Stripes anyone? Brock...

Well last night Tim was getting a very reluctant Brock into the bed. I heard him say "Did you do that?" and it wasn't his jovial tone that he normally has so I went in to investigate. I questioned the situation and Tim said "Look about Brock's arm height all around the room." I looked closer to see that there is now a blue stripe that runs the complete circle around his room. fortunately, he can't move his furniture so there are a few places that he missed. I hope this doesn't mean that he wants to become a decorator!

Kelly's Kids Season is here!

Well, it is time for Kelly's Kids spring/summer line. I am very excited about this season. They have done a great job of designing the line this season. I always enjoy the month when I have my parties because I get to act like a professional again. I love the people I have parties for, and this season I have picked up several new parties too. I am excited to meet some new people and make some new friends. If you are interested in seeing the line please let me know and I will get you a catalog. You can see it online at www.kellyskids.com, but it just doesn't have the same effect as a catalog or especially seeing them in person. Okay, well I am getting it all ready and wanted to share what is coming up next in this crazy life I live.

Claire's Photographic Debut

Here are the pictures from Claire's camera. I think they are equally hilarious.

Brock's Photography Debut

The kids got digital cameras for Christmas from Heidi. It has been so funny to look at their pictures. Here are a few of my favorites from Brock's camera.

IV arm

I finally brought my camera upstairs to download the pictures of my arm. Remind you this is actually before the bruises darkened to complete black, but you can see where it was going. How about Baptist Hospital!

Peyton Manning Spoke to Me

Hey girls, I was watching TV again when Peyton Manning spoke to me! I was thrilled! For those of you who know me well, you know that I HATE driving a mini-van. Therefore this was hilarious to me. Enjoy!

http://priceless.com/peptalks

They call themselves parents?

I am sure that you can imagine how much TV I have been watching for the last week and a few days. I have been reading some as well, but for the most part TV has been my constant companion. In these few days, some things have caught my eye that have totally astounded me. I will be the first to tell you that parenting is hard! Having a child that has special needs to some degree adds to Tim and my challenge, but still, it isn't rocket science. Our kids are well adjusted, happy, have friends and love everyone they know to the fullest extent possible for kids their age. I would like to think that Tim and I have fostered this, but we both know that God gets FULL credit for anything good that ever comes out of their precious lives. One thing that I have learned over the 7.5 years of being a parent is they are going to mimic you, good or bad. This being said, I really try to be a good person. Tim doesn't have to try, because he is a good person, but for me it takes some effort and thought. Anyway, back to the TV point, some things that I have seen on TV lately astound me about people's choices. Take the fact that they are parents and that adds on a whole new level of "Are You FREAKING kidding me?" into the equation. Here are two of the main things that stick out in my head that have inspired this blog.

#1 Have you heard about the 13 year old girl, Megan Meier that committed suicide? It has been awhile since it happened and her parents have been all over the television circuit telling their story. http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1003 This is the link to the episode on Dr. Phil that her parents were on. Apparently what happened was another parent in their neighborhood created a fake boy, contacted Megan on Facebook, and became her "friend". Then as quickly as this "boy" befriended her "he" turned on her and started saying and posting all kinds of horrible things to and about her. Megan had already been struggling with depression and this was the proverbial straw that broke her, and she hung herself in her bedroom. When the adult that had created the "boy" was asked to defend herself, she gave some horrifically lame excuse that she wanted to see what bad things Megan was saying about her daughter on the Internet. Seriously, that is the gist of what she said in response to this child killing herself due to her actions. I will add that when I saw the lady interviewed (not on Dr. Phil) she didn't even seem too remorseful about her part in Megan's death, but blamed it on her depression. I have to say that I just don't get it. At what point in this lady's mind did any of this add up to responsible adult behavior? How about watching her Facebook page to see what she was saying, and then IF she was saying anything bad about your child deal with it like an adult? I would be inclined to do something along the lines of (and this is just off the cuff here) printing out what she found and going to the child and her parents to discuss what was being said. Sadly, but understandably Megan's parents are the angriest, saddest people that I have ever seen. This mom is eaten up with hatred toward this lady. I am not saying this accusingly, because I can't imagine what I would do to that lady. Actually, I can imagine exactly what I would do to her and most of the options would land me behind actual bars, and not the invisible ones this lady is living behind. You just have to wonder how this lady sleeps at night, does she regret acting like a 7th grader, and what is she telling her daughter about the consequences of her actions. That is enough about that except to say that. I hope that you will join me in adding Megan's parents to your prayers. I pray that some day they will find a peace that they don't have now. The peace that can only be found in our Prince of Peace.

#2 Did you hear about the 6 year old child who wrote the letter to the Hannah Montana concert ticket contest? She won the contest on a letter that was 100% totally and completely a lie. She wrote about how her dad had been killed on active duty in Iraq, and that the ticket contest would really make her happy since she had suffered this terrible loss. It was all a lie! Okay, so I have a 7 year old and granted Claire isn't on the same level as a lot of kids her age, but I would still like to thing that even the girls at top of the charts would not be able to come up with a whopper like that! Are you kidding me? You know that the mother had to have spoon fed (if she didn't just write it herself to begin with) every line of that letter. When it all came to light and she was questioned about their actions she called it "fiction". She said that they did what they had to do to win. She went on with that they didn't see what they did any differently than making up a fairy tale. Wow, so all of you now single mothers out there who actually did lose your children's father while they were serving our country in Iraq, your life is like a fairy tale according to this lady. I am sure that those ladies see it a little differently to say the least! http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa080104_wz_hannahletter.b77036a.html

I feel sorry for the children involved here too. They are the ones that are suffering the most and will for their entire lives. They unfortunately have parents that lack the maturity and wherewithal to raise them to be decent humans. They are going to suffer for their parents selfishness. It scares me to death to think about the generation of children out there that are being raised by people from my generation! God help us to raise up our children to be productive, honest and decent humans, and please protect our children from those who's parents didn't seem to find those as qualities they wanted for their children!

On a side note, I received a survey in the mail from Baptist hospital regarding my recent stay. They wanted to know how they did at meeting my needs as a patient...boy are they not going to like what I have to say!

War Stories!

Okay, to say that I have bad luck is like saying the Pope is Catholic. Things have a way of going south whenever I am involved, so I don't know why any of the following stories shock me. However, you think that when you have good insurance and you are being sent to a big private hospital that you will get good care. I thought that, it didn't happen, but I thought that going in. There were actually times when Tim and I would look at each other and laugh in total disbelief at the reality of what was happening. I won't even try to catch every thing that happened to us while we were there, but will hit the "high" points. To start off, I will say that I am so thankful for my husband and family and some of the most amazing friends that a person could ever ask to have. You guys have stepped up and been amazing! Tim is the best husband that I could ever have hoped to find in the entire world and thank heavens he has such an awesome sense of humor! So with that said here we go...

#1 The fact that they had to try 3 time to get my IV in my arm. The nurse was super nice and felt horrible, but the result was still the same. We took a picture because it was pretty impressive. In comparison to everyone else though this girl was the Captain of the A team for sure!

#2 (my favorite) I came to in the recovery area to the most negative, complaining nurse ever. She was mad at the price of gas, the extensive coverage of football during bowl games, the candidates in the presidential elections (both sides), the fact that it was cold outside, and basically that she was alive I think. This is just what I gathered as I was coming in and out of consciousness. It ends up that she was the one that took me up to my room. My SEMI-PRIVATE room. Seriously, I didn't know that those still existed due to HIPA, but they do. Anyway, I am pretty sure that she hit every corner that we tried to go around and every door jam as well. I am not going to get graphic, but when you have had parts pulled from your body it isn't the best time to go playing roller derby in a hospital bed, it doesn't feel too good. Anyway, she told Mom, Tim and Randy to wait in one place while they got me situated in my bed (Next to the woman with the mysterious rash all over her face.) We start down the hall and when she realized which room I was in she got furious, not for the same reason I was furious, but because according to her, it is the hardest room in the hospital to get a bed into. (This is from the woman who couldn't walk straight without hitting something!) So they manage to get my bed into the room and up against the wall when she says "Well, your just going to have to wait a minute, my knee hurts!" and proceeds to sit down to rest. I am in the mean time trying to holler out to Mom and Tim to come help me but it was like a bad dream and I couldn't get my voice to work loud enough. (That was a first for sure!)

#3 Apparently I am allergic to morphine. I know this now because throughout the night I was begging for help that never came. Tim had to go home because he is a male and I wasn't allowed to have a male overnight guest in my high dollar semi-private room. I could tell early in the evening that I was starting to itch and asked for some benedryl which they did give me. What I didn't know was that by midnight my skin was going to feel like it was on fire and I would not be able to sleep from being in total agony. Seriously, the pain from the surgery was not noticeable because I was hurting from the pain medication so severely. I had the nurses in my room almost constantly until 3:15 when I told them that they were going to have to give me phenegran and knock me out. To this I was told that they couldn't give me phenegran unless I was nauseated. I am so proud because I didn't hit anyone. I think I ripped the sheets, but I didn't hit anyone, as I explained that she could at that point consider me nauseated and get me the medication very quickly. It would have been a good idea to call the doctor and ask to take me off the morphine pump and go ahead and move me to oral meds, but I didn't have the type of nurses that were interested in making good decisions. I even had one tell me that if I would quit pushing my pain medication button that I would quit itching. The nerve of me actually wanting to use my pain medication, after all I was at least 10 hours out of surgery. My skin was sore to the touch for 3 days because the itching had been so intense.

#3 The nurses were unbelievably unhappy to be at work. The reason I know this is because every one that came into my room told me how much they didn't want to be there. There was one that was particularly unhappy and only wanted to share the joy. She brought me my pain meds but no water. When I didn't immediately take them she looked at me and said "Are you going to take those or what?" I told her I would be more than happy to take them as soon as I had some liquid to wash them down with. Somehow that annoyed her too. A little bit later Tim went to the sink to get some water so that I could brush my teeth and was covered in nasty brown water that came shooting out with major force. He asked the nurse about the problem and was informed that "Oh yeah, they turned your water off a little bit ago." Nice. I have not even started on the CNA that was very obviously not all there. The stories about her are endless.

Anyway, there are a few of the highlights of our 26 hours of "Care" at Baptist Hospital. Keep these in mind if you ever decide to get sick and need to go to the hospital.

I am Home!

I will spare you all the details, but after the 2nd worst hospital experience of my life we made it home yesterday. I have never been so happy to leave a place in my life. It was literally one thing after another. I am thankful to say that the surgery went very well, and the Dr was able to remove a lot of scar tissue from a past surgery that was attached to my intestines. They feel that problem, along with the endometriosis (which is now gone too) was the root of all the pain. I am so excited that those things are now fixed, and I am no longer going to have them in my body! If none of this makes sense I am sorry. I am on heavy duty medications. Thanks for all of your prayers because they were heard and needed. When I am up for it and you are interested you can ask me about my time in the hospital. It was so bad that it is hilarious. Have a good day!

Goodbye Pain!

Well the day has finally come, and in the morning (5:30AM!) I will go to Baptist hospital and they are going to remove body parts. In case there are guys reading this I am going to try and keep them from cringing. Since I was 15 years old, I have had horrible female problems. HORRIBLE! They always told me that it would be a miracle if I was able to have babies, and thankfully God gave me two wonderful miracles. I am so thankful for my kids that I can't really even put it into words. It was the best day of my life when I found out I was pregnant with Claire. I will never forget the instant that stick showed positive, and I knew that God had just given me the biggest blessing of my life. I felt the same way a year and a few months later when I found out I was pregnant again with Brock. It was a dream come true that I had both of my babies, and I am eternally thankful that God allowed me to carry them. We knew after Brock was born that we were finished having kids. So, there is no reason to continue putting up with horrific pain every month. The doctors (all 3 I consulted) said that I could either schedule this surgery on my own time or I could have it done in an emergency situation when it wouldn't be on my own time. I understand that it is going to be the best thing for me health wise and all, but it is the weirdest thing in the world to wrap my mind around! I am 34 and having a hysterectomy. It makes me feel really old! I wasn't expecting the emotional attachment to my uterus but I apparently have some sentimental attachment to it. Crazy huh. I am more nervous about this surgery than I have been about other surgery's in the past too. I have had a lot of nervous energy that in a funny way reminds me of the "nesting" I did before the kids were born. I have scrubbed the bathrooms from top to bottom, cleaned out the toy closet in the playroom, and have a whole list of things still to do. If you could please keep me, Tim and the kids in your prayers. We are hoping that the Dr is going to be able to leave my ovary in place to retain the natural hormones. That is very important! Also, on the 11th, Claire has oral surgery and they are going to remove 5 teeth, repair a cavity, take xrays (that she freaks out about even talking about!) and a few other things. They are going to be putting her under to do all of this which makes me very nervous as a mother. Please keep her in your prayers too. Needless to say January is going to be a crazy month for us! Like I said Never a Dull Moment!