THURSDAY'S THANKFUL TEN

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all did not eat "too" much but I definitely know I gobbled til I wobbled ~ without a doubt.

Thursday's Ten this week (finally I haven't done one in awhile) is:

Thursday's Thankful Ten

1. First and foremost I am thankful for my family. MY family made up of me and my six boys in the house (husbands, three boys and two boy dogs that I am unsure about on most days!). Yes I am outnumbered but I wouldn't have it any other way! I get to be the Alpha Female!! lol I also love my big, huge, sarcastic yet hilarious, perverted, bullheaded, loud, outgoing, playful, out-spoken, supportive, helpful, full of good cooks ~ beautiful family including my parents, Grandma, brothers, sister, their spouses, 3 nieces, 5 nephews, 2 new foster nephews, aunts, uncles and countless cousins! No we aren't the Ingalls or the Waltons but we love each other regardless. Some are easier to love than others (me~lol) and yes there are many times when we disagree but we still love each other and have a good time when we are together. Well at least I know I do!!
2. I am thankful for a forgiving God because he knows I am not perfect and he loves me just the same.
3. I am thankful the election is finally over and that is all I will say about that!
4. I am thankful I am raising my kids in a time when their race is far more accepted than days past.
5. I am thankful for my husband who knows me in and out with all (I mean one or two!) my flaws and loves me for who I really am! He changed my life for the better and I am truly thankful for each and every day we get to make each other smile. We are too funny! lol
6. I am thankful Benjamin Franklin did not succeed in making the Wild Turkey the National bird b/c then I know I would not be able to eat turkey and I love turkey OH SO much!!
7. I am thankful for my friends. My true friends! The ones who laugh at my jokes, respect my honest opinion even when they don't want to hear it, listen to my problems even when they are in a crisis and my problem may be tiny at the time but they care enough to listen, understand the concept of GIVE AND TAKE, give me an honest opinion even when I don't want it, love and respect me and my relationship with my husband and the ones who know me probably WAY too well but stick around for the long haul anyway!!
8. I am thankful for my children that the doctors said I would never have! Guess all that schooling doesn't make you an expert!!
9. I am thankful for pecan pie, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, chocolate layer dessert, Kristin making some sinfully delish oatmeal/pnut butter/chocolate chip cookies, rolls, pasta salad, the inventor of Snickers salad and last but not least Turkey and the tryptophan it supplies to put me fast asleep when I am done with this list!
10. Last but not least I am thankful my three year old is finally asleep and I can crash for a few hours before BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING ON MY BIRTHDAY!

I MISS MY GRANDPA!

Today is the 5th anniversary of the day my Grandpa died, Nov. 26, 2003, and I have been thinking about him a lot lately and miss him terribly. I remember that day like yesterday. I remember talking to Grandpa as they were leaving Missouri to come here for Thanksgiving. I remember the last thing I ever said to him was, "I love you drive safely!" and he said, "I love you too baby girl! Can't wait to see you!"

A little while later I also took the call with my Grandma frantically on the other end, crying while repeating "Grandpa is gone! Grandpa is gone! Oh sweet baby girl we need help! Grandpa is gone!"

Confused I kept saying, "Well where could he possibly have gone I thought you two were on your way here! What do you mean he is gone? Are you OK?"

"He's gone baby girl! He's gone Angie!" was all she could say while crying hysterically.

"Grandma you aren't making much sense. Did he not tell you where he was going? I'll just call his cell phone, he'll answer!" I don't know if I was just that clueless or just couldn't accept the fact that deep down I knew what she meant.

"He's dead baby girl! I NEED HELP!" At this point I lost it and a lot of the next hour is pretty much a blur. I remember calling my Dad to the office phone immediately, crying and praying she was wrong. I barely remember the calls I made or helping to make arrangements so my Grandma could get picked up somewhere in Vinita. My Grandma had noticed Papa acting a little strange then he made a noise and the car veered into oncoming traffic. Grandma was able to climb over, steer the car off the road and get to the brakes before the car crashed into other holiday travelers. He died while driving which is when he was the happiest. I miss him so! I was very close to my Grandparents well I am still close to my Grandmother! I had a good childhood but I was sort of "left behind" and a very small shadow to my sister's existence once our brothers were gone. My Grandparents took over spoiling me where my parents left off and I was the baby girl they never had or so they would always tell me since they had FIVE boys. Our love went BOTH ways!! I cherished them for showing me unconditional love, for telling me I was beautiful when I felt so ugly next to my sister and for telling me I wasn't fat and giving me some more homemade cake. I still laugh when I think about my summer vacations to their house. I remember picking blackberries by the old railroad tracks and being pampered because the chiggers ate me alive and left my feet so swollen that I couldn't even wear shoes. We would play board games, card games, do crossword puzzles and watch Wheel of Fortune then crawl into bed with them in the wee hours of the morning. I would help out with the animals and ride around with Grandpa on his golf cart just waiting for my next chance to drive!! I called them just to talk and let them know I would never forget. I remember the day I had Elijah they made a special trip that morning so they could be here for his birth. That meant more to me than they will ever know. I remember them trying to convince us to have an impromptu wedding the weekend my sister and cousin got married and my Grandpa offering to pay for it all if we did, but alas we wanted our OWN moment. I will never forget the moments Elijah shared with him. Apparently my Grandpa had a little racism left in him from his era BUT I NEVER KNEW THIS ABOUT HIM UNTIL AFTER HE DIED when my Grandma told me how much he loved Elijah and he said, "Elijah James (named after my Grandpa) is a very special little boy. HE taught me what TRUE unconditional love really means! He is indeed a very special little boy!" My Grandpa had used a cane since I was little and Elijah like many other kids was scared to death of it. In fact he was so scared that we could use it as a baby gate!! We would put the cane down in a doorway we didn't want him to pass and he would NOT go over that cane! My Grandpa thought it was funny but at the same time he felt bad so he made Elijah his very own cane. He took one of his canes, shortened it and they were buddies. Elijah used that cane forever and even now if him or Isaiah get hurt they pull out the cane to help them walk. Incidentally Moose tried to eat the cane and my sentimental self wanted to beat him with it, but of course, his stupid, stubborn, always chewing something self did not have a clue and looked at me as if to say, "What did I do?" The last pictures taken of Grandpa are from our wedding. I am so happy he was alive for my wedding but sad each time I look at the pictures and remember that was the last time I ever saw him. I have probably never looked better than I did that day and that was the last day I saw him! It is weird to me that only 5 years later on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving just 2 days before my birthday that the Nov. 26th again lands on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I will never forget that day. I will never forget that we left the day before the funeral, later than everyone because we had to wait on their van to be fixed to drive it back to Missouri. Yes that is right I had to ride in the car that my Grandpa had died in days before and I was an emotional wreck the entire drive. I will never forget the feeling as I opened the side door to put my bags in the van and there sat his cane collection never to be needed again! I know you all have heard the song "I Can Only Imagine" and I cannot listen to that without crying because I just imagine Grandpa dancing around WITHOUT HIS CANE and forever being free of the "weak" stigma HE thought the cane brought. It is hard for me to talk about him without getting upset and others aren't necessarily like that about him b/c he wasn't the best at showing emotions and letting people he loved know how much he loved. I say to each his own ~ I loved him and I let him know just like he did for me and I will always cherish our relationship!! Sadly I have no digital pics of Grandpa and the scanner is screwed up so I decided to I will share a few of scrapbook pages I have of him later this evening. I think the thing that speaks so much of him is that Elijah remembers him. Elijah was only 22months old when his Great Grandpa James Bryan or as Elijah said "Papa Cane" went to Heaven but he KNEW him, he LOVED him and still talks about him or asks me to tell him stories from "Papa Cane's" younger days and I am always HAPPY to oblige. Elijah was glad that Papa was already in Heaven so Daisy would have someone to love, cuddle and play with her. We miss you Grandpa and we will NEVER forget!! Love your baby girl!

UNBELIEVABLE RECOVERY

After hearing MANY horror stories along with very firm instructions and warning signs from the doctors and nurses, I totally expected a week of agony for Isaiah and prayed so hard that he would drink enough to stay hydrated. Answer to prayers, soldier boy or freak of nature are just some of the many thoughts I have had since Zaya's surgery!! The kid came home and although I thought he would be sleeping off anesthesia for hours, he had different plans. The boy ate applesauce, 2 popsicles and drank 2 sippy cups of white grape juice WHILE playing with cars, chatting on the phone and flipping out because I wouldn't let him go outside to play. I then believed the pain medication I gave him had an adverse affect b/c he was so freaking hyper and NOTHING like the hospital staff said he would be. They called in a different medication to use that evening and just said to keep him calm and not running around. RIGHT? Hey let's hop the boy up on steroids which make him super hungry, hyper and irritable THEN give him some pain meds that INCREASE the hyperactivity and you expect me to keep him calm! OK! Then fill him with juice, pudding, jello, popsicles, applesauce, slushies and ice cream for a little extra kick!! I think the withdrawal from sugary soft foods may be the worst we get. Don't get me wrong I am esctatic that his post-op status is amazing but I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop since I have heard some awful stories. I just keep saying well now that he can actually breath and he doesn't have rotten food in his throat he probably feels so much better than the pain is almost worth it! The worst part right now is just chasing him and listening to him scream while I put in the ear drops other than that you wouldn't believe he had surgery two days ago if you saw him. The first day he ate 5 popsicles, jello, apple sauce, bunch of juice, 2 slices of cheese pizza (w/o the crust) and a cupcake. Unbelievable I know! We actually even let him go to the end-of-the-year football party the night of his surgery since he was just his normal self and had asked ALL day if he could go to the "football birthday party". I told him he could go BUT if he ran AT ALL or jumped AT ALL he had to go home with Mommy. As we were walking into the party he was walking REALLY slow with his arms stretched out to the sides as if walking on a balance beam. When I said, "Hurry up baby it is cold!", he responded with, "No Momma I can't go fast or you will make me miss the football birthday party!" Him eating pizza at the party was "ify" for me but the doctors said he could have pizza as long as it was soft. I was very scared I would regret that decision into the wee morning hours if he woke up in pain. I was told MANY times to make sure I gave him his pain medicine AROUND THE CLOCK and to even set an alarm to WAKE HIM UP and give him medicine. Ok the plan was to wake up at 3am and give him a dose that would last until 8am.......yep you guessed it I did NOT wake up at 3am. I woke up at 5am scared to death to wake him up for fear he would be in pain. Luckily unlike Elijah, Isaiah is not to hard to wake up. I woke him up and said I need to give you some medicine baby. In his sweet sleepy gruff surgery voice he says, "Otay Momma!", took his medicine then laid back down. I starred in awe at my sweet sleepy little boy when he lifted his head and grumbled, "tan I *garble garble grunt garble* for my birdday?" then laid down. Unsure of what in the world he said, I simply replied yes and while walking out of the room in love with this sweet baby of my mine he sits up and says, "Momma I wuv you buncha bunches! See you in da morninG!" Wake up to morning two.....throat a little sore but I believe it was from sleeping and not drinking for several hours. He was hungry but didn't want anything I gave him so I just told him to keep drinking until he felt better. I wondered if this was the beginning of his little surgery downfall.....NOPE I cleaned all morning while he watched cartoons and played with his cars then after his nap he ate. Yesterday he ate ice cream, jello, a little applesauce, about 5 popsicles and 2 bowls of macaroni and cheese. I think the worst part is going to be getting him back onto a regular diet because he is totally in love with the whole "popsicle as a meal" idea!! They say days five through seven are actually the worst b/c the scab will fall off and the throat will basically be raw but I have high hopes for our little soldier boy that he will continue his march in recovery!

EAGLE DAY??

Did you know Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the Wild Turkey the National bird feeling it was more respectable than the Bald Eagle? Just made me think......smell the smoke! If the Turkey was the National bird, then obviously we wouldn't be allowed to eat it. If this were the case would Thanksgiving which is often nicknamed Turkey day then become Eagle Day, Cow Day, Duck Day or Chicken Day. One of those things that make you go hmm......but turkey makes me go mmmmm....good!!

SOLDIER BOY

Got to bed a little before 2am then laid there panicking that I wouldn't wake up to the 5:30am alarm clock so I have no clue what time I actually fell asleep but I know I woke up on time and didn't sleep long. Isaiah was already awake when I went in to get him and he is just a riot. I cut his hair last night and upon going potty and getting ready to leave he says abruptly, "What did you do to the back of my hair?" My response was, "I cut it like the rest of your hair!" "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR???" Honestly it looks just like the other 50 times I've cut his hair so I am unsure of the problem. I asked if he wanted me to fix his hair before we left and the little squirt said, "Yes Mommy I can't go like this I need my hair fixed!" Funny that this morning of all mornings he wanted his hair fixed when he gripes every morning that I fix it. I think it may have been a stall tactic!! Upon arrival at the hospital he whined, "I've awweady been here before! I want to go home now!" I found it odd that he remembered this hospital since he was only there once for his first ear tube/adenoid removal 18 months before.

He was calm, timid, whiny and grouchy but for the most part very good ~ no end of the world fits before surgery!! He kept kissing Little Bill and telling him everything will be "otay"! They had given him his "happy juice" when he then began the drug induced happy phase and started to beat himself in the head with Little Bill.

They took him back promptly at 8:15am. The crocodile tears rolled down his sweet little cheeks as they took him away. I tried to reassure him everything would be ok and he could have a popsicle when he was done but I just wanted to cry and hug him tight! That is the worst feeling ~ handing them over for the unexpected and knowing it will cause them pain! We went to eat breakfast in the new cafeteria. During his first surgery we ate breakfast here before they even had the cafeteria and they had GREAT food and amazing cinnamon rolls. Cafeteria built ~ food quality down! The cook was talking about how amazing her pancakes were and how they tasted just like heaven. Not sure how heaven "tastes" but I am a bona fide pancake lover so I got one! This pancake was no one near mine and now I KNOW mine taste like heaven or pretty darn close!! First of all I had grabbed the plastic silverware and the knife would NOT cut through my PANCAKE! HMMM......I then went to get real silverware and still found it hard to cut through. The actual taste of the pancake was not bad after sawing off a bite BUT the bottom of the pancake was so hard I had to pray I wouldn't chip my teeth!! Not kidding! The syrup was not good either! I took some extra stuff out to the car then we went to the waiting room where we only waited about 10 mins when Dr. Cutie-pants-love-him-for-his-patience-and-fixing-our-baby-boy walked in. I said, "wow speedy gonzalez you are right on the nose with that 45 min surgery!!"

Here is the news we got:

• surgery went great
• he was sleeping in recovery
• his adenoids were gone but his tonsils were huge and pushing into all kinds of other areas? (didn't ask!)
• His tonsils were really big and nasty with gunk stuck into little crevices
• He actually had pockets of ROTTEN FOOD embedded in his tonsils, This could explain the horrid breath of a small forest creature devouring spoiled food! Yes I gagged in disbelief at this news! I did NOT know this was even possible and that is beyond disgusting!!!
• He replaced the tubes but had to recreate another hole in the right ear because he had a large hole in the ear drum that had to be patched.
• They will be watching this hole/patch to make sure it heals properly b/c it may need more repairing when he is older!
• He wants to retest his hearing once the patch has been on for a few weeks

Back to recovery for our angry groggy little bear to flip out until he truly awakens!! Not a happy camper! He does not like the hospital!! He only wants an orange popsicle and all they have is blue! He does not like their apple juice ~ explaining it is nasty! (Good thing I brought along our own!) Totally despised the IV in the hand and would NOT calm down until it was out! Flipped out because he did not like the band aid they placed on his hand upon removing the IV! His mouth hurt, he wanted his tonsils back and he wanted to go HOME! He wanted to wear his own pjs and not their gown! He wanted to wear his OWN socks instead of the slipper socks they gave him!

The humorous side of the recovery room was this: Isaiah had taken his "Little Bill" doll into surgery with him. You know Little Bill (Cosby) the cartoon character who wears the same shirt daily with a giant B on it. The Doctor says, "Oh look a little Barack Obama doll!" The nurses responded while laughing, "No Doc I think that is Little Bill!" Seriously a Barack Obama doll?! That would be weird!

We got back home at 10:45am. They had said to try to give him anything soft that he might actually eat then give him his pain medicine around noon. They also explained that the majority of kids WON'T eat a thing but he absolutely has to stay hydrated so as long as he is drinking he will be fine. So the plan was to come home, attempt to feed the boy, give him the pain meds and then take a forever long nap with him!

Plan not working out so well for me! It is now 1:15pm and the only sleep he has done since waking up from surgery is about 10 minutes during the car ride home. He came home ate a snack pack of applesauce and an orange popsicle. He then watched cartoons with Daddy until he could take the medicine at 12pm. I gave him the medicine at 11:50pm and little soldier boy is now talking on the phone to Chai while playing with cars and he just finished his purple popsicle!! He is now crying b/c he just RAN in here to get his shoes so he can go outside which is not allowed right now! Calgon take me away! I pray the rest of his recovery is this easy but I've heard the first day is the easiest and around the fifth day is the worst!! You will hear about it if he coughs up some big 'ol nasty smelling scab ~ trust me! *gagging....* Dear Lord make his recovery a speedy and pain free one.....pretty pretty please!

NOT ME! MONDAY

Time again for Not me! Monday and I have been away from blogger for a couple of weeks so here I am world take me as I am or am NOT!!

So just a few moments ago I certainly did NOT almost pee my pants when I noticed MckMama had already posted her Not me! Monday post and I actually have a chance to be in the top ten!! Holy crap! Yes for those of you who didn't know this God made crap! MckNugget just likes to play with it or even search for it I guess! Sorry just had to add that! Right there with you MckMama ~ Zay most certainly did NOT pull down his pants once and just poop in his closet!! Seriously though I definitely did NOT ever think I would even have a chance for the top 50 so this is huge or NOT huge for those of you who don't really care!!

I did NOT go to the doctor and secretly wish I had the ability to hack up a big loogie and spit on him when he said, "Wow you definitely got something going on in your nose it is disgusting!" as he shoved instruments in my mouth, up my nose and in my ear. Definitely NOT b/c that would be disgusting! Isn't that the entire reason I went to the doctor b/c my nose was disgusting ~ I did NOT need him to tell me that ~ just fix it!

I did NOT cut Zay's hair tonight and cut my finger open b/c I am a pro, right! I then did NOT laugh hysterically as my son cried in despair thinking I had cut his ear off after my countless warnings to sit still and the sight of blood running down his ear and my hand. Nope b/c that would NOT be sympathetic to his 3yr old fears!

I have NOT been driving around in my still shoe polished car three weeks after my son's football championship game. Nope NOT me! I love to wash my car! NOT!

I was NOT deleting old text messages from my phone when I did NOT laugh out loud literally reading a text that said, "When Elijah plays for the Dallas Cowboys are you gonna shoe polish your car?" I did laugh at the response I currently thought of ~ "NO I will have hired help to shoe polish the car and my driver hired by my son can wash it off himself three weeks later!!" I will admit I still do NOT have a clue about football other than I love to watch him play and if HE wants to pursue it as a career in the NFL I will NOT turn down gifts like large homes and cars with drivers!!

I did NOT want to yell out "Are you kidding me??!" when the doctors decided Zay's surgery couldn't wait until Dec 9th because his throat is closing faster than originally thought but told me to watch him while sleeping over the next WEEK!! Sleep ~ what's that!! I'll never sleep now until the surgery is over tomorrow!! I will NOT! His throat is closing faster but hey let's still wait a week! Let's NOT and just say we did!!

I am definitely NOT in any way shape or form awake AND blogging at 1:19am to be in the top ten or even twenty when I have to be up at 5:30am to have my son to the hospital and I am NOT about to go check on him for the 50th time in the past 4 hours! NOT neurotic at all I tell you!!

MADDOX GETS HIS WINGS

I have been meaning to update on Maddox but it has been crazy then I just couldn't do it. The original update was amazing news about how all his levels were good, the heart was basically fixing all the problems on its own, he would be home soon and Tammi would be induced to have their 2nd child (a little girl) on Dec. 18th. This update didn't happen and on Friday Nov. 21st Maddox went home to be with his Heavenly Father who will make his heart whole and mend all his ailments. What an amazing boy! I can't even think of him now without crying because I truly believed he is the biggest miracle I have ever witnessed in my life and it makes me so sad to think about not hearing about another one of his miracles. I just shake my head everytime I even think about everything this boy went through and the amazing transformations that happened over and over that baffled his doctors who could only say "it was yet another miracle because this just doesn't happen!" This boy won a very special place in my heart when Tammi was 6mos pregnant and given no hope. I searched the internet for a doctor who could help Maddox until she was strong enough to believe she could handle it. This loss is devastating and in the beginning she always said she wasn't sure if once she wanted to have him for the fear of having to let him go. I have no clue the pain she is in now but I honestly believe she will never regret for a second all she endured for her baby boy even though in the end he wasn't hers to keep!

I have been thinking about this blog all weekend but everytime (including now) I even think about it I just cry!

I cry because of all the pain this baby endured and still came out of every situation with a miracle and a smile!

I cry at the pain these young parents are experiencing in real life when just the mere thought of losing a child crushes all other thoughts spinning in my head and just makes me cry...just the mere thought!

I cry for all the missed hopes and dreams everyone had for our little miracle boy!

I cry at the thought of a funeral with a casket so small with a boy larger than life and his family just starring at the lost love of their life ~ the baby they fought to save before he was even born then fought the entire 21 months he lived! They are young parents but they matured quickly and the love they had for Maddox and the lengths they went to to get him what he needed was awe inspiring to say the least!

I cry because I know he will be whole now! Surgery free! Pain free! Free to be his ornery funny little smiley self!

I cry b/c I will miss my daily updates and camera phone pics of a boy with tubes, gowns, scars, machines and STILL A SMILE!

I cry because just two days before little Maddox went to be with Jesus his parents were told he was doing great, the new heart was fixing all the problems on its own and he would be HOME before Christmas! His family was so excited to have both babies home for Christmas!

I got the call @ 5:22pm Friday from Brandi and I still do not know what happened but don't want to ask anymore questions than necessary while they are grieving. The funeral is Tuesday in Wagoner and I am unsure if I will be able to attend b/c of Zay's surgery and recovery but please please please pray for Maddox's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and true fans (like ME!)

You've definitely earned your wings baby boy! We love you! Watch over your family, your new little sister and bring them peace - may they always feel your presence and remember your love of life no matter what it brought your way!

These are some of my favorite pics of Maddox

DISGUSTING HUH!

Friday I finally decided to go to the doctor after not being able to breathe through my nose for at least two weeks if not more. I mainly went b/c I was starting to cough and didn't want to not be able to go to the recovery room after Zay's surgery on Monday b/c I had some nastiness going on! So he asks what is wrong and I reply with, "Well I haven't been able to breath through my nose for at least two weeks. I am sneezing constantly. My ears popped and now everything sounds muffled. I started coughing about two days ago but I don't feel it is in my chest but rather just a really bad tickle or something stuck in my throat. My jaw, eyes and cheeks hurt and my head is almost to the point of exploding. Other than that I am fine thanks!!" He then looks in my ears with a deep MMM..HMM! Then he looks in my nose and really says, "Wow you definitely have something going on here and it's DISGUSTING!" Thanks Doc! He then looks in my throat and says, "I found the tickle in your throat. It is snot running down from your nose!" I thought hearing that would make me gag but I was just baffled by his brutal honesty and had to laugh as Isaiah repeated everything he said!!! He then said, "Well I am putting you on steroids which should make you feel better almost immediately but keep taking them. I am also putting you on some serious antibiotics that will probably give you diarrhea!" My response to him was a shocking, "No biggie to me I have IBS aka diarrhea EVERYDAY in fact about two minutes after I take my last bite of each meal I am already on my way to the bathroom especially if I drink milk! I really don't know why I am fat because nothing stays in my body too long!" How is that for blunt! As for the steroids and the so called immediate relief--bunch of crap all they are doing is making me sweat!! After three days of steroids, antiobiotics, nose spray, warm compressing and facial massaging, I am no better off than I was Friday just $37.65 poorer!! Thanks Doc! They really called this morning to see if I was any better......"NOPE! I stopped coughing but I still can't breath and my head could easily explode at any moment!!" "OK well go ahead and add a decongestant! We will be in the office tomorrow if you need to come back in!" Great so now I can add dry mouth to the list of ailments!!

HIGH HOPES FOR THE BABY BOY

So Wed the 12th Isaiah had to go in for his 6mo ENT checkup and we came out with way more than expected! He officially has "birdies" in his ears which is a playful way for the Doc to get the kids attention and not be scared complete with birdie sound affects but now Isaiah thinks that there are birdies in his ears. I guess that is better than the before believed bugs which he now says are dead. One of Zay's tubes had fallen out however the other remained. I took this opportunity to discuss Zay's breathing/allergy issues with the cutie patootie young Doctor boy. I talked to him about ALWAYS being "stopped up" and a "snot factory" to put it nicely. I told him how he has been on several meds over the last six months that only seem to work about 7 to 10 days then I might as well give him a syringe of water b/c the med becomes that ineffective. I REALLY WISH HE COULD BE ALLERGY MEDICATION FREE but so far that has not been the case. He was med free for about nine months but the past six months he hasn't been so lucky! I told him about the snoring, his awkward sleeping positions, unpredictable sleeping patterns and the horrid breath of a small forest creature devouring spoiled food. Seriously his breath is bad and that was supposedly going to be remedied by the removal of the adenoids. I also told him about his pediatrician telling me he needs his adenoids removed when I informed her they were done about 18mos prior. I also brought up the fact that I was supposed to take him to the lab so they could take blood for further allergy testing since the nurses couldn't get any blood after three tries. I could just say I am lazy but I will tell the truth and go with sympathetic to my three yr old son and say I just didn't want him to have to endure that again even though he is quite the trooper. I just wish he didn't have any of his little "issues" but what Mom doesn't! ANYHOW the doctor took a look in the ears, nose and throat since that is what a ENT does..ha....and he was NOT pleased!! One of his adenoids had in fact grown back! I was never informed that this was even possible and wondered if maybe it was just left from the original surgery until my friend informed me being the freak that she is (love you Shan) she had to have hers done four times!! Freak huh...told you! He also said he seriously needed his tonsils taken out and soon since they are cm. from closing his throat! He said this should solve the horrid forest creature breath, the snoring and the restless sleep since he will finally get air. He also told me to watch him at night for erratic breathing, sleep apnea and gasping. If this occurs, call him immediately and go to the hospital!! WHAT! OK now I will NOT sleep AT ALL and I'll be the Mom accidentally waking her baby up by constantly holding a mirror in front of his mouth to check his breathing especially since the surgery isn't scheduled until Dec. 9th. They gave him meds to hopefully reduce swelling and scheduled surgery to replace his tubes (YEAH!!! I truly think his tubes and his ENT are gifts straight from God! They changed his whole little world!), remove the adenoid that grew back, take all the blood needed for allergy testing while under anesthesia and remove his tonsils. Dear Lord, I pray this will be the end of all his problems and he will soon be drug free! I truly love our ENT and not ONLY b/c he is a cutie patootie!! He also told me that he may not even have allergies or they could be minor and most of his issues could be caused by the tonsils but that won't be known until after the surgery and testing. PRAY HARD!! Well the weekend came along with a fever and coughing. I didn't worry about it until the sleeping stopped and we got about 8 hours in TWO nights. I called the on-call ENT Sunday night who said to go the pediatrician first thing Monday. We did!! More antibiotics, steroids and after she talked to the ENT surgery was moved up to TOMORROW Nov 24th! They discussed it and decided the surgery could NOT wait until Dec 9th because his throat is closing faster than expected. I was then told more things to look for, keep him out of his little preschool and told to call with ANY changes but they wanted to get the antibiotics through him before the surgery if at all possible! OK so tomorrow morning we will be at the hospital at 6:45 am and surgery will begin at 8:15am. If everything goes well, we should be home around 11am and I will be able to blog...oops I mean clean house...while the baby boy sleeps in a drug induced pain-free state for days or so I am told! Pray for the hand of God to lead the surgery, for my baby to be ok even better than before, ease through the expected bad next few days and hopefully this operation will take care of all of his problems!! It is funny how tonsil removal surgeries differ from one Mom to the next! One will talk about how bad it is and the next tells you what a blessing it was and it wasn't that bad! I am going to pray for Shan and Quin's experience since the situations are a little more similar than others I have heard. I am hoping that since his situation is so bad now that the surgery will be more of a relief than a pain otherwise I am shipping him to Shan's so Quinlynne can take care of her man!!

WOW....WAY BEHIND!

Oh blogger.....how I have missed you but life has been crazy the last couple of weeks and unfortunately I haven't been able to blog even at work...hehe....shhhh!
Really life has just been crazy! The boys won the INFC Championship so football is over for now; however, with the end of football came the beginning of basketball. We are coaching this year and I am not quite sure how much that excites me. Actually I should say Martez is coaching since I was able to eeekkkk my way out when Bryan, one of asst. football coaches, volunteered to help with basketball. Woohoo!! So now I guess I am team Mom and been emailing team info, changing around practice days, ordering uniforms, coming up with team shirts.............aaaahhhhh the list could go on and on. I love basketball though so I can't wait!! Luckily we were able to get 6 of the football players onto our team of 8 so the boys can be together and have fun with their friends. This is also GREAT for me since I know the other Moms and they are helpful, funny and sarcastic just like moi!! But now I am so behind on blogging and oh how I have missed it. Make NO mistake about it I have not missed a day of actually reading all my favorite blogs only writing and I feel like I haven't written in months. Here I am folks expect many blogs in the next few days cause YA'LL (okie term) have a lot of catching up to do!!! Enjoy or rip your own hair out trying to keep up!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!

Wow if I thought I was nervous wreck before Thursday's game then that was an understatement because the real nerves took hold after I knew we were playing in the championship game Nov 8th!! Let's see Friday morning was donut day for the kids then I proceeded to go "potty" about 5 times in between taking kids to school and the 90 minutes I had before my haircut. I then had multiple errands to run before picking up all three boys at different schools. It is amazing how my Fridays off are taking up by taking kids to school, donut day, errands and appts then picking the kids up from school. I might as well work b/c I think it would be a lot less hectic. Anyhow I was nervous all day and the only thing I ate between Thursday's playoff game and Saturday's morning championship game was a glazed twist, a glazed donut and plenty of TUMS!!! Why was I like this? Got me!!?? I was a wreck. I really wanted the boys to win and have a wonderful time but I didn't want too much disappointment if they lost because they are still a remarkable group of boys. I didn't want anyone to get injured. I didn't want to oversleep and miss the game. I didn't want it to be too cold (no such luck on that one). Friday night, sleep was pretty much impossible and Saturday morning my stomach was a mess but with the constant feeling I could vomit at any second I could NOT eat. I then went to the bathroom at the field about four times in the hour before the game until I went to my car and ate the remaining TUMS I had brought to the game. After the TUMS I was pretty good until the END of the fourth quarter, when I had to sit on the medical case on the sidelines because for the FIRST time in the game we were no longer in the lead. They gave us a little over a minute but that is all we needed to score and WIN THE INFC CHAMPIONSHIP!!! I cried with excitement, relief and overwhelming pride I felt for this team!! You would think they had won the superbowl or something. Some people look at us like we are idiots and make too much out of this team but I say, "just wait until it is your child!!" Then when asked what we are going to be like by high school my answer is "heavily sedated" but excited for scholarships and NFL so we can get a HUGE house!! Just kidding I do not care if the boys even play sports but I will support them in the fullest with anything they want to venture into with the exceptions of golf and baseball which I find so boring that I would sleep on the bleachers!! Here are the pics - I took so many that I just made a slideshow!!

NERVOUS WRECK FOOTBALL MOM

Thursday the boys had the final game of the playoffs before the championship. We played Pryor who has a jerk for a coach. He is rude, demeaning, selfish and down right awful to his kids. Some of the things he said to his boys during the game: "I don't care how you win this game just break their legs if you have to b/c they can't run w/o them!, You guys are playing like a bunch of girls!, and I shouldn't have even come to this game b/c you guys aren't playing football you are just embarrassing ME!" HELLO you are coaching 6 YEAR OLD BOYS!!! I think if he was my son's coach we would've had more than a few words WAY before the playoffs!! Anyway I was a nervous wreck ALL day thursday. I would get butterflies at the mere thought of the game. I wanted the boys to win so bad b/c they are just amazing and they have worked so hard to get to this point. Well needless to say after many moments of me nearly vomiting on the sidelines....WE WON AND WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO THE INFC CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Wow the last 7 seconds of the game were really INTENSE!! Everyone ran onto the field again and it was mayheim trying to catch the pics but you know I did!!! Championship game Saturday...WOOHOO!!

SHE'S JUST TOO CUTE FOR WORDS

Addy was smiling and laughing in her sleep so I got the camera to try to catch it but then she woke up......wide awake just watching me.....she's just too cute for words! She reminds me SO SO much of Elijah when he was a baby. He too smiled and laughed in his sleep within a couple of weeks and since no one believed me I had to take pictures of it. Those pictures are still some of my favorite of him as a baby. They both also roll their eyes all around and then sleep with their eyes OPEN....that used to really freak my sister out b/c she would think he was awake!! Here she is again, Miss Addison

4 BODY BAGS DOWN.....

We have three BIG trees in our small front yard and although they are not done shedding their leaves if we don't rake many times then the leaves will take over!! The past few days the leaves have really started to fall and after much prodding we raked last night. We managed to get a pretty good pile considering the trees are NO where NEAR done shedding their pretty fall colored leaves. So here you go one of my favorite fall fun activities, taking pictures of my boys and Avani playing in a leaf pile:

We bagged the leaves up and got 4 body sized trash bags full just think only about a 1/4 of the leaves have fallen!!

TOO CRAZY TO BELIEVE, BUT TRUE!!

Presenting the competition with a united front!!

Last night the boys had their second playoff game against Skiatook Red. Before the game, the Skiatook coaches were waiting outside the gate. The Skiatook coach actually offered my hubby money NOT to play Elijah in the game. I was in disbelief and thought for sure this was a joke; however, when my hubby said, "Are you kidding me?" the coach replied with, "Well NOT if you take the money!" You can't be serious!! These are 6 yr old boys and this is not the Superbowl. There is no money involved in winning the championship just the right to be called champions! I still think we should turn him in b/c it is obviously illegal but I still wonder how much he would have actually paid! Too funny and sad at the same time! This was THE game of ALL games!! An awesome football game! True nail biter and my stomach was in absolute knots! It was rather funny how people migrated over to cheer for our boys. Parents who could no longer sit in anticipation were standing along the fence line with perfect strangers who were cheering for OUR boys. Teams waiting to play were watching because it was just an AWESOME GAME!! At half time a lot of the parents and onlookers were worried and I was not about to give up telling them to look at our history. Our boys always come back stronger in the second half. Always! Even when we are way ahead at halftime they still come back to hit HARDER, run faster and further and THEY NEVER GIVE UP!! Wow this game was so good I felt like I could get sick at any moment. Our boys FOUGHT for this win that they so deserved! Fought right up to the last second! I almost cried when they won just b/c I knew how bad they wanted it and how hard they had worked. Don't say anything b/c you just can't understand the game unless you were there. Many of the Moms were a nervous wreck. We all stormed the field when they won to go get OUR BOYS!!! I have goosebumps just thinking of that moment!!

Good tackle Carson!

Halfway through the fourth quarter we scored then held them back!!

I thought it was over but they added some time. This was the final score!!

Our Coaches were so happy!

Tez was really proud of his little brother and it was so cute!

I know this picture is blurry but I love it anyway!

MADDOX NEEDS ANOTHER NEW HEART

I realized I hadn't posted about Maddox lately so I decided to update his story again. Apparently although Maddox and his donor, a 5month old little girl, weighed the same (that tells you how small he is at 20 mos. old) her heart was not large enough to compensate for his extra length and his lower extremeties are not getting enough blood flow. The problems with this new heart are not repairable and he is being placed on the donor list once again. This miracle boy and his family still need your prayers!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!
This year Isaiah went trick-or-treating for the first time! Last year he was sick on that night. The year before too cold and small for him to really participate. Yippee! So his older brother teaches him the whole "trick-or-treat" saying which in my mind was to teach him to say "trick-or-treat". Nope I was wrong! They taught him the WHOLE little slogan!

Cute to hear him say but I really didn't want him to say that so I had to reteach him to JUST say trick-or-treat. I told him it wasn't nice to talk about pulling others pants down besides the fact I wouldn't put it passed him to try it!! He said it oh so softly at each door but I think all they really heard was Thank you! Oh well at least he was thankful! Trick-or-treating was sort of dead this year. Our entire street was dark and no one was handing out candy. I thought about taking the boys to my parents' neighborhood but alas I was tired and I hoped this years' trick-or-treat outing could be short and sweet since we had already been to two parties. We went to the other side of our neighborhood like we had done in prior years but honestly probably a 1/4 of the people handed out candy compared to before. The long walking in between participating houses was getting on my nerves b/c I ended up carrying a bunch of crap. I excitingly asked the boys if they wanted to go home to hand out candy and make homemade pizza. Much to my surprise they said, "Yea Mom let's go home!" Hmm...I should have tried that idea a little earlier. We went home, made pizza and only had one trick-or-treater ALL night at almost 9pm. This particular t-o-t was our next door neighbor who was happy with the excessive amount of candy he was given since he was our only t-o-t!! Sad t-o-t experience if you ask me but luckily we had gone to two parties already and had more than our share of candy. Elijah will be selling his candy in the next couple of days since he doesn't eat candy. Wierd I tell you!

FRIDAY FUN???

Friday I took Chai and Addison to the doctor. We had to drive about an hour away since Chai's stepdad is Addison's doctor. We had planned on taking my truck for the additional room since

1 - Chai can't drive at the moment and so she would have to be a passenger in her car with the car seat behind her seat

2 - she is about 6ft tall so she would have more leg room in my car and could possibly set the seat back to sleep if needed.

Problem with this plan ~ on the way to drop all the kids off for school I noticed a big 'ol screw in one of my tires!!

Lord knows I didn't want to get a flat on the highway on the way there and I had no time to get it patched. The only positive thing I saw at the moment was getting to drive Chai's car since it is a standard. I love driving standard transmission cars but I haven't in about 5 yrs!!

Ride there ~ great!

Doctor appt ~ great!

Addison' feeding ~ great and as normal since I fed and changed her she pooped!!

Lunch ~ greasy McD's ~ugh!

Then some greasy not very well groomed McD's worker just came up and started touching on Addison. Hello!! I think that is rude and especially if you are as nasty as she was!

Disinfecting Addison ~ check!

Ok so on the ride home everyone fell asleep!

No mistake you read that correctly!

I said everyone and I mean everyone!!

Isaiah ~ yep!

Addison ~ of course that is almost all she does besides eat, burp and poop!

Chaitra ~ yep she was tuckered out!

Me ~ yep me too!

Wait....and yes I was driving!

I was SO sleepy. The car was SO quiet!

Just the sound of the tires on the open country road and heavy breathing from the sleepers!

Eyes shut!

Eyes open and realize eyes were just shut so major adrenaline pumps through body and sheer panic runs through my mind!

I could kill all of us and crash her car!

Ok I can do this...I've never fallen asleep during driving before that is my hubby's problem!

I want to turn the cold cold cold air on full blast but I don't want the newborn to freeze.

I want to turn the radio up full blast and sing as loud as I can with my oh so angelic voice but I don't want to wake anyone.

I want to make Chai wake up and talk to me but I KNOW she is exhausted.

I will be fine!

I try to call a friend to quietly chit chat on the phone hoping to keep myself awake. Good luck trying to get someone to answer since they are all at work!

Phone conversation ~ all of two minutes b/c apparently the dinky town I was driving through at the time had crappy reception!!

I'll be ok!

Again, eyes shut!

Eyes open and adrenaline pumps through my body again and I feel like I could just puke at the thought of killing us all.

My next idea call my sister ~ NO answer!

Call my hubby~ NO answer!

Stop and get a huge caffeine drink of some sort just to get me the rest of the way home.

Trying to find a place to stop ~ eyes shut again and car drifts into the next lane!

THAT'S IT! COLD AIR FULL BLAST ON MY FACE AND CALL HUBBY WHO NOW ANSWERS AND TALKS TO ME FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FIFTEEN MINUTES UNTIL I AM HOME!!!

WE MADE IT ALIVE!!

Next I had to take my car to get the tire patched and screw removed. Luckily the place was just a mile from Chai's house so surely I could make it there. They said there was a thirty minute wait but I was not about to drive ANYWHERE else!! I kept dozing off at the tire shop....you know the whole head-bobbing-jerking-up-acting-like-you-are-NOT-asleep sleep!!

Tire fixed ~ went home and slept for 2 1/2hours until I had to go trick-or-treating!!!

More on that later...this blog just stressed me out!

FALL FESTIVAL

So a little behind from last week...here we go with catch up!! Last Wed we went to the Fall Festival at the Darnell's church. Games, candy, hayride, a box maze that Elijah became obsessed with, bonfire, facepainting.....who could resist. Not us! Just another reason for me NOT to stay home and do my much needed housework! Gotta love it!

Parker as Indiana Jones

They had a clown doing some amazing face painting with so much to choose from and he chooses to be a vampire. We tried to talk him into the many cool designs she could do but he still want to be a vampire so.......

..here he is - my son as a "vampire hulk"!

Ready for the hayride

I was trying to take a pic of Zay on the hayride. He was a little unsure of the fun factor involved with the hayride. However half the picture is the man next to him with his "big dog" undies!! lol

Pretty Miss Ellie

Brian ~ yes he is crazy!