Tonight's Mystery Picture Results

Mystery Photo

From left to right: Doug, Donna, Kay, Shawn & Wayne. Did you guess correctly? This is so much fun, showing old photographs of Doug when he was little.

Here's a picture of my musically inclined husband. I'm guessing that he was probably 2 years old.

My Hands Are Full

Okay, I'm trying to understand that Katie is being carted off from house to house because of all the chaos right now. I can see where she is a little spoiled and confused as to what the rules are and who to mind. By this afternoon, I've just about lost my mind trying to deal with it. I know Katie just wants my attention, but today wasn't the day. I know I sound awful, but there are so many crisis' right now that I can't be every where. I spent a little time playing with Katie this morning before her nap, but she wouldn't let me go. She kept telling me to sit down and to please please please play with her. Every time I stood up to go do some work, she'd start in again begging and crying for me to play with her. Oh me, what has happened to my baby girl that she has to have me entertain her constantly now. I made sure she took an 1 1/2 hour nap before we went to Walmart. I knew that Ms. Evelyn would need paper products more than anything because all the company she's planning on receiving in the next couple of days. We got to Walmart and Katie starts, giving me problems sitting in the buggy. Ugh! At the time, the only way I could get her to cooperate with me was bribing her. I know I don't care for bribes either, but it calls for certain measures. I have to say, I only had to remind her about the prize once. I let her pick between gummies, books, and chips. She begged me for a doll. She said begging, "I need a doll Mommy. Please!" I couldn't find a Barbie doll for less than $5, so I had to tell her no. There were some "My Little Pony" on sale for $3.88. She found a Barbie in "Mariposa" storybook for $3 and had to have it.

At home, I unloaded my vehicle and took all the paper products straight over to Evelyn's house. Katie came with me, but soon became bored. She asked if she could play in her sandbox. I had no problem with her playing in her sandbox. A friend of Charles, Gary, helped me out by taking a few of our chairs over to Evelyn's house. On the way to our house, I noticed Katie was missing. Ugh! The child was stark naked going down Will's slide. All of her clothes were left by the sandbox. I was so embarrassed and Gary started laughing at her. He told me that he heard from Millard and Peggy that she was "something else." I told him, she was a hand full. I excused myself, chased Katie down and got her clothes back on. She asked me to clean off her picinic table. After I swept off her toys, she snuck off again. I thought she went back over to Will's slide and swing set again, but instead I saw her making her way down the driveway. I had enough! She was directed against her will into house. She cried and cried. I washed her up and she begged me to let her go back outside. Alright, she could go outside but in the back yard. I knew she could stay out of mischief in the back yard. Well, she threw a royal fit with me, so I put her in time out. She later decided to go in the back yard, if I put Montana up. I had no problem with it. She played real good for me in the back yard that is until she saw a spider. I've never seen such. She was yelling and crying because there was a spider on the back door. The spider was so small I had a hard time seeing, in fact she had to point it out to me. Then, she sees an ant on the step and begins to scream again. I guess she is a typical girl - afraid of bugs. I couldn't get her to calm down, so I had her come in the house. She was still whiny and I was about to loose my mind, while she complained about her bottom. Well, I laid her down I checked her out and what do I see but sand had rubbed her crack raw. Poor thing. After I cleaned her up real good and put some smooth butt on she felt much better.

What a day!?!

While I washed dishes, Doug was fixing Katie supper. She was treating him somewhat the same way she has treated me. I think he was beginning to get ticked off as well. I asked Doug if he would like to stay in the same room with me at the nut house. Unfortunately, he said no. Hum! I guess I'll have to find someone else to stay with me, so I won't be so lonesome. Tehe! After I put Katie to bed for the hundredth time tonight, she told me that she was afraid of her Daddy. I told her that she needed to be afraid of me and I heard Doug giggling in the next room. Wow! I sure hope tomorrow is a better day.

American Idol

I can't believe Brooke got voted off. I'm just astonished! I didn't get to see all of it tonight, but Doug fast forward to the elimination part of the show. I don't know who will be the final three now. I still say David Cook will win it.

We had to watch "The Waterhorse" one more time before I have to take it back to the Movie Gallery tomorrow. Katie just loves this movie, she smiles the whole time watching it. Tonight was the first time chance Doug was able to see it. I think he liked it as well.

I planted this Rhododendron several years ago in our flowerbed by the back yard fence. I was so surprised to find out that it is blooming for the first time along with our Indian Hawthorne Bush. Last year, I was beginning to think that I had the bushes planted in the wrong kind of soil and sun direction. I planted this bush in honor of my Grandpa Godfrey because he loved flowers. Grandma & Grandpa had quite a few of Rhododendron bushes all over their yard.

Mom's Condition
Sandy, Dad and I drove to the hospital to visit Mom at the 9:00 visitation. Sherry and Renee were already there visiting her. Mom was sitting up in bed and talking with them. She seemed a little stronger and hungry. We were kind of concerned about the breakfast the nurse gave her to eat - scrambled eggs, grits & toast. Sherry and Sandy fed her the eggs and grits. Mom got choked a few times, but kept the food down. Dr. Schaefers' assistant came by to check on Mom's condition while we were in there. She said she is improving every day and her kidneys are working normally now. The GI assistant seemed as concerned about Mom's diet as much as we were. She said that she would be checking in on it. By the time our visiting hour was over, you could tell she was getting tired. Sherry and Renee wanted to go shopping at a mall. So, I went with them to the Galleria, while Dad and Sandy stayed at the hospital. I wanted to look for a purse, but instead I found me a great pair of sandals. Have you ever heard of "Soft Walk?" Oh, they feel wonderful to my heels and ball of my feet. Sherry and Renee got a McDonalds, while I got a Strawberry Banana Smoothie for lunch. I'm not too much into smoothies, but that smoothie was so good. We were able to make it back to the hospital for the 1:00 visitation. Dad and Sandy were already in there visiting with Mom. She was agitated because according to her, she didn't get much rest. She said as soon as we left, her physical therapist came by and worked with her for about 30 minutes. Sandy said that they did wake her up when it was time to come visit. Sherry and Sandy tried to feed her her lunch, but she was so tired. We all felt that the 1-2 o'clock visitation is when she is the weakest. We ended up leaving her bed side a little earlier, so she could get her rest. Sherry and Renee planned to give Mom another massage during the 5:00 visitation. Sandy said that June and Sue were planning to visit Mom during the 8:00 visitation. Mom loves her visitors. She has been begging the nurses and doctors to let her get a room, so she can see her visitors whenever they want to visit her.

I spoke to Sandy this morning and she said at first Mom seemed to feel good. She was sitting up in bed with her glasses on watching TV. She ate a little of her breakfast - watered down pancakes & eggs. Then all of the sudden, she wasn't feeling good. The nurse laid her down in the bed and they didn't know what was wrong with her. Mom said she just didn't feel good. She wasn't hurting in any particular place. Oh me!

Renee flies back home tonight and Sherry is catching a ride with Maryann back home. I think Sherry is staying with either June and Pat or Dad and Sandy. I offered Sandy the blow up mattress at our house, in case it gets too crowded.

Sherry wants to go shopping with me, so I'm going to wait until Friday to get the final party supplies. Hopefully, that will give me enough time to run back to a store in case I forget something. By the way, I still need song selection suggestions. I'm waiting for you to pass them along to me.

Here's our mystery photo for the day. Can you name the people in this photo? Which one is Doug? I'll give you the answer tonight.

Prayer Request
Doug called me while I was on the road with Dad and Sandy yesterday. Peggy called him to find out if our neighbor, Mr. Phipps, had passed away. He didn't know and asked me if I noticed a lot of vehicles next door before I left to go to Dad's house. I didn't notice anything unusual this morning, but I told Doug that I was stopping by the house before I went to Peggy and Millard's house. So, I should find out something at that time. Sure enough, there were cars lined up on both sides of the street. My stomach sank down into my shoes. I had ice cream in the truck, so I had to unload it before I went over to Evelyn. Bless her heart, she saw me walk in her house and she started weeping. She was holding me so tight that all I could do was hug her tighter and tell her how much I was so sorry. I tried to hold back the tears for her, but with everything going on I let them roll. Poor thing, she said she had been watching for my vehicle. She said she noticed that I had left early this morning. She started asking about my Mom and I just told her that she had too much going on that she didn't need to worry about my Mom right now. That is typical Evelyn, her world may be falling apart, but she's always thinking about other people and their needs. Mr. Charles is a big outdoors person. He loves to hunt for practicely anything and fish. I remember, before he retired, how excited he was to retire so he could go fishing and hunting when ever he wanted. Evelyn told me that he was up in Indiana with his brother turkey hunting. He was in his tree stand and he radioed his brother telling him that he wasn't feeling very good. He told him to come over and pick him up. He went on to tell him that his chest had been hurting before he left home to go on his hunting trip. His brother asked him if he needed to call the ambulance and Charles agreed. By the time his brother got to him, he was slumped over on his stand. It took the ambulance 30 minutes to get to him. She said two people worked on him, but he was already gone. He died of complications from a heart attack. Evelyn said that their daughter, Angela, is really having a hard time. Angela's husband, Bill, was on his way to pick up their only son, Will. Will was still in school and didn't know about his Paw yet. Bill and Angela were going to break it to him last night. Will was Charles' only grandchild. Evelyn said that their family are on their way from Indiana to be with her today. Her family alone is as big as mine, so I know she'll get lots of of support. This family really needs your prayers. Evelyn is a heart attack survior and is in bad health herself. I figure Evelyn will probably move in with Angela and Bill because I don't think she'll be able to stay at her house by herself. If I was Angela, I would worry too much because Evelyn has bad knees (they will go out without any warning) and her having a weak heart.

The Waterhorse

By the way, Katie and I liked "The Waterhorse." Doug and I picked it up from The Movie Gallery Saturday in Blu-Ray. Katie calls it a Seahorse and after I corrected her several times, she started calling it tonight "Waterhorse." She liked it so much that I let her watch 1/2 of it again before my stories came on. Her favorite part is when the waterhorse burps in Lewis' face. She'll laugh and giggle because she thinks that's so funny. Now, I have to figure out the next holiday in order to get this movie along with "Alvin and The Chipmunks" for her. I guess it depends on if we decide to get her play set this year or not. We may have to wait until next year for the play set. The Rec Room has one I really like the best. It has a covered spiral slide, swings and play house. I showed it to Doug and he liked it as well, but there's no telling how much it will cost. I'm hoping to get over there and price once everything kind of calms down.

I Need Your Help, Please!

Some more old photos. Can you name the kids in this old photo?
L-R: Donna(I believe), Shawn, Henry, Sis, Wayne & Doug. So cute!

Okay, I need help! A couple of people have suggested having music at the party and I think it is a great idea. Plus, Aaron, Natalie's boyfriend, asked her if there will be dancing. He loves to dance. Well, we are going to have a wide range of attendance (family, old friends & church friends). I don't need racy or vulgar lyrics. I've picked out a few Josh Turner, Kenny Chesney, Kelly Clarkson, Hall & Oates, Hewis Lewis & The News, Heart, Jon Bon Jovi, Shania Twain, LeeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban, and Janet Jackson. I need suggestions - PLEASE! I was thinking about Aerosmith, Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood.

I was able to do some party stuff this morning. I felt relieved getting some more finished. I'm hoping to get to Party City some time this week.

I also played with Katie a little bit. I feel guilty for not being home with her for the past few days and I shipped her off to her grandparents again tonight. I feel bad, but I'm hoping that Mom continues to improve so I'll be able to stay home more. Katie never really had a schedule, but bless her heart she's all screwed up for the time being. Most of the day today, she'd tell me "Mommy, Mommy let's play. Will you play with me?" That breaks your heart. Needless to say, I didn't get much house cleaning done. I figure I'll be able to get it done some time this century. I've thought about hiring Natalie or Leslie after school to come clean my house. I'm afraid they'll take one look at our house and tell their Momma's "no, I'm not going back!"

Mom's Condition Continues to Improve
According to Sherry and Sandy, Mom seems to be doing better. Sherry said they took out Mom's feeding tube and she ate some of her lunch and all of her chocolate pudding. The nurse told Aunt Sherry that if we bring some of Mom's favorite things to eat, to go right ahead. She went on to say Mom seemed to feel better than she did yesterday. This is very encouraging news. I hope she will continue to improve. Apparently, Mom was sassing the Physical Therapist today, telling her that she had a PT at home. Sherry told her that she needed to have her therapy and Mom resisted. So, Sherry asked her if I came to the hospital would she do therapy for me, Mirya. Mom told Sherry that she would do therapy with me because I knew the correct exercises to do. Ha! Ha! She can be such a hard head! Sherry told me that I had my work cut out for me tomorrow. TEHE!

Special Prayer Request
Liz called me this morning looking for Sandy. She said Jake's abscess came back and she had to take him back to the doctor today. She seemed very upset, poor thing. She needed her Momma to give her a hug. Liz - I hope everything goes alright.
HERE'S A HUG FROM ME TO YOU! LOVE YOU SWEETIE.

Pizza Night & Dancing With The Stars
Doug wanted to make his pizza for supper tonight. We called up Peggy and Millard and they came over to eat with us. It was yummy! For it to be thin crust, it was the best one I've had in a very long time. We all ate pizza and watched "Dancing with the Stars." Katie wanted someone to get up and dance with her. She seemed some what satisified with me sitting on the floor. I was able to dance with her in that position. She likes for me to twirl her around and around in circles until she gets dizzy. She was wanting Peggy to get up and dance with her, but Peggy was giving all kinds of excuses. tehe! When it was time for Peggy, Millard and Katie to leave, Katie was ready to go. I put on her shoes and sweater and she stood by the door telling us "bye." She loves to go any where. As we were carrying her out the door, Doug pointed to the eave of our carport. There was another baby bird resting. The last time, there were 3 or 4 baby birds pirched on the eaves of the carport. Katie was so excited then and she remembered tonight about the baby birds. She was all excited telling her Grandma and Grandpa about the baby bird resting. I told her he was sleeping and she thought that was a big deal.

Having a Hoot!

Doug and I thought about it and decided to go ahead and visit Mom at the hospital. It was my Sunday to greet people coming into the church. After church, I picked Doug up and off we went. We got there early, so we decided to take in the sights. I guess we drove around for about 30 minutes and then headed back to the hospital. Doug and I were asked to wait for 10 minutes later to see Mom. The nurses had to do a procedure on Mom and it would take about 10 minutes. I've noticed that Mom is real swollen and to touch her skin, it's very cold. I'm all the time asking Mom if she's cold, but she is actually the opposite. She's been so warm that she asks for us to take the covers off of her. I just figured it was because of her antibiotics. Well, June and Dad said that Mom didn't like anyone to touch her skin because it was very sensitive this morning. The doctor said it was something about her sodium levels and that she needed an IV in her neck in order to feel better. I don't understand fully. They also put in a bowel bag in her as well. The nurse said Mom still had diahhrea and her skin is very irritated. They are afraid that she will begin to get bed sores, which means more infections. We don't need more infections. I asked the nurse, before we went in, how Mom was doing today. The nurse said that she wasn't doing so well today. While Doug and I were in with her, we didn't think she was doing good at all. She was moaning again and said her stomach hurt again. Ugh! I was so hoping that she would be doing better. Before we got to the hospital, June called me and let me know that her, Dad and Sandy got to meet with Dr. King. He told them that all of Mom's tests came back normal and there's nothing wrong with her Gall Bladder. He said she has the worse case of C.dif that he has ever seen.

We waited around for Sherry and Renee to arrive. They were able to make the 5:00 visitation. I was amazed that Mom was a little more alert. She looked much better than she did earlier today. I've noticed that her condition is like a yoyo (up and down). Her eyes were wide open and she was cutting up with Sherry. I was so glad to see that tonight. Later, Sherry and I were talking about stopping some where for Supper. She said she wanted to go to Hooters. My aunt is crazy, I know. I told her that we would meet her and Renee there for supper. We asked everyone else (Dad, Sandy, June, Nick, Jon, Sue, Tim, Doug, Maryann, Leslie, Natalie, and Whitney), if they would like to go to Hooters for Supper. We didn't have to say it twice around Tim, Nick and Jon. Their eyes lite up and they all said "yes, I going." Men?

There ended up being a total of 15 of us eating together. I asked the waitress if she could accommodate that many people. They made it work and I had a good time. We all made pictures with our camera phones. Natalie was the only one that had an actual camera in the car. She went back to the car to get it and came back snapping pictures of all of us. What started all the picture taking was Jon, who is 14 years old, asked Sandy if she would get him a Hooters calendar for his birthday. Ha! Ha! It was so funny to her that she went over and told Susan about it. "No, no, no!" she said. He isn't getting a calendar and then she whispered something in Sandy's ear. Then Sandy had a clever idea. Why don't we take a picture of him with a couple of Hooster's girls there at the restaurant? Great idea. Oh, Jon was all over that idea. His dimple was just a showing. The two Hoosters girls couldn't believe that Jon was only 14 years old.

Then Nick had to get into the action as well. Ha! Ha! I think we all had a good time picking on one another and just having a good time. I think we all needed a good laugh.

(From Left to Right)Renee, Sandy, Sherry & Susan. We all had some kind of hot wings except for Sandy, she gets Crab Legs. tehe! More pictures are on the photosite.

Renee and Sherry are staying in a hotel very close the Mom's hospital. They planned on seeing her again during the 8:00 visitation before going to their room.

If everything goes as planned, Peggy and Millard are going to have Katie spend the night with them again tomorrow night. This way I can ride down with Dad and Sandy on Tuesday and visit Mom. I hope she continues to improve. Thank you so much for all of the prayers for Mom and our family. They are much appreciated.

I haven't seen Katie since Friday at 1:30, I believe. I missed her so much and I think she missed me a little. When we walked in the house, Peggy was rocking her. She was all smiles. When she finally gave me a kiss and hug, she wouldn't let go of me. Then as I'm talking to Peggy and trying to tell her all I knew about Mom, Katie insisted on having all of my attention. Everytime I was talking to Peggy and not her, she would take her hands and physically turn my head towards hers and start smiling. When she figured out that it wasn't working, she tried covering up my mouth and telling me "shhhhh!" By this time, Peggy and I both were giggling. Then, Katie got all wound up and wanted me to get down in the floor with her and play. "Come on Mom, let's play. Come on, come on, come on" she insisted. After Peggy and Millard left to go home, I took her in the bedroom to put on her PJs. "I not ready to go to bed Mom. I want to play" she said. We all ended up in the King size bed watching TV, Katie is eating fries, Doug's asleep and I'm blogging. What a wonderful end to a stressful day?

Guess Who?

Guess who this is? This is Doug at 10 months old. Can you believe it? He was a cute baby.

Thus far, the party is slowly coming together. I'm still getting RSVPs today and I'm sure I'll get some more tomorrow. At first, I was a little concerned because I wasn't hearing from anyone and I went ahead and got the food ordered. I knew that I could call Gary and change the quantity, I just want people to come. I've got to get a few more things - no I can't tell what because of YOU KNOW WHO will find out. He's like a little kid in a candy store. One of his best friends in school left a message saying that they'll be able to make it. He couldn't get over that I thought about inviting Wesley & Kathy. He asked me "who all did you invite?" I told him "it's for me to know and you to find out." I know it's killing him to find out exactly who, but he'll play it cool like he doesn't care.

Saturday

Doug and I picked up Maryann and we headed to the airport, in order to pick up Sandy. I got tickled at Doug because he found a great spot to view the airplanes coming in. We spotted the terminal that Sandy would be coming out and Doug had it all planned out. Well, my Diet Sun Drop kicked in, so I told Maryann that I was heading to the restrooms. I was entertained by the new toilet seat covers. They look like clear plastic sleeves around the seats. All you do is press a big red button and the sleeves move around until a new clean cover is ready for you sit down and relax. Wow! How nice! Just as I'm walking out of the restrooms ready to tell Maryan about the neat toilet seats, she steals my thunder by telling me that Sandy has already landed and is waiting for us by the luggage. Okay. I had to look at my watch twice because she got here real early; however, she made up the time by trying to find her luggage. Ugh! It wasn't on the same plane she was on. Why do they do that? It beats me. Anyway, she got her suitcase and we were headed for the door. She was telling us on the way to the hospital about the blizzard her and Wade had to go through on their way to Cheyenne. Bless her heart.

Doug didn't care for the hotel that Aunt Sherry made reservations, near the airport. We drove over there and I had to agree with him, I didn't particularly care for neighborhood. It's bad news when you have a chain link fence around the premises. Yikes! We drove on down past the hospital into a fairly new development and found both a nice Hampton Inn and Marriot Courtyard. We stopped by the hotels in order for me to get their business card and other information. Hampton Inn offers hospital and senior citizen discounts, whereas Marriot doesn't. We found some of my aunt's favorite hot spots like Hooters and Chili's Restaurants and a Starbucks Coffee. Doug took us to Jim and Nick's BBQ for a late lunch and I called Aunt Sherry and let her know. She seemed to like that idea a lot better and decided to book a room with Hampton Inn. Plus, her daughter, Renee, has decided to come with her. I thought that was a great idea. I know Aunt Sherry needs her family with her to help comfort her, if things get worse with Mom. The area that she will be staying is 1.8 miles from the hospital and there is great shopping around there as well.

We went to the hospital for the 5-6 o'clock visitation. They are now making family members go 2 at a time and you have to wear full garb (garment cover, gloves & mask). By the way, I hate the mask. It's bad enough the gloves make your hands sweat, but the mask makes your face sweat because your talking and I guess it's the hot breath that makes you sweat. I don't know, but I don't like it. After visiting Mom this afternoon, I am encouraged once again. It's like limbo (her condition is up and down). They did have a feeding tube in her nose. I'm guessing that is what is helping her feel better and a little stronger. She had a little color in her cheeks. She would open her eyes for a little while and then her eyeslids would get tired again. When she first started talking to you, she started off strong and later you had a hard time hearing what she was saying. She said that her stomach isn't hurting anymore, she's not moaning and groaning anymore. She told me that her diahhrea has stopped. Thank goodness!! She didn't seem as weak as last night. I looked at her lunch plate and she ate a whole lot more than she did yesterday. Maryann said that if she had to guess, she ate about 1/3 of her lunch. Her spirits seemed to be up a little more tonight than last night. Sandy got her to smiling. It began to rain when we got back there to see her and I brought it to her attention and she opened those eyes to see it rain. She said overall she feels better. She had a CT scan today of her Gall Bladder. We won't know the results until some time tomorrow. The nurse gave Maryann the phone numbers of Mom's doctor offices. She is suppose to call them either tomorrow or the next day to find out the results of the test and find out the doctors' opinions of Mom's progress. As soon as Maryann finds out something, she is to contact us and let us know what's going on. We all seemed very encouraged about her progress, but it's like I said - limbo. She has bad days and good days. Today was a good day. Thank you for all the prayers.

Tim, Susan, Leslie & Jon are suppose meet Aunt Sherry and Renee at the airport and drive them to their hotel room and then later to the hospital. June, Dad and Sandy are to meet them at the hospital. I think Maryann, Natalie and Whitney are suppose to go during the 1-2 o'clock visitation. There is a scrub store near Aunt Sherry and Renee's hotel that Whitney wants to check out. Whitney is going to start her new job soon and she needs some scrubs, so Maryann said she would help her out by buying her a few to start out in. Whitney seems excited about her new job at a hospital in Florence. I think it will be good experience for her. With everyone visiting Mom in the morning, Doug and I have decided that we would stay home tomorrow. I told Dad and Sandy that I might be able to go with them either Tuesday or Thursday. We will have to see.

I just spoke to June and they are going ahead and put a feeding tube in Mom as we speak.

Sandy is flying this afternoon and Aunt Sherry is coming in tomorrow.

I ask you to please pray for our family! Thank you!

Friday Night

Maryann called me yesterday morning, letting me know that Mom had been moved to CICU. Dad told her that Dr. King wanted Mom moved there in order to be closely monitored and receive more drugs that she otherwise couldn't get in that part of the hospital. He didn't know what the other drugs were for and why she needed to be closely monitored. He did say that her breathing seemed to have gotten worse that morning and she wasn't eating well. I can't imagine what was going through Dad's head and knew that someone needed to be with him. I had Katie and couldn't go right then. Maryann couldn't get off work. I called June and Sandy, while Maryann called Sue. I told June about how I felt terrible that Dad was at the hospital alone, but I couldn't be with him. Luckily, she was able to get off work to be with him. When they were able to go back there with Mom during visitation hours, they still couldn't get a lot of questions answered. Dad said that her breathing got much better. Dr. King told Dad and June that Mom was ate up with infection (C. dif) and he wanted her some where where she can be closely monitored. They left the hospital soon after the 1-2 o'clock visitation hours to come home.

Susan called and asked me yesterday, if I would like to go with her to see Mom at the hospital. She knew Maryann was riding down with Natalie. Sue wanted to go and have someone to ride along with her because it can be a long lonesome trip. Thankfully, Peggy was able to come by and pick up Katie and take her home with her. At the hospital, Maryann, Natalie and Whitney were there all in their garb. The doctors and nurses are saying that C. difficile was very contagious. In order to see Mom in her room, you have to wear a garment cover and gloves. The nurse said that all of Mom's tests came back normal. We met with her GI doctor, Dr. Schaefers. He was very sweet, understanding, and straight forward. Susan and I have been concerned that maybe the odds were stacked against Mom's survival. Dr. Schaefers said Mom was a very sick woman and her kidneys were not functioning properly. She doesn't have any white blood cells in her stool and that concerns him. He wants to check her Gall Bladder to see if we might be facing something other than C. difficile. He wants to do a scan on her Gall Bladder today. He won't be able to do a regular CT scan on her Gall Bladder because it will really damage her kidneys. He said with her history, diabetes, some kidney troubles, heart problems, extreme weakness, yeah she has a lot of odds stacked against her. He later told us that Mom and her family were in his prayers. He went on to ask us to pray for the infection. What? I was amazed that a doctor said that to us. It's very rare that you have a doctor to say that to a patient or patient's family. We all really like him. Him being straight forward with us and showing his Christian side automatically gained my respect. The nurses and doctors at this hospital have been so good to Mom and making sure that she is comfortable. Maryann, Whitney, Susan and myself went out to eat after the 5-6 o'clock visitation hours. We needed to just have a laugh together. Later, Susan told me how she felt guilty from time to time about laughing and having a good time, while Mom is in the hospital fighting for her life. I told Sue that I thought of it from time to time, but I think Mom would want us to continue to laugh and enjoy our life. We made it back to the hospital for the 8-9 o'clock visitation hours just in time to feed Mom her supper. Because she is so weak and she is choking easily now, they have her on pureed foods. They puree the food and put it in molds that look like a pork chop. She was really getting sick to her stomach, so she ate enough that I would say was equivalent to 1 1/2 tablespoons. Earlier, the nurse told June that Mom may need a feeding tube. They have a catheter in Mom now. Whitney noticed her bag (how it wasn't full) at the 5-6 o'clock visitation. When we got back to the hospital at 8:00, Susan asked Whitney about the color of the urine (dark). Whitney said the color was fine, it was the amount she was concerned. In other words, Mom's not urinating very much. You would think that she would because they are pumping her full of fluids and proteins. This might go back to what Dr. Schaefers was saying that Mom's kidneys aren't functioning properly.

Susan and I talked and I believe that we are accepting what is to come. She has suffered for so long, even before the surgeries, with her back and legs. I still have hope that Mom is going to pull through this, but I honestly believe that God has been preparing us for what's to come. Months ago, I've been encouraging Mom to fight to stay with us and not to give up. For the past several weeks, I haven't encouraged her to fight because I know she has suffered so much. It may sound selfish, but I don't want my Mom to continue to suffer. I don't think anyone would say that they would like to see their Mother suffer. It's been very difficult watching her fight and struggle from infection to infection. I found out last night, Susan has stopped encouraging her as well. We are afraid now that Mom is hanging in there for us. Whatever happens, I thank God for allowing me to be with her all last week when she came home from the hospital. That was my blessing! If God calls her home, I have no regrets and I'm at peace because I'll know she's at peace. I told Susan last night that I know Mom misses her parents and her uncle Tom so much. Yeah, we are going to miss her terribly, but it won't be for long. In order to stay sane, I've been thinking of good memories. Some not as clear as others. Memories are a wonderful thing and it's the good ones that will help me get through this time in my life.

A friend from church forwarded me a reminder of prayer for our country. I would take it one step closer and add to pray for your own needs. Please read below for our country and family. I love you and God bless you!

To my friends and relatives: if WE all did this -- even just for a week -- God would take our prayers seriously. Government isn't going to heal our land; our repentance is. Running our country according to the biblical commandments will heal our land -- nothing else.

~~~~~~~~ ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT....8:00 PM Central Time. God Bless !!!

Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon His name, then stand back and watch His wonders to behold. This scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do so. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land. This election is the scariest I remember in my lifetime. 1 Chronicles 7:14: If my people, which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. The United States of America and our citizens need prayer more than ever ! ! !

If you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, for peace in the world, the up-coming election, that the Bible will remain the basis for the laws governing our land and that Christianity will grow in the U.S. If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along. Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Thank You. Please pass this on to anyone who you think will want to join us. 'But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.' (Josh. 24:15)

Mom's Condition

June and I got together last night and went to the hospital to visit Mom. Dad stayed with her most of the day yesterday and he said that she looked better than Wednesday. Well, I didn't see her Wednesday, but she must have been in terrible shape because yesterday she looked awful. She is very pale and weak. She kept her eyes open for the first few minutes when we arrived, but quickly closed them for most of the time. She had a hard time catching her breath, just lying in bed and not even talking. I asked her why she was breathing so hard. She didn't know. The last time she breathed real hard in the hospital like that, she developed pneumonia. She developed pneumonia because of the C-Dif, she was extremely dehydrated and most of the fluid went straight to her lungs. Even when she would talk to us, she had a hard time catching her breath and concentrating. The nurses seem to be taking good care of her. Her night shift nurse came in and I asked her about Mom's breathing. She checked her lungs and heart. She said that her lungs sounded clear and she didn't hear any abnormal heart rhythms. Mom had a bad stomachache, which is one of the symptoms of C-Dif. I tried to get a giggle out of her, but nothing seemed to work. I felt so bad for her having to suffer so much. They did a blood test to see about her oxygen level. It came back normal. According to her nurse, Melanie, they are planning to doing the test again today.

Sherry called us while we were with Mom. She can't stand being in TX and not being here with her sister. So, she told us that she is flying in on Sunday. She plans to get a hotel close to Mom's hospital, instead of staying with one of us. She wants to stay as close to Mom as possible. She said the trip to and from our house to the hospital wears her out. I have to agree. I know the trip makes me tired, so I can't imagine the discomfort for someone with back trouble.

On the way to the hospital, June and I talked about Nursing Homes. I don't want my Mom to go to a Nursing Home. If she comes home in the same state that she was in last week, I'm afraid Dad won't be able to take care of her. I'm hopeful that once the C-Dif is gone, she will be able to walk and concentrate a little better. In my opinion, I believe the rehabilitation center sent Mom home with C-Dif. I was telling June that it was so strange how the PTs went on about how Mom walked so many feet and we couldn't get her to do a simple pivot from chair to chair, while she was at home. Dr. Stewart sent her home with Cipro, antibiotic, because they thought she had a UTI. I think you remember the story. Anyway, we gave Mom Cipro every morning. She took her last Cipro Friday morning and her symptoms of C-dif came back on Saturday morning. I believe the Cipro was sustaining the C-dif symptoms, but not strong enough to kill it. June seems to agree with me. C. difficile is bad about coming back over and over. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736 here is a link from the Mayo Clinic for further information. June asked the nurse, if Mom's chances of getting this again was high and the nurse agreed. Apparently, June had been talking to Kim Ann about Mom going into a Nursing Home, so she can get full time assistance. Kim Ann told June that if Dad decides to put Mom into a Nursing Home that he needs to put her name on the list as soon as possible. Most of the time, there are not enough beds to accommodate all patients and you'll have to wait. She also said that most Nursing Homes will take all of Mom's Social Security check except for $30 a month, to pay for her expenses. The $30 a month will go to Dad. She said they will take anything with Mom's name on it for collateral.

My family and I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers! Thank you!

On a lighter note, I was able to get a few more things for Doug's party. Yesterday, I worked on some of the decorations and plan to work some more today on it. I really need to go back to Party City. I just need to find the time to go. ;) Sorry, I can't give you a lot of information for fear of some certain person reading this post.

I have to tell you a Katie story. I've been meaning to post, I just kept forgetting to write about it. I've been working on Katie about names. She pretty much knows me and Doug's name, so I tried to get her to name her baby dolls. Last week, we were playing baby dolls in her bedroom when I asked her for the hundredth time what her baby dolls' names were. I started off naming one of the dolls, Olivia. Nope! She didn't like that name. I said, "what about Lauren?" She liked that name better. Well, there were two more babies. I asked her "what are their names?" Finally, she said "Bria" and "Sicky." Okay, I know they are not your traditional names. I was just tickled that she finally got the idea. I don't know where the word "Bria" came from, but I do know that Katie says "Sicky" a lot. When she talks her baby talk, she'll throw in the word "Sicky."

American Idol

I can't believe what happened to American Idol last night. First, Michael Johns and now Carly Smithson are voted off the show. What is this world coming to? Sure, neither Doug nor I liked the songs that the contestants sang the other night, but out of all the contestants, we liked Carly's performance the best. It was such a shock when they said she had the least votes. I just knew Jason or Syesha would be voted off last night. What a surprise!

Speaking of Jason. When is that boy going to fix his hair? I never really liked his hair, but last night it looked awful. My opinion, he would look gorgeous if he cut that mess off and show off those baby blues.

C. diffile Shows It's Face Again

If you don't already know, Mom's back in the hospital. Susan and June told me Monday morning about Mom having extreme diarrhea starting Saturday morning and it got worse Sunday. When I got over there Monday morning, I could see Mom was very weak and tired. By that afternoon, she was feeling much better. She ate good and she felt like doing a few exercises. She messed up maybe 4 diapers. Dad told me that she looked and acted a lot better than she did that weekend. According to Dad, Monday night into yesterday morning she wasn't so good. All day yesterday, she slept and couldn't keep her eyes open. I was afraid she was dehydrating fast. As soon as I got there yesterday, I went over to June's and grabbed a jug of Gatorade and had her drink it. I had Dad pick up some yogurt. I got on the phone with the Pharmacist about Mom's drugs. We thought that maybe some of the meds had diarrhea as a side effect and it turned out three of her drugs would cause diarrhea. Ugh! The Pharmacy told me not to take her off any of her meds without consulting her doctor. Do you realize how hard it is to get a hold of a doctor much less his nurse? Very very difficult! Maryann got a hold of the Alacare nurse to get a hold of Mom's doctors. By 1:30, Dad and I got real nervous. So, I got on the phone to the doctors and I still didn't get anything other than, "go to the hospital if you feel she is dehydrating." @!#$@! Dad wanted me to get on the phone with Dr. Lunsford's office to see if they could see Mom in the morning. This is the internal doctor that we want to transfer her to that way it will be closer for her to travel. The receptionist tried her best to fit Mom in, but couldn't. She told us that she thought Urgent Care could give her fluids, if we don't want to go to the hospital. I called Urgent Care and they can no longer give fluids and I wasn't about to send Mom back to our local hospital because of past events that have happened. Dad was afraid the trip to B'ham would take it's toll on Mom. He didn't want to take her back to St. V's because he's afraid they are the reason she's in the condition that she's in. He started talking about the hospital that her current internal med doctor resides. I asked him how he liked that hospital. Around 3:30, we were getting ready to leave for MCE when the phone rang. It was the Alacare nurse. She said that she finally got a hold of one of the doctors and he sent in a prescription for an antibiotic, Flagil, for her to take for the diarrhea. June couldn't understand why a doctor would give her an antibiotic to get rid of diarrhea. While Maryann and Dad went to get the prescription, June and I thought we should get her to the hospital for fluids. When Maryann and Dad got back, we told them what we thought and they agreed. So, Maryann, Dad and Mom loaded up in the vehicle and June followed in her car. I cleaned up the house, got April fixed up for the night and Katie and I left to go home. Susan kept me in touch with anything and everything Dad and them were finding out. Finally, the doctors discovered that Mom has C-def again. If you remember, she got this infection awhile back when she had the Strep Germ. According to doctors then, the antibiotic she was taking to kill off the Strep Germ was so strong that it killed off all of her good bacteria, causing the bad bacteria to take over her body. The main symptom of C. diffile is severe diarrhea and weakness. Maryann told me this morning that she was extremely dehydrated. The doctors have her in a room and she is on "Flagil." Her regular Internal Medicine doctor is suppose to come in to see how she's doing this morning. Yesterday, Mom's Physical Therapist, Cal, said that C-def is very hard to get rid of. He went on to say that some of his patients would have a history of C-def, show no signs, they are tested clear for the infection and six months later, they are diagnosed with it again. Maryann seems to think Mom had C-def before she left the rehab because the weekend she was suppose to leave, she got real bad sick with diarrhea and weakness. The rehab doctor thought she had a UTI and gave her antibiotics, Cipro, for it. She took the last Cipro Friday morning. This would make since because Mom started getting sick again Saturday morning. The Cipro might have been working, but just not strong enough like Flagil. I guess we'll give her the Flagil pills the next time she begins to show signs again.

Poor Mom, she didn't want to go back to the hospital. She was begging for us not to take her back. I felt so bad because it seems like as soon as she is released from the hospital, she is put right back into the rehabilitation center. If she had this C-def the whole time than that would explain why she couldn't do a whole lot like walk, stand, pivot around, exercise, etc. I'm still hopeful that once she is free of infections and other sickness that she might come back to us.

Thank you for all the prayers!

Katie Update
I haven't been able to stay focused on the potty training because I've been at Mom and Dad's most of the day everyday, except for this past weekend. In the over all, she is still doing pretty good. She still doesn't like to go to the potty, she'll cry and beg not to go to the bathroom. When she does pee-pee in the potty, she gets excited and reminds me that she gets a piece of chocolate. Unfortunately, the time when she wants to potty train is around 9:30 - 11:00 at night, when it's time to go to bed.

Dad has learned this past week that you can't let Katie see you do anything because she will try her best to copy you. He rode her around on the lawn mower and later she tried her best to get it started. She is very independent and thinks she can do anything.

I've noticed this past week that she feels that I should do what she wants to do. She tells me where she wants to go and she notices the route I take. The other day, we were heading to Walmart. She said, "no Mom, I not want to go to Walmart today. I need to go to the playground." If she sees that we are taking the route home, she'll say "no Mom, I not want to go home right now. I want to see Grandma." If she thinks that I'm ignoring her, she'll say it louder. It's funny.

I've recapped our day in the past with her during bedtime. Now, she likes to recap her day with me. The way she says it is cute.

Political News
Are you tired of this election yet? Doug and I are pretty tired. It seems like this race has been on going for years. Did you happened to see WWE the other night with all the politicans? Doug wanted to me show you our favorite clip on my blog. We liked Obama's the best.


CPSC Recall Notice
Beco Baby Carrier Recalls “Beco Butterfly” Infant Carriers. Link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08253.html

Bloomin' Festival

Grandma Peggy and Katie get their picture make at the Ave Maria Grotto

Peggy, Katie and I went to the annual Bloomin' Festival today. We had a good time, but were very tired by the time we left. There were several different vendors. We kept seeing little kids walking around with puppet animals like dogs, cats and bunnies. When we finally found the vendor, they had been picked through. Peggy and I didn't see any like we saw walking around that were precious.


Katie and her new friend, making a wish in the wishing well.


Liz - I saw this statue and I thought of Little Jake.


Grandma Peggy and Katie going on a train ride. Katie loved it!


Katie sliding down! Out of all the blow ups, this was Katie's favorite. We had the hardest time getting her out of it.


Katie gets her face painted. I was surprised how still she was the whole time. Of course, when the girl put her first brush of paint on her face, Katie had to touch it. After that she was very good getting her face painted.


Katie wanted a pink butterfly. It turned out real cute. Katie started crying because she didn't want to leave the slide. She really loved it. It was a beautiful day for the festival this year. We ate a strawberry icy and funnel cake. Katie liked the icy until she tried the funnel cake - YUMMY! She wouldn't eat anymore of the icy because she was too busy eating up the funnel cake. I have more pictures on the photosite.

Update on Mom
Yesterday, Mom did pretty good. She seemed very distracted while doing her exercises. Dad and her opened up the rest of their Christmas presents. The presents were from Sandy and Wade, Sarah and Allan and Doug and myself. They loved everything that they got. I brought a couple of videos for them to watch. They seemed to enjoy our big Snow Day, Katie Dancing with the Stars, Easter Egg Hunt and her reading to herself. Susan came to Mom and Dad's this morning and is planning to stay the night.

Happy Belated Birthday Sarah!

I want to wish Sarah a very Happy Belated Birthday!

I'm sorry I didn't get this out to you on your birthday.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Day 3

Yesterday was very tiring, so sorry I didn't write. I loaded up the vehicle and headed out around 10:00 yesterday morning and didn't get home until around 9:30 last night. Katie and I had to stop by Maryann's work to pick up a few documents for June and Susan. Katie had some Library books that were due and Walmart was our last stop before heading to Mom and Dad's house. Our Walmart is always changing their store lay out. It really gets on my nervous! Just when I finally remember where everything is located, they move it around and I stay lost for months trying to find things. Ugh! On top of that, they are changing their cashiers around. I have my usual cashiers that we talk back and forth, well now I've got to break in some new ones. They are young and not very nice. I think I offended one of the cashiers by asking about the store change. I was just joking around, but apparently she didn't hear me giggle and I know she did see me smile because she wouldn't look up for a second. She was very in-to her job. Anyway, she said it would be this messed up for the next 12 weeks. YUCK! Target - I would love for you to move into my back yard, so I can avoid Walmart's annual store flipping.

I didn't get to Mom and Dad's house until after 1:00. I felt bad because I didn't get there earlier. Dad can't handle Mom very well. I got Mom a few things that I thought she might want. For instance, I got some games - Connect 4, Candy Land and Memory Game. I thought it would be fun for Katie, Mom and I to play games, plus it would be good for her mind. I picked her up a jumbo word search for her to do, while she is sitting in her chair. I also picked up some Sprite Zero, Pimento Cheese Spread with Croissant Rolls, Splenda sweetened canned fruit, and etc. When I walked in their door, I could see that Mom was getting tired. I asked her if she had a nap and she said that she had been sitting in that chair since 8:30 this morning. Okay. Right off the bat, Dad started asking me about her medication and checking her sugar. Her sugar levels have been good and in control between 90-140. After I checked her sugar and gave her the noon meds, I made her lunch. She was just too tired to eat. It wasn't long after she laid down, the Occupational Therapist showed up. I hated having to wake her up. After we rolled her into the Living Room, she was still real sleepy. Dad took Katie outside because she was getting rowdy. The OT and I kept asking Mom if she was okay because she kept putting her hand to her head. He said he was done with her, so Dad and I rolled her back to bed. I was waiting for Dad to pull the sheets back when all of the sudden, Mom's body started rolling forward. I couldn't grab her fast enough and Dad heard me yell. He couldn't get to her either. Poor thing, she fell face forward down on the floor. Her eyeglasses hit the register and broke. I felt terrible. We don't know what happened to her causing the fall out like that. Thank goodness, the OT was still there and I asked him to check her out. He thinks she got a little banged up, but nothing serious. He called it into Alacare for precaution and advised us to use her strap even while she is in her wheelchair. She has a couple of places on her face where she got carpet burn. She didn't get to rest much all day. When the OT left, it wasn't long before the Physical Therapist and Nurse showed up as well. Mom was wiped out before Susan, Leslie and Jon showed up. Sue brought us Supper and it was so good. I got Dad all fixed up. I made him a binder with a color coded "Mom's Medication Schedule", Meds Taken Check Off List and Meals Journal. He said today that it seems to work for him better than what the hospital gave him.

Today, we got over there around 9:00. Mom had been up since 7:30 this morning. She ate all of her breakfast and most of her lunch. I would have to say that today was a good day for her. She was able to help us more with using her own strength - standing, stepping, sitting up and pulling up. I was so proud of her. Dad and her have found a method to pivoting from the wheelchair to either the bed or chair. I tell Mom to do her waltz, they slow dance. The rocking motion keeps her feet in rhythm. She did her Word Search for about 15 minutes before she began to get frustrated. I suggested a game, so we played Connect 4 for a few games before she got wiped out. We let her rest for 1 hour. I think the good rest did her a lot of good because she was able to do all of her exercises in bed; whereas, she couldn't do much the first day home because of her being so tired. Once she was able to sleep and exercise, she built up an appetite for lunch. We had to leave at 2:00 because I had an appointment to meet the lady about the Scout's Hall for the party next month. June said she would get home right after work, so I didn't feel bad about leaving them alone for 2 hours. I think June and Dad are going to try to give Mom a bath this evening.

Potty Training Update
Believe it or not, the training is coming right along. She's had dry pants all day, except for when she had a bowel movement this afternoon. I've kept Pull-Ups on her for fear of her making a mess while we were at Mom and Dad's house. I just knew our potty training days would come to a halt for a little while or until we could get back on a schedule. She loves getting her prize for going to the potty and I keep my promise, even if it's midnight and she has to go potty.

CPSC Recall Notice
Push Toys Recalled by Santa’s Toy Corp. Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard - Link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08249.html

We got our Pampers' reward today. Katie saw her new puzzles on the table and asked me where I got them from. I told her that it came in the mail. She likes her new puzzles (4 total), but they are still a little hard for her yet because she needed help.

I also got my Bare Escentuals Eye Makeup, Brush and free samples in as well. I can't wait to try the eye shadows out tomorrow. I'm tempted to spend some more of Doug's points to get another egift certificate from Sephora. I enjoyed spending that certificate so much. Watch out Doug!

Have a great Friday!

Welcome Home!

Well, we got Mom home from the rehabilitation center this morning. She is completely wiped out, but she did fairly well. We all had to make some adjustments with medicines, diabetic diet, blood sugar and just the over all able to move around in such a small place. I think we did good and hopefully tomorrow will be even better. As soon as we got home, Dad wanted Mom sitting up in her chair in the Living Room. Well, that wasn't going to get it because her diaper needed to be changed. Before he left to get close to 14 prescriptions filled and all of the stuff for her diabetes, we moved her into the bed room. I needed her in there to change, wipe down, lather her up with some lotion (very dry skin), and do some exercises. Dad was scared to death that I would want her to stay in bed the rest of the day. Actually, we needed to go by how Mom felt. She did pretty good doing the leg exercises, but we were not able to get to all of them. I let her rest for about 20-25 minutes before her exercises. I guess our exercise session lasted about 30 minutes before Dad showed up. While she rested, I was going between making her some pudding, jello and Crystal Light drink (all sugar-free) and answering the phone. People were just checking in on Mom and seeing if we got home alright. They were so excited to hear that she was actually home for a change. Mom ate 1/2 a cup of Chicken Noodle Soup, I warmed up for her, a bite or two of cornbread and most of her milk. Dad and I went through all of her medicine. It helps him if you put what each prescription is for on the bottles. I drafted out a meal journal and medicine chart. This is in order to keep everything straight and a little organized. Maybe it will help. I got to learn a lot about glucose meters, strips & lancet. Ugh! Poor Mom was our ginnea pig for both Dad and I. We know absolutely nothing about diabetes and how to check for sugar. I believe we ended up pricking 4 or 5 of Mom's fingers just to get some blood and getting the meter to work correctly. She'll be so sore by tomorrow. Her count ended up being 122 when I checked it. Poor thing! Now that I know what I'm doing, it will be a lot better on her. I gave her her first insulin shot tonight. Dad and I feel that she should normally have her insulin shot in the morning time, starting tomorrow. Maryann brought over some supper. After Mom ate, she said that she thought she had to go to the bathroom. Well, I high tailed it into the bedroom and grabbed her bedside toilet. I'm so happy for her, she pee-peed in the potty. tehe! We were all jumping for joy. If you don't know the story, she's been on so many medicines since late December and she's had a catheter that her bladder has forgotten how to function properly. The doctors said that it will come back slowly. She said she felt the sensations, so that is great. I left shortly after putting a diaper back on her and we set her back in her chair.

Peggy and Millard kept baby girl for us, while I went with Dad this morning. Actually, she spent the night with them. She loves spending the night with anyone. As long as she is going some where, it doesn't matter really where. She's funny! They seemed to have a great time, of course. Peggy is helping me out with potty training Katie. She is doing so well when it comes to potty training. I couldn't be happier, I just hope that it sticks. Peggy said she pee-peed several times at their house and she pee-peed twice when we got home tonight. Both times, she told me she had to go to the bathroom. After she pee-peed, she told me (all big eyed) that she gets a prize now. I hope she continues to improve. Doug met us at Peggy and Millard's for supper. I was starved because I forgot to eat lunch and my sausage biscuit from Jack's at 7:45 a.m. was long gone by 8:00 p.m. I just had so much I had to prepare for Mom and Dad that lunch came and went before I knew it.

I have to run a few errands in the morning, but I plan to visit with Mom. I want to get a couple of games for Katie that we all (Mom, Katie and myself) can play together. I'm also going to get maybe some checkers, 1000+ pieces jigsaw puzzle, and maybe a word search or two. For any of you that want to send Mom something, just a suggestion, anything simple that she can use her mind. Being enclosed around 4 walls for 4 months has really screwed up her brain function. The doctor said it would be great if we can do anything to get her mind to working. This is why she has so much trouble functioning - feeding herself, clothing herself, standing, sitting, walking, etc. The brain waves telling her muscles and body to do something isn't making the connection, if you know what I mean. I'm going to try to make an effort to play games, crafts and read Sunday School Lessons that have questions at the end of the lesson. Please feel free to volunteer if you can.

Susan, Jon, and Leslie are suppose to come by later tomorrow afternoon to visit and I believe Sue is bringing supper. We are hoping Mom will feel like washing her hair. I wanted to today, but she was just too tired. Maybe we can come up with a plan, in case the shower doesn't work for her. Wish us luck!

Happy Birthday Vonell!

I would like to wish Aunt Vonell a very Happy Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Sunday Events

Yesterday, Susan called me before church all upset. She wanted to visit Mom, but she just found out that Tim got the shingles (?). We've always heard that they are contagious, but Sue got online and it didn't tell if it was or not. She didn't know what to do. She wanted Mom to have some visitors that day other than Dad, but she didn't know if she should visit her or not. I knew that if Sue went ahead, visited Mom and she was to get sick the next day, Susan would not be able to forgive herself. I knew that Doug and I were going shopping after church, so I told Sue that we would stop by and visit her. Millard & Peggy wanted Katie to come to church with them. So, I got her ready & Doug took her to their church. It was my Sunday to keep the two year olds, so I went on by myself and Doug stayed home. I thought when I got home to pick up Doug, we would head for the mall. Nope. When I got home, Doug was no where to be found and he wasn't answering his cell phone. Ugh! The crazy thing went ahead to Belk to exchange some pants. Okay. We went by and picked up Natalie to go with us. I think Doug liked the idea of Natalie going with me that way he wouldn't have to follow me around the mall.

On the way to the mall, Natalie told me about her new friend, Aaron, and their Prom night. He sounds like a lot of fun to be with. She said that a group of them went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse for supper before they went to the Prom. I'm telling you what, Kevin is going to have to beat the guys off with a baseball bat. tehe! I say that because she has got the guys lined up. While on the road, she was receiving texts/phone calls from John, Aaron and some other guy. It's too funny! The best part about it is that she hasn't committed to anyone of them. She is dating and having a great time. She did tell me that she is enjoying Aaron's company a whole lot more than the others. She was so funny talking about him. Doug started aggravating her about Aaron and his nickname "Primetime." Then we saw the pictures of their Prom night. Natalie warned us how crazy (funny) Aaron was. He wore a light blue tux jacket with pink cumber bun and tie and white pants. His collar stood up and he wore sunglasses. Crazy right? You know he pulled it off. He looked like Sonny Crocket off of Miami Vice with dark hair.

I had a $10 gift card from Belk that I had to spend or I would loose it. I told Natalie that I needed some Summer shirts and shorts, but I didn't know if the latest fashions would look nice on me. She was a lot of help! We picked a few of the new baby doll shirts that tie in the back. Natalie was my judge if it looked nice or not. She was straight forward with me, which is what I like. You never can trust department store mirrors because they lie. She brought some shirts to me in the dressing room. This is one shirt she gave me to try is probably our favorite, it's zebra print and it ties in the back. The way it's made, makes me look thinner. She made me feel good. She told me that animal print looks good on me. I found a cute pair of khaki cropped pants, but I didn't find any shorts that I liked. I tried the Bahama shorts and I don't know if I could get use to them because they come to my knees. I just don't think they looked nice on me. It's a whole new look for me, so not be too shocked when you see me in my new outfits. tehe! While we were still in Belk, Natalie received a phone call from one of her friends, John. She said that he doesn't live far from the mall, we were at, and he wanted to see her. I told her it fine with me, if she wanted to hang out with him at the mall. He didn't mess around because before we left Belk, he showed up. I told her I would call her when we were ready to go. I wanted to stop by by J.Jill, Gymboree, The Children's Place and Disney. Online, The Children's Place was having a good sale on their T-shirts for Katie, plus I had a 15% off coupon. I didn't find a thing because they were picked through. At J.Jill I found a nice pair of brown dress pants for $24.99 that I thought would look good with one of my new blouses, but they didn't have my size. Ugh! Katie really loves Giselle off of the new movie "Enchanted." At the Disney store, I found a Giselle Barbie doll for $7.99. I also found the Giselle T-shirts for $4.99, but I thought Katie would like the doll more than the shirt. I had to get for her. At the cash register, the doll rang up $5. I liked that price even better.

We got to the rehab center around 5:00 and Dad was still there. It wasn't long after we got to Mom's room before Dad left. Mom seemed to be doing good. She sat up and talking to us, but you could tell she was weak. Doug and Natalie got to telling jokes back and forth for Mom, which perked her up. Dad said her sugar was 160. He went on to say, Dr. Stewart came in and told him that she is doing better than what she was on Friday. They still don't know what happened to her, but they are planning on her to be released on Tuesday. I wanted to make sure I got to see her eat a little bit before we left to go home. She couldn't feed herself real good, so I helped her a little. I wanted to make sure she ate because of her sugar and to give her strength. I guess we left around 7:00-7:30. I hated leaving her because I could see that her eyes were whaling up with tears. I told her that she would probably see me Tuesday. Maryann made arrangements to go with Dad on Monday. They will meet with Mom's therapist and see what Mom is capable of doing. Peggy said that she could keep Katie on Tuesday, so I can go with Dad.

Dropping Natalie off at her house, we stopped in to visit with Maryann and Kevin for a bit. Plus, we knew that Aaron was coming over to visit Natalie last night and we wanted to meet him. Before Aaron showed up, Maryann and Natalie told me how beautiful he was. They said that Kevin and him hit it off right away. Oh Natalie, he is gorgeous! You go girl! You're right, his eyes draw you in like Zayne's. The best part about meeting him is that he actually talks to you. Doug had to ask him about his nickname "Primetime." How in the world did he get that name? He explained that he plays basketball, football and boxes. When he won the golden glove, one of his buddies told him that he is "Primetime" and the name has pretty much stuck. Doug was picking at him saying that he's nickname should be "Crockett" because the way he was dressed on Prom night. Aaron's face got a little red, but I don't think he really knows who Sonny Crockett it. We have to keep in mind that these kids are too young to remember those shows in the 80's. He seemed like a nice kid.

God Is Always There

Again, God is always there lifting us up when we fall. As you could probably tell in the past few posts, I've been down. I think it's mostly about my Mom. I've been so upset, in my own way, over her condition. Her continual roller coaster health has basically made me a nervous wreck. I've been afraid that my faith in her ever coming home was diminishing. God always shows a crack in the window to let a little light of hope shine in. Praise Him and Praise His Holy Name! Why I'm so emotional is because I was so upset and worried about Mom's health yesterday with her UTI. I checked in on her this evening and she is 100% better. She said that she didn't know what was wrong with her, but she is feeling 100% better. She felt good enough to make all of her therapy sessions. Her appetite came back full force. She even sounded better! She said that Dr. Henderson (not too sure on the name) came in and they ruled out the UTI because after they ran tests today, there were no signs of a bladder infection. They honestly don't know what happened to her. I honestly believe the power of God is what healed her from the sickness. I just hope and pray that she will not be sick again because they are still aiming for Tuesday, if nothing else happens. I can't thank you enough for all the prayers because I believe that is the reason why she is still here.

Whitney & Natalie called me last night and asked me to meet them for lunch today. We met at one of our favorite restaurants,"Sweet Peppers." I love their Chicken Salad with Deli Greens! It's so much that I never can finish it. Whitney was in town to help Natalie get ready for the prom tonight. She showed me her nails that Whitney did this morning and she did a very good job. All I've heard for the past few days is "have you seen Whitney's hair?" Well, I finally got to see it and it's not as drastically cut as I pictured. It's a little longer than mine right now and it has some layers. Because it's so thick, she is thinking about going back and getting it thinned out. I think thick hair runs in our family because I have to do the same thing. Our thick hair is the heavy thick, not the nice volumizing thick. With me, by the end of the day, my hair clings to my head. Anyway, I thought Whit's hair looked nice. The good thing about her cutting her hair, Maryann told me that she donated her hair to the "Locks of Love." I think that's the name of the organization. It's an organization that makes wigs with real hair for people who have cancer.

As you know, a few of our electronics/appliances went up in smoke from the storm yesterday. Well, Doug and I didn't realize what a necessity a microwave was for us until we wanted to warm up some food this morning. Then, I got to thinking about Katie's chicken nuggets. Ugh! We need a microwave! When Katie and I got back home from our luncheon with Whitney and Natalie, we picked up Doug and headed back to town. The only two places, checking out microwaves, were Sears and Walmart. We ended up getting a Panasonic Inverter Microwave. I think that is what it is called. We've never heard of an Inverter Microwave. It didn't matter to me what kind we got as long as it was a good one. I don't care if we get all the bells and whistles! I know sometimes when you get a device with all the extras, you end up wishing you had not. Now, I have to get adjusted to the difference in cooking time. I know our little 900 watt took a long time to warm food up and all of it even. Doug said I'll have to watch it because this one is a 1250 watt. You watch, I'll end up causing something to explode.

Our neighbors got their electricity back on today. They had people come early this morning, working on their house and power lines. I guess they finished around 2:00-3:00 this evening. O.T. told Doug the only thing that doesn't work is their microwave. Everything else seems to be alright.

We discovered Web Worms in a couple of our trees this past week. It's been too windy for Doug to burn them out, so we've waited. Today, I noticed that they hatched. I told Doug that we need to do something now. He burnt one web out, but he couldn't reach the others. He thought it would be a good idea to spray the trees and shrubs real good with bug poision. Since Katie was outside, I thought it would be a great idea for her and I to go on a nature walk while Daddy sprayed for bugs. We walked down the trail and enjoyed the fresh air. Katie and I love our walks, we just need to go on more walks together. While we were walking, I noticed a beautiful tree in the woods. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It was definitely a tree with petite leaves, but the blooms looked exactly like pink honeysuckle. It didn't have a fragrance, but it was attractive. I looked for seedlings, but then I got to thinking that we have plenty of trees in our yard as it is. I just thought they were very pretty. We picked wildflowers on the way back home. Katie had a nice bouquet that she insisted on bringing inside the house and putting them in water. Millard and Peggy stopped by to drop off one of Katie's outfits that they ordered from Smartie Britches. It is so cute! Well, all the outfits they have made her are precious. This outfit is a white sleeveless capri set with brown and blue polka dots on it. The pants are brown with white polka dots and it comes with a matching purse and hair bow. Peggy had a brown "K" monogramed on the front of the shirt. Peggy said that Tammy was getting ready for the "Bloomin' Festival" next weekend. She had a lot of new outfits including short sets. Tammy told Peggy that there are quite a few short sets, but she just hasn't had the time to put them on her website yet. I think if everything is quiet around here by next weekend, we might go to the festival this year. Katie is older now that she might be able to enjoy it. They have inflatable playsets like the bounce house and slide for children, she might enjoy. If we go, we'll have to get a french waffle with lots of powdered sugar on top. Katie's never had one before, she might like it. I know you can make them at home, I haven't made them in a very long time.

Katie's New Sayings
I don't know if I've told you some of Katie's new sayings. She is real big on having friends. She'll ask "are you my friend?" If she gets mad at you, she'll tell you "you not my friend." There are even times when she'll tell me "you're my friend." It's so sweet when she asks me "do you like me? I like you."

Coke Rewards
For those of you who like to shop at "Sephora," you need to be collecting Coke points. We've been collecting Coke points for quite some time now and they're rewards selection changes often. I haven't checked the rewards in a while, so after I put some points in the other day I noticed that gift certificates for "Sephora" were on there. Alright! I redeemed a little over 1200 points to receive a $50 egift certificate for "Sephora." I was so excited! I redeemed it yesterday and spent the certificate all on Bare Escentuals eye makeup and brush today. I would love to get another certificate in order to get this Bare Escentuals Blemish Therapy powder. It's suppose to cover and heal your blemishs. I can't remember how much it cost, but I'd be interested in trying it.

Mom Not Coming Home

Dad, Maryann and I went to the rehab center to meet with a couple of dietitians regarding Mom's diabetic diet. As you may know because of the steroids Mom's been on in the hospital, her blood sugar level has been hard to control without the help of insulin. She has never had sugar problems in the past, that's why doctors are saying it's because of the steroids. Dr. Adams feels that it is a temporary thing and soon her sugar will be back under control normally. Today, all three of us under went diabetes training 101 and oh my gosh the things I learned. Mom will have to have one shot a day along with a good diabetic diet and exercise.

As you also may know, Mom will not be able to come home tomorrow. Everyone including Mom is sad about this terrible news. While we were waiting to meet the dietitian about the diabetes, we ran into Mom's Physical Therapist, Anthony. Dad mentioned to him that he was looking for Mom in the gym, but didn't see her. Anthony told us that Mom wasn't feeling good this morning, so she didn't come down for her Physical Therapy. Dad said that she complained about having a real bad headache last night and wondered if that had anything to do with it. Anthony didn't know. He went on to say that Mom did real well yesterday with her walking. Normally, they've been walking her around 20-30 feet with her walker. He said she felt good yesterday, so they walked her 76 feet. This was excellent! We all decided that she probably over did it yesterday and was wore out this morning. Maybe that is why she didn't feel good. Well, the dietitian thought it would be a good idea, if we all moved into Mom's room to learn about diabetes. Oh my! Mom was sleeping and her face was so ashy. It concerned me, but I didn't want to upset Dad. We all noticed how bad she looked. Dad was more upset because she wouldn't look at him when we first came into her room. Her case worker, Julia, came in and said that Mom had a Urinary Tract Infection and will not be coming home tomorrow. Oh no. Mom was right about not holding her breath. Julia said that they started her on some antibiotics for the UTI as soon as they found out. She hopes that Mom will be able to go home Tuesday instead. I felt so bad for her and Dad. Dad was really down after hearing the news. For the past few days, it's been hard for all of us to stay positive and hopeful for a good outcome in her progress. There are times, where I wonder if it's time to look at the situation realistically. Maybe God is preparing me for worst that is to come. You never know about the outcomes and she's not dead yet. I just hate to see someone suffer as much as she has in the past several months. Please continue to pray for Mom and me as well.

We had the bad storms come through here as well. I think it was around 1:30 when Doug said there was some strong wind for just a few minutes, but it was enough to do some damage. He said that he heard a bang. He saw that one of our trees on our property fell over on our neighbor's house, damaging their carport. When the tree fell, it took down some power lines. The power line that was knocked down was connected for a transformer, which was the bang Doug heard. It blew! Doug even said that the pole was leaning and looked like it was ready to fall. He said that he could smell hot wires in Katie's room, so he went and turned off all the breakers. Our poor neighbor's power was off and they could smell hot wires as well. The fire department showed up and checked out both of our houses. They gave us an all clear and suggested an electrician check every thing before turning the breakers back on. He gave us an all clear and Doug soon turned the breakers back on. We soon discovered that one of our televisions died along with our microwave, VCR, and radio. Ugh! At least the TV that died wasn't our new one and wasn't the one we were going to give the girls. Shoo! More importantly, no one got hurt. Sometimes, you've got to look at the brighter side and Thank God for continually watching over us. The fire department cut up the tree and the power pole is back to normal. Our neighbor is still out of electricity and their carport is messed up big time, but insurance will take care of it.

We met up with a few old friends tonight for supper. I think I needed that after having a day like today. None of them have seen Katie since she was a baby, except for our friend, Diane. We have a friend, Trish, that lives in PA that came down to visit her sons. It was so good to see her and this was the first time she got to see Katie. Katie took to her right off the bat. I think it's because Trish reminds me of my sister, June. She acts and looks a little like her. As soon as we introduced Katie to Trish, Katie wanted Trish to hold her. Trish didn't know what to think, but was glad that she liked her enough to let her hold her. Katie was big buddies with Trish all night and she even wanted her to take her to the potty at the restaurant. We couldn't get over it. After we left the restaurant, Katie told me that she liked Diane and that other girl. I asked her "you mean Trish." "Uh, huh! I think Diane is cute and I think Trish is cute. I want to see her again." I have to say, Katie was a perfect little angel tonight. I was very impressed with her behavior. Everyone at the table went on and on about how well behaved she was. Doug and I corrected them right off the bat, she normally isn't like this.

Katie, Katie, Katie!

This morning, Katie and I went over to Dad and Mom's house for a few hours. I was able to help him clean up a little, getting ready for Mom. He is so excited, but he's not too excited because he hasn't bought any groceries for her. Yikes! I offered to get a few things, but he wants to wait until Saturday when she comes home. He said he thought about getting a few things today, but he is afraid it won't be what she wants. I'm still planning to go with him and Maryann tomorrow, so hopefully we'll know more information about what kind of diet she'll need. While I was cleaning, Katie stayed in the Living Room with Dad and watched TV. Katie kept being sneaky behind Dad's chair. At first, I thought she was sneaking around to go potty in her pants. I had pull-ups on her, so that was alright. I kept asking her if she needed to go potty and what she was doing. "I not doing anything. I just playing" she said. Dad told me to leave her alone because she wasn't doing anything wrong. "I'm watching her" he said. Just then, I saw it. "Oh no she's not!" I told him as I'm running to her. The little turkey was sitting in the floor with four bottles of nail polish in front of her. Every one of them were open and she had all of her fingernails and toes nails painted 4 different colors. I was scared to death that the polish got on the carpet. My heart hit my toes until I examined the floor real good where she was sitting. She may have had polish from her nails to her knuckles, but she didn't get any on the carpet. Shoo! Dad the whole time was laughing at us. "She's something isn't she?" he said. I agreed that she is something.

We got home and got her all set up for nap time. She decided that she wasn't going to take a nap and better yet, she was going to be a brat. "I not take a nap, I just get up" she informed me. Oh, fun! She just knew that potty training wasn't enough for me. I needed a brat on top of potty training. I made her stay in her room for two hours, but she still wouldn't take a nap. I think she missed being in the naughty chair because I think I had her in the naughty chair three times (I believe) this afternoon. While I was talking to Wayne on the phone, I heard a lot of noise in Katie's bedroom. I looked down the hall and she tore down the wall of clothes, got to her top shelf and knocked everything off of it. It looked like a tornado went through her room. Clothes taken out of the Space Bags and strowed all over her floor. At first I told her to help me clean up the mess, but I could tell right off that it would cause me more pain. So, I made her sit on her stool and watch me clean up the mess. Of course, I gave her one of my 30 minute boring lectures about why we don't knock off the wall of clothes and then strow them all over the floor. For punishment, I took away her TV time for the rest of the night. This absolutely killed her because she is loving "Alvin and The Chipmunks" movie. She is going to hate giving it back to the Movie Gallery tomorrow, when it's due back.

What about American Idol's results tonight? Michael Johns is kicked off. I just knew it was Carly Smithson because she did terrible the other night. I didn't think Michael did as bad as Carly or David Cook. I'm glad Carly and David made it, don't get me wrong. They are still two of my favorites, but they need to step it up next week.

The A-Day game is this weekend. Are you going? If anyone out there is going, please get back with me with all the behind the scene excitement. Doug told me that if your television reception receives the network CSS, you might be able to watch the game. I don't know what time the game starts. ROLL TIDE!

If you collect earning points for Pampers, they've got some new rewards - Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles. It's been awhile since I've seen anything worth redeeming my rewards. It is a set of four nice, challenging wooden puzzles for toddlers and preschoolers. We got Katie one of these puzzles for Christmas and she is just now getting interested in it. I've thought about packing up her peg board puzzles because they are too easy for her. She prefers playing with the peg board or 5 piece jigsaw puzzles instead of her new 12 piece jigsaw puzzle. According to Pampers' new regulations, I can only redeem one prize a day. So, I redeemed just one set of jigsaw puzzles (dog, cat, gold fish & something else) tonight. The other set that I would like to get is underwater sea life.

The potty training is still going. She only used the potty twice today, but that's still good. I guess. She still doesn't want to wear baby diapers. I opened a new pack of Pull-Ups in case Doug needs them tomorrow. He's not too sure he's up for the challenge of potty training. He said he may have to put a diaper on her while I'm gone. I told him, no just put on a Pull-Up if it's too much. I'd rather her have a Pull-Up on then the diapers again.

Good News!

Update On Mom
I've got good news everyone! Mom is suppose to be coming home Saturday. She's been a little depressed because she was told a couple different times that she would be coming home and she didn't. She said tonight that she's not holding her breath because she's afraid the doctors will change their mind again. Bless her heart, she wanted to come home with us tonight so bad. Julia, Case Worker, told Maryann that they would like for her and Dad to come down during Mom's therapy on Friday to go over a few things about Mom's health care. Also, they want to talk with Maryann and Dad about Mom's diabetes. Dr. Adams feels that her high blood sugar count is temporary, but it needs to be monitored. Today, her sugar count was 140 and they want it around 120. I told Dad that if Maryann goes with him on Friday, I would like to go Saturday to pick her up. I'm hoping that Maryann can just show me what to do to check her blood sugar. They did take her pick line out today. She is still eating all of her meals. She seemed to enjoy Katie visiting her today. Katie got up in bed with her and they ate peanuts. Dad told Mom about Katie using the potty and that seemed to excite her. Katie even went pee-pee in Mom's potty at the rehab center. I've been carrying around my folding potty seat and had it with me tonight. Other than Katie wanting to touch everything in the bathroom including the emergency string, she did good sitting there pee-peeing.

Dad is all excited about Mom coming home. He talked about getting ready for Mom all the way to the rehab center. I told him that I would come over tomorrow some time and clean the house for them. We talked about different dinners that he could fix without a lot of attention to it. I also reassured him about us girls making them meals when she gets home.

Maryann Update
Dad told me today that Maryann was dismissed from the doctor and she was still doing well. I know Friday, I talked with her and her new contractor got a small crew together and helped move the furniture for them. So, it sounds like progress with the Kitchen/Living Room construction.

Potty Training
Yes, it's still frustrating but as long as Katie sticks with it, I guess I will hang in there. When all this potty training is over, we may need new carpet. She went pee-peed in the potty three times today, including the time at the rehab center. Every other time, I made Katie help clean up her mess. She still doesn't like that too much. While she's cleaning she'll tell me "I not do that again!" The last time she peed in her panties before I put a pull-up on her for nap time, she got upset and told me that she needed to go to the potty. I didn't know that she already peed, so I rushed her in the bathroom. She whined about peeing in her panties, like she was mad at herself about messing up her panties. Secretly, I was proud to hear her being upset about it. I reassured her that it's okay to have accidents and that we'll have to try harder to put our pee-pee in the potty. She apologized and said she would. I've threatened her with the baby diapers a few times today and she still doesn't want the diapers back on. That's good. Right?

Looking Into The Past Posting Update
Sandy commented on the "Looking Into The Past" blog and I have to correct my posting. I knew I looked awfully young to be 10 years old. She said that Elizabeth was 14 months, Allan was 3 years old and I was 8 years old. She went on to say that the picture was taking in 1983 and my Grandpa & Grandma Godfrey came down from Ohio to visit us. Of course, I can't remember that far back. She said that this was the first time everyone got to meet Elizabeth. Grandpa Godfrey took this picture of us kids on the front porch.