I'm okay, I'm akay, I'm a "K?"

just a quick update--went to the er tonight because i nearly passed out at dinner and was having pain under my ribs on my left side (and in my shoulder every time i inhaled)...long story short, they pronounced me with pleurisy (inflamation of the lung lining...) and sent me home. not real clear why i almost blacked out, but all my lab tests were normal, as was my ekg and x-ray. i did have a doozie of a migraine last night and all day today, which finally let up right before all this began tonight. a little frustrating to hear the doc's diagnosis and wonder if that was really it...i just want to feel normal!!!!! my spleen was enlarged when they did my ultrasound of my gall-bladder (they scan your whole abdomen) so tonight i was worried that perhaps something wasn't right with my spleen--but the folks at the er said everything was fine there, so who knows...the pain was right where my spleen is, but then that's also where my lungs are too. i do believe at this point that it's just cheaper for me to go to medical school than to continue on the path i've been on...going to call the mental health counselor this week...cheers

Playing Catch-Up

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom!!!!! wish I could be with you today! soon... anyway, last weekend Todd and I went away just the two of us to Ponte Vedra for a little r & r...it wasn't long enough!!! Reality hit like a ton of bricks... but we did have a great time. It was so quiet...we didn't even turn the radio on in the car.

Here are Bella and James after eating green beans for the first time--neither of them particularly enjoyed them!

Our little mall posse...
the high-chair commandos...

Lily today at Jonathan's birthday party at the park...
Lily at jazz class...

Lily after school on Friday waiting to pick up Ty...
Our friends Josh and Michelle, Amy and Jeff, and us out at Dragonfly the other night...

Jonathan's party today...

The birthday boy and his brother Adrian...
Lily and Adrian...
Ty Ty and Lily, tearing it up on the playground--they had fun! Cheers!

just another day...

here are James and Isabella, hanging out on their blanket...

Ty Ty just waking up this morning...

Here's fashion model Lily, wearing a dress that I made from one of Todd's old Hawaiian shirts--she even has good model hair!!!

James and Baby Trevor at mission control...
James sampling oatmeal and loving it!

i feel better!

yeah for z-pack!!! i am much improved and on the mend! this was the discussion as we were leaving dinner--me: lily, i think you grew older last night... lily: i did? me: you did! lily: did i turn five? (with the sweetest most innocent little look on her face!) also, the babies are doing better. james is now on amoxicillin for his double ear infection and bella finished hers today! i just want everyone better before our weekend of r&r!!! more tomorrow! cheers...

i feel yucky

so i've had a sore throat for over a week now and i am not improving. i tried to call my doc today and be seen, but the next appt. is next tuesday...not going to work. i even called my old doc and can't get in until tomorrow...so, i will be visiting the walk-in-clinic today. i can hardly swallow. sonia gets here around 4 so i will wait until then. i'm thinking it's strep--VERY sore throat, stiff and sore neck, a fever a few days ago, aches, chills...do i get a day off??? i could have sworn i read that in the contract somewhere... anyway, i never did post the babies' stats after their visit the other day. james weighed 18lbs, 14 oz.! and bella weighed 16 lbs, 14 oz.! they are healthy and big!! i'll post their lengths later--can't find the paper right now... lily is loving school this year, by the way. we had our neighbor samantha (who is also in her class) over today after school for lunch and play and they had a ball. samantha is almost 5 and it's amazing to see the difference between she and lily, who is barely 4. big changes happen in that amount of time! lily is current;y obsessed with charlie and lola ( a disney show about a british brother and sister)--lola drinks pink milk and now so does lily. lily also does a fab british accent and her ability to remember dialogue from the the show is amazing... ty had me put his backpack on this morning and that made him superman. he would go running through the house "flying" making a pshhhh noise all the way. he is such a little ham, too. we had a date this morning along with the babies--ty had a "chocwet" muffin...i will post more later after i visit the doc-in-the-box...cheers

Gas is how much????

I think we're going to buy a cow--we'll ride it to and from school and church, milk it daily, and then slaughter it later on--very economical, eh?? Seriously, can gas prices really being going up $1.50 a gallon? I'm VERY curious to see what happens tomorrow morning when I pass by the gas station...anyway, we went to dinner tonight with our friends, "M" and "J**h"--I do that jokingly because they are reading this blog now and KNOW I am referencing them... anyway, I will continue to honor their privacy...but we had a great time at dinner!! Josh's (oops!) quote was, "We're not trying to be better husbands, we're trying to be better wives" (meaning himself and Todd)--this rings so true because the more I'm at this whole parenting thing, the more I realize that I need not just emotional support, but substantial help running the household! Of course, in addition to Todd, I have my parents and my in-laws who are all wonderfully helpful beyond measure, I have our precious and wonderful Sonia...which, anyone who knows me can tell you that my mood has lifted significantly since she's been back...plus I have a gaggle of wonderful friends who would do anything for me as I would for them...It really does take a village (or in my case, the whole state of Florida!). This season of parenting very young children is just more difficult than I had ever imagined--or perhaps it's not the parenting part that's so hard, it's parenting whilst trying to cook, clean, and maintain order...I enjoy the parenting part...
The babies have their well-child visit tomorrow--can anyone else not believe they are six months old already?? Me neither! James's eczema is improving and the main issue with him is introducing solids---I am gearing myself up for allergy issues, so hopefully things won't be as bad as I fear. Isabella's ear infection must be improving because she's back to her normal happy self. Todd and I are concerned about her hearing, though...if you clap right behind her head she hardly flinches if at all. She also sticks her tongue out ALL the time--very cute, but I want to make sure that isn't a symptom of some condition...I'm also anxious/curious to see what the babies weigh--that's like the effort part of the parent report card for me (considering all the breastfeeding I've done with them...I want to see RESULTS!!!). Ty and Lily have school tomorrow and they both really seem to be enjoying their classes. Poor Lily was up all night last night with diarrea and she couldn't always make it to the potty :( What an incredible mess...and I felt so bad for her--she was just so helpless and innocent!! She was absolutely fine today and went to tap class this afternoon, which she still loves! Ty has been just a sweetheart lately and I think Todd and I need to take him out on a "date" sometime soon. I love watching his little mind grow each day--you can almost measure the things he learns minute by minute!
On another note entirely, I had my MRI and my gall-bladder ultrasound today and the procedures went fine--don't have results yet, but will post when I do. I'm just glad I had it all done and am ready to move forward without worrying all the time anymore! I will try to take some photos tomorrow to make up for an all-text post :) Cheers! ps--oh, Lily's quote of the day after I moved her bedroom around (as I LOVE to do) "I think I'm going to cry happy tears!"

A Two-Fer at the Doc's Office...

well i took james in today to have his eczema looked at because it was so bad and turns out that bella has an ear infection!! she had a fever last week for 2 days and one of her ears had looked questionable at the time so i thought i would see if it had changed today--it had. so, she's on her first course of amoxicillin and we'll see what happens. james was switched today to nutramigen, which is enfamil's hypoallergenic formula--i am still pumping and breastfeeding, but there are days when i just can't keep up so he has to have formula. bella has been on enfamil lipil except for 1 or 2 feedings a day when i nurse her and she does just fine. also, lily had her second day of school today and LOVED it!! she went right in, no problem, and had a ball!! THANK YOU GOD!!! enjoy some pix i took of the twins yesterday! cheers!

my poor baby boy's eczema--this really doesn't do it justice! he had scratched his head so much it was bleeding! just awful!!!

A BUSY week!!

Happy Gator Game Day to all of you! As I am writing this, the Gators are beating Miami and I am not watching very closely--I'd rather blog...lucky you!! This week has been so busy and I can honestly say I am glad it's Saturday! Lily's first day of school was Wednesday and she seemed to enjoy it--MUCH better teachers for her this year! No more wheedling and cajoling--Mrs. Hofstetter grabbed her hand and said, "let's go Lily!" And away she went! She enjoys playing with Baela, a little girl in her class, and Alexander from last year is in there too. She had to miss Friday because she had thrown up in the middle of the night Thursday--I think it was a one and done virus. Ty's first day was Friday and he had a ball! Jonathan, Kendall, and Zachary (from last year) are all in his class! They were on the playground riding on the springy equipment and it looked like a little two-year-old posse riding into town--so cute. Lily had tap class again this week and continued to enjoy it--it's the first extracurricular activity she's done in her life where she doesn't fight with me about it!! She had jazz class this week too and it was a hard sell. It remains to be seen if she will be my little dancer... anyway, got some cute pix of the boys in their gator gear today. Todd went to the game with Jeff--Amy and I went to church tonight with the kids. We had a beautiful communion service--a wonderful reminder that communion, for me, is not an act of religion, but a reminder of the relationship I have with Jesus Christ, who died for me individually--as our Pastor so wonderfully reminded each of us. At the end of the day, it is nice to rest in that assurance. Enjoy my pix and video--cheers!



Your happy little blogger...

jazz class...awful, isn't it???

first day of school--noticing a trend here??
after tap class...the ONE thing in her life that she LOVES!!!

Ty's first day of school...