Missing my creativity

I SOOOO miss scrapbooking. We moved so I had to pack up all of my scrapbook stuff and we honestly just don't have the room to get it all out and set up......even the kitchen table is cluttered with junk! I could probably make room in the boys bedroom (where we have all of our unpacked boxes right now) but I really don't know how long we will be staying in this home and I have no idea where in the world to put the stuff we still have packed up!! I've been doing a little digital scrapbooking, but it's not really the same..........ugh, i'm such a whiney hiney!

Speaking of the kitchen table being cluttered, i really need to get that cleared off and get more things organized around here. Apparently Ty's teacher (along with a second grade teacher) are doing home visits and I really want to make sure the house is in some kind of order......obviously i'm not going for spotless, but "lived in" would be nice! Ahhh, I guess we'll see what I can accomplish today.

So it has been 3 weeks, as of tomorrow, that my tonsils have come out. I still have a dry cough, but other than that they healed nicely. I can pretty much eat what I was eating before, and the drinks that were tasting off are now tasting normal again. But get this......this morning I woke up and my right tonsil was hurting, especially when I would swallow. (just like when tonsilitis was strarting) How is it hurting when it's not even there?!?!? So weird......I took some of the pain medicine they gave me and it helped a little. I have my follow up appointment with the ENT doctor this coming Monday so we'll see what he has to say.

I can't believe Halloween is this weekend! Ty is getting so excited........I can't wait to see my boys all dressed up again.

I also can't believe that November is Monday.....where has this year gone?!?!? I'm hoping to do some Christmas shopping for the boys after I drop Ty off at school on Monday. We have a few things for them already, which is good. We're going to get both boys a Pillow Pet.....Ty has been asking for one of those things for months now!!! He loves the pig they have, but so far I can only find that one online. He has also said he likes the puppy and the penguin, and i've seen both of those at Walmart. Of course we're getting Chase the monkey, which i've also seen at Walmart! I'm also hoping to get Ty some chapter books, as he just LOVES to read! Chase has been a little tougher to shop for......he's at that age where he's not quite big enough for things, or is too big for it. We are going to get him a Yo Gabba Gabba dvd, and we've gotten him some Elmo things so far, but that's about it. He LOVES anything with music, so i'll see what I can find at the store on Monday. Plus both boys will get new pj's, which we get them every year.....plus they will each get an ornament. I actually am looking forward to Christmas this year!!! In fact, yesterday while I was cooking dinner I put a Christmas cd in and was singing and dancing while cooking....Chase LOVED the music!!! Ty was outside playing and he came in and asked me "Mom, why in the world are you listening to Christmas music already?!?" Before I knew it, all three of us were dancing in the kitchen! I just love moments like that........

Costume test run....

So this weekend I did a test run with the boys in their costumes. Ty turned out AWESOME!!!!



(the back part of the cape wouldn't stay up so I need to make sure I put a safety pin in it so it will stay up)He was so excited to be a vampire this year. This is the first time I didn't make his costume, and it felt so off for me but because I had been sick so much the past few months I didn't get a chance to make anything for him. He loved it, though!!!

Chase on the other hand, was not too thrilled about having to wear his costume.....I did manage to get a few pics of him wearing the whole thing....



He would only wear the hat for a few seconds at a time (as you can see in the pic, he is reaching to take it off)....and the little footie things lasted less than that!!

Ok, so the real reason I put their costumes on was because I had several free picture/free shipping codes that were about to expire and I wanted to get pics printed before that!! They had fun, though.....well, at least Ty did. Now he is super excited about trick or treating next weekend!! We're taking them to the mall again this year......but this time we will get there earlier so we don't miss the candy!!!

Recovery.....

It's so hard to believe tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I had my tonsils out! So far recovery has been good. That first week was ROUGH!!! I'm so thankful Z was around to help out. My sense of smell is SO strong now! And still some drinks taste a little off to me, but they are getting better. I can pretty much eat non-soft foods now, like crackers and doritos. (I ate a few doritos the other day and as long as I take small bites they don't hurt swallowing at all) I still can't "chug" anything I am drinking and need to take smaller sips. I learned that lesson the hard way the other day when I went to take a big drink of water......boy did that hurt!!! I did end up getting a cough which they say is common when you have your tonsils out. The ENT office told me to keep taking my pain medicine and it should help get rid of the cough......i'm not sure what that has to do with a cough, but i've been taking it and the cough is just about gone. (although I honestly think the cough was just getting better on it's own) My follow up appointment is November 1st and I can't wait! I want to ask him about my adenoids (why/how they disappeared)..........

Teacher conference!

Boy am I behind with updates!! :( We had a conference with Ty's teacher last Tuesday (10.12.10) and she said he is doing AMAZING!!!! He is still in the highest reading group and is doing amazing in math. Also, earlier that day he had taken the first part of a test and he only missed one question!! His teacher said it even surprised her, because the teachers didn't expect any of the students to do well on the first part. We were so, so proud!!! He is really loving school right now, and I am so thrilled with that. His teacher also said she was SO happy that he got to stay at the school and that he is a very bright boy and she enjoys having him in her class. Ahhh, I was smiling so big when she said that. I always knew he was an amazing boy!!!

Chase's 15 month check-up.

Chase had his 15 month check up last Thursday, two days before he turned 16 months! (we had to reschedule) He is growing SO fast!! His stats are:

Weight: 26lbs 13 ozs
Height: 33.5"
Head circumference: 19.5"

I can't get over how tall he is getting. The doctor seemed impressed with his growth and didn't seem too worried about him not saying many words. His favorite thing is to call everything baa-baa. He loves to say "hi" but in a deep country bumpkin accent....it is too cute!!! Yesterday he actually started waving and saying "hi" and "bye bye". We weren't too worried because Ty was a late talker. He did get 2 shots, but he handled them fairly well......only cried a minute or so and once he got his bottle he was fine. And now he doesn't have to go back until he is 2! :)

Surgery update

I'm SO sorry it has taken so long to do a surgery update. Ugh, it has been kicking my butt!! We got to the hospital right around 6am and got all checked in. By 8am I was called back and things started rolling. While the anesthesiologist was explaining to me how things would go, the nurse put in the IV. It was so easy! After the IV was in, the gave me something they called "happy juice" and boy was that nice. :) Within a few minutes I was wheeled back into the operating room. I had to breath in some oxygen and then I heard someone say "Ok, let's get things rolling..." and I felt something cool go into my IV....next thing I knew I was waking up to someone asking me if I wanted a popsicle! It was only slightly uncomfortable, thank goodness. They put more oxygen on me, because apparently my oxygen levels wouldn't go up and stay up and that worried them. I did get something cool to drink, which was awesome........I just didn't want a popsicle, even though they asked me a dozen times if I wanted one! LOL The nurses were so awesome. They put me in a different recovery room to get my oxygen to go up, and they finally let Z and the boys come back to see me. Seeing them all made me feel SO much better. Z told me that he had taken the boys out to the van because they were getting antsy in the waiting room, and the doctor actually came out into the parking lot to talk to him and let him know how things went!! Can you believe that?!? How awesome!! He told Z that my right tonsil was really hard, and they had a tough time getting it out. I hardly bled at all, which was a good thing. They did send my tonsils to be tested just to be sure and i'll know how it goes when I go back on November 1st. Friday wasn't too bad once we got home, but it took me awhile to get the anesthesia out of my system. The pain meds they gave me are awesome, as they work SO fast since they are liquid, but they make me so drowsy and loopy. They said most patients have issues on day 2-5, and I did ok the weekend, but come Monday my throat was kicking my butt. I can't take the pain meds because I have to drive Ty back and forth to school, so poor Z has had to miss two days of work without pay. :( He has been AMAZING, though. I don't know how I would have made it these last few days without him. He has been such a big support for me and has REALLY picked up the slack around the house. Ty only has school tomorrow and he is off for Fall break, and i'm really hoping I can function without the pain meds tonight and tomorrow so Z can go back to work. (although as bad as my throat and ear are hurting right now I don't know if I can make it :()

Well, i'm very glad those nasty tonsils are gone!!! I know the pain right now is only temporary and I have to keep reminding myself that when it hurts really bad........

Woohoo!!

So I found out I have to be at St. Mary's at 6:15am tomorrow morning! I'm SO hoping that means i'll get things done and over with and won't have to wait around for too long. I think Ty will do ok, but Chase should be interesting to entertain......

I'll hopefully update on how things go sometime tomorrow or this weekend!!

Ugh.....

So I was SO excited that the date of my tonsil surgery got moved up to the 8th. I wanted those things out before the tonsillitis had a chance to come back.....WRONG!! Sunday evening my throat was getting really scratchy on the right side.....by Monday morning my tonsils were swollen shut. It had just cleared up a week ago!!! The doctors office called me in an antibiotic and so far the surgery is still on for this Friday. I swear it can't come soon enough!!!!

Tonsil surgery

I didn't want to keep updating the other post so I figured I would just post a new entry. Anyhoo, the surgery is on for the 8th and I forgot to mention that not only are my tonsils coming out but when i'm under and the doctor gets the tonsils out he's going to look at my adenoids and if they need to go he will take them as well. (he said he was most likely just going to take them because they can cause issues down the road....I told him take out anything I didn't need! LOL) I'm just so thrilled to finally get some relief from the tonsillitis. I know I can still get sore throats in the future, but tonsillitis is awful....much worse than any strep throat I have ever had. It was funny....the doctor was explaining the surgery yesterday and he smiled and said "Now you will have a sore throat after the surgery...." and I said "Considering how many times my throat has hurt this year I can handle it!" He laughed and said it was going to be no where near as painful as the tonsillitis and I should not experience pain like that again. I swear I could have cried and hugged that man!

Fall Pictures

My big boy.......

FINALLY!!!! **UPDATED again!**

As I mentioned in my last post, I ended up getting tonsillitis for the 5th time two weeks ago. I told Z I just HAD to be seen, as I know this will come back in 3-4 weeks and I couldn't take the pain of it anymore. So, he made some phone calls and our family doctor did the referral and made me an appointment for an ENT doctor for today!!! I see him at 2:45 and I can't wait. I'm a little nervous as i'm hoping he does say they need to come out like the ER doctor had said months ago and doesn't just try and give me the runaround.....getting tonsillitis 5 times in only 9 months is NOT normal.

i'll be sure to update when I get home and hopefully it will be some good news!!! :D

These suckers are coming out!!! The doctor said that even though they are not infected at the moment, they are still larger than normal and having tonsillitis 5 times was more than enough! The only downside is, Z scheduled it for October 29th. These things could have come out next week!! I was so ticked off at him. He said next week Chase has an appointment on Thursday so he has to leave early from work. (gee, a whole 30 minutes....couldn't he just skip lunch and let that make up for it?!?) I told him the infection will come back in 3-4 weeks and then they'll have to push the surgery back even further, so then he just sat there and wouldn't say anything while the lady was waiting for us to pick a date. I then picked another date a week later and he said "I'd rather do this on a Tuesday to make it easier..." I told him "Whatever, just do the 29th...I forgot it's all about you and not how bad I feel when this crap comes back..." When we left I went off and told him he was SO wrong on making me wait until the end of next month....I mean, didn't I wait long enough to be seen because of him?!?!? And top it off, it's two days before Halloween so no taking my boys trick or treating. I am glad they are finally coming out, though. No more badly infected sore throats!!!

SURGERY DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THE 8TH!!!!! I finally convinced Z how important it is to get this taken care of sooner and he agreed with me. Next Friday is eviction day!!!!

Yet another long overdue update

Ok, so this time I have a legitimate excuse for not posting in awhile......we had to move!! I won't go into the details of it all (those who need to know, know why and i'd like to leave it at that) but we had two weeks to pack up and move. Ugh, it was awful!!! After being in the same house for 5.5 years, things were such a mess and just everywhere!! We threw out so many things, and ended up donating a TON of clothes, both our clothes and the boys clothes, plus a ton of baby toys to our local Karm Thrift Store and they were so very grateful for all of it. We were just grateful we didn't have to pack it all and move it! LOL After FINALLY finding a place we could afford and that would take pets (so many places didn't want pets and I don't blame them at all...) the Friday before we were going to move we looked at a place that was actually close to where we were living, so we would have been in the same county and could possibly keep Ty in his same school. (we had been looking at places over in Oak Ridge but I honestly didn't want to move out that way.......BUT, if a place would have opened up over there for us to live I obviously would have moved there.....you go where you have to to have a roof over your children's heads...) After we looked at the place, the man told us that someone was supposed to come look at it that night, and after she looked they would call us to let us know whether or not we could move in. I just knew in my heart the house was going to fall through. :( Later that evening, they called and asked us if were still interested!!!! The lady that was supposed to look at the place had called and said she wouldn't be able to get out that way until the following week and they told her it was going to be rented. So Z left and signed the lease and paid the deposit and it was ours!! But get this......when Z came back, he said they called his number by mistake and had meant to call the first man who looked at the place earlier that day. Z spoke up and said "Well, I have $xxx right now...." and the man (it's a husband and wife that rent the house out) said "Ehh, give it to him!" and they did!! If this house wouldn't have come through for us we would be in Oak Ridge right now.......and Ty would have had to switch school. He is technically out of the school district for his school, but the school board said if the principal says Ty can stay they will allow it and we can put in an official transfer for him for next school year. The principal said as long as his attendance is good, not alot of tardy's and his he doesn't give them any trouble he can stay! Ty was SO happy! The only thing is, I have to take him back and forth to school again because the bus won't pick up out of district, but it's not a big deal at all. In fact, the school is 5-10 minutes closer to this house!!

Ok, back to the move. Z had a few people who said they would help him move. We were so grateful, because trying to pack up a truck, then unpack things with a clingy 15 month old would have been rough. Plus we have some heavier things that I just would not have been able to help Z with. Well, Friday Z found out one helper had something going on on Saturday and couldn't help. (but said during the week he could....WTH?!??) Saturday comes along and it's POURING down outside!! The other person who was going to help (plus a friend of his....yah!) were going to come help anyway, but with the rain as bad as it was we decided to just move on Sunday. The helpers said they could help, but it would be a little later on Sunday which was fine. Z tried to get ahold of the other person who had offered to help but backed out and they ignored his texts completely. Can you believe that?!?!? I mean, if you didn't want to help then just say so....they didn't need to be so darn petty about it. I am a firm believer in karma and I know things happen for a reason.....you get to see people for who they really are and that's fine with me. Karma can be a bitch, and I love it!! Ok, off of my rant......so we get the truck early on Sunday and start loading what we can until help gets there.....well, help didn't get there until 6:30pm!! I tell ya, they were SUCH a huge help to us though!! I'm so very grateful for them. They got the truck full and left around 10:30-11pm to unload everything. Z didn't get back until after 1:30am. :( We still had TONS of stuff left and we didn't get the very last of our things until the following Saturday!! We had to use our van and make 3-4 trips a day with stuff, and Z ended up having to miss 4 days of work that week. :( And to top off the fun moving experience, I ended up with tonsillitis yet again, for the 5th time this year on the 14th. (we started moving on the 12th) I felt bad for Z as he had to do almost everything himself, as all I could do was lay on the dining room floor at the old house and sleep while he packed the van.

Whew!! So that's basically it. We are in a much smaller home, but the boys will eventually have a room to share....well, once we get the boxes unpacked and out of there! I swear i'll be unpacking for months!!! I love the open floor plan of this house, though. And it's SO nice to have a newer oven/stove to cook with! The stove at the other house had to be over 40 years old, if not older. The yard is MUCH smaller than the other house, and we are now close to a street so no playing in the front yard for the boys. But there is a nice deck out back that they love to play on. We are saving so much money now, though. We didn't get Dish Network hooked back up, because they wanted over $300 to move the dish to this house!! (we were told we had to pay to move it, then told no we didn't have to pay anything, then told again that yes we do have to pay.....we told them to stick it!) We ended up getting an amazing deal from Comcast that is saving us over $35 a month....and that's with super fast internet. Oh yeah, NO MORE DIAL-UP!!!!!! Plus, rent is $150 cheaper so that's a huge savings right there!

The weekend is over....

And boy did it go by fast, as usual! Saturday we did our usual grocery shopping. We got some amazing deals!! And, we didn't even set foot in Walmart. I am getting SO sick and tired of Walmart and the way their prices fluctuate. Just an example: they had a dozen large eggs for .88 for a few weeks, which is a great price. All of the sudden they jumped to $1.38, then less than a week later they were up to $1.48! WTH?!?!? And their gallons of milk.....we buy whole milk for Chase and Walmart brand milk was $2.78....now it's up to $3.98!!! We shop at Krogers and Food City and their prices are way cheaper than Walmart now, so now we only use Walmart for prescriptions and over the counter meds. Each week we went into Walmart we would leave disgusted by the constant changes in their prices, so we see no reason to have to go back there for groceries. Actually, we were going their for just meds and pet food, but now we buy the dog food from the co-op and the cat food from Target........I was such a die hard Walmart shopper, now I can't stand going in there!

After we did our grocery shopping we came home and Chase took a really good nap.......over 4 hours!! When he woke up, Z said he wanted to go to the store and then go out to dinner. (thank you once again survey money!!) We headed over to Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area and we had Ryan's Buffet for dinner.....let me just say, it was AMAZING!!! Not only was their food delicious but the whole atmosphere was nice.....it felt so family friendly/oriented. And for a Saturday evening, they were not busy at all! Golden Coral was across the street and they were super packed, and Z had been seeing commercials for Ryan's and wanted to try them so we had that for dinner. I'm so glad we went there.....their dinner rolls were SO good......I love the rolls at Golden Coral, but the rolls at Ryan's were even better!!!! Ty got a huge kick out of all the different foods he got to eat......he had pizza and tacos, and he thought that was so neat! Everyone enjoyed themselves!!

I did get laundry done yesterday but didn't get to put it all away, so that is my goal for today. That and to make some time to scrapbook....even if I only get one layout done i'll be happy!!