Caden and Rhebeca at the pond. Rhebeca is trying to figure out how to catch the muskrats that are making holes in the grass down by the pond. She thought that maybe if she held the net over the hole that the muskrat would come out and be trapped. Caden is having a blast throwing rocks into the water but is bothering the fishermen trying to catch the "catch of the day".

Two 5 year old boys + one fishing pole = name calling and shoving resulting in Tyler coming to my house for the afternon. Neither one of them could handle the competition and since this is Connor's first time to spend the night in Plymouth we wanted it to be a good experience for him. Connor is my brother's son and lives in the Indianapolis area.

Caden is getting ready to try and net some fish:)

There's always time for a little photo shoot and posing before fishing.

This is Connor...too bad I didn't notice he closed his eyes on the only picture I took of him:(

A closeup picture of Tyler.

Rhebeca's seashell find for the morning!!

Tyler casting the fishing pole before it was Connor's turn.

I had an appointment with the neurologist today...Dr. Strawsburg. He thinks the problems with tremors in my hands and the way my knees almost buckle when I stand up might me medicine related but to be on the safe side he is doing some testing. I will have some blood work done, an MRI, another EMG and maybe more that I can't remember. I told him I have to be almost completely put out for the MRI because of the back pain so he agreed that I can go to ELkhart and they can use what they did last time for my MRI. This time the MRI is of the brain. Before he did an exam he asked me to remember 3 words. After he did the exam he asked me what the 3 words were and I could only think of 1 of them. That really stressed me out. I have always had a wonderful memory but this goes along with the stuttering and my inability to think of words. I hope it's medication and nothing else shows up! I see him again in 2 weeks.

Not much else new. I will post some pictures of Rhebeca coloring eggs yesterday in tomorrows post.

This is Phantom, Tyler and Caden's cat. He started out as a stray cat that came on a cold winters day to their porch. Katie felt sorry for him and fed him. She was tough about it and said she would NOT feed the cat again. Well, guess what?, she continued to feed him and the coldest of nights she felt sorry for him and he eventually came in the house. He is now a neutered, declawed house cat. Tyler and Caden love him!! While we were there for my birthday luncheon Tyler gave us a few pointers about cats. 1. Never pull their tail. If you do pull his tail you will get bit.

This is how the cat roars at you if he's mad:)

My latest scrapbook pages that I made for the Design Team!

So Cool In Grandma's Shades

The first layout is pictures from when Tyler was 3 years old and I thought they were so cute!

I was supposed to use to big green letters and use as many as I could fit on a layout and look good. These pictures were from 2005 and I thought they were also very cute! I had to find something to scrapbook with this paper and these pictures fit well.

I woke up this morning with my feet and legs swollen almost double. I don't know why. I always joke when it swells and say that the Mayo Clinic says there's nothing wrong with my feet and legs...oh goody! I took a water pill and I hope it helps get rid of some of this edema. I am also getting the cellulitis back in my right leg. It is turning red and feels warm to the touch. I called the doctor on call and he called in some anti-biotics. I also have a slight headache but I think it could bould be from either the edema but most likely from the beginning of the cellulitis.

Rhebeca is here this afternoon and one thing she likes to do if it's on the weekend is play the game called "retirement village". I am the one (of course) that is in the retirement village and she is assigned to me to help me when I need it and I can call her on my cell phone...as long as it's the weekend because then it's free. I have free weekend calls so we can have fun doing that game.

I have the American Idol DVD game and we played that game and it's a lot of fun. We can choose different adventures to do and what we choose is how the dice falls. She loves the one where she can take the microphone and sing. She ended up winning the game today and I didn't even cheat to let her win! The game ends with idol trivia and she answered every question...correctly. I didn't get my answers in there soon enough:)

Before going to Steve & Katie's for lunch we were able to stop briefly and see Eutemia and the kids.

Rhebeca...getting more beautiful inside and out everytime I see her. It's the maturity and the beauty that come from the inside that complete the beauty you see on the outside..make sense??

Wayne and Kaleb

Kael. ...he had gotten that little candy you see on the left at his school this morning and was very proud of it!


Today I celebrated my 52nd birthday. I never really thought I would ever get this old. I have always felt young because I have done thngs and been the youngest in the group...like becoming a mother. I was 18 when I had our 1st baby and was usually the youngest in the group, etc. So...anyway...here I am turning 52 and feeling young at heart:)





My family did all they could to make me feel special today and it was really appreciated.. My Mom called me first thing this morning to wish me a happy birthday and brought over 3 days of wonderful looking food. Katie and Steve and the boys had us over for lunch and made me feel special. Katie even baked a cake for me. Wayne brought me a card and flowers. He wanted to know what I wanted for my gift and I told him summer sandals and he'll get those later. Our daughter and grandson called this morning from Tennessee to wish me a happy birthday also. My in-laws had sent me a check 2 days earlier...that's always a welcome surprise.


I don't want to diminsh anythng that anyone did for me because it was greatly appreciated. The 2 things that touched my heart the very most were the things our 2 oldest grandchildren did for me. Rhebeca called me to wish me a happy birthday. I asked her how she knew it was my birthday because I had talked to her Dad earlier and he didn't seem to remember. She said she had put it on her calender...WOW!!! ....what a way to touch a Grandma's heart. And 2nd, our 2nd oldest grandchild is Tyler. He spent $12 of his own money to buy me a very pretty necklace. I could almost cry to think that he would do that for me. I will take a picture of it tomorrow and post it but right now it's in the room where Wayne is sleeping. There are a lot of things that a little 6 year old boy would like to
think of his "old" 52 year old Grandma and want to do somthing to bring me joy. Both things bring me to tears if I really thing abou it very long...I am really blessed.

I wanted to add more pictures from today but I keep falling asleep...more tomorrow!!

I almost forgot about doing this one too. It is Caden the day he was born...what a sweetie!!!

This is probably my favorite of the layouts I've done for the scrapbook store. It's just one that turned out better on paper than it looked in my head:)

This was a ballet recital in Greenwood, Indiand when Alan and his family lived there. I believe the pictures were taken in 2004 which would have made Rhebeca 6 years old.

Kristi and Katie were pregnant at the same time and this layout is made to reflect that...

I just finished up this one today. I was given this paper and asked to use it to scrapbook on. I remembered the pictures of Kael fishing down by the pond and thought it fit quite well. I have another page I need to do to go along with it but for now I'm done! I don't need it for the scrapbook store design team.

It's been a while since I've posted. I just haven't known what to say. I will try to update this blog since my last post.

I have started exercising in the pool at the golf academy here in town. I love it because there's hardly anyone in the pool area...it's like my own private pool. Tyler and Caden have come with me and make it fun to exercise. I figure I can walk around and around the pool or I can play with them and get the same exercise and have fun at the same time.

I had a pump refill yesterday and the doctor is changing the concentration of the medicine in the pump. It doesn't change what I am getting...there is just a longer period of time between pump refills now. Yesterday he said he couldn't get the new medicine figured exact and there would be an 8-10 hour period today where I would get less medicine...and I can feel it today! He said if he gave me a bolus I would get way too much medicine and I know that kind of scares them to do that although I would rather have had him do that rather than feel so crummy today. I even had to post pone the dentist appointment today. When I go to the dentist I use the sedation and since I had diahrrea from the change in the medicine in the pump they told me NOT to come. She said it doesn't matter what the daihrrea is from but since I have it I would lose control of my bowels when under the sedation...and she said it would be very embarassing. I go back in two weeks and will be sure not to plan anything the day before.

Monday I go to a neurologist because of the shaking in my hands and the buckling of my legs when I stand up at times. It is driving me nuts!! I worry when I carry a coffee cup that my hand with shake and I'll spill the whole thing. And, I'm so afraid my legs will give out completely and I'll fall down. I hope I find out more from him than I found out at Mayo Clinic.

I don't remember if I mentioned that I got asked by our local scrapbook store (Wayne calls it the crapbook store...he thinks he's pretty funny!) to be on their Design Team. I was really excited. I feel ready to do this physically and hope that holds true but I've talked to them about my physical problems and they are all very understanding. I've been really busy this week getting everything done that they asked us to do. It was challenging and fun at the same time. My cousin's daughter (is that 2nd cousin or 1st cousin once removed??) is on the design team also and does such a nice job with her layouts. I just realized the other day that I'm the oldest one on the team. What happened to me? I used to be the youngest for everything. The youngest mother in the class with my kids, the youngest , etc. Now, it seems to have reversed...what happened to time? It's a mystery and time seems to go faster the older I get. I would love to just slow the clock down...keep the grandkids little and enjoy them longer. But, it just won't happen. I remember making Katie promise me to never grow up...but guess what?...it happened anyway and she won't know till her boys leave home how it breaks a mothers heart:(

I better change the subject! I have added some of the layouts I have done for the scrapbook store. I forgot to scan the first few that I took in so I won't get them back for a while.

Below is a picture of my beautiful nose a day after I fell out of the chair and landed on my nose/glasses. It really hurt and, as usual, I paniced and that made it even worse. I was asleep so it woke me up and I didn't know where I was at first...whether I was in a car accident or what. Thank goodness I was in the motel room. Every time after that when Wayne saw me leaning forward he would make me lean back. I didn't realize how much I did that...leaned forward in the chair...and I know that I do it to take the pressure off my spine. I would probably be shocked how many things I do like that to keep out of pain without even realizing it.

Tyler kind of played a trick on Grandpa Dick this morning. Grandpa Dick picked him up from school and he told him he needed to get a toy that was here. As soon as he got inside he took off his coat and decided to stay. I said...are you staying with me today? He said..yes. I told him rather than keep Grandpa waiting outside he had better go out and tell or ask him if that was all right rather than leave him sitting in our driveway for the afternoon.

Tyler went with me to run some errands. We went to WalMart for a variety of things and I was in the electric wheelchair. We got a cart to put the groceries in when they were in the sacks because they were heaping full in the wheelchair basket. The cutest thing is he wanted to do everything. Some of the things like the milk and pop were pretty heavy for a little boy but he wanted to do it. He flung the pop over the side and I'm surprised that it didn't split the pop open. Then he flung all the groceries over the cart like that but I wouldn't say a word....he felt so special and big.

Tyler wanted to use the bathroom when we were at WalMart. I had a whole basketfull of groceries with my purse on the bottom so didn't want to leave the cart. I told him that I thought it best to go into the women's bathroom but he didn't want to. I said...if you go into the men's I want you to scream as loud as you can if anyone talks to you or tries to touch you. He walked in the bathroom and came running out. He was scared. I hated to have to scare him but he has to be aware that not everybody has the best of intentions. It's just the world we live in and I want to prevent anything bad that could happen to these grandchildren. I thought I could relax once our children were married and happy and then along come these grandchildren that just steal my heat away and I worry all over again!

My hospital bed was delivered today. I hope it helps and I hope that I can sleep well in it. I am so used to the recliner that it may be an adjustment! I couldn't let myself think about the significance of having a hospital bed delivered for me. I just have to think that maybe my pain and swelling will get better. I started to think about me sleeping in a hospital bed and felt a little weepy but then tried to refocus my mind and am so thankful that there is something that may help me!

You may think the Simon Cowell is an old meanie but he has his soft side too. Here is a video of Simon talking about animal abuse and how passionate he is about preventing the suffering of animals. Pretty impressive...at least I think it is because I feel the same way.

By the way, if anyone has any money they don't know what to do with I would love a puppy of a dog breed that I just discovered yesterday. It is called a Morkie and is a blend of the Maltese and the Yorkshire Terrier. They are SO cute!!!

We are still in Rochester, Minnesota and I just finished my thorough checkup at Mayo Clinic. I have been tested, scanned, x-rayed, poked and prodded with about every test that could possibly be relevant to the swelling of my feet and legs.

Here is the conclusion:

I have passed all the tests. The reason for the swelling is a multiple of factors. I need to lose weight is the first thing many of the doctors told me. I need to exercise to push the fluid out of my legs...there is no other way to get rid of the swelling. And, the most surprising...my sleep or lack of sleep is a big factor in the swelling. I cannot explain why and they really didn't explain why to me. I have a mild form of sleep apnea but not bad enough to wear the cpap at night. In fact, I had the sleep test last night and the cpap made the apnea worse because I paniced because of feeling so closed in with that mask over my nose. I had 6 incidents of apnea an hour before the cpap and 38 an hour with the cpap. Wayne and I talked to the sleep doctor for quite a while and the thing that needs to change is my sleep habits. I got into bad habits when the back pain was so bad (before the pump). I couldn't sleep then because of the pain. I continued watching TV, playing games on the computer and scrapbooking all night long after the pump when the pain got better. I also slept so much better in the hospital bed than I ever have in the recliner. My feet were raised higher than the recliner thus keeping the swelling down and it was just more comfortable. The sleep doctor said the changes took a long time to start and I should expect it to be slow turning them around.

So, I have to:
1. Lose weight
2. Try to exercise (only possibility is in a pool)
3. Change my sleep habits.

Sounds easy but will take a lot of effort on my part. I think as I do these I will feel better and that is worth the effort. I have had 2 good nights of sleep here the last two nights and the swelling has been minimal. I still have a lot of numbness in my toes and I will address that with my pain doctor when I see him for the next pump refill.

I am so anxious to get home and see my house even though I left it pretty dirty and then to see my family.

Today should have been a whole day of testing again but when Wayne woke me up I couldn't move I hurt so badly and was so tired. I called and they rescheduled my 3 appointments. So, now tomorrow will be a big day and then I'll have the weekend to rest and back at it Monday and a little bit Tuesday and then we plan to leave on Wednesday.

I was up getting ready to go yesterday and Wayne said he could in no way go with me for the day...he felt too sick. I felt really panicy inside and said WHO is going to push me in the wheelchair??? He said I would have to rent one. I think he felt a little sorry for me because he warmed up the car and drove me there instead of making me take the shuttle.

I was able to rent an electric wheelchair/cart and could I ever zip around in that thing!! First thing I had to have blood work drawn. They had a terrible time finding a vein. It took two of them digging around to find a vein..they said let us know if this hurts you...I thought what do you think...you're digging around my arm with a needle? They finally had to use a vein in my hand. It hurts a little more but at least they could get the needle in my vein there.

We just got back from the grocery store and the weather is TERRIBLE!! It is snowing and it's all ready whiteout conditions. Wayne was a little worried when we had to take the interstate back because of the visibility. Hopefully it will work its way through the area by Tuesday /Wednesday morning when we're ready to come home. I'm starting to really miss home....and my family.

American Idol results from Dial Idol...don't scroll down if you don't want to know:)












Bottom 4 boys
Nichalos Pedro
Chris Richardson
AJ Tabaldo
Jared Cotter


Bottom 4 Girls
Gina Glocksen
Stephanie Edwards (I really like her)
Haley Scarnato

We are now in Rochester,Minnesota. I have an appointment tomorrow at 6:45 with the internal medicine doctor. I just did something that is going to make him think that I am really bright. I was sitting in the recliner and for some reason I was leaning forward. I fell asleep and fell out of the chair right onto my face. My glasses cut my nose and the rest of my nose looks like Rudolph's nose. I think it is all superficial bruising because I don't have any trouble breathing and my nose is straight still.

Eutemia, if you read this...I really feel for you with having a broken nose. Mine isn't even broken and it hurts SO badly!!

I had to come down to the computer because I am so nervous and upset about this. My Aunt Marcia sent me a scripture in Isaiah yesterday that I think I'll go back to the room and read to settle me down before I go to sleep.

I am so terrified of having any more pain or having to have a surgery of any kind and that's why I got so upset..besides the fear of waking up...not quite knowing what happened. I'm sure glad that Wayne is in the room because he came over to me and helped calm me down. Of course, he has been warning me for weeks about sitting leaning forward in the chair. I know why I do it...it takes some of the pressure off of my back. From now on when I sit in the recliner I will put my feet up so I can't fall out of the chair.

I will have Wayne take a picture in the morning. I don't have any way of posting it till I get home because I left the cord that connects to the computer at home.

I'll let you know tomorrow how things go at my first visit to Mayo.

We are "stuck" here in Madison, Wisconsin at the Radison Hotel. Not a bad place to be stuck but we should have made it to Rochester, Minnesota/Mayo Clinic today. My appointment is at 7:15 Monday morning so we will just have to see how the roads are tomorrow. It looks like about noon tomorrow things just might clear up for a long enough period to make the 4 hour drive. I really want to get there for my appointment. I have a feeling they will have a lot of cancellations so they could possibly move me through their system a little faster! That's my hope...we'll see what reality is.

There is a blizzard warning tonight until 6 AM tomorrow morning. I don't think I have been in too many blizzard warnings in my lifetime.

I chose this motel because they have the sleep number beds. I had hoped that since I usually sleep in a recliner that maybe I could make it in one of those beds. I really think if it was a hospital bed I could make it all night but...it's not a hospital bed...just a flat bed. I take all the air out that is possible so there are no pressure points on my back and I can make it a whole....1/2 hour before I have to get up because of the pain. Shoot!! I had hoped that it would work. When we checked in last night I must have looked as bad as I felt because the desk clerk upgraded us to a suite and there is a couch in the front of it . I can sleep sitting up with my legs up on the coffee table on a pillow and lay my head back on a pillow...and I can get a couple of hours before I have to lay on the couch/walk around/lay on the bed...just anything to change my position. Chronic pain can be a real blast!

I realized something on the way up here that had not hit me until yesterday. I realized that I am very different and really don't fit real well with the norm of people. When we would go into the rest stops I just could see how differently I moved and felt than other people and that our house is a real haven for me. I have built my own little comfortable world ... but I think the best news is that I am happy in the world that I have built because of pain and physical problems. I love spending time with Wayne, with our children and grandchildren and our parents. Those are the people that make up my everyday life and that's all I need right now. I love scrapbooking and being creative through that.

Today I got a call from the scrapbook store. I had submitted some layouts to them to be on their design team. It really scares me to death to try this but it will be a little bit of a venture from "my safe world" to the outside world. I think I will really enjoy it. I know a lot of the people on the team I and really think I can make a few new friends with my common interest in scrapbooking. I hope it goes well.

Forgive any typos...I'm not checking this because I'm using the computer here at the motel so I don't want to be a computer "hog"!!

I'll try to find a computer and update what tomorrow brings. I appreciate the prayers behind us. We got into some terrible weather on the way here Friday night. We were traveling 15 mph for about 60 plus miles. I think it should have taken us an hour and instead it took us 5 hours. We were never so glad to see our hotel!! It was 11:00 when we got here and I was used to taking the medicine for the burning in my feet around 6:00 so my feet were burning something terrible. And, my back wasn't much better. I was worried that it wouldn't go away. It took about 2 hours but finally got to a bearable range of pain.

That's all for now.

Chow:)

I had a hard time sleeping last night so I worked on these two layouts till 2:30 AM. These pictures were taken just this week and I think she looks so beautiful. She is growing up so fast I'd like to stop the clock but I know she wants to grow up as badly as I did at her age and so goes the circle of life. The second title may be a little hard to read scanned but it says "You're so beautiful".



We are supposed to leave tomorrow for Mayo Clicic but there is a storm moving in that we'd like to beat so we're going to try to leave early this afternoon. The only problem is we're both catching new colds and feel rotten. I'm running a fever but can't find the thermometer...Wayne had found it and it lasted about a week before I lost it. That reminds me of Wayne's pet peeve that I do...during the day when the phone rings I answer it and since they're all cordless I walk to whatever room I was in or want to sit down and talk in and that's where I leave the phone. By the end of the day when he comes home there isn't one phone left on the hook so that when the phone rings we both have to go running:) It doesn't bother me but I'm the one that does it..he gets rather frustrated.

Back to our trip to Mayo...please remember us in your prayers. There is a big storm moving into the area that we will be in and they're supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow tonight. My parents are letting us use their Explorer for the trip but even that won't be good in whiteout conditions. I also would appreciate your prayers that I get a doctor that will take an interest in my case and figure out the reason my feet and legs keep swelling so bad.

I guess that's all for now. Chow:)

One of my latest layouts. This is of Rhebeca at Christmas 2006. It's the first Christmas layout that I've done with such different colors than the colors normally used for christmas. I like this layout except for the word "American" which I got kinda crooked...but it's stuck down really good and I would rip the picture and the paper and the picture getting the word straight and I really don't want to start all over. It will just stay like it is for now:)

Rhebeca and her Mom & Dad stopped by to visit this afternoon. What a pleasant surprise it was. While they were hre I had to take the opportunity to get a few pictures of Rhebeca. She is such a photogenic young lady:) There was so much light in the house this afternoon that I took the top two pictures without the flash and on the bottom picture I used a flash. There are a lot of shadows on the top two pictures taken without a flash...just totally different looks. What a very beautiful young lady:)

I had a pump refill today. It is the closest I've ever gotten to running out of medicine than I ever have gotten before. Thank goodness I got the refill and I can prevent any problems. They added a new medication today called bipuvicaine..it is a local anesthetic and it is a very common medication to add to the pump. Let's hope it helps.

Dr. Grove looked at the cellulitis and had a good explanation as to why I probably got it. He thinks it is because of the swelling. He said when the skin expands the pores open bigger to try to accomodate the bigger size. With the pores bigger it is easy for bacteria to get in to the skin and the cellulitis to begin. He seemed to think a trip to Mayo Clinic was a good move to make.

I got my least favorite nurse today. Wayne and I concluded that she must have a very low self esteem because she took every opportunity to make me look foolish. I always get the area where they put the needle into the pump deadened with a local...she forgot to ask me and said that she forgot because I'm about the only one that needs it numbed...it's no big deal without it numbed...how does she know?? I tried to compliment her and the nurses for being so sterile about giving the refills by telling her that my beautician's husband had a valve replaced in his heart at Mayo Clinic and they dismissed him as soon as possible becuase hospitals carry staph infection so frequently...she said...hospitals are known for carrying staph infection...everybody knows that. I guess that was everybody but me. The whole time she was like that and I tried my hardest not to get mad at her and try to understand that she might have problems that were worse than mine.

I was really excited about American Idol tonight. I think nerves affected a lot ot the performers tonight. It was really obvious the guys that had more experience than others. If you don't like to know what's going to happen you can click off this blog now. I went to dial idol and according to the dial tones they think that Nick Pedro and Paul Kim are the ones getting voted off tonight. We'll see if they're correct...it makes sense according to performance that they could be the ones.

I love a good close up picture and whenever I get a chance I keep clicking the camera trying to get a good one until I"m told that's enough:) I thought this one of Tyler was especially good!

Caden was telling me..."NO MORE PICTURES!!" while shaking his head!!

Caden is a moving target. I was trying to get a picture of him looking at me with the pretend binoculers

Tyler, taken today Feb. 17, 2007

I used to have a lot of trouble with muscle spasms in my low back. When I had the surgery in 1998 it took care of the muscle spasms. I also had more pain but no muscle spasms until the last week. I woke up this morning with the worst spasms I've ever had. They would start at my waist in my back and travels into the tailbone. I was miserable until the muscle relaxer took control. I was sure glad I had those from the pain doctor several months ago. I ended up having to take 2 of them to get rid of them and it didn't take long for me to be sleeping like a log.

Tyler and Caden came over here for a while this afternoon and they were SO good. I enjoyed seeing them both today.
Before they came over they were at my mothers house.

Tyler was on the computer because he didn't go to school because he still had an ear infection with a fever and aches and chilling. I was on the computer this morning and here is the instant message I got from Tyler..
He is typing from Mprincipal and in the red
I am using Rstockman1209 translating what he said and it's in green

The Rstockman1209 in the blue is me actually answering Tyler when he instant messaged me.e is talking about a
MPRINCIPAL [10:35 AM]: hi This is tyler.fegr aoot how to camplet the soopr grane livoo!
hi This is Tyler. Figure out how to complete the super granny level.
Rstockman1209 [10:35 AM]: Which level?
MPRINCIPAL [10:37 AM]: in the casool
In the castle.
Rstockman1209 [10:39 AM]: http://www.realarcade.com
MPRINCIPAL [10:43 AM]: wen the las levoo in side the casool
Win the last level inside the castle.

I think it's the most amazing thing that a 6 year old in kindergarten could try to figue out words like that. At first when I saw it i thought he was trying to be funny but then I could see that he was tying to sound out his words. How priceless!

Another priceless thing is a story that he told me this afternoon. His little heart is so trusting and sweet and innocent. He said he saw a boy about his age on the beach when they were in Floida and asked the boy if he knew about Jesus. The little boy did not know Jesus so Tyler told him all about how Jesus was in heaven and you can pray to him. That's all he felt comfortable but I thought it was just the sweetest story.

I keep falling asleep..that's what happens when you take a muscle relaxer right before typing on the blog...zzzz:)

Good night!!

My latest layout. I couldn't sleep last night and this is what I worked on. Another one of our Christmas pictures.

Kaleb, our youngest grandchild...for a few months until his sister arrives! See that worried look? I was standing between him and his Mom and he wanted to get to her...not sure how to get around that Grandma with the camera.

Kael, Kaleb's older brother with Grandpa Wayne

We call Kael the worryer. He always has to have his hands clean and he was born with a worried look on his face. Poor little guy got the family "worry gene." He has many momets of fun too...he's not always worrying.Kael just loves his older cousin, Tyler. Tyler has lots of transformers and Kaels always wants to play with them and you can guess what the answer usually is...no:( So, Kael is starting a collection of his own. Here he is playing with what he told me was the "bad guy." He had two others that were the good guys. Ya always gotta have one bad guy tho.
Here is Kaleb, finally by his Mama who is due the end of April. It can't be soon enough for her. She is really getting uncomfortable. She and Alan saw a bulge in her tummy a couple nights ago and looking closer at it saw the perfect shape of a (rather large) foot. They even saw the toes. How exciting!! The room for the baby is probably beginning to get pretty tight.

Below is the latest layout. This one is the same picture as before using different paper. I use a diffeent set of papers for each child. I like to have papers the same for each child's Christmas for the year and this is the paper I'm using for Jacob's 2006 Christmas layouts. I added just a little different touch to this one with the design above the picture. Otherwise pretty much the same!

Not a whole lot new. I haven't felt well at all over the weekend. Fatigue, swelling more than normal on my feet and legs and a new symptom..my hands have started shaking. It makes it even difficult to type. I was going to ignore it until my feet started to turn purple and itch. That worried me that maybe the cellulitus was returning and maybe even getting worse. So, feeling like a hypocondriac, I made an appointment with my doctor. He took a look at my leg and looked it over really well so he wouldn't miss anything. He said..this is not cellulitus. He asked me what pain medicine I am currently on and what is in my pump. I told him what I take which is very little and that the pump has dilaudid. He went to his computer to look up something. He came back and said he didn't find a connection that he is looking for and that is a conection between the pump and high cortisol levels. He said it is just a hunch but wants me to get tested for cushings disease. I almost wish that is what is wrong with me. It could account for the weight gain, the fluid retention and the extreme fatigue. There are other symptoms but those are the 3 big ones that come to mind. I think he said it could account for the hands shaking too....and that was one of the vital signs to him. I almost didn't tell him but try to remember anything that's happening to tell him for any sort of a diagnosis that he could come up with.

That's all for today...don't feel well at all. I take some medicine tonight for the blood test tomorrow so I sure hope the test shows something!!!!

Becky

Not much to say tonight except that I dont wish this virus on anybody. Wayne and I are both still sick with it. We are constantly coughing. I could try to take a picture of Wayne in bed but I'm afaid he'd do the same to me...yikes!! Well, I just tried to get a picture and he wouldn't let me put it on the blog..I tried;)

If there is an upside to being this sick it's that I don't spend as much money. I got groceries with my Mom's help today...I still keep thinking that I should be helping her but we never know what life will bring us!

Have a good evening!!

It may look easy to just snap a shot of these 5 little ones but believe me it's not that easy to get them all in one place...sitting still! Caden missed being in this picture because he was sick that day. I think he had the bug I'm trying to get rid rid of with no luck. If I feel better I'll post more later...if I don't feel well I'll post more tomorrow!

The next 4 pictures are ones I took yesterday with my new camera. I am trying to get the hang of it...and I'm still in the automatic mode..ha ha!! That should be pretty simple...but I'm finding my finger wants to rest on the flash and then it won't flip up and flash for the picture. That's a minor adjustment. I think the pictures it takes are fantastic...so crisp and detailed.

Tyler

Caden started out hiding from me under that cushion and then I took him his blankie and he thought he'd take a nap. It was a short lived nap though...eyes never closed and body never stopped moving:)

A really good picture of Tyler...he's such a good looking boy!

A closeup of Caden. I love to get these profile shots. I just think there is a lot of interest in all the details of his little face.

These next two scrapbooking layouts are my latest creations. They are both of Jacob. The first is Jacob in santa hat. Kritsi said wished he didn't have a dirty face but I thought it just added to the picuture...the essence of Jacob. The second picture is priceless to me. Jacob giving his Great Grandpa a high 5. The kids love their great grandpa and have certain activities that they associate with just him.
It is bitter cold here today. You would think it is warm by looking out the window at the beautiful sunshine but it is deceiving. When I got up at 5:30 this morning it was -4 below zero with a wind chill factor of -27. BRRRR! I always worry about any animals that are outside..like dogs and cats. I also wonder what the homeless man that lives here in Plymouth does on these cold nights. Hopefully somebody has mercy on him and gives him a room while it's this bitter cold. I can't imagine sleeping outside like he does. Maybe he's tought..I know I'm not.

Wayne is feeling a lot better this morning. He even went to work around noon. I cautioned him that he really should take a couple more days to rest so I hope he doesn't have a relapse like he did last week. I certainly have learned in 34 years of marriage that I can't change him...I just accept what he does and if he gets sick again I'll be there to help however I can. I know he does the same with me. I do a lot of things he doesn't always approve of too so I guess we've learned to give each other the freedom we both want to do our own thing.

First pictures with new camera

I have been anxiously waiting to take pictures with my new camera. Wayne isn't a willing subject so I had to wait for the grandkids to come over and that happened last night. First picture is of Caden and you can see him talking...he is saying Cheese! Two cute stories about him in the last couple days. He is staying at my Mom & Dad's house for a few days and last night they were playing a game that was a little beyond his age group. He still wanted to play and my Mom started complimenting him and telling him she was shocked he could play the game. He told her "I'm not dumb." And, secondly, he has learned a knock knock joke and says it over and over and over again. It is

Caden: Knock Knock

Grandma: Wno's there
Caden: Nana

Grandma: Nano who

Caden: Nana banana

And then he proceeds to laugh and laugh and laugh and then he starts all over again. I guess a good joke is worth repeating:)

Tyler has learned my telephone number. Since I'm home trying to recover from this cold he calls me many times a day. I love his calls and will always drop whatever I'm doing to talk to him. It's usually a computer game he wants to discuss with me. I'm glad we have that in common. He has also learned ebay and likes me to get him there and we look for toys. He wants me to bid on everything he likes. I try to explain that I don't have unlimited money:) One story about Tyler. He is also spending the night with my Mom & Dad. He likes to sleep in their room on either an air mattress or on the couch. Last night my Mom got up in the middle of the night and Tyler was missing in action...or the action of sleep at least. She finally found him in the computer room playing a game on the computer.
This is Belle. She is a Silky Terrier. She is Steve, Katie, Tyler & Caden's dog and we watch her when they go away so she doesn't have to go to the kennel. We love having her for a week or so and she feels right at home here. She is one of the nicest and well behaved dog I've ever known tied only by our last dog..a little white Maltese we named Mercedes. Anyway, Belle is visiting for the week and we're glad to have her. There was a major killing here in the house tonight. While we watched TV she killed her stuffed toy and the insides are all over the house:)

Yippee!!!!! Wayne came home this morning. I don't know if I was happier to have him home or he was happier to be home. We both realized how much we mean to each other. It wasn't any major seperation but we are never apart except for when he goes to work so we're happily together tonight and he is feeling much much better. He is having some pain where they did a spinal tap and I hope it's just from doing the procedure and not some damage they did or an infection starting. They had a hard time doing the spinal tap so I hope they didn't force it too hard. Only time will tell. Please keep him and his back in your prayers...thanks!

Does it ever seem to you that life comes in bunches of events? Our bunches lately has been health issues. I feel like we're on a speeding train with no brakes at times. Wayne has also had this virus that I am fighting. I can't remember seeing him sick enough to miss work. He goes no matter how he feels. Well, he spent all last week home sick with a virus. Thursday he worked a huge day and came home with a splitting headache. By 4:30 Friday morning he was awake and in terrible pain with the headache and vomitting dry heaves. I gave him one of my suppositories for nausea and it settled things down so that he went back to sleep. We had talked about going to the emergency room at 4:30 but decided to wait till the doctor's office opened. Our family doctor is still out of town (how dare him..ha ha!!) so we saw an associate.

We went in to see him at 10:30 and told him of Wayne's past history of the meningitis. He decided Wayne needed to be hospial and have some tests done. The main test was a spinal tap to draw out some spinal fluid and see if he has meningitis. As of yesterday late afternoon all the test results had not ocomeback but the doctor had seen enough of this one to say he is 99% sure he does not have the meningitis. After hearing that Wayne was ready to come home but the nurse said thee was no way. I was kind of hoping he w0ould come home because I've never spent a night alone in this house. It is now 6:30 and I did just fine. I didn't sleep well but that's nothing unusual for me!

Hopefully I'll get to bring Wayne home today. Right after he was admitted I went to WalMart. I hadn't gotten groceries for a while so after Wayne was admitted to the hospital and given something for pain and nausea he was really out so I went to WalMart. I have to take opportunites when they come and know I need to take advantage of them. Yesterday was one of those days...I hadn't felt like going to the store for for a while as we were out of a lot so I was thrilled that I could do it. I felt so all alone. I can't imagine what it feels like to lose a spouse that you've spent your whole life with. It was like this emptiness inside of me and I hadn't even lost him...he just wasn't there to be with me....and I'm used to getting his help:) I guess this will teach me to continually be grateful for the help my family gives me. I couldn't function without their help!!

It's COLD here. Our thermometer this morning says it is 7 chilly degrees...brrrr!!! I wish I didn't have to go out today but am thankful the hospital is just across the street from our subdivision.