ewwwwwwww!!!

Read about a 12-year-old hamburger.

accountability

Okay, to keep me accountable in being a mommy/cook/maid, I'm going to start posting different things about mommy stuff, cooking, and cleaning. They may not be consistant at first, but it's something that will help me be more like the kinda person I want to be.

Today's post is about meals. Here are what our meals will be for the first week or so in October (in no particular order):

• slow cooker chicken and dumplings, normandy blend veggies (zuchini, yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• slow cooker green beans, ham and potatoes
• slow cooker meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
• gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches (found an awesome recipe), garden salad
• white bean chicken chili, cornbread

We'll be eating leftovers for lunch each day. As my grandma use to say, "Waste not, want not!" There will most likely be enough leftovers to freeze (what can reasonably be frozen and tasty when re-heated) and save for another meal later. I'm also preparing more slow cooker meals than normal in an effort to cut our grocery bill and save time for more important things (enjoying the kids, cleaning, quiet time).

This is pretty much an experiment at this point. I need to establish a well-stocked pantry for grocery staples so that I'm not always fumbling for something to make once our meals have been eaten. For that, I will consult my SIL! She always has something to throw together, which impresses me!

church in the park

This morning was a special time of communion and worship. We met in the park due to our normal facility being used for another reason. It was a very special time, for us as a family especially, because we brought Jenna to church for the first time. It was hard reading the song sheet because of the building tears! Everyone was so excited to see Jenna! Of course she flashed her ear-to-ear smile to everyone who complimented on how cute she was. I'm afraid we've been spoiling her with compliments! Eventually, we'll have to taper-off so that she doesn't become a mirror watcher ;-) For now, she deserves to be spoiled!!

nick's b-day party

Saturday morning, we had three hard-working church members painting more on our house. It's really coming along! I'm so happy te Kelly green is gone!! Thank you EastPoint family for blessing us! I hope someday we can return the favor somehow in someway.

Well, Saturday my hubby turned 31. Woo! He's getting so old!!! Four of our good friends came over to share in the celebration. We had a super yummy dinner...spare ribs, baked potato, garden salad, yeast rolls, apple cobbler, and vanilla ice cream! Yeah...I felt like a cow and was worried someone might cow tip me over! We played cards until we were all tired and goofy...11pm...isn't that pathetic? That's what happens when you're old!

My Husband Rocks

My husband rocks because...


He does things without griping and complaining. Nick is so patient! The other day, our dryer decided to stop working, so he figured out what the problem was and took the silly thing apart! Apparently the "lint trap" hasn't been "trapping" very well. He cleaned everything up, and in the process sliced his finger open! So what does he do? He puts a bandage on it and finishes up the job!

Thanks for climbing the mountain of laundry to fix the dryer, honey. I love you and YOU ROCK!!!

My Husband Rocks Giveaway

I've decided to join something fabulous, thanks to my SIL. My Husband Rocks Fridays!!!
If you would like more info, just click here or the image above to learn all about it. Also, she's doing a really fun My Husband Rocks Giveaway to participants, so if you'd like to get on board, there's a little incentive to get your rear doin' what you should be doin' all the time (bragging on your hubby).

you're invited!!

We will be celebrating communion in our 10:30 worship service with lunch immediately following. EastPoint Church will provide the chicken, plates, cups, napkins, and plasticware. Please bring drinks, sides, and deserts. Regional Park is located between Douglas Blvd. and Midwest Blvd. on Reno Ave. in Midwest City. The Rotary Pavilion is located next to the large playground area. We hope to see you in the park!

Contact Us

phone: 405-924-4866

website: http://www.eastpointmwc.com

jenna's day out

Yesterday, I woke-up and felt the walls closing-in, so I loaded the kiddos up in the car and we headed-out. I didn't even know what we were going to do until we were a mile away from the house. I called Nick at work and we decided to join him for lunch. We went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in Warr Acres...Tai Pei. It is run by a Christian family, the food's great, and most of all, the price tag is great! Yeah, not low-fat whatsoever, but we we've been eating healthy lunches at home on a regular basis, so I didn't feel too badly about indulging a little.

We took Nick back to work and headed-on over to Mardel. I'm participating in a Women's Bible Study connected with my church. We're going to go through Ruth, Esther, and then start some Beth Moore studies. I snatched a study guide to go along with Ruth and Esther. Anymore, I need study guides to go along with the reading I do in the Word. With my sleepy, foggy brain, it's nice to have some deeper insight. I really enjoy John MacArthur's study guides...the way he has each chapter set-up, the background behind the passage, the deeper look, and the thought provoking questions. Right up my alley!

Next, it was on to Babies R Us. I had a gift card with a little leftover money and Jenna was down to just 3 sleeping outfits, so I bought her a few more. I can't believe she's growing so fast! I would be in so much trouble if we had money to spend. The clothes at Babies R Us are sooooooooooo cute! An outfit that would fit Joshua caught my eye...$30!!! Are you kidding me? I wasn't so tempted after I saw that price tag!

I really wanted to take Joshua to the park, but despite the temperature being moderate, the humidity was not! Jenna's extremely hot natured and she wouldn't last but a few minutes. So, I called-up a friend and we met at Chick-fil-a and let the kids play together for about an hour. My friend hadn't seen Jenna yet and was anxious to get her hands on her :-)

I don't normally take Jenna into stores or restaurants, but every place we went wasn't busy whatsoever. It felt nice to return to somewhat of a normal outing. Jenna spent a lot of time laughing, smiling, and playing with her toys and Joshua enjoyed the attention he always gets with his baby blues. I'm so looking forward to when we won't have to be so careful about the things we do or the places we go.

for your enjoyment!

Jenna loves to read already!Itchy nose!
I'm going to miss this huge, cleft smile! Yep...he's completely rotten!
Check-out the long lashes!

schedule, sooner start, and blah-blah-blah

Okay, so I need to figure-out how to get more sleep. I think I'm starting to really amaze myself with how dumb I can be when tired! Need an example? Well, I don't have one at the moment because I can't remember! My brain is mush. I think I need a personal assistant!

On to more interesting things...

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the RN who will be helping with Jenna through Sooner Start. Her name is Sandy and she's super sweet. She's really excited to help with Jenna :-) She's even offered to come along to her important doctor's appointments to be an extra set of ears and to help me remember to ask the important questions I may not be thinking about while keeping Joshua out of trash cans. Speaking of Sooner Start, Joshua's speech therapy starts tomorrow. I'm really curious to see what takes place. The speech pathologist, Jana, is great too. Sooner Start has already been a God-send and we've only just begun!

Okay, I'm going to upload some recent pictures.

batten down the hatches

Okay. I've really got to figure out how to cook and shop with healthy and cheap in mind. Money's really tight and it's time to let the OCD in me to shine! Yes, I did just say that. The OCD in me is totally stoked about saving money! Why haven't I done this sooner? Well, I guess it's taken being in a financial strain to finally get it into my brain that it's crucial! Time to whip open Microsoft Excel and go crazy! Woo!! Yes, I'm being sincerely genuine :-) Okay, so I have tried to save money in the past by buying only store brand items (except chips and ice cream have to be name brand...the taste difference is totally obvious). I've got to do more. Time to pick recipes that fit the pocket book and lighten-up on eating spaghetti more often. Yeah, artichoke dip is expensive, and I about passed-out at the price of capers...almost $3!!! Okay, I'm gonna start surfin' my favorite recipe sites. Allrecipes.com has over 600 crockpot recipes and it's that time of year when I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE smellin' something simmering all day long :-)

prayer request update

Please continue to pray for my friend's son. He has really had a rough couple of days. Mom is having to make tough decisions and take care of the kids while hubby is away for a work-related reasons.

house painting

Tomorrow, our church family is having a mission project day in celebration of our church's 2 year anniversary. What a way to celebrate! They have selected numerous projects within the community and our house is one of them! Yet another blessing we have to be so thankful for :-) I will make sure to take pictures and post them asap. Our trim is going from tacky green to clean white. Ahhhh! Like getting out a nasty grass stain in your favorite white shirt ;-)

Thank you God for blessing us AGAIN!

prayer request

A family very dear to me in our church has two sweet children. Their youngest is 8. He's such an incredible little guy! He has been battling so many health issues literally from the day he was born. I visited with them last night and mom explained to me that it has been quite a while since he has had a reasonable sized stretch of good health; here lately, he has really been struggling. Please pray for them. They're the sweetest family you will ever meet. Their love for the Lord is evident in everything they do. For example, despite their own circumstances, they came to see Jenna in the hospital, have brought us food, gave a very generous love offering, and constantly encourage us. Their selfless blessings are priceless and their friendship is the same.

I didn't ask permission to put their name out in cyberspace or to share any details, so I'm going to leave them anonymous.

oops! behind again ;-)

I'm sitting here trying to get my fingers to move and it's difficult. I'm so tired that every inch of me hurts! I must conger up some energy for BUNCO tonight ;-) The theme is breakfast food (my favorite). My stomach is already growling for my SIL's pecan cinnamon rolls *drool* I may need to bring one of Jenna's bibs *haha*

Tuesday night was quite an experience. I went in to check on Jenna and do her meds during our normal midnight slot. I usually just operate by the light on her feeding pump so that I don't disturb her and so that I can easily go back to bed without seeing spots. I reached down to grab her feeding-tube extension and the back of my hand felt the sopping wet crib mattress. Argh! My first thought was, "I just changed her diaper a couple of hours ago, how could it have soaked through like this?" Well, it wasn't her diaper, but her feeding-tube! Ahhhhh!! The Y-port (where I can clamp off the feeding to administer medication) had popped-open somehow. Poor Jenna. I had to get her out of the crib, clean her up, change her, change her crib sheet, and check her blood sugar. There was no way to determine how long the formula had been pouring out of her tube instead of reaching her tummy. I tested her sugar and I thought it read "10," so I start freaking-out! When she gets a low reading (below 60), I have to re-test to be sure and then if it is confirmed to be low, I have to call the emergency number for her Endocrine doctor. Well, I looked at the glucometer again, and it actually read 103 *whew* That means she hadn't gone that long without food. What a relief!! I was so worried about it happening again that I found myself jerking awake out of bed and running into her room to check it. Thankfully, it didn't happen again that night.

I think we must have a defective extension set because when we were at the park yesterday, it happened again! A lady was sitting not to far from the stroller and was like, "Ummm...something's leaking." I looked, and sure enough, it had popped open again. I noticed that the consistency of the formula looked rather mucousy, so I'm wondering if she's straining and forcing formula back out of her stomach? I'm not sure, but that's what it appears to be. I'm going to see if this happens with a new extension set (once we get them), and if it does, I'm going to call the GI doctor because I don't think that's suppose to happen!

Well, I need to get to cleaning. You should see my house. Looks like Hurricane Ike hit it! If only you could see Joshua right now. He's standing right behind me and trying his best to name the letters on the back of my t-shirt. He actually knows several letters already and can identify them. Isn't that awesome? Oh! Almost forgot...can't believe I almost forgot this! Joshua walked-up to me told me (without me saying anything first) Wednesday morning, "ah luh loo." Which translates, "I love you." We tell him all the time and he has really picked-up on copying what we say. I called Nick right away, of course, to brag that he told me first ;-)

Okay, okay. I have to do something about this house *gag*

some favorite paintings and artists

"Cafe Terrace at Night" by Vincent Van Gogh

I'm not sure what it is about this painting I love so much,

but it makes me want to visit that little cafe!

"Lady Agnew of Lochnaw" by John Singer Sargent

So many incredible works, but this is by far my favorite by this artist.

"Laura" by Kathryn Walker Richardson

This amazing portrait was done by my art teacher from "way back when." How I miss painting and being her student! Talk about inspiration! She's just absolutely amazing!!

Brown Bear is 12!!

I've been wanting to write blogs of praise for individuals in my family and I've decided to start with my oldest nephew since today was his birthday. I will refer to him as "Brown Bear" since that is his nic name :-) Brown Bear was the first of 8 (soon to be 9) nephews and nieces to be born. He is very loving, encouraging, helpful, and protective of his siblings and other family. One of my fondest memories of Brown Bear was when he was much younger (probably about 3 or 4). Brown Bear loved Jesus from a very young age and would often talk to others about the Lord. I remember so vividly when he marched-up to me one day and said, "Jesus loves me. He's in my heart. He can be in your heart too if you just ask Him." What an awesome little guy! To this day, I think Brown Bear has a place in ministry. Whether it be leading a church family, or being a missionary of some sort. He has such an incredible heart and I'm so excited to see where God leads him :-)

I love you Brown Bear! You're such a wonderful young man. I'm so proud to be your aunt!

"let me wipe your nose" and "ewwwwwww"

Well, it seems the Lord has pretty much healed Jenna of her cold! She no longer has any rattling in her chest, nor has she coughed all day. There's still somewhat of a runny nose, but we're on the homeward stretch! Poor Joshua's still battling away though; thankfully, I stocked-up on Tylenol Cold and Runny Nose before they yanked it from the shelves. It really helps him hold-off on coughing long enough to get a good night's rest.

Well, Jenna saw Dr. Tuggle this morning. He looked at her abscess and immediately grabbed a suture removal kit to get to work. However, he said it was still hard and not ready to drain *gag* So, he wants me to keep it clean and dry. Apparently when it's ready to come out, the suture will work it's way out and the abscess will just dry-up and fall off *gag*

Jenna received her 4-month shots today as well. Poor kid :-( She had to endure someone digging around on her stomache, and then shots! She did just fine until the medicine was injected :-( Poor baby! She hollered for quite sometime. Although, I think her neices who joined us were more traumatized than Jenna! They both covered their mouths and Jenna cried. I thought for sure they were going to cry too!!

Well, that's going to have to be it for tonight. I'm too pooped to keep on typing! Someday I'll talk about something other than just family stuff, but that seems to be all my life revolves around right now :-D Love you all!!

sniffles and formula

Well, both of the kiddos have snotty noses and congested coughs :-( Poor babies! Joshua moped around most of the day until I finally found cold medicine. It was in with the other medicines...imagine that! Once Joshua had a little bit of cold medicine in him, he perked-up and started bouncing off the walls (which is what he normally does). Jenna smiled despite feeling icky, but did sleep quite a bit. Her abscess is going to be examined by her surgeon tomorrow morning. Can't wait to have that behind us *bleh* Not looking forward to taking Joshua with me to the appointments, but I don't have the heart to pawn off a sick child on anyone! Jenna's also getting her 4-month-old shots tomorrow :-(

The day I really dreaded arrived today. I ran-out of frozen breast milk! So, Jenna's GI doctor has put her on Similac NeoSure. It's mostly for preemies and under-weight babies, but it's suppose to be super gentle on the stomaceh and that's what Jenna needs; so what if she gets some more chub rolls along the way...I love chubby babies! I had to buy the liquid form since the powder form tends to clog in feeding tubes. Thankfully I won't have to supply it for but a week until Walgreen's Home Care starts supplying it for us and our insurance picks-up the tab *sigh of relief* 32oz (which she goes through in less than a day) of the formula is nearly $8!! Can you imagine?? Yikes! Praise God for His provision!

back to the ER

Well, this morning, Jenna's incision looked even worse :-( So much for the "skin irritation" theory! Thankfully, there wasn't much of a wait and we got in pretty quickly. Just as I thought, it's an absess (sp?). So, we got a prescription for an ointment...$35 co-pay!! Yikes! We're suppose to go and see the surgeon who did the operation on Tuesday *sigh* Thankfully God's in control *handing over the reigns...again* So the cream is suppose to help cause the sore to open-up *gag* Hopefully whatever's in there will drain out and Jenna won't have to deal with too much pain *cringe*

Another interesting happening today...

I was out in the front yard talking with my SIL while my oldest niece was inside playing with Jenna. My niece came out and informed me that Jenna's mic-key button had come out. Argh! Thankfully, it isn't a painful experience for her...or at least, it hasn't been in the past. We always have a spare, so I put the new one in *bleh* I really have to hold back the gags when I do it. I'm not one of those people who does well with wounds, blood, etc. And to think I use to want to be an EMT! *hahaha*

We have our new hand-me-down furniture in place :-) My parents gave us an entertainment center, television, mission-style futon, dvd/vhs cabinets, shelves, and some misc stuff yet to be gone through. So, needless to say, I have TONS of cleaning to do! We passed on our hand-me-down leather sofa to my brother and SIL and they passed on their hand-me-down sofa to our other brother and SIL. It's kinda fun rotating furniture :-) I'll miss the comfy sofa, but it will be nice to have someplace to sleep when we have family in from out-of-town *hint, hint* They can have our comfy pillow-top and we'll take the futon *HINT, HINT*

Alright, I'm beat! Time to hit the hay! Love you all!!

praise God and holy cow!

Praise God! I received a phone call yesterday from our Missions Director. She is bringing us a check today from various people in our Church. I'm so embarrassed! It's so hard to be on the receiving end of a blessing sometimes. I know I blew it last week at Church when I confided in a friend and said, "This month is going to be so tough!" I didn't mention that it had to do with finances, but I think she must've caught the drift. How do I thank everyone? How do I even show my face? I'm embarrassed!!! Please share any advice you may have on how to thank everyone and how to not feel like I should put a paper bag over my head!! In the meantime, I'm going to continue praying that God would help me with my pride. My SIL informed me a while back that my attitude towards receiving blessings is one of pride. It took me sometime to see it, but she's right. What a stinker...I know where you live (right next door)!

Time for the "holy cow" segment...

Well, yesterday as I was changing a mondo-explodo diaper and clothing, I noticed Jenna's incision looked puffy, red, and was warm to the touch. Of course I couldn't have noticed it while her pediatrician's office was still open! My SIL took Joshua next door with her and I loaded-up Jenna to take her to Children's Hospital. I was concerned that her Fundoplication was perhaps coming undone or she had contracted some type of nasty infection. After waiting for 4 hours, we finally got in to see the doctor. Thankfully, they seem to think it's just skin irritation *big sigh of relief* I packed her diaper bag to the brim though, just in case we were looking at an overnight stay.

Jenna had a rough night. She woke a couple of times in the night with a snotty nose :-( This is the first time she has caught anything since she's been home. Hopefully it's something that will pass quickly. If not, we already have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday for the dreaded 4-month-old shots *doom, doom, doom*

Hmmm...everyone in the house is napping except me. I think I'm going to give-in and crash along with them :-) Until next time!

dexter johnson fund

After wasting time griping and complaining to myself, I decided to start listing God's blessings and that quickly cured my grumpy mood.

Dr. Smith's (Jenna's maxillofacial surgeon) office called the other day and let us know that we have been approved by the Dexter Johnson Fund! What does that mean? That means Jenna's surgeries will be paid for!! Praise God for that :-) We also got a letter in the mail from our insurance saying they're willing to work with us even though we went with a surgeon out of network. So, hopefully whatever the fund doesn't cover, perhaps our insurance will :-) Yay!!!

catching-up

Well, for some silly reason, blogger isn't allowing me to upload pictures *frowny face* So, I guess you'll just have to use your imagination on what I'm going to share. Phooey!

Joshua had his first Sooner Start evaluation on the 3rd. For those of you that don't know, Sooner Start is a free service (well, tax dollars pay for it really) that sends professionals to your home to assist in development. As you know, Joshua has had some speech delay. We found-out this past Tuesday that most of his speech delay can be blamed on his hearing. Joshua had a hearing screening and his right ear did not pass. We will re-screen in about 4 weeks and if there are no improvements, they will send us to either an Autolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor) or an Audiologist. They're thinking more likely they'll send us to the ENT since Joshua has significant allergy problems. Joshua has had quite a few ear infections in the past. Unfortunately, that was passed down from me :-( I'm excited about the speech sessions though. They will start on the 26th and will most likely be bi-weekly to start.

This week, we've had so much going-on! I really wanted to crawl under a rock by mid-week. Tuesday was Joshua's hearing evaluation, Wednesday, Sooner Start came to further evaluate and set-up a speech schedule, yesterday morning Jenna had an ultrasound and an afternoon Sooner Start evaluation, and today, Sooner Start is coming for a second evaluation on Jenna. Somebody put me out of my misery! It may not sound like much, but it's a pain to try and keep the house clean and try to be a good mom in the process!!

Jenna's ultrasound yesterday morning was requested by her GI doctor (we met with him a couple of weeks ago). The ultrasound-tech spent nearly an hour looking at her spleen, liver, and pancreas. We found-out last week (via letter) that Jenna has a hardened spleen. I'm anxious to meet with the doctors again to find-out why the didn't tell us this at her appointment and to find-out more about the condition. So frustrating!!

Today, I just sat on the couch and cried. It's been a while since I've just let it all loose. Poor Joshua didn't know what to do, and Jenna slept through it all. Things are not all bad. I do need to point-out that our church has been absolutely amazing through all of this. Sunday, they gave me a bag of groceries and a grocery gift card. It's amazing how God provides and blesses when you aren't really anticipating it. We are truly blessed. Even though it seems like we're not going to make it through a month, God always provides. I hate to have a bad attitude, but I think I'm mostly just tired. I'm so appreciative, yet I just want to disappear for a while. Sometimes I feel like I'm at my breaking-point, and other times I feel like I can conquer the world! I know I wouldn't be able to make it at all if it weren't for the loving arms of the Lord. He carries me through the toughest times and shows me just how able He is. Faith...that was the word He gave me when I was pregnant with Jenna. I just have to keep reminding myself that FAITH will get me through. Wow, I sure sound selfish. Please pardon my venting. Somehow, this makes me feel somewhat better.

*big sigh*

Okay, Jenna's ready to get-up from her nap. My SIL has Joshua with her at the park, so I'm going to enjoy holding Jenna for a bit :-)

blogger anxiety!

Wow I'm behind! Our computer has been on the fritz and I've been having major blogger anxiety *haha* I will update as soon as I get some pictures uploaded!