Wow!

I am once again behind on this blog & I know that you are all dying to know what is going on in my life! I will start with an update on the kidney stone. Much to my & the doctor's surprise, I passed the kidney stone without having to have it surgically removed! YEAH!! They set up an appointment for the next Monday morning to have the stent removed. It was the weekend it snowed and on Friday I developed a high fever & chills. I was freezing one minute, sweating to death the next. Unfortunately I didn't get Hannah or Jaiden out in the snow. :( Josh did take Hannah with him to Mark & Shana's house. So she got to sled down their hill. She was really excited but I was sad I missed it. Anyway, I ran a high fever all weekend and Monday he wouldn't take the stent out because he was afraid that there would be swelling and block off the kidney. Since it was infected that would cause a huge problem. So I went on a strong antibiotic and waited another week. I finaly got the stent out and now feel like a brand new person! YEAH!!! I pray I NEVER have a kidney stone again. I go this week to make sure that all is well with my kidney. I am confident that it is but he wants to check as a precaution (or he may just want my money :)

It has been so long it is hard to catch up on everything that has happened. Jaiden turned 5 months old yesterday! WOW!! I wish time would slow down a little. She is growing so fast. She has decided that she loves rice cereal. She is also eating baby food now. She loved sweet potatoes, green beans, apples, & bananas right away but has developed a taste for squash & carrots. She eats them fine now but we had to try a few times to get her to like them. She has had peas and liked them fine but I have a hard time feeding them to her. They are so gross! :) She is already eating one jar at lunch and then eats 1/2 jar and her cereal at night. She weighed 12 lbs, 10 oz at her 4 month check-up and had grown another inch. She is still in the 50% of weight & 90% of height.

She has become more aware of her surrounding and is starting to "socially laugh." I mean that she laughs just because we are laughing and she thinks Hannah is hilarious. When Hannah is jumping around, dancing, singing, she laughs out loud. She can grab anything within her reach (including coupons that I held too close to her face). She rolled over a few weeks ago and now rolls to her stomach but gets mad if she stays there to long. She has rolled to her back but doesn't seem to realize that she can roll back over if she wants. :) When she is on her stomach & is happy about it, she will try to scoot to her toys. Usually she doesn't go anywhere but I don't think it will be long. She has found her feet and always chews on her toes. She will drench a sock or toe of an outfit.

She has lots of fun kicking her legs. Her legs move non stop. She also likes to rock back and forth when she is sitting in my lap. She still likes her swing but not as much as she used to. I think she knows that it puts her to sleep so she is beginning to cry when you put her in it. She has discovered that she likes the bouncer and can pull the cord to make the bird sing. It only has one song and she will pull it over and over again. It gets a little old but as long as she isn't crying, I am happy. She loves her play mat and plays on it a lot. I have also been putting her in the "BeBe Pod" but she has about a 10 minute time span and she arches her back to get out!

Her sleeping schedule is all over the place. She may sleep 12 hours at a time or she may wake up 2 times in the night. I never know what she is going to do but it isn't that bad. She is just a sweet, sweet baby. She only cries when she is tired of being in one place too long (like the swing, bouncer, mat, etc.), when she is sleepy, or hungry. However when she decides she is hungry, you better be ready because she can pitch a big fit! She gives no warning and goes from smiling, happy baby to screaming at the top of her lungs. She doesn't like to wait! :) She is just learning more and more each day and I just love everything about her and her spiked up hair!

These days Hannah spends all day playing. She wakes up and puts dress-up clothes on. She performs songs and dances in her princess outfits. She is also very into marrying Josh. She will say "Daddy, you are my wedding boy." I got out my wedding dress and showed her a few weeks ago. She thought it was beautiful and played in my veil all day. Maybe one day she will want to wear my veil in her wedding (50 years from now, of course). She also loves her doll house and it is hilarious seeing her imagination at work. She has one to! The other day I told her to stop jumping on the couch and that was her last warning. She did it again and Josh said "what did your mom just tell you?" She said "my name is Kayla and that isn't my mom!" Oh my, what are we going to do with her? She can have a major attitude but I am just paying for my raising. I never did anything too bad but I always had an attitude and thought I knew it all.

She is learning how to spell her name. She can write an "H" and "A". However she gets a little confused when it comes to putting the letters in order. She is learning though. She likes to play on PBSkids.org. She can work the computer really well for a 3 year old but is only allowed on that website. She also likes to watch her dvd's on the computer and amazes me that she knows how to use the mouse to click play! I know she is mine but she is smart! I love how she calls crunchy peanut butter, "crummy" peanut butter. It is really cute! The first weekend in March she went to a class at the zoo with Ian & Maddie. They had a great time. (It was also Jaiden's first trip to the zoo.) She still loves to be outside & plays on her swing set or rides her tricycle. I get tickled at the outfits she puts together to go out and play. I really need to take a picture of some of them because I wouldn't let her go anywhere else looking like that! :0) She plays so hard - there is nothing dainty about her. She is bruised from head to toe. Her summer dresses are going to be cute with those bruised shins! :)

Well I have rambled on & on about my babies long enough! I would love to freeze time and keep them little forever. They are both at such fun ages. Since I can't do that, I want to make sure that I remember them exactly like they are by recording everything they do!

Playing in my wedding veil...


We put it on Jaiden...


Jaiden looking at her sister...


4 months old...


We went to Ichiban with Emily, Jared, Pam, Xander, Casey, Marty & Susan one Saturday night. It was Hannah's first time at a Japenese steakhouse. The food was great & she had a blast with Xander.


Silly faces...


They loved the little umbrellas...



Chopsticks...


Trying to decide if she likes carrots. The first time Jaiden ate baby food...





Sitting in the "BeBe Pod"...


Eating her keys...


Chewing on her foot...


Notice the wet toe...


Jaiden & Cole's first trip to the zoo...


In the zoo class, looking at a bird...


Hannah, Maddie, & Ian...


Looking at the tiger...


5 months old...

A little thought...

I was reading in Hebrews tonight and started thinking about this verse - Hebrews 2:3 "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation." It sends chills down my spine to think about this verse. To me these are very powerful words! Three words stick out. The first one is escape. What do you think of when you hear the word "escape"? I think of people escaping a fire, a killer, a bad life. These things are all bad but there is hope for escape. However if we neglect Christ's offer for salvation we won't be able to escape. There is no escaping God's wrath. He will take vengeance on those who do not obey Him. It is serious and we must think about the consequences of our actions.

The second word I think about is "neglect." What happens if you neglect your marriage or even something simple like your flower beds? They die. We do not need to neglect our relationship with God or it will die. We will die in our sins and we won't have Christ to save us from that death. It is easy to neglect this relationship but it is in our hands. God has extended His offer and He is waiting on us to accept. His invitation is always open. So it is important that we do not neglect it but accept it on His terms.

The last word that sticks out to me is "Great." His salvation is great. It is something to be excited about because if we do not neglect His salvation we will get to spend an eternity in Heaven. What a great motivation to keep on doing what is right! Keep it up! Don't give up! This life is hard but we have a GREAT salvation if we will do what He wants us to do. A great salvation - do you want to pass it up for the things in this life? I can't think of anything that is worth loosing out on the only thing that will matter when this life is over!

It's been a L-O-N-G week!

Last Sunday morning I woke up, got everyone & myself ready for church. I wasn't feeling that well but wanted to go to church anyway. I was having a little pain in my back. You may remember in my last post that I had a kidney stone & was pretty sure that it hadn't passed. Well it was still with me & was on the move! When we got to church it started getting worse and I finally told Josh to take me home halfway through Bible class. I took same pain medicine and slept for an hour or two. Josh came home and put Jaiden in bed with me so he could clean house. Hannah was with Billy & Mary. It didn't take long for the pain to become unbearable! I was rolling around in the bathroom floor ~ it was NOT pretty! I finally relented and let Josh take me to the ER. I really didn't want to go but I really needed to go. Susan came to get Jaiden & we went to UAB.

The ER waiting room was filled up. I was in so much pain! I have never had pain like that & I hope I never do again. I was leaning over on Josh when a crazy, old lady came & sat in the chair right next to mine. Okay first of all it bothers me beyond belief for a stranger to sit right next to me in a waiting room if there are other chairs. Is one chair apart a common courtesy or am I alone on this one?! There were five beside me but she chose the chair right next to mine. Then she starts to rub my back. I really wanted to punch her but just turned a little and said "please don't touch me." Josh told her I had a kidney stone and tried to be nice but I wanted to scream at her. Poor lady she wasn't right. She did listen and stop. We were called back to a room a few minutes later.

It seemed like hours but was probably 30 minutes before a nurse came in. I was moaning and rolling around on the bed - again NOT pretty! I looked a hot mess too. I had my hair back in a little clip and by the end on the night the clip was hanging on the bottom of my hair and it was sticking out everywhere. At the time I really didn't care! The doctor came in and examined me. He ordered a CT scan and pain meds! I wanted to kiss him!! Okay not really but I was very thankful for relief from the pain. My nurse was wonderful & she told the lady who was taking me for the CT scan to wait until she got my IV & medicine in. I was so thankful she didn't send me before. They pumped me full of morphine and then took me for the CT scan. The pain was easing up and it was wonderful! I slept on & off the whole time we were there. I vaguely remember the doctor & nurse coming in & out of the room. The doctor finally told us that the kidney stone was obstructing my kidney & it was not likely that it would pass. It is 7 mm. It is almost to my bladder but is stuck in the ureter (the tube that connects the kidney & bladder). So he sent me home with medicine to keep me comfortable and told me to call the urologist in the morning (well he told Josh to call ~ I was in la-la land). We went to the pharmacy to drop off my prescriptions. Josh brought me home and went back to pick it up. I was so happy to be in my bed. I slept good that night especially after being in the Er for 8 hours.

We got up the next morning, Josh made me an appointment and we went to Kirklin Clinic to see the urologist. He agreed with the ER doctor and set me up to have surgery the next morning to laser it. We were at the admitting office at 8:00 the next day. Everything went as planned, they prepped me, & put me to sleep. When I woke up the nurse says "they weren't able to do the surgery. They put a stint in and will try again in two weeks." I was thinking "surely this is the anesthesia working and I am still asleep." Unfortunately it was true. When the doctor put the scope in, my ureter was too small & he was afraid to damage my ureter. So the stint was put in to make it dilate where they can successfully complete the surgery. So I am set up for a pre-op appt. on the 8th.

My pain is much better. I haven't taken much pain medicine since Tuesday. I am fine as long as I am sitting down. When I move around it seems to aggravate it. I did go to church yesterday and since we had our night service at 1:00, I went to the grocery store after we got home. That was one step too far and once I got home, I almost had to crawl in the house. I had sent Josh hunting that afternoon and thankfully he was almost home so he got the groceries in for me. I know I need to rest but I am so sick of laying on the couch, watching tv, reading, & being on the internet. I want to be out of the house. I want to shop and take Hannah to Chic-Fil-A to play. It won't be long but it is driving me crazy! I even missed going with Hannah & Josh to the circus on Saturday! I am just ready to be rid of this little pest and pray I will not get another one. I think dealing with it for a month is way too long!