Just in case you're wondering...

if you are having a problem with painful swelling it's not a good idea to eat salt and vinegar chips.

Just FYI.

Not that *I* would ever do anything like that.

Sorry it's been so quiet

Josh ended up taking two weeks leave and is home to help me out which is nice.

This is MUCH more painful and awkward then I imagined it would be. The main problem is the drains. They should come out within the next two weeks, hopefully, and I think I will be doing great then!!!

Remind me to tell you the story about Grace from this weekend when we were SO PROUD of a decision she made on her own.

She really is growing up so fast. While everyday isn't perfect she is an amazing kid!!!

Surgery Germs

I was sitting in the recliner using Brianna's blanket and she came up and said she wanted it back because I was going to get surgery germs on it.

Silly girl.

Back by popular demand

Thanks for all the prayers and positive wishes!

My caregivers are doing a great job taking care of me!

Last night I wasn't feeling very good and ended up passing out in the bathroom. Thankfully Josh was there and caught me as I went down. I still wasn't feel well and thought I was going to pass out again so Josh called 911 and they gave me an escort to the ER. As soon as they pulled up to our house one of the neighbors came over and got the girls and then while they were wheeling me out another said she would keep the girls overnight so Josh didn't have to worry about getting home quickly. They ran a bunch of tests and changed my bandages and everything looked ok so after talking to the surgeon they let me go home and I have to go in Monday morning.

I have three drains and was emptying them when I passed out so it seems like some think that I passed out from that, or I was a little dehydrated, my low blood pressure, or I just overdid it.

Regardless though everything looks good now and I am feeling better.

Josh helped me take a shower this morning. It was my first one since the surgery.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was heavenly!!!

I feel like a normal person again, well as normal as one can feel with three drains hanging from me and an incision that goes half way around my body.

:)

She's home!

The hospital gave her walking papers, well, at least wheel-chair-out-of-the-hospital papers. She's home now in the comfort of her recliner and the DVR with shows recorded during her stay. I'll let her share her hospital experience herself as soon as she feels up to typing on the makeshift lap table I cut out of some stiff cardboard for her. I sure hope it works!

Update...

Jeni is well on her way to recovery and doing great! Don't get me wrong, she's going to be having it rough for a few weeks and probably be on some really cool drugs, but it looks like she'll be ready to come home tomorrow. She has the option to stay another day, but she's in a shared room and and is ready to come home. Thank you all for your love, support, prayers, and good thoughts. She really is encouraged by it all.

The special of the week...

So the surgery actually took place and we didn't have to reschedule or anything!!! The doctor removed 12 Lbs of skin and found a hernia and fixed that too...for free! It was an unadvertised special that for every 10 Lbs of skin removed you get a free hernia fix! Anyway, everything went as well as the doctor could have hoped for and she is on the long road to recovery. The Dr. said that he expects no complications and all will be well prior to his departure from the Navy. Send good thoughts her way!

Be careful what you wish for...

because it just might come true.

Tonight my doctor called me a little after 8pm and said to be at the hospital in the morning at 8am.

Say a prayer that I actually have my surgery tomorrow and that everything goes well!

Josh (or I, haha) will update when he gets home from the hospital.

Brianna just told me...

that she has three babies, is a waitress, wears high heels, and lives at home with her Mom.

Uh oh!

Oh wait she changed her mind she's not just the waitress, she's also the cooker.


I think we are going to have to have a talk about goals for the future.

I still don't know anything...

about when my surgery is going to be rescheduled for.

Is it wrong that I'm hoping he calls and says come in tomorrow like last time?

I just want to get it over with, all this waiting is making me crazy.

Well crazier then normal.

:)

Brianna...

Two Lovers Point

So today after breakfast we wandered out of the house in search of adventure.

What better place to end up in the middle of the day with two children then someplace called Two Lovers Point. :)

It's actually a beautiful overlook that is set up as a tourist stop with a gift shop and everything. They even charge a hefty $2 for admission. Lucky for us the girls are still free. :)

Here is the link for the story of how it came to be:

http://www.twoloverspoint.com/legend.htm

Grace's Valentines

So Grace made this cute Valentine at school and inside it has a sweet message. Josh loves (not) the fact that he is wearing pink and purple and I'm wearing green and black! LOL

Then on her own she made this Valentine for me, up at the top it says "To Mommy Love Grace XOXO" then it has some hearts in red in the back round. Well it shows me holding something and I wasn't 100% sure what it was so I asked her to be sure. Yes I was correct.

Any guesses?

A laundry basket! LOL It's a picture of me doing laundry.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Since the girls...

are making us crazy today I thought I would share two funny stories to remind me how great they are to have around. :)

The first one happened yesterday when I was dropping Grace off before school. One of the ladies asked what happened because she knew I was supposed to have had surgery the day before. Well I told her it got cancelled so it didn't happen but hopefully next time it would actually work out. So then Grace pipes up and says " Yeah and she only gets three chances so three strikes and you're out! Then she won't have the surgery anymore!" It was so random and funny! I asked her where she got the idea that if I didn't have it next time then I couldn't do it at all and with a totally serious face she looked at me and said again "because you only get three chances" and to her it was just that simple!

The second funny story my friend reminded me about today when we were talking and since it made me laugh I figured I would write it down here. I'm sure it's one of those things I think I will always remember but one day I won't and this way it will be here.

So at dinner we do High Point/Low Point. It's where we all go around the table and talk about the high and lowest thing from our day. Well it was a little over Brianna's head when we started it and so every night her answer was the same and it went like this "My high point/high point is having dinner with you and you and you and myself, and my other high point/high point is having dinner with you and you and you and myself."

Every. Single. Night.

It was nice to be such pleasant dinner company and to eat with someone with no low points! :)

Cat Nap?

I don't know if you can tell but Brianna has kitty whiskers painted on her face.

Meow

So this time...

I made it all the way to the OR!

I get all the way up there and they are about to put the IV in, seriously the guy had already wiped it with the wipey things (yes that's the technical term) and was about to put the needle in when someone comes in and says "WAIT" because they didn't know if there was going to be a room available for me on the ward when I came out of surgery. I guess they had some people come in through the ER that were going to get admitted and people with MRSA so they can't double up those rooms and since it's already a small hospital the beds go quick.

After waiting another hour and a half my doctor comes in and says that he is really sorry but there was nothing more he could do and that they were going to have to cancel, AGAIN.

He is supposed to call me tomorrow or Tuesday (remember Monday is a holiday) to figure out when they are going to reschedule it for again.

When I asked him about the 24th that I was supposed to be having it he said he can't do it that day anymore because he's going to be in TAP class. For those not familiar with Navy lingo, it's the class you take before you get out of the military. Yikes better get this surgery done quick since he's the only one here that does it!

Hopefully third times the charm!

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!!!

Can you believe I got bumped again?!?!?!?!

Getting ready to head out

Ok everyone pray that I actually have my surgery and that all goes well today!

I'll make sure to have Josh update when he gets home!

Who needs a phone?

Wow there are now 877608909524 different ways to connect with people without ever actually talking to them.

So now I have email (actually two), a blog, myspace and facebook.

Really? Is it all necessary?

Lucky for all of you the blog is what I keep updated the most!

:)

What?!?!

So my doctor just called and wants to do my surgery TOMORROW!

Yikes!

I told him about my stomach flu but since I've stopped throwing up he said as long as I don't have a fever in the morning it's ok!

I just took my temp to check and no more fever!

Again, YIKES!

In the event...

that I don't survive this horrible stomach flu I went ahead and wrote my own eulogy.

Jennifer is survived by her beautiful and talented daughters, Grace & Brianna, her fabulous husband Josh, and her secret boyfriend, Christian Slater.

She will be remembered as being funny and kind with the brains of Einstein and the body of a supermodel.

Hey that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

:)

Brianna and I in December at her class party.

Well...

Brianna is much better this afternoon.

However, I think I'm getting her stomach flu.

You have got to be kidding me.

Oh My Goodness

Well Brianna has stopped throwing up, the diarrhea is better. Although it did get so bad I had to put a pull up on her because she kept not making it to the bathroom in time, poor baby.

However she is now miserable to be around. She is whining and crying and just a big emotional mess.

Maybe she will take a nap.

I think she is going to have to stay home from school, again.

Calgon take me away!

I spoke (typed?) too soon.

Brianna is throwing up again.

It's going to be a long night.

So far she is the only one.

I sure hope it stays that way.

Everything happens for a reason...

Can you imagine if I had my surgery on Thursday, I would have been due to come home today. Poor Josh would have to try to figure out a way to get me home knowing Brianna would not be able to make the trip and keep us away from each other because no way could I be throwing up with 100 staples going across my stomach!

Good thing we didn't have to deal with that and Brianna was able to get the cuddles and help she needed while she was under the weather.

It also helps I was able to be cleaning all day with Clorox and Lysol so hopefully it won't spread to the rest of us.

Say a prayer this is the end of it! Tomorrow is Monday so there is school (for Grace, I'll have to keep Miss B home) and work to go to.

Finally...

someone is starting to feel better. After being sick, one way or another, all day Brianna is finally starting to feel a little better. I got some Tylenol to stay down a little while ago and it's made a difference. She's only had two crackers and a couple sips of flat 7up today but hopefully we will be on the way to recovery and not up all night.

My baby is sick...

Brianna woke me up early to tell me her stomach hurt. I just told her to go to sleep and see if she feels better in the morning.

A couple hours later she wakes me up again to tell me she has to throw up, we hustle to the bathroom and my poor baby was sick. :( I put her in the shower and got her cleaned up and then put her back in my bed with cartoons.

Poor kid has been sick again and were hoping it doesn't spread to anyone else.

Those clorox wipes come in handy!

Guess we have to skip brunch and swimming and a birthday party this afternoon. :(

Poor Nana!

I don't pray for...

patience because I don't want to be put in situations where I need it.

Too bad God knows my trick and tries to make me learn it anyway.

:)

New date

2/24

Um that's 2.5 weeks away!

They obviously don't realize that I have NO patience.

:)

So I guess that's a bunch more meals I'll have time to make and freeze for after.

What a let down

So I thought today was going to be the start of my recovery but instead I'm waiting around to find out when my surgery is going to be rescheduled for. It's such a let down because we had everything ready to go and now it's all up in the air again.

I hate that.

With that said I would rather be sitting here then having problems because someone tried to rush through my surgery. I like my doctors a lot and trust that they made the right choice as much as it makes me crazy!

:)

Since I was home last night I made Cashew Chicken for dinner. It was so good. I even added pineapple to it and I thought maybe Grace would eat it, but no she ate the cashews and Josh made her eat the chicken out of it and that was it. I swear that girl used to not be picky at all and now she doesn't want to eat ANYTHING. Oh wait she will always eat mac and cheese. :)

Wait for it.

Rescheduled.

They will call tomorrow and I'll go back sometime in the next week or two.

Two hours...

of sleep is NOT enough.

Josh said it's ok I'll get plenty of sleep once I get to the hospital! :)

We are up and getting ready and will drop the girls off at the daycare then head over to the hospital.

About three hours until they start, keep those prayers coming!

I'll be back in a few days, try not to have too much fun without me. ;)

Amanda said...

I should record my voice and listen to it.

Great idea!

Um just one problem though...

When I hear my own voice I think it sounds extremely ANNOYING!

Thanks anyways!

:)

Do you notice it's 230am? I need to go to bed!

Anyone want to buy Girl Scout cookies?

Grace was selling cookies with her brownie troop at Kmart this past weekend. They did great and also most sold out completely!

After every purchase Grace would tell them "Thanks for supporting Girl Scouts" I thought it was cute!

It's a small world after all

When we lived in Iceland we met Ben who was also stationed there, he left before we did and went to Hueneme then was deployed to Iraq. While he was there he was injured and got out of the military but went to work on the base in Hueneme and this week is at Josh's work doing some stuff here in Guam.

It's not often that you see the same person at three duty stations in a row.

We went to dinner with Ben and two of the guys he's here with. He left Iceland while I was pregnant with Brianna and Grace was only two so it was quite a difference!

Doesn't Ben look like Ashton Kutcher?

Actually...

starting praying about an hour before that they get the IV in without any problems.

And that I don't spaz out completely since we all know I am a bit (hey it's my blog I can say what I want too) over dramatic.

12 hours and counting...

I have to be at the hospital in 12 hours.

Yikes!

I'm sure everything will go fine but at about 330pm pacific time on the 4th say a prayer for me.

I thought that they were only going to be doing one of the procedures which annoyed me immensely but my other doctor called me about 430pm tonight and said it was a go for the second one as well. Yay! I wasn't looking forward to having to have it done later if they couldn't do them both at the same time.

Since they are doing two procedures I should be in surgery for about 4 hours. I'll make sure to tell Josh to update on here when he gets home tomorrow! :)

I just realized...

that I'm going to be computer-less for four days!

Yikes!

Will I go through withdrawls?

Can I make it?

I think this will be the worst part of the surgery!

;)

Realities of living on a military base

We have lived on a base, in one country or another, for most of the girls lives but today as we were driving home from taking Josh dinner I was faced with what that really means.

As we turned on to the main road we saw people dressed in camouflage carrying large weapons and obviously training. However Grace instantly started asking pointed detailed questions about what they were doing and why. I tried to give vague answers that had worked in the past but I found that my daughter is indeed growing up and knows and understands much more then I have given her credit for in this area.

As we talked about the fact that they were training she started telling me about when they leave here and go to war they aren't training anymore and they carry guns with real bullets in them. Things I'm sure she must have heard from classmates given the fact it's an all military dependant school.

On one hand I'm so proud of her for understanding, in her own young way, that the world is bigger then just her life but on the other hand I'm sad that my six year old even knows what war is.