grass.  they laughed together.  so much fun!  i didn’t get o into bed until 9:45; that’s a record! today we headed over to nicola and jeff’s for a bbq and to hang out.  o was so sweet with kaden.  she shared with him and helped him play in his new kitchen.  i was so glad b/c “sometimes” she doesn’t like to share or play nice!  we are very much in the “mine” state of mind these days…  i guess i’d say that we made major strides in playing WITH other kids instead of playing AROUND other kids this weekend and it was so fun to watch.  thanks for having us over!  it was fun! yes, she wore the same outfit 2 days in a row.  we needed to get good wear out of our holiday outfit and i promise i washed it!