what have we been doing this past month?

helping Mommy do dishes....I really love the bubbles!

Played Cinderella, I love to swiffer.....C-man and I fight over who is going to swiffer the floors.......Mommy's just thankful that we like to help so much.

Played on Daddy's shoulders.....weeee!

reading up on a good mystery

Pretending to talk on the phone to Aunt Angie, while making words in my new fashion shoes......

Painting my piggies and fingers....Mommy didn't know what else to do to entertain me when she was flat on her back......

went on a few adventures.....I'm going to be a professor when I grow up and then I'll go on adventures all over the world!

We rested in the bookshelf and pretended that we had bunk-beds....Mom would really like to get us some....when we get just a little older.......

Back Perspective

Some things I have learned from being down with my back for almost the whole month..............

• no matter how hard I wanted it to by my plan, it never was.......which takes me right back to my New Year's Resolution...surrender to God and let his will be done.
• I have a new found empathy for those who are in pain for a long period of time.
• I have a new found empathy for those who are unable to do things for themselves or just plain, ordinary things.
• I'm thinking about inventing mommy ergonomic friendly baby equipment; hydraulic strollers, swivel car seats, and a baby carrier that has an extend-able handle (like our luggage) and we'll just roll them around.......
• I'm also inventing a very, very long handled razor to shave legs......(my poor PT who had to look at my hairy legs for two weeks!) and C-man added that I should also invent a very long toe-nail painting brush as well.....for I only could paint my fingers and not my toes during this "sabbatical?"
• I've learned to slow down and look at the things that are really important.
• I've noticed that Prayer has brought comfort.
• Last but not least, I've realized that in order to help others and be a care-giver, I have to care for myself first.

Making a BIG Splash!

Okay, just lean your head to the left a little. Here's Mr. C showing his achievement of Level 2 swimming for the last two weeks at the High School. I was excited to see that the Parks and Rec provided swimming lessons.
Now here's a confession....Mr. C has done better at age 5 than his Mommy did in third grade. I have a fond memory of going to swimming lessons and starting level 1 in third grade....they told me to go in the pool and do a bob...I didn't know what it was...so I just jumped in and nearly drowned....so I went to beginners....I was there for two years straight when I decided swimming wasn't my forte....I did achieve private swimming lessons in college and now would know what to do if I needed to but hope to have a life jacket on all the while. So I'm a very proud Mommy! I accidentally signed him up for level 2 when it was supposed to be level 1....ooops! But he embraced it and did quite well to my amazement......we'll of course be repeating level 2 so he can achieve floats without support.


Lean your head to the left again! Here he is doing "front float" he just needs encouragement getting his head in the water........we watched him on a Thursday the first week and Thursday the second week and it was great improvement...he seemed so comfortable and relaxed in the water his last day of lessons.......

Red light, green light, yellow light.......with lots of kicking.........this was a favorite of Mr. C's.

Chicken, airplane, soldier....chicken, airplane, soldier.....I forget the proper terms for this stroke, but he did well coordinating it the last day.

Mr. C loving the water and loving swimming......for the last two weeks, he has eaten so well and he tells me that if he's a swimmer, he has eat really well.....that he did, that he did. He'll be taking after Uncle John, cousin Jeremey, cousin Elizabeth and cousin Jaydin in swimming.......

swim on little man, swim on!

Then and Now

1994

1999 (June) I think this was Jaydin's Baptism

circa 2005.....I know it's a year later, but I just love this pic.

2009

15 years ago: *the year: 1994*

1) How old were you? 17
2) Who were you dating? no-one
3) Where did you work? babysitting for neighbors, otherwise I was involved in extra-curricular activities at school; I would have been cheering for the basketball players during this time of the year.
4) Where did you live? Home with Mom and Dad on the Farm.
5) Where did you hang out? Jeanne's, John's, or went cruising......WHAT were we thinking????
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? none
7) Who was your best friend(s)? Jeanne & Jolyn
8) How many tattoos did you have? none
9) How many piercings did you have? Ears
10) What kind of car did you drive? little red chevette! 4-speeder. It was my Grandma's.
12) Had you had your heart broken? nope, just breaking them!
13) Were you single/divorced/married/dating? single
14) Any Kids? none!! thank goodness!
15) What kind of phone did you have? good ol' rotary phone that I would talk on for hours and hours with Jeanne.


10 years ago: *the year: 1999*

1) How old were you? 22
2) Who were you dating? I think I was dating Bill or was on the verge of breaking up with him.
3) Where did you work? At the University teaching Aerobics, Covenant Hospital teaching Aerobics, and Allen Hospital teaching "Get off your Rockers."(kinda like sit and be fit for senior citizens), and substituted caterer at the University.
4) Where did you live? Waterloo in my own apartment (finally!)
5) Where did you hang out? at the apartment, Jeanne's place, Jolyn and I always met on Fridays at that one Irish Restaurant for lunch, Laura's house, and at college studying.
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? none
7) Who was your best friend(s)? Jeanne, Jolyn, Char, & Kristi
8) How many tattoos did you have? none
9) How many piercings did you have? Ears
10) What kind of car did you drive? Buick LeSabre
12) Had you had your heart broken? nope, I was on the verge of breaking someone's!
13) Were you single/divorced/married/dating? dating and on the verge of being single.
14) Any Kids? My peace lilly named Phoebe was my only child
15) What kind of phone did you have? regular home phone....I might have borrowed Mom and Dad's large cell phone, once in awhile for long distance calls?

***5 YEARS AGO 2004

1) How old were you? 27
2) Who were you dating? I was married.
3) Where did you work at the time? Lutheran Hospital
4) Where did you live? West side of the city-apartment
5) Where did you hang out? home, Paul's parents' house
6) Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? none
7) Who were your best friend(s)? Paul, my sisters
8) How many tattoos did you have? none
9) How many piercings did you have? ears
10) What car did you drive? Chevy Impala
11) Have you had your heartbroken? Heaven's no!
12) Were you Single/Taken/Married/Divorced? married, newly hadn't had our honeymoon yet! We had it in June of 04'.
13) Any Kids then? C-man would have been 8 months old.
14) What kind of phone did you have? home phone and cell phone: Horizon.

TODAY (Feb 2009)

1) Age? 32
2) Who are you dating? Just my husband.
3)Where do you work? Lutheran Hospital
4) Where do you live? North-central part of the city-house.
5) Who are your closest friends? Paul, my 2 sisters, Karen, and Tanja
6) Do you talk to your old friends? as much as I can
7) How many piercings do you have? ears
8) How many tattoos? 0
9) What kind of car do you have? Same as 5 years ago!
10) Had your heart been broken? no, just my back (well kinda)
11) Single/taken/married/divorced/Engaged? married for 5 years!
12) How many kids? 2 cutie pa tooties
13) What kind of phone do you have? Paul's hand-me-down phone
14) Have you been to a party? yes, Austin's party was the last one I went to....oh, do you mean an adult party? that would be Halloween Party at Tammy and Rick's.
15) Do you wear glasses/contacts? none yet, I'm getting there....I'll wear glasses only due to presbyopia.
16) Where do you hang out? home

Today is the Day!

This morning, my dear mother-in-law and daughter drove me to the pain doctor and I received my epidural shot in my spine (the medicine is part Marcaine and part steroid).......part of this medicine is like novacaine and numbs up the nerves so I'm not feeling a thing. The other part of the medicine is a steroid which reduces any inflammation and as of right now, I'm walking straight....AMAZING! The numbing will go away by the end of the day and the steroid should peak in a week.....he placed it in the L4 and L5 and it is supposed to help both sides of the lumbar region.
below is a site you can click on and watch a video that explains the procedure.
http://www.spine-health.com/video/epidural-steroid-injections-back-pain-and-leg-pain-video


I've done some research on Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), herniated discs (I have 1 that is moderate and 4 that are mild), an extra vertebrae (the physical therapist calls it my "anomaly") and sacral-iliac dysfunction (which is what the chiropractor and the physical therapist says that I have)......basically my discs aren't juicy anymore and they are drying up and bulging (herniating)....when there is instability (micro-motion) or otherwise when I torque my back by lifting miss-O, the discs let out a protein that causes pain, and my para-spinal muscles and large back muscles start to protect the spine and they spasm and inflame...which causes more pain and my crooked posture......people in the 30-40's are commonly known to have DDD.....when they get older the discs will dry up and won't have any more protein and they don't experience the pain...so I guess I have something to look forward to when I'm 50!



The extra vertebrae is just a coincidence....but I still think it has something to do with the stability of my spine and I've never seen the x-rays but I wonder is it fully formed or deformed??????? The sacral iliac dysfunction is another instability thing and the injection should help it and exercising the para-spinal muscles, large back muscles, gluteal muscles, abdominal muscles should help all that.....what the pt. (ME) should remember is to make exercise a priority.......because it will cut down on medical bills in the future.





NOW, What I need to do is remind myself not to overdo it since I can't feel the pain, but to keep up with the exercises. My goal is to lift 25 pounds and hopefully earlier than a month! Miss O weighs about this much and I can't even pick her up :( but soon I shall. Maybe I'll wear a sticker that says, "Ask me if I've exercised today." That would be a great motivation for exercise!



Tomorrow is Physical Therapy again I feel upbeat about getting rehab and getting back to my life. I've been confined to the house and/or bed since Feb.4th....(excluding a few small trips here and there) I feel like I've missed out on 2 weeks of my life.... somehow I think God is trying to tell me to slow down and be careful and CHANGE.....yep, I think he knows, as well as I do, that a CHANGE is needed. Instead of missing out on 2 weeks, it could have been a lot more.......so I will be grateful for that.



During these two weeks, I wouldn't be able to do it without the help of Michelle, my mother-in-law, who has helped with laundry, child care, taxi driving for C-man, dishes and lifting my spirits. Danny, my father-in-law, who did some child care and taxi driving for C-man. Paul who has done extra cleaning, grocery shopping and has put up with my whining, the kids who have picked up many things from the floor for their mommy as well as grab the ice packs from the freezer, and my Mom and Dad who came down yesterday to help with child care, taxi-driving, dishes, laundry, and some grocery shopping and lifted my spirits......so a big THANK YOU to all of them for their love and support. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers......

Another Birthday to Report!

Happy Golden Birthday Jeremey!

To the oldest Boy cousin that C-man looks up to......(and some other little boys too!)

May you have a wonderful day and a year full of fun and good health!

one more year and he'll be on the roads!

Happy Heart Day!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Friday was full of parties and fun.

In the morning, Miss-O and I went to Mommy-n-me Preschool and celebrated Valentines's Day. She made a pretty valentine, decorated a sack and then gave her classmates their valentine's.....they were excited to see their treats....and Miss-O wanted to eat them right away!

Here's Miss-O using purple glue stick to decorate her paper with hearts! She was thrilled that the glue stick was purple!

When class was over, we found it snowing outside......at home the snowflakes were getting bigger and bigger, so we opened our mouths wide to catch snowflakes......anyone who ever watches Barney probably knows the song that we sang along!
It ended up snowing about 7 inches of snow by the time the day was over!

Then to another party at Kindergarten......the kids had snacks, looked at their valentine's from one another, did the limbo, and then colored a valentine's page.......Limbo was a blast and got the kids wired......good thing recess followed the party! The teacher was encouraging (begging) the kids to take a few laps outside to get their energy (sugar) burned off!

Here's Zion and C-man, they are good buds.....we hear a lot about Zion and after talking to Zion's Mother, she hears a lot about C-man too! Yes, Zion has taught C-man some boy basics; burping in sentences and armpit noises......Boys will be Boys!

At the end of the day, I got a photo of the two cuties in our lives. Posing for a Valentine's Day photo!.........Great Grandma Donna made the dress for Miss-O and she loved wearing it....
C-man didn't have to act as if he loves his sister in this photo, because he really does love her!

This morning, Paul and I awoke to a hand-made paper valentines on our pillows! C-man had designed two valentines for the both of us.....and snuck them on our pillows while we slept in a few more minutes.....C-man is the only morning person in our household!

The kids and I enjoyed pink pancakes with m&m's that Paul made this morning.

Miss-O can't stop wishing us a Happy Valentine's Day!

We probably won't do anything mushy today or this evening, just hanging out as a family is good enough love for me......

Happy Birthday Girlies!

My sister had a wonderful and perfect birthday present last year.....she had her daughter on her birthday! Not a lot of people can say they share a birthday with their daughters/moms!

So Happy Birthday girls!

May your day be full of fun and your year full of health and happiness!

John is thankful their birthdays are on one day, easier to remember right John?

And an easy way to remember Valentine's Day too! He's got it made!

Jackie turns 1 today!

Val Gals!

Grandma and Miss-O didn't call each other but they were found to be wearing Valentine wardrobe on Tuesday.

The gals went to Library hour.

It's their thing!

They both look forward to it!

Not Much

Not much to mention besides the fact that I'm all hopped up on muscle relaxers, pain meds, and steroids for my bleepity-bleep back......FRUSTRATION!

I threw out my back AGAIN while picking up miss O and putting her in the carseat.....POP-SNAP and sudden PAIN! I about hit the ground .....kinda like those commercials I've fallen and can't get up.......I managed to keep myself together crying in pain the whole time......it took me about 5 minutes to buckle up O in her car seat and another 5 minutes to walk to my side of the car......

Fortunately, the Dr.'s Office was able to squeeze me in.....maybe the heavy breathing and crying on the phone helped me get in! I went into the Dr's Office and my blood pressure was 148/108.....yes that means I was in major PAIN!.........The only comfortable position for me was to stand and lean upon the exam table....I looked like I was ready to get frisked any moment. It was an effective position when the nurse had to give me two shots; Torodol and Phenergran.....The one nurse made me walk to the treatment room for an ultrasound.....I think she was secretly smiling the whole time while I walked bent over holding my thighs for support because I couldn't stand up straight......the gal that did my ultrasound at least gave me a ride in the wheelchair to the car.............

So here I am 48+ hours after my injury and I'm at least standing up straight, unless I've been sitting for awhile then I'm a bit crooked and spasm'd. I've had two days of Physical Therapy, my pain has decreased, I'm doing my exercises that Physical Therapy have taught me and still icing away..........

What to do from now? I had to call off work for the weekend and apply for FMLA. Monday, I'll call my pain Dr. and ask when I can have my next epidural injection since that helped and then.....more PT? personal trainer? Surgery? I don't know but if you have any extra time, I would be okay if you threw a few prayers in this direction........wish me luck, comfort, and strength.

Someone's Birthday is today!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Big #7 today!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

"Hapey Valentins Day!"

C-man had a project to do today.

Valentine's Shoebox!

I wrapped the box with the requested color....(yay! for white, I got to recycle some of our paper!) and then let him cut, color, paste, glitter, and put stickers on it.

Here's the end results!

I taught C-man how to fold over paper and trace half a heart and then cut to make a heart. He thought that I was amazing! "Oh, cool Mom!" I will cherish this moment, soon enough I will be embarrassing him!
Last side and he didn't know what to put on it....I just suggested what about I "heart" U.......so he went with it, and while he was writing it...he giggled and said, "uh, this is disgusting." I told him he didn't have to write it.

This is the other side....he made it simple...I asked him when he thought of Valentine's what did he think of and he answered, "Love."

Now he has 20 valentines to do, the teacher's gift, and then a party on the 13Th!

Weekend Visitors

Grandma and Grandpa Mehmen came down to visit us and they took us out for lunch at.........

and we had a wonderful lunch! Thank You Grandma and Grandpa for filling our tummies!

We enjoyed our visitors and were glad they could hang out with us for the day. We played a few games, relaxed and talked and it was a very nice day.

Thanks again for the visit!

Winter Picnic

It's SNOW much more fun to play inside!

That's right!

Grandma and Grandpa Roberts laid out a tarp and we brought over a tote, the men scooped some snow into it and let the kiddos have a blast.....

This kept them entertained for quite awhile....until their little hands (and tongues) were getting cold!

Little Bear and Miss O licking the snow.....something they picked up from their Grandmother!
Little Bear contemplating what she's going to do first with the snow!

C-man, just diving right in!

Winter Picnic!

Before the kids dipped into the snow, we had hot dogs, hamburgers, and brats grilled from outside.....summer salads, fruit, and baked beans.....just a little summer food sure helps a person get out of the winter rut!

For Dessert: S'mores from the fireplace, cookies or cupcakes.....

Thanks Grandma for all your hard work in coordinating this. Thanks Grandpa for grilling!