I got some bad news last night

And still no news on Tim's interview. It was supposed to come today so we'll see. The day is not over yet. I'm going crazy not knowing though.

Anyway, on to the bad news. I've been having a lot of abdominal pain and pressure lately. Thought I was pregnant a few times but always negative. I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and he thought my uterus was enlarged and it was probably fibroids. Not a big deal because they weren't causing anything more than a little discomfort. Last week I had an ultrasound but no appointment to find out about it until November 7th. Fortunately my doctor was on call last night and I saw him at the hospital. He printed out the report for me and we discussed it a little. I have a 10cm cyst on one of my ovaries and it needs to be removed. Sooner rather than later as I run the risk of it rupturing and that could cause all sorts of problems.

I'm waiting to hear about Tim's job before I make any quick decisions, but my surgery could be in the next two to three weeks if I can even wait that long. I'm sure it's just nerves, but I've been having a lot more pain today. I was really busy at work last night though too, and that could have something to do with it. In any case, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I'm not too worried about the surgery, more the recovery time and the kids because recovery can take 6 weeks. I'll probably feel ok sooner than that, but I won't be able to lift and stuff like that. Not easy when you have little ones.

I'll keep you posted and let you know when I know anything. Thanks for thinking about me!

My baby boy is 2!!

Here is a glimpse of him two years ago today.


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with big brother

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I just can't get over how small they both were. Both have grown up soo much in two years time.

We didn't do anything special today. In fact, I slept almost all day long because I worked last night and I work again tonight. However, I did discover that Alex has heard the three little pigs story a few times. When I was laying down with him at nap time he kept blowing in my face. Then he started saying "Huff....House...." and blowing. It was hilarious! Everyday he teaches me something new. Such a joy and so much trouble all at the same time.

Hopefully the next two years go by a little slower and I can enjoy him a little more before he leaves me to go off to school!

A cute video and some new pictures

This video is hilarious! Alex was starving, but also ready for a nap



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The boys new beds

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Opening Alex's Birthday presents

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Blowing out his candle

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Watching cartoons with Papa

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Cooking with Nana

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Putting together a puzzle

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Wrestling

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I let him win

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And there are several more on dropshots if you want to check them out.

We've had a nice weekend with Nana and Papa. Lots of just hanging out and enjoying the indoors because the weather has been crappy outside. They are leaving early tomorrow morning and I have to go back to work tonight after being off almost all week. It's not going to be fun.

Alex has his two year check up on Monday so I'm curious to see how that goes. Seems like he's doing pretty good and the way he eats he has to be climbing up there on the charts. At one point a year ago I thought he was going to fall off because he was so little.

Max's new med doesn't seem to be working. Then again, we have been cooped up in the house and maybe he just needs to get outside and run out some energy. I'm hoping Tim can take them pumpkin picking tomorrow and that should help. He is listening and following directions, but has crazy amounts of energy and is VERY loud. If we could just control his voice level I think I'd be happy. Who knows, maybe this med isn't right for him either. We are both being very consistent with him and following through when we take things away, but praise for what he's doing right definitely seems to be the key. Like any kid, he loves to know when he's doing something good and when he's being good.

Not much else to report. Hopefully we'll hear about Tim's interview by Wednesday of this week. More details when we finally hear.

No update yet!

GRR! I was hoping to know something already, but it looks like we won't hear until next Wednesday about whether or not Tim got the job. There is one more candidate to interview and a lot of factors that could come into play. He said he felt very confident in his interviews so we shall see. Please keep your fingers crossed.

The boys are really enjoying having Nana and Papa here. Alex got to help make dinner which doesn't happen very often around here. He was eating green peppers and onions as my mom was cutting them up. EWWW! Then after dinner he had a bunch of green olives. How in the world can he be my kid??

Max had a great day at school today. I'm thinking his new med is going to be ok when he takes the full dose. He's been pretty good tonight too. A few almost meltdowns, but much better than the last few weeks have been.

Tomorrow Uncle Bill and Rusty will be here and the kids are definitely excited about that. Unfortunately Bill has to work on Saturday morning so they'll only be here for the day. He is bringing our old bunk beds with him though so tomorrow night the boys will finally be in bunkbeds. I am so excited. I'll have to get some pictures to share with everyone. Hopefully they both sleep all day and no one falls out.

I'm off to watch Survivor, but I promise to update when we hear something. I'm sure everyone is dying to know where he interviewed, but that shall remain a secret so as not to jinx things!

Think happy thoughts for Tim today!

He's at an interview all day long! We should know more by tonight. More details to follow. Don't want to spill til we know something for sure!

In other news, visit with grandma and grandpa went well. The boys had a really good weekend. We took them out to dinner on Saturday night and both behaved so well. Alex ate almost the entire restaurant. I swear that kid has a hollow big toe. If Max would eat half of what Alex does he might actually gain some weight.

Speaking of Max, today was his first day on another new medication. I'm hoping it goes ok at school. I was to give him half a dose for the first day to make sure there are no crazy side effects and it's either going to work ok, or he's going to be impossible. I'm hoping it's the former. Tomorrow (if he does ok) we'll go up to the full dose and see how that goes. I'm praying for a miracle because he has been difficult to live with lately. Very impulsive and a little too talkative at school. Such a joy when he's being good though.

Alex will be two on Sunday so we are having my family here this weekend to celebrate his birthday and my dad's which was a few days ago. Bill and Krystle as well as Rusty will all be here. I'm really looking forward to it and I know Max is too. I don't know that Alex will get it until they get here. Mom and dad are arriving tonight. Yay, the house is clean! Now if I can just get the laundry done before they get here.

I have one more week of 8 hour shifts before I switch back to full time and start working 12s again. I'm quite excited about it. I'm thinking it'll be easier because at least I'll be awake and ready to go when I get there instead of ready for bed. The bit of extra money will be nice too.

I guess that's all I have for now. I'll be back to update about Tim as soon as I know more!

Grandma and Grandpa are coming tonight!

And the kids are pretty excited. Well, Max is anyway, Alex won't be until they get here. I'm happy because I have to work all weekend and now I'll be able to sleep. Woohoo! Win-win for everyone.

I don't really have much to update. Just felt like writing this morning. I have a ton of cleaning up to do and I think I'm avoiding it.

Skunk smell seems to be gone. It has been raining the last few days so I think that helps. We will probably have to powerwash the deck with some cleaner, but it's out of the inside of the house. The deck needs to be powerwashed anyway. It gets moldy pretty easily because there is so much shade in the backyard and it doesn't dry out the way it should.

Max has become a handful again lately. He has been sassy, is throwing tantrums, and is having a very hard time controlling himself. I'm thinking it's time to call his psychiatrist again. I hate to always have to call between appointments, but that's just the way it works out. His current meds are almost maxed out as far as the dosage he can take. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the problem is the fact that his metabolism is so high and he probably processes it differently than he should. I just don't think the Concerta is right for him anymore. Makes me sad because he did so well on it for awhile. I'm also afraid if we change him to something else it will affect his sleep. He already wakes up far earlier than he should even taking melatonin. I know there are sleeping meds we could put him on, but at almost 5 I really hate to keep adding medications. I do want to see him succeed and be a happy little boy though so I do know that this is probably the only way. He gets so down on himself when he can't control his emotions. He can't explain what he's feeling, but I can see that he does not like being out of control. He is such a happy boy when the meds are working and that's what we want for him. I know it's trial and error, but it sure is frustrating.

Alex on the other hand has been pretty good lately. Still gets into everything, but he is getting so good about telling us what he needs. I think his ability to communicate has helped spare the meltdowns that Max had at this age. His 2 year checkup is next Monday and I'm curious to see what they have to say about him. He seems advanced in a lot of ways, but behind where Max was in some ways too. He is a little bully which cracks us up because he is so small compared to the other kids in his class. He picks fights with Max too and generally win.

I guess that's about all I have. I'm just rambling anyway. I'm sure there will be more after this weekend!

Skunk Crisis is over!!

Don't know if I mentioned, but when we first discovered the skunks, our neighbor, Dave, took a few shots at them. Two different skunks on two different occasions. It appears that the smaller of the two did get hit and crawled under our deck to die. We thought it was living under there and did several things to deter it from coming back when it left at night to feed, but I guess it wasn't ever leaving. Another thing we noticed was that sometimes it smelled really bad during the day, like a fresh spray, even though they are nocturnal. Now it all makes sense.

Tonight, Dave and Tim were discussing ways to get rid of it and while we were inside on our computers, Dave got under our deck with a flashlight and located it. He grabbed a rake and hauled it out, noticing that the ribcage area had been feasted on by some other animal. That would be the possum I saw going under the deck a few nights ago, I'm guessing. Anyway, he hauled it out and dropped it into a trash bag. Then out to the woods to bury it.

Tim and I just came in from trying to clean up the smell. First I dumped some vinegar but that didn't help much at all. Tim used ammonia and febreeze. A whole bunch of each. He sprayed the area down with the hose hoping to get the stink out from under the deck. I'm praying it works because I am OVER skunk smell. I've smelled enough in the last two weeks to last me the rest of my life!!

So, thank you Dave, for rescuing us from the awful smell!! Even if it was you that shot and killed it in the first place ;) At least we know its gone for good now. Hopefully the big guy is out in the woods dead somewhere too.

Have a great night! Tim and I are off to watch Heroes!

Max's Grandparent's Day Program

He was so cute this morning. Not sure what's up with his nose, because he kept rubbing it all morning, but he says nothing. I'm guessing allergies just like the rest of us.

Anyway, here are a few videos I took since none of the grandparents could be there. They aren't great because of all the people, but you can get the idea.













He was so excited to get to the snack time they had afterward. Once we ate our cookies we got to go on a scavenger hunt around the school so he could show me all the places that he goes during the week. We visited his classroom and he showed me all of his favorite things to do and play with. He was so proud. Anyway, the kids could either leave or stay and he decided to stay. Probably a good thing because I'm taking Alex to the ped this afternoon. He didn't sleep well the last two nights and I'm guessing an ear infection. At least I hope so because at least that's treatable. Haha, how great of a mom am I? I'm sure it's probably just a cold and we'll have to ride it out, but I'd rather know that for sure.

I forgot to mention it in yesterday's post, but we have a skunk! It is AWFUL!! I believe it lives under the deck and has sprayed in the backyard a few times where we can kinda smell it in the house. Last night, it sprayed either under the deck or right near it. The smell is coming in the dryer vents and the back patio doors. The entire first floor of the house stinks and last night Tim and I could even smell it downstairs. I have tons of candles lit today although I'm sure it isn't helping. At least it's masking the smell some so it doesn't make me sick. Blech! If you have any hints on how to get rid of the stink, I'm open to them!

Yeah, I stink!

There just hasn't been much to talk about lately. I worked mad days this week after being sick all of last week. Tim had regional people at work so he was busy too. Basically walking in the door as I walked out. We definitely didn't get to see each other much. Now I'm off til Tuesday and sooo looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is grandparent's day at Max's school. The preschool kids are putting on a little show and then snacks in the cafeteria. Since he has no grandparents close by he can take a parent or special friend. I decided I'm going to go. I'm really excited about it too. He asked me to tape them singing their song so I can post it for everyone to see. Hopefully it'll be short enough that I can do that. If so, it should be on by tomorrow afternoon. Overall, Max is doing great in school. He loves going and on the mornings that Tim has to drop him off, he walks himself all the way to his classroom. I'm so proud of him doing so well. He loves learning about God and Jesus and comes home talking about them everyday.

Alex is doing pretty good too. He is a totally different kid than Max was at this age. He is definitely a little bruiser. He's a bully and constantly getting into things he shouldn't which has caused lots of bumps and bruises. He currently has a huge goose egg in the middle of his forehead from screwing around at school today. He is just now getting interested in TV and has a few favorite shows that he loves to watch. Blue's Clues is probably #1 which I find interesting since it was Max's favorite show too.

I change to 12 hour shifts in about 3 weeks. Oddly, I'm totally looking forward to that. 3 days a week is going to be awesome, and so are the full time paychecks. The economy has me freaking out about finances and I'll feel better bringing in a little more cash than I have been.

Tim's job is going ok, although the hotel overall isn't doing great. He has been working really long hours though which is hard on all of us. Hopefully things settle down soon and we can do some fun family fall stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa are coming in two weeks and then Nana and Papa are coming the weekend after. The kids don't know yet since that's too long to make them wait, but I know they are going to be excited. Max asks about all of them all the time. And Alex can point the whole family out in a picture now and name them, including uncles.

I guess I've got nothing else. I need to go start some laundry so I'm not doing it all weekend. I have to change the sheets on my bed because someone snuck some midnight apple juice and had an accident on my side. No way I want to sleep in stinky pee ;)

Sorry I've been so poopy at keeping up lately! I'll definitely try harder!! Leave more comments and maybe that will inspire me, haha!!

We've had the sickies!!

Max got it first. Tim and I took him to the zoo on Monday because he didn't school. It was an awesome day and he was so good. Tuesday he went to school, but seemed a little "off." Tuesday night he started throwing up everything that went in. Poor kid would not listen to me and kept sneaking drinks of water and apples from the frige. He stayed home with me on Wednesday but that was a nightmare because we forgot to give him his meds. Yesterday he seemed quite back to normal.

Unfortunately, that's when I started getting sick. I was up all night last night in the bathroom. I had to call in sick to work the second time in two weeks and I HATE doing that!! Hopefully it doesn't get me into trouble.

I'm feeling a little better today, but not much. Hopefully some food will perk me up some. Tim has been working crazy hours this week because it's end of period and he has some big meals planned for the away team this weekend. Hopefully his cooking will help them beat Notre Dame! Haha!

I need to go get Max from school now. Trying to decide if I want to try to eat or not. Subway sounds sooooo good, but probably not the best thing for my tummy. We shall see. It's going to be a long night because neither of the boys slept much last night. Hopefully they'll go to bed early!