Christmas 2010

We spent a nice visit with Jared's parents, brother & their family for Christmas Eve lunch.

We had a special guest before our Christmas Eve dinner at Papaw & Grandma's house. It turns out Papaw is good friends with Santa, and he had just enough time to stop by for a visit before delivering toys Christmas Eve.

Hadley & Adam got new bikes!

Adam practiced his photography skills & did a fairly good job!

This is what we found when we checked on Hadley during her nap time. Busted!

Tomorrow morning the kids & I are driving to Georgia with my mom to spend the week with my sister & her family. We haven't spent a Christmas season together in 10 years so this is a real treat! I am double excited because I get to see my good friend Brandy who moved from Texas to 20 minutes from my sister's place earlier this year. If she had to move, I'm glad it somewhere I'm likely to visit...well you know every 10 years or so.

Ghiradelli Souffles - Repost

This is a repost from last year, but so good! I've updated the recipe since the chocolate from last year is no longer made. I suggest using both Ghirardelli chocolate chips, but I used what I had. Here's a tutorial. This would be great on Valentine's Day!

Image courtesy of Ghirardelli.com

What you need:

Ghiradelli Souffles

1/2 bag of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate

1/2 bag of Ghiarardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar **

6 egg whites

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

ten 6 oz. ramekins (or eight 7 oz - pictured above)

Optional: Powdered sugar, Lightly sweetened whipped cream, Ice cream, raspberries or strawberries

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 375 with a rack in the lower 3rd. (These can be made ahead of time & refrigerated for up to two days.) Once cooked, serve immediately.

Butter & sugar your ramekins. Pour about a tspn. of sugar and dump the extra into the next buttered ramekin. Repeat until all are done. These came from Walmart.

Separate egg whites from egg yolks in two separate containers. Add vanilla in the yolks container. (No need to stir vanilla in.)
You have to work quickly when working with chocolate. Get everything ready like above.
In a large heavy saucepan, whisk butter and flour over medium heat until the butter melts and sizzles for about 1 minute. (You want a smoother texture, if butter & flour clump together, discard and start again)

Whisk in the milk. Turn off the heat, keep pan on burner, add chocolate chips & stir until melted. Stir in yolks & vanilla. Set aside off of heat.

- Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high speed until they hold a soft shape. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy. Scoop out 1/4 of the egg whites mixture and fold into the pan of melted chocolate.

Then fold the chocolate from the pan into the bowl of remaining egg whites.

Divide batter among the ramekins, filling each about 3/4 full or 1/2 cup worth of batter. Cook immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to two days before cooking.

Bake souffles on a cookie sheet until they rise and crack and a toothpick comes out with thick gooey crumbs, about 15-20 minutes. Previously refrigerated souffles may need to cook 3-5 minutes more. Sieve powdered sugar over souffles and serve immediately. Top with desired toppings.

To see original post click here.

Christmas Traditions

We always wait until after Thanksgiving to set up our tree. This year the kids, really got into putting on the ornaments, and cheerfully they did most of it. We actually only managed to get half our tree back in the attic with all the moving out and moving back in. We got it halfway up to find the top half was still in my parent's storage shed. Adam & I took a break to pick it up so we could finish setting it up. I made yummy caramel hot chocolate and Jared found the best Christmas songs for the evening.

Some of our Christmas Traditions:

- We read the Nativity story from Luke chapter 2 on Dec. 1 so we can remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. I let the kids put out each individual in our nativity as we read the scriptures together. This year, the kids were especially wild & bouncy...so I'm not sure how much got in, but hopefully with consistency & time they will grow to cherish this tradition. This is my favorite nativity set that Jared got me a few Christmas' ago. From time to time he adds another piece for me. I sure could use the stable animals next, hon!

- Service Candy Canes: I have a container filled with candy canes. Anytime one of us does a service for someone else we get to put a candy cane on the tree. Any candy canes that make it to the tree can be eaten, the ones in the cup are off limits. It's always fun to see the tree filled with candy canes.

- Family Christmas Light Night - About a week before Christmas we pile into the car and go out and look at Christmas Lights. We used to do this as a kid with my mom & grandparents. We'd sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate, it was always so fun to spend time together as family.

- The Christmas Puzzle - A few years back we got a Christmas puzzle from a student I taught. I'll be honest, I kind of thought it was lame! Jared lovingly insisted that we work the puzzle with his family when they came to visit. We had so much fun, that now we do a new one every year as a family. We stick to 500 piece puzzles the week before Christmas. We tell the kids that we can't open any presents until it's finished. It has always been finished by the big day!

I won!

One of my most favorite blogs I visit, www.themeanestmom.blogspot.com was doing a giveaway of a shabby apple dress...and I won! I'm so surprised and excited! I just hope the dress sizing is in the double digits because I don't look like this model! I'm going on a diet right now just in case! :)

Date Night

(Are you seeing a trend with the great photos Adam is taking? We must be in some weird awkward photo stage.)

Last night Jared & I went to see the free Stake Christmas Concert, "Sing Noel." They had a choir and an orchestra. I enjoyed it so much, I thought I would take Adam tonight for a mom & son date.

When I told Adam my plan, he said, "No thanks."

The lure of staying up past bedtime was tempting. Wearing church clothes in the evening was not as thrilling.

As I was getting him dressed, he told me, "...but we already had a date!"

I inquired when was this date? He replied, "When we went to Chuck E. Cheese together." That was last year. His poor future wife. I can only imagine. "...but honey, I just took you out on a date last year."

Overall, it was fun, but Adam may need to mature a little more before I have any more great ideas. In the second song he asked to go the bathroom, and then stepped on every member of the neighboring family's feet on the way out the aisle. (We did take a restroom break before we got in there.) By song number four, he was asking to go home. I found a piece of chewing gum in my pocket and that bought me 30 minutes. He was able to make it through the entire program. I'm not sure he enjoyed it as much as I did, but I'm glad we did it.

I'll just let him pick the location of the next date night. Sometime next year.

Santa Visit

This was Hadley's first visit to see Santa. Cabela's had a free photo with Santa, as long as you came during nap time, and parked 1/2 a mile from the entrance to the store.

Hadley was a big fan of running around & hanging out with her brother.

Hadley did not share Adam's excitement about actually visiting Santa.

She didn't cry, but she was desperately signing "help" over and over by patting her chest.

Both kids got candy canes while we waited for a replica of this photo.

Monogram Dish Towels

My good friend Summer (who seriously needs to update her personal blog because I am tired of checking in to read about her son's booger) is so creative! She made some decorative dish towels in the spring that were so cute! I took it one step further and added a monogram with matching fabric. This was seriously so easy! 15 minutes and I was done.

Here's the instructions:

Supplies:
Dish towel
1/4 yard fabric or a fat quarter (just check measurements of directional fabric)
1/8 yard Wonder under/double sided fusible webbing (will make 3 letters)
Thread in coordinating color
Basic sewing supplies & machine.

Directions:
1. Cut fabric rectangle measure the length of your towel and add about 1”. Mine was 4” x 16”
2. Cut about a 4” x 4” piece of coordinating fabric for your letter.
3. Print off a letter from your computer to trace.
Suggested font & size:
Cambria (BOLD) 400 font or about 3.75” x 3.25"
Bookman (BOLD) 400 font or about 3.75” x 3.25”
4. Cut this printed letter out. You can free hand, or use a different font. You just want something
that has thick edges because you will have to cut the letter out, and letters that are too skinny are harder to sew.
5. Fold down edges of rectangle fabric and iron under about 1/4” inch. Sew into place near
bottom of dishcloth.
6. Iron on wonder under to wrong side of fabric square.
7. Looking at the wrong side of square: take your cut out letter and turn it over backwards. Trace
it on the smooth side of the wonder under. Cut out the letter and remove paper backing from
the letter. Note: it will probably be a challenge to get it off, and it usually comes off in pieces for
me. It’s okay if it the backing paper tears—it’s going in the trash.
8. Lay your letter down where you want it to go on the dish towel, right side up. Iron into place. This is not a permanent hold, but should hold it into place so you can sew it easier.
9. Sew your letter into place. Trim your strings.

Notes:
You can switch your top thread to whatever coordinates with your fabric. Make sure your bobbin thread matches your dish towel.

You can get a 2 pack of microfiber dishtowels for $3.50 at Walmart.

Unless you use a close zig zag stitch your letter will fray over time with washing. This gives it a nice, lived in look. If it bothers you then you might want to use a zig zag stitch. You will be sewing a lot longer if you use this method.

Wood Block Nativities

This project was shared with me from Pam S. who made about 50 of these with help from some tall elves. She shared the photo with me and I love it!

Here's a tutorial to make your own with your favorite picture. Leave me a comment with your email address if you want me to email the picture to you.

Supplies:
2 x 6 wood, cut at 7 1/4” lengths
Craft paint
Brush
Mod podge
Scrapbook paper
Tulle approx. 1 yard length x 6” thick (Hobby Lobby sells 6" spools of tulle in the fabric dept.)
Sandpaper—optional
Favorite 4 x 6” picture

Directions:

1. Cut 2 x 6’s into 7 1/4 inch lengths. Just a note wood sizes don’t really follow real measurements. Don’t be surprised when your 2 x 6 is really closer to
1 1/2” x 5 1/2”.

2. Paint wood desired color. Use 2 coats and let dry. Sand edges if desired

3. Cut out background scrapbook paper: 6 3/4” x 5” Pay attention to
direction of paper before you cut.

4. Cut inner scrapbook border: 4 1/8” x 5 5/8” (Or if you want an easy way, slap your photo down and visually estimate 1/4” border on all sides.)

5. Mod podge your background scrapbook paper to the wood. Use very light coats to prevent bubbling. Several light coats work much better than one heavy coat.

6. Mod Podge 2nd paper centered on the first paper. Same as before, light coats.

7. Mod podge picture on top of border paper, and then mod podge a light coat over all papers & photo. Let dry and repeat with a 2nd coat. If desired, mod podge over the entirety of the block.

8. Let dry overnight. Wrap tulle around block and tie in decorative knot at the top. Trim off extra tulle.

Potato Soup

I got this recipe from my mom, and it's so good. Since I am making this for dinner tonight, I don't have a picture of it finished. Here's the ingredients you'll need. Have you seen potato soup before? Well it looks like that.

Ingredients:

7-8 medium/large potatoes

milk (2 percent, whole, whatever you've got)

1 can cream of celery soup

1 small bag of real bacon pieces

- Boil water in a large pot.

- Peel & chop potatoes into bite sized pieces.

- Cook potatoes in boiling water until soft (about 20-30 minutes)

- Drain water, return potatoes to pot.

- Pour milk to cover just the top of the potatoes.

- Add cream of celery soup & stir until mixed.

- Add bacon bits now to entire batch, or add to each serving while in the bowls.

-Let soup heat up on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.

I usually make this with a cornbread mix. I just let it re-heat until the cornbread is done.

Santa Rosa Valley Salad

My good friend Brandy W. gave me this recipe a few years back. This is a cold salad. I brought it to baby shower and it was gobbled up so fast! Jared & I love this, but I will warn you, you're kids will turn up their noses and tell you it is disgusting. You might want to prepare some PB&J for them and enjoy their portions.

The recipe says it serves 13, but I'd say more like 10 if you are serving snack sized portions, and serves 5-6 if you are serving dinner sized servings. We had ours with almond crackers. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 box Uncle Ben's Seasoned Long Grain & Wild rice (not instant)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 red pepper diced

3 oz. snow peas ends removed

4 green onions chopped

3 chicken breasts cooked & diced

1 cup pecans toasted and chopped

2 avocados diced

red leaf lettuce for garnish -optional

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tbs dijon style mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

Cook the rice according to the package, but reduce water by 1/3 cup to prevent overcooking and the rice getting too mushy. Salad looks best with a firmer grain. Cool rice. Combine remaining ingredients except for the pecans and avocados. Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients in a blender and blending until emulsified. Pour over rice mixture and mix well. Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving add pecans and avocado. Serve on bed of red leaf lettuce.

What I did different:

- I'm not a fan of snow peas, so we didn't have them.

- I had already chopped my red & green pepper earlier in the week and they got all mixed together, so my recipe had both.

- I only used 2 large chicken breasts because that's what I had defrosted. It was plenty for us, but you might like more chicken.

- I also completely missed the part about adding 1/3 cup less water, so I didn't do it and it was fine. Probably not as firm, but still tasty.

18 months

Hadley had her 18 months check up today. We still can't hit 22 lbs. with this girl! Weight 21.4 oz, and 32 1/4 inches for height.

GNO Class

GNO Christmas Class

When: Friday, Dec. 3^rd 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
RSVP: Nov. 20 so I can order supplies.
Where: My House.

All projects $5!!! Are you doing your happy dance?!

Please no children. As always, feel free to invite any crafty lady you know!

To my local friends - Email me and I'll send you an message with the crafts!

Testerone before Trytophan

Jared's favorite time of year is coming up. It's the 6th Annual Highland Station Ward Turkey Bowl. He even created a blog about it. He wanted me to let my local friends know to tell your husbands. I will be participating in the the Fort Worth Turkey Trot, if anyone wants to join me. We are also looking for some girls that are available to babysit that morning (we will pay.) Post a comment on Jared's Turkey blog if your daughter is interested in some early morning babysitting.

What's for Dinner

This week's dinner:

T: Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage Lasagna & Green Beans Recipe Here.

image courtesy of Johnsonville.com

I make few changes to the recipe

- I use a 9 x 9 pan because I don't think there is enough sausage to do the larger one.

- I cook 9 whole grain noodles, but don't always use all of them. I tear them to fit in the pan.

- I make 3 -4 layers until I run out of room.

- I use Johnsonville Sweet Italian Sausage, remove casing and brown.

- I use about 3/4 large can of chunky tomato sauce or your favorite spaghetti sauce.

- I get one bag (2 cups) of shredded mixed cheese (mozzarella, etc) instead of using 2 cups of mozzarella & 1/2 cup parmesan.

- Use your chopper to finely chop your spinach. Super healthy and your kids won't even be able to taste it.

W: Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe Here.

Update on the recipe: **

I didn't have everything on hand, so here are my substitutions. I used two cans of chicken broth, plus 1/2 can of water instead of 6 1/2 cups called for in the recipe. I only used 1 1/2 cups of my favorite cooked rice (Lundberg Jubilee), and used cayenne pepper instead of curry powder. Since my rice takes 50 minutes to cook, I cooked the soup per instructions and then added the cooked rice at the end. It all tasted good, and was creamy.

image courtesy of Summer from the Crooked Curve

Summer T. made this for me about a month ago, and I've been wanting it ever since. Even though I'm stuffed full of lasagna, I can't wait for tomorrow night.

Th: Santa Rosa Valley Salad & almond crackers: This is my friend Brandy's recipe. It's typically more of an appetizer, but I've been craving it! Since the recipe is way o-v-e-r there, and I'm here settled into my jammies on the couch I'll post it later this week.

Free Online Photo Editing

Have you heard about Picnik? It's a free online photo editing program. (They do offer a paid service, but so far the basic features are working fine for me.) I found out about this site off someone's awesome blog, but I can't remember where. I'm sorry to not give you credit!

Now, it won't replace your favorite photographer, but it's perfect if you just want to give a little "oomph" to your personal photos.

Check out the difference in these two photos I took.

Before Picnik (above)

After Picnik (Aren't the H. boys so cute!!)

I increased the saturation, brought in the shadows, and cropped to size.

October Highlights

Hadley refuses to wear any shoes, except her crocs.

Adam from backseat: "Aghh! Who stole my lego man!?!"

Daddy from driver seat: "No one stole it."

Adam from backseat: "Then it's because of your crazy driving! Where is it?!"

pause...

"Oh, it's in my hand."

This week ends the school's anti-drug Red Ribbon Week. Adam came home beaming that he learned to "not drag drugs!"

Adam is getting excited about his school birthday where he gets to bring sugar cookies with orange pumpkin shaped frosting for his classmates. Plus, the extra treat of getting to dress up during the school day.

Hadley 17 months

Here is Hadley at 17 months old. My mom made this adorable outfit for Hadley. She's so crafty! I love the owls!

What's for Dinner

Black Beans & Rice with Cornbread

I know rice and beans sounds boring, but if you do it right it can be really good, super cheap & healthy. It's an easy meal if you plan ahead.

1 Bag of dried black beans

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 bag of Ludenberg Jubilee Gourmet Rice *(or your favorite)

1 box Krusteaz Honey Cornbread (or your favorite)

*I tried this rice on a whim last time, and it's my new favorite rice. It's pricey as far as rice goes, but it's so good that it's worth it. Plus when you think pricey rice paired with $1 for a whole bag of beans you still have a cheap dinner at about $1.25 per serving. Half a bag of rice serves 4 adult size portions. I got everything at Walmart.

Prep:

Night before:

- Sort beans and remove any non-bean items. Rinse dried beans in a colander. Put beans in a large bowl and fill completely with water, and then add some more. Your beans are going to suck all that water up during the night.

- Chop your onion, garlic, and bell pepper and put them in a container in the fridge. (You can just throw them all in the same container because they are going to get mixed together anyway)

Morning:

-Drain beans in a colander & rinse.

-Place beans in crock pot, completely cover with water. Add chopped onion, garlic, & bell pepper. Add salt & pepper to taste (you can add a lot it cooks out.) Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours.

An hour before dinner

- Cook rice per package directions. This bag has you boil water & rice, cover the pan & then simmer for 50 minutes. Just leave it alone, it does all the work!

- Make cornbread per package directions.

I've been thinking next time I might throw a whole bag of rice with a whole bag of beans in the crock pot. Has anyone tried that before? I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Sometimes we throw diced ham or sliced sausage into the beans while they are cooking. It's really good, just not as cheap.

October 2010

In the first weekend of October:

- Watched an 80 year old man use his teeth to remove a garter from my grandmother's leg. Welcome to family John, you sure make mamaw happy! I think we all are in for some laughs ahead.

- Is a little jealous of my cousin's fashion sense and secretly wanted to run off with these.

- Broke out the Halloween pillowcases, we are ready for fall!

- Got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Jared.

- Got to have a fun GNO craft night featuring our Halloween letters.

- Switched Hadley to the toddler bed attachment to her crib. We are all getting used to her being able to get in and out of bed by herself.

- Stayed up way too late (9:15 pm) telling this wild man stories in bed.

- Chef Jared strikes again with Conference day pancakes!

It's been a busy & entertaining weekend.

My new project

Wait to see what I make with these! It's going to be cute!

Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Thanks Jessica for the recipe!

Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin

2 Pork Tenderloins, 1 lb. each

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. apricot preserves
3 Tbsp. chicken broth (or veggie broth)
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves minced or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. fresh Thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Place pork on a shallow roasting pan (line with foil for easy clean up.)
Combine the oil, salt and pepper. Rub on the pork.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Spoon apricot sauce over the pork. Bake for 15 minutes longer, until no longer pink in the middle.

Here's all the ingredients you need:

What's for Dinner

Jared was a bit ambitious when he helped me with the shopping last week. I asked for tomatoes, and he came home with 12. Yes, 12. Not wanting to be wasteful I told him to figure out something that could use up all those tomatoes.

He came up with a tomato, garlic, bell pepper, onion & tomato sauce deliciousness. I'm not sure what he calls it, but it was good. Chef Jared strikes again. We used it to top over spaghetti noodles on Sunday, and we had a ton of the vegetable mixture left. I found this Jambalaya recipe that will use the rest of his creation for tonight's dinner.

This week we are also having:

Greek Salad (I still have the rest of those tomatoes to use up!)

Apricot Glazed Pork Tenderloin (I'll be making this for the first time tomorrow, but I've had it and it was amazing! Thanks Jess for the recipe! You can even find all the ingredients for this at Aldi's.)

Double Potato Soup (I use vegetable broth, if I can find it.)

We'll have a couple of simple nights with sandwiches, salad, & pasta in the mix.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

This post is for Jared's friends at work that were asking for it. I wish I had taken a picture, but once these were out of the oven we were more concerned with eating them than having a photo shoot. They are so good!

I got this recipe from my friend Colleen who makes all kinds of delicious things! Everyone needs a Colleen in their life to share their delicious recipes with you!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

3 1/2 c. flour

3 c. sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c. oil

3/4 c. water

2 cups of pumpkin (or one 15 oz. can)

4 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips (I use the whole bag - 2 cups)

1 cup walnuts (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry & mix together until combined.

Pour into greased containers. Fill pan 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees.

Cooking Times:

1 large loaf - 1 hour or more

3 medium loaves - 45 minutes or more

5 mini loaves - 35 minutes or more

muffins - 25 minutes or more

(It always takes longer than I think it should to cook through the middle, this is about when I start checking the loaves.)

Icing:

Powdered Sugar & milk & dash of lemon juice. Mix to a runny consistency & pour over top of cooked pumpkin bread. (I start with 4 parts sugar to 1 part milk, and then add more milk as needed. I'm not sure what the lemon juice does, sometimes I have it, sometimes I don't. It doesn't affect the taste.)

Adam's Halloween Bag

I finished up Adam's Halloween bag today. He wanted a skeleton that matched his pillowcase.

Good Deals

For my friends that have boys age 4-8 years. Walmart on Beach & N. Tarrant has clearanced out their swimsuits to $3. If you swim as much as we do, it might be worth picking up some for next year!

Halloween Trick or Treat Bags

Here's Hadley's Trick or Treat bag. I got the idea from the Livin' Life Patino Style blog. I don't know her, but I stalk her blog! I am totally impressed by her fun projects!

This was really easy to make. You can get the bags from any craft store. Use double sided fusible webbing on the back of the fabrics, and sew around the letter and the circle. I traced a dinner plate to get the circle. I have some cutesy ribbon for the handles, but Hadley keeps untying them. I'll just wait until the big day to put them back on.

Halloween Pillowcases

Jared told me that his mom always had Christmas sheets & pillowcases that they would get to use during the month of December. He told me how excited he would get as a kid because he would know that Christmas was coming soon.

Adam's birthday is the day before Halloween. We love the fall, the cooler weather, the pumpkins, and the colors of the changing leaves. October is my favorite month for all of these reasons.

I thought it would be fun to make Halloween pillowcases for us to use during the month of October. My mom treated me to a fabric spree, and I whipped these up. They were super easy & fast.

(Measurements for a standard pillowcase is 20" x 26")

- Cut 2 pieces of fabric 22" x 33" (This should allow for some shrinkage after washing the finished pillowcase.)

- The short open sides are folded over 1/4" and ironed under. Then fold the same side over 3 1/2" and ironed in place. Sew seam in place. Do this for both pieces.

- Place right sides together. Sew a 1/2" seam allowance around the three "closed" sides.

- Turn the pillowcase right side out and you are done!

FABRIC: If your fabric is directional, you'll need more fabric. I used 1 & 1/2 yards for Adam's skeleton one. If your fabric is non-directional, you can get away with less because you can fold it the other direction (meaning the pattern won't be upside down on the back side of the pillowcase.)

Although I'm making the kids trick or treat bags, these would be great to use on Halloween night to collect candy.

It's a miracle!

I had my two week post surgery visit with my oncologist today.

We got great news! At this time, I don't require any additional treatment. That's right. No chemo, no radiation. I believe it's a miracle!

He said a lot of doctor speak that Jared could probably recite verbatim, but essentially removing the tumor was enough. My oncologist said that at this time, based on what he can see & the pathology reports that going through radiation would do more harm than good.

Our next step is observation. I'll meet with him again at the end of September, and then follow up with a visit every few months just to watch and see how things are going. If cancer springs up again, then we can address chemo/radiation as a treatment option down the road. As far as today, I don't need it!

For now I just keep recovering from surgery and enjoying my family!

A week after surgery

Well it's been a week.

I spent 2 days in the hospital and have been able to continue recuperating at home. Jared stayed home a couple of days taking care of my every whim as well as helping me walk/hobble around. I meet with the oncologist next Wednesday and we should have a better idea of treatment for round 2. I will have 4-8 weeks of recovery before having to do chemo & radiation.

Overall, I'm doing well for someone who just had surgery 7 days ago. I do get tired easily, and need several naps during the day. There have been several occasions recently where I have just fallen asleep while I was sitting on the couch. Other than that I've gotten my appetite back, I can walk around for short distances, and have my post-operative pain under control. I still have pain, but it's very manageable, especially with medicine.

My mom was here the last couple of days until we both realized that recovery and young kids don't mix. As much as Adam loves his legos, there are only so many hours he can stay in his room playing with them. I know he's bored out of his mind since we can't go anywhere and there is no way I can sit on the floor and play with him for hours. He's been very understanding & gentle with me. He's been very careful not to be rough or jump on me. But being cooped up inside at home is wearing on him as well, as he has increased his tantrums.

Hadley on the other hand does not understand how to be gentle with me. Her favorite things are to climb on the couch, then onto me and bounce, bounce, bounce, hop off and climb back on again. Then she will fetch her toys and THROW them onto my head just as I'm dozing off on the couch. She does this repeatedly with great joy.

My mom offered this morning to take the kids back to her house for a couple of days. As much as I want to have them around, I am physically not up being mom. At Grandma Cherrie's they can have a lot more fun, and I can get a lot more rest. I figured I'd better take her up on it. On Monday Adam starts kindergarten and we will be more on a schedule.

So I'm doing pretty good, trying to take it easy.

I love this man!

Image courtesy of Jenna Marie Studios

I love this man! He has been great at taking care of me this week. I've been laid up and he has been at my service. He had to work on Wednesday, but before work he stopped by and brought me blueberry muffins and a bouquet of flowers. He came and spent the evenings with me and got me everything I needed and tried to make me as comfortable as possible. Even when that involved, move my pillow, scratch my back, walk with me down the hall, listen to me complain, get me medicine, and then do it all over again. I love you Jared, I'd be a total mess without you!

Amnesia & The Big Cookie

On my last evening in the hospital my dad brought me a big cookie. I thanked him, but I was curious about why he brought it. He told me I had asked for it. After surgery, when I was coming out of anesthesia, my dad asked if he could do anything for me. Apparently, in all my loopiness, I asked him to bring me a big cookie. I don't remember this at all.

Friday, August 13, 2010

I was released from the hospital about 10:30 am on Thursday. I have never been so glad to leave a place.

I'm still hurting, and my body is working hard on re-learning the basics. At home is better though. I can get more comfortable, and control my own pain management much better.

I'm definitely shuffling around here, but I know things will get easier and easier. It's still hard now, but we are just taking one day at time.

Rough Night - Aug 12, 2010

This has been a rough night. I don't think I've ever been in this much pain in my entire life. I'm hurting in a bad way.

Earlier in the day the nurse wanted to phase me out of my morphine drip, and started giving me a pill instead. Which I was fine with. The pill took the edge off for about 3 hours, but I start hurting the last hour I have to wait to get a new pill. It never took my pain completely away.

I wasn't due a pill until 10:30 pm last night. So I waited up to get it so I could go to sleep. After falling asleep, I was woken up at 11:30 pm to have my vitals checked, and to remove the tape over my incision (seriously could this not wait until morning?) At 1 am I was checked on again. At 2 am I woke up in a lot of pain, and had to wait until 2:30 am for my pain pill.

This time the pill just didn't seem to work or even take the edge off. The pain got more and more severe. My entire body ached down to my kneecaps. Luckily from the kneecaps down I'm 100 percent. I've got a terrible headache and backache. I've got a sore throat and I feel like someone has punched me in the sides of my jaw. I could not find a comfortable position in bed, so I started slowly walking the halls. It helped knock down my pain level one point, but I was still in quite a bit of pain.

I got the feeling the night nurses don't like patients to just go wandering the halls. I felt a little bit like a child that gets up in the night and is sent back to bed. Finally, at 3:45 am the nurse gave me a shot of morphine in my IV port which is finally helping dull the pain. I still hurt, but it's not as severe.

I finally fell asleep to be woken up at 5 am for blood to be drawn. I fell asleep again, to be woken up at 6:20 am to remove my catheter. I fell asleep again, only to be woken up at 7:15 am to choose what I wanted for lunch and dinner. What do I want for lunch and dinner, how about a nap? This is getting ridiculous.

I'm hoping I still get to come home today and sleep in my own bed without someone waking me up hour of the nigth. I hope my night time pain won't delay me going home. I think I'll do better without all the interruptions and hoses stuck to me.

Hospital Humor

The hospital's policy is for the medical staff to repeatedly verify your full name, birthdate, and reason for hospital stay.

I decided to tell George, my male nurse that I was here for a boob job.

He replied, as professionally as possible, "Let's pump those puppies up."

Then he followed that his wife had a hysterectomy at 30, and she loves it. Apparently she calls this surgery "getting your period taken out."

8-11-10

After I had my blood drawn at 4:30 am, I decided it was as good a time as any to try walking around. I originally thought I'd walk down the hallway (with a nurse's help of course.) Once I got up, I immediately changed my mind to walking to the wall in my room & back. Ten minutes later I'm back in bed. It was ridiculously slow, shuffling, baby steps, but it's good to know that first walk after surgery is done!

one more thing....

Jared included a picture in his last post. Obviously, that is not me!

That's the special gown I wore before & during surgery. The gown is made of 2 layers. The outer lay is paper, and the inner layer is a lightweight heating pad. The nurses hooked up a hose to it and constantly flowed warm air to keep me warm. It was really nice!

The Hoo-hah Report August 11, 2010

We arrived at the hospital at 6 am, and I was very nervous.

Things moved quickly prior to surgery. I remember meeting the anesthesiologist, but I don't remember him giving me medicine, and I remember being on the operating table after being moved from my bed. Someone made a comment, in the operating room, that it's a skinny bed, but then I was out. It's kind of an odd feeling to know that several hours are just missing from my memory! The nurses have been great, and I'm in good hands.

I'm very sore, but in good spirits. I haven't eaten much, as eating anything makes me nauseous. The nurses gave me 2 doses of zofram, and when that only worked for about an hour, they gave me phenergan (spelling?) in my IV. That let me fall asleep and is much better about controlling my nausea. I have been able to eat a couple of crackers and keep that down, so hopefully I'm on the upside of being able to eat. Luckily, I have not been starving, so it's really not too bad.

The surgery went well. The oncologist left my ovaries at my request (as they weren't affected by cancer). It may not matter because if I do radiation, they won't work after that. However, at least for today, I didn't have to go through menopause at 31.

I got some good rest yesterday, and after being asleep for a solid 4 hours, I'm awake at 2 am. I'm on the 4th floor and have a beautiful view of the trees and all across the city of Grapevine.

Jared has been wonderfully supportive of me. As soon as he could, he came and held my hand. I've got to say, I'm in love with that man!

I should be going home on Thursday night, and my mom is bringing the kids back to me on Friday. Jared will be with me on both of those days. Next week my mom is planning on helping take care of me & the kids while Jared is at work.

I am taking calls on my cell phone, but if I am planning on resting I am turning the ringer off.

Gwen is out of surgery

Gwen went into the operating room at 7:49 a.m. and at 10:00 a.m. Dr. Messing came into the Surgery Waiting Room at Baylor Grapevine to tell us that he was done with the operation and that Gwen was in the recovery room. He told us they removed everything they needed to and that he needed to the final pathology report to determine Gwen's next course of treatment. He seemed relatively positive. Gwen was a trooper this morning. She did not enjoy the poking and proding and wearing the ugly hospital gown, but she went in bravely. She is still i recovery at the moment. She will probably get to her room at about 11:30 a.m. I have her cell phone if you want to call and get an update. Thank you for your prayers.

Wow!

We are so blessed! This week, our friends and family have helped us in so many ways!

My friend Jennifer called and told me that her bible study group had picked up a few snack type things for our kids. When she dropped them off, it blew me away because they had filled two laundry baskets! There are tons of snacks & easy meals for the kids. Some of the sweet ladies I knew, and some I didn't. I appreciate their thoughtfulness, especially from the ones I don't know.

My mom has been awesome! She is taking the kids the entire week while I'm in the hospital. I know she'd probably much rather be with me at the hospital, but she knows where I need her is to help with the kids so that they have a consistent, familiar place to be. She never complains, and anticipates my needs of help before I even know to ask for it.

My parents took Adam shopping for new school clothes this weekend. As always, they were so generous in getting him way more than what we absolutely needed. He came home with two pairs of shoes instead of just one, some new jeans, new clothes for church, and lots of shirts to start off his school year! He even got an invitation to stay at Papaw's house for the night and go swimming. He's a lucky little boy!

My friend Natassia gave my toes the sparkly treatment on Saturday! Even though I have a hospital stay in my future I can look down and think, "the rest of me might be a mess, but my toes sure look pretty!"

And of course I can't forget Jenna with our awesome family pictures or Summer for all her help with watching my kids in the last couple of weeks.

I don't know where we would be without all of you. We are so grateful for all that we have. You have made this all a much easier situation. (If you have listened to me whine at all in the last few weeks -- I mean you too!)