Gallbladder

I woke up on Saturday, June 9 at 5:30 am, drank a glass of water, nursed Annabeth, and then went back to bed. As soon as I laid down I began having horrible stomach pains. By 9:45 or so I realized that something was very wrong. I was sweaty, gray in color, and just in the worst pain (other than the pains that came with Annabeth's delivery) of my life. We checked into the St. Francis ER around 10 am and after blood work and ultrasounds we learned that I had quite a few and quite large gallstones. I was sent home that same afternoon and then Sunday learned from a surgeon that I would in fact be having surgery to clear out the stones and then to remove the gallbladder. After a pre-surgical consult to review allergies (more than an hour was spent on that topic!)and to inform me of what would happen we were set for June 15. Surgery was June 15 at St. Francis South Surgery Center. All went as planned. St. Francis' Anesthesiology Department was already quite familiar with me and my special medical needs and so everything went quite well. I had my Mama and Dad with us through Monday afternoon and then Sarah Stair and Kristi yesterday to help some. I am feeling fairly good today and praying that the bruising and pain goes away before our trip this weekend. Thank you to everyone for your prayers! Also, now I have to live with (ugh!) a low-fat diet. Any recipes or suggestions??

May

May has been lovely and BUSY! - Annabeth now pulls to standing on anything and everything she can get her hands up on! - She moves down the furniture if there is something to encourage her - especially a remote control. - She has another new tooth - next to the one on the bottom! So cute! - Jenn, Cassidy, and I survived our first garage sale and made about $150 total. It was not what we had hoped for but we had fun and enjoyed time as the three of us girls! :) (+ Nate and Anna) - Memorial Day at the lake became Saturday at the lake and then Sunday/Monday in Evansville. The hot weather was TOO much for us and we ended up finding some great deals at Memorial Day sales while Dad and Mark watched the Indy 500 in the AC. Also, we enjoyed stopping by Grandma Chico's to surprise her and Uncle John who was visiting as well. Cannot wait to see what June has in store for us...

Seven.

Anna Baby is 7 Months Old. We've seen some HUGE changes in the past few weeks: - Mark completed his last day at the jail. (05.02.12) - Annabeth is pulling herself to standing!!! (05.02.12) - Mark officially started work as the Evidence Technician for the Investigations Division of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. (05.03.12) - Annabeth learned to say "DaDa." And now screams it ALL the time. (05.04.12) - We went to Kentucky for the 138th Derby/Momaw's 82nd Birthday. We won $36 as a family and taught Anna how to bet on the horses. We must have taught her well because she won more money than both of us! :) - We are home again, adjusting to our new schedule, and loving the 20 minute afternoon naps she has decided to take! Looking forward to a May filled with: Graduation Parties. Garage Sales. Visits with friends and family. My 2nd Mother's Day/My first with a baby out of the belly. Our 3rd Wedding Anniversary! Memorial Day at the Lake.

April Update

Wow! Time is flying. Here is what's new: - 2 Teeth. One upstairs and one downstairs in Annabeth's mouth. - 1 Gate. Blocking the step from the main house to the addition. - 4000 aprox. Miles. The number of miles crawled this month. - 1000 approx. Sit Ups. The number of times she has sat on her own WITHOUT falling over! Where is our little baby? Gone forever I fear. We are the proud parents of a crawling, sitting, size 18-month legging wearing little girl. I love it.

Anna's Words

Annabeth LOVES to "talk." Honestly, Mark and I are so meek and mild we have no idea where it comes from. Ha!! :) Okay, so she comes by it honestly. But in the middle of all the babble we've heard some real words:

Apple - Starting at around 3.5 months she's said a word that sounds like Apple

O-Gee - This sound is made only when a dog is the the room. She LOVES them!

Nama - The word she SCREAMS when she wants to nurse. We can only assume it's "Mama"

DAUD - Another word she SCREAMS,for attention, which Mark gives her so we call it her Dada word

Boo-Boo - The other day we were at lunch and in the middle of a monologue she said "Boo-Boo." It's only happened once but we are so proud!

Mama Baby - Okay, so maybe she didn't actually say "Mama Baby" but it REALLY sounded like it and my dad heard it as well so I have a witness!

We're really enjoying her not so little voice and are looking forward to understanding what all the noise means!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

I can see it! The light!

In just a few short days Annabeth will be 6 months old and FINALLY our lives are beginning to have some sense of "normal."

Alot of people told us the first three months of new baby life would be the most difficult but I have to say it's really been the first 5.5 months. My Mama and I were discussing this today - we think the fall baby might have made things more emotional as I had a long, gray winter of lots of days at home to add to some sadness and the huge adjustment. So, advice: have spring babies!

We've been out enjoying the early spring these past few weeks and what a difference it has made. Projects we've accomplished:
- Total clean out of the garage (all Mark)
- First (and second) mowings of the lawn
- Weeding of the gravel drive
- Impromptu landscaping project - no more mulch out front/totally new river rock
- Annabeth learning to quietly play in her pack-and-play while we work
- A house full of family for a whole Saturday
- First steak cook-out of the year

We look forward to more sunny days, more outdoor work, and LOTS more time with loved ones. So, if you're in the mood for a cook-out, come on over! We'd love to have ya!

"We'll do a phone hug!"

Medical Bills.

Those two words have hung over our heads for the past year now. As we strove to become debt free we faithfully prepaid much of our labor/delivery/recovery costs however the unexpected complications/medical care (such as the NICU) we experienced added LOTS of extra bills. So, since 10.28.11 I've had thousands of dollars in "This is not a bill" statements sitting in our Bills Folder. We've diligently paid off about eight thousand dollars and then we've saved waiting for the next ones to come. All the while, we prayed this prayer "Dear God. When the bills come, please make them ones we afford. Please give us the means to pay them. Or, if it is Your Will, have us owe them nothing." That last phrase seemed to be an unrealistic plea but we often threw it in just in case.

Yesterday, I again called billing and had the following conversation with Japhus at St. Francis Medical Billing:

Me: Yes, I'd like to check the balance on some bills. Here's the first account number
Japhus: It seems insurance has paid it in full
Me: As in, I don't owe you anything?!
Japhus: Yes, that's correct.
Me: Well, what about this one?
Japhus: The same thing, it's been paid in full
Me: *Insert squeal here* Oh my goodness! You've made my day!
Japhus: I'm glad
Me: I wish I could hug you!!
Japhus: We'll do a phone hug!!!

Following that conversation I laughed at the insanity of phone hugging the man in billing and then cried my eyes out while thanking God for this incredible blessing! So once again, in our Annabeth Saga of Miracles God gave us more than we ever expected by paying our medical bills in full - mirroring His gift of paying all of our debts and transgressions in full with His Son.