Time For Some Good News

Kayla and Noah ready for promotion Sunday

Noah showing me his new and old toys

Noah was so happy to be home
Noah telling me all about his trip to Aunt April's house



The kids arrived home around 6pm Saturday. It was unusual to be waiting for them because we are the ones that take and pick up. This time their Tia AJ took to to meet my sister and to pick them up. Noah was very happy to be home. He had a great time at my sisters swimming, going to the library, making his Penny at Build A bear, playing with his cousins army men and giant bugs and so much more. Kayla started her first scrapbook. She did an amazing job and used her own money to buy all her supplies. It did not look like a twelve year old did the pages. She too went swimming, hung out with the cousins, went bowling and hung out with their youth group. When Noah came home he kept touching things and saying "this is my van, my truck, my jeep and so on. When he came inside he had a lot to show mom (hence the pictures above). I really missed the kids but it only took me about 30 minuets to realize that I would not have been able to handle his energy if he had stayed this past week. I was not sure how I was going to make it through the evening. I am very sensitive to noise and ciaos but since the surgery the sensitivity had been magnified. The tiniest sounds sends me over the edge. I believe that one reason may be that I can hear better and that he nerve is sensitive. The tonsils were so large on the right side that they had to actually dig them out of my neck. He told James they were some of the largest that he had seen. This could very well explain years of ear infections and hearing problems. I am hoping that the sensitivity gets better with the healing and that the surgery will actually fix some of the ear problems as well.

Saturday morning brought more pain. I started off trying to eat a jello and it just burned too bad. I took more pain meds and then decided to straighten up the house a little. I was really scared that the kids were coming home and that I still did not feel up to taking care of them. That sent me into an emotional hyper drive and I began to think of all the things that I needed to do before they came home. Went that in mind I took a shower and told James I needed to go to Walmart. Well let me just say he did not by into my plan. I laid it on thick but his response was make me a list and I'll go. That was not what I wanted to hear so I just cried and said "fine I'll just go take a nap"! Like that was going to show him a thing or two. It was what he wanted me to do in the first place. After I got over my melt down I apologized and we spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in the double recliner watching a movie. It was a great way to spend the day once I got over another day of cabin fever.

We had already decided that James would take the kids to church and I would stay home. Today was our big promotion Sunday and there was a lot planned for each class. Again I cried when the kids left because I was missing taking Noah to see his new class and Kayla was starting with the 7th graders. It is not typical for any of us to miss church. We know that some people like having a day off but for our family it is just part of who we are. This was my second week to not be able to go. We have had trouble getting Noah used to being dropped off but since we had VBS he loves Church. He talks about VBS all the time.

Everyone went to church as scheduled. James picked up Olivia and Hanna for church since Amber and Philip got the stomach flu that we had. We didn't want the girls to miss their big day either. I enjoyed my morning at home. I had a really hard time staying awake until 10 for meds. After I took them I went to bed and slept until James called at 12:30. Kayla stayed at Hanna's house after church and James and Noah came home for lunch. I attempted an applesauce for lunch. It took about an hour to eat it. I would take a bit drink lost of water and repeat. I had tried to eat something for breakfast and just couldn't get it down. After lunch I took a small nap and then did some laundry. Kayla came home around 5pm and then some friends from church brought us supper. At this point my stomach was hurting soooo bad. I was so hungry. The food they brought smelt so good. I really thought that I would not be able to eat but I was going to try. I had the most amazing hash brown casserole and green beans. I think that the green beans were from their garden. I actually ate two table spoons of the casserole and two small helpings of the green beans. By the end I was in a lot of pain but my stomach was so thankful. After dinner it was another round of meds and then Kayla cleaned up supper. I said I would help but she said she would take care of it all. God bless her! She is amazing. Around 7pm Kayla kept Noah and James and I went to Walmart. Yes he took me to Walmart. I needed some stuff for the kids and some more meds for my nose. (I was able to get the People mag with the Chapman family while I was there) We were not gone too long. I did pretty well but was tired by the time we got to the van. I also am noticing that my throat gets real dry really fast. The other oddity is that I was overwhelmed by smells there. As we walked past the shoe dept James asked me how I was doing and I told him that the smells were bothering me. He said I was smelling the rubber and asked if that was new. I actually was. I'm not sure about this new smell thing. After we left Walmart James took me for a milkshake. It is a waste to spend money on me because I usually only get about two bites in but tonight I had about 1/2 cup before I gave up. I put it in the freezer for tomorrow. The rest of the night has been pretty peaceful. I need fold some laundry and put the dishes in the dish washer but that will have to wait till tomorrow. Monday a friend from church is going to come get Noah and take him to play with her son. She was actually my nurse in the hospital last Sunday. She has been amazing and has really kept up with me at home.

Over all today was so much better. The pain is still there but my body seems to be healing. I am still in pain and yawning, swelling, and other things that involve the throat are extremely painful but the fatigue is getting better and so is the body aches. I spit a lot of clots this morning and that actually made things feel a little better. The pain is more isolated to actual movement in the throat instead of constant pain. I was able to take my med dosage down today and will try to lower it one more tomorrow. I still have to take it every 4 hours but just not as much each time. I was able to make the decision on when to do that and today felt like a good starting point. So far so good. I still feel the pain the worst 30 minuets before new meds. I could set the clock by the pain. The nights are the hardest time right now so it may be more difficult tonight but at least it's progress. My next appointment is Thursday. I am hoping that they will take the stitches out of my nose then. I also hope that by the end of the week I can wean of of the narcotics and just stick with over the counter. I have one more week of restrictions which I can already tell is going to get me in trouble. I had a hard time sitting still today and not up cleaning. It is amazing how much better you feel with just a small improvement.

We are still waiting for Kayla's curriculum to come in. I have all my teacher books but we are waiting on her consumables. I'm hoping that we can spend the week getting bed times established and working on routines. The house is still in great shape and I think that we are ready to start off a new school year.

I do have a prayer request. Tomorrow Olovia starts kindergarten. This will be a difficult milestone without daddy in the picture. Please pray for Amber as she has to face sending one to JR High and one to Kindergarten by herself tomorrow. These are milestones that make his absence a reality.