So sad for Kayleigh Freeman

For the past few months or so I have been following the story of a baby who defied many odds after being born at just one pound. The baby's name is Kayleigh Anne Freeman.

Kayleigh has remained unchanged in the past few days since they discovered that a large portion of her brain is no longer working. Kayleigh is 10 months old, but has never left the NICU due to numerous different issues that have delayed her leaving. She had one last surgery within the last week before she was slated to go home, and now she may be gone.

If you are the praying sort, please pray that Kayleigh's parents have the strength to make whatever decisions are necessary. At this time I have a link to Kayleigh's blog on the left side of the screen.

Thanks,
Melinda

Some prayers answered ... (for Stellan)

Here is poor Julia with her fat lip and Blake in their orange for Stellan today. I sent this picture in during my lunch hour as I ran out of time this morning. Stellan had some success with his ablation ... time is the true test. I am so relieved ... like so many I was checking in constantly on the MckMama blog. I couldn't see twitter at work and that was where I KNEW updates would show up. It felt like I was sitting in a waiting room waiting for news of a close relative, even though we've never met. I sat and teared up at the obvious outpouring through the "Wear Orange for Stellan" photos popping up on the blog, and teared up whenever I thought of him. Then I would stop and imagine what my coworkers would think if they saw me crying over someone I've never met ... and when I haven't even heard bad news! That is the power of the Internet, the power of the written word, and a higher power? I still don't know how I happened upon MckMama's (Jen's) blog, but I am ever so glad that I did.

So thanks if you read my post and thought about or prayed for Stellan ... and if you can hang in there with me and keep it up I'd be thrilled.

Thanks,
Melinda

Pray for Stellan

I feel so helpless. It his how I would guess Stellan's mom must be feeling right now. All I feel I can do is ask for prayers, and so here I am asking for prayers on a blog that no one reads ... well, next to no one. I've posted at Digishoptalk (www.digishoptalk.com) and Gotta Pixel (www.gottapixel.net), and I'll visit my other message boards and facebook today too. I just want to spread the word!!!

So please pray for Stellan ... his ablation is scheduled for tomorrow morning if they can even hold out that long. His heart is having a lot of issues today that may make it necessary to be sooner if I read correctly.

Thanks,
Me

Praying for Stellan

There is a sweet little boy named Stellan who has been dealing with SVT for quite a while now. He was in the PICU for around 3 weeks! He is finally being moved to a step-down unit and might be hearing the miraculous word "HOME" soon ... but I still wanted to show our support for his situation!

So, here is a photo that MckMama posted on her blog that struck a cord in my heart turned into a "Praying for Stellan" page:


photo by MckMama * kit: Lil' Sweetheart by Jennifer Barrette at www.gottapixel.net
fonts: Pea Carrie and Carlotta

You can read all about his journey on MckMama's blog "my charming kids."

Thanks for reading and adding your thoughts and prayers for continued good news for Stellan and his family!

Road to Recovery?

I didn't originally have a question mark at the end of the title to this post, but I feel like I'm jinxing myself if I say it with certainty. I am still not 100%, and neither is Blake. Julia and Chase seem fine, and I take some comfort in that. Poor Blake just can't quit clearing his throat, and he coughs and I just think something is still up with him. But honestly, I think he's been clearing his throat like that since his surgery a year ago, so who knows?

For anyone who is reading but doesn't talk to me regularly, I got really sick after my last post and ended up missing 4 days of work due to myself ... and it would have been more but there was a weekend in there. Yeah. Well, then I hurt my neck presumably from coughing so much! Around the 23rd my neck started hurting and as the week went on it got worse and by Friday afternoon I went to my team leader and asked if I could leave and dissolved into tears.

I was given some pain meds and a steroid to help the swelling come down, and to help my sinuses and coughing subside faster, and I was sent to Physical Therapy. Yep, all because I coughed ... only me, I tell ya. I am feeling much better after only two sessions of PT, though sitting at my 'puter at work does get things tightened up again. Who knew? I thought I spent a lot of time turning my head at my job, but I guess it is a lot less than I thought. I should be done with PT soon, though ... tomorrow is my next session at SIX THIRTY AM ... yes, I am crazy. I will make it there on time, I will make it there on time, I will not sleep in, I will not sleep in ... that is my mantra.

Over the weekend I cleaned house (yep, a sure sign my neck is starting to feel better), and the kids and I cleaned out the car. Then I vacuumed it out and wiped down the console. It looks so nice, and Blake has commented on how much he likes it this way. I explained that over the winter we get in a hurry because we want to get out of the cold and just leave stuff in the car, but we will be better about it now ... hopefully we can keep it up. :)

Anyway, we also played outside, and a (new? - haven't seen him before recently) boy from down the street brought his BIG bottle of bubble soap over and so my kids brought theirs out too and they blew bubbles in the 40 degree weather. Actually, it was probably a little cooler than that. It wasn't warm. But, I got some awesome pictures ... check these out! (These are completely unedited -- no color adjustments or anything, so please forgive me if they are off at all.)











I also got to visit with my friend Rhonda for a while on Sunday. She stopped over to get some help with her taxes. I started out working on them, and then she took over ... really, it's just read and plug in the numbers, mark yes or no to questions ... they do the rest. I was basically just doing it because I've been through it so many times that it goes a little faster for me. So anyway, we started that and almost got that done, and then we went out for lunch to Burger King, and over to her apartment to visit. It was nice! We haven't gotten together in what seems like forever. The kids all seemed to get along ok too ... the big kids were content to watch TV, too, though lol ... so that helped! :)

Well, 6:30 will come extremely early, so I had better get this posted. I just had to show off my fancy camera work, lol ... they did turn out pretty well if I do say so myself. :)

Thanks for reading my babbling, and even more for looking at the pictures,

Melinda

From 4-wheelers to Croup

The week started out really well. On Sunday I got a call from my Dad inviting us out. He had something he wanted to show the kids that he thought they'd really like. So, after a bath for them, shower for me, and some clean-up time, we headed over. Turns out my Dad decided to buy a small 4-wheeler! I told him that it was his birthday and we were supposed to get gifts for him, not the other way around. (His birthday was on Monday.)

I took some pictures of the kiddos to make a card for my dad, but then my printer wouldn't cooperate to print the card. Here is the awesome photo I got of Blake and Julia. Chase wanted no part of being photographed ... little stinker! I have one with Blake holding him while he was screaming in protest, but won't post it here, lol.




Credits: Leaves of Green Paper Pack and Leaves of Green Element Pack by Sarah Meyer at www.gottapixel.net

All 3 of the kids were super excited about the 4-wheeler. Blake got to drive it around the driveway and in the yard a bit. That is all it will be used for until Blake is old enough to drive it on trails, really. Unfortunately, my Dad says by the time they are old enough to drive them on the trails, they end up being too big for the 4-wheeler! How weird to bother making a 4-wheeler that can't even be used properly.




DOT reg helmets! Thanks, Papa!


Just sitting ... Julia can't ride it yet.


Poor Chase was so jealous.


Papa wore the safety strap so that if Blake got to going too fast it would kill the engine. He walked/jogged along side the whole time. He is such an awesome Papa!

It was a beautiful day -- the weather is getting close to 60 degrees and the snow is almost all melted except in shady spots. The kids rode around on bicycles and played on the swing set. We drew a few hopscotch boards on the driveway too. I, of course, took lots of pictures. Then we had our first cook-out of the new year. Brats and hamburgers ... yum!!





Sunday night everything went perfectly normally except that Chase coughed rather harshly when I put him to bed. Tyler said, "Since when has he been coughing?" I said, "Since now!" The cough didn't sound good at all, and when I was up again with him at 3:00 in the morning I pretty much had it figured out ... croup. A short spell on the steps outside at 3 am helped him for just a little bit. So, I picked up the phone with a very warm and clingy 2 year old in my lap and called in to work. I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep, and I was right. Monday afternoon, after Chase's nap, we went to the new Urgent Care center nearby. It was nearly empty but definitely beautiful. I wished they had something for the kids to do, but at the same time was grateful that there was nothing for them to collect or deposit more germs on. Chase was NOT impressed about this trip at all. He even freaked about getting his O2 sats checked with the pulse oximeter (man, do I wish I had one of these for when I am worried about Chase's heart rate), which is just a little bandaid like sticker stuck around his toe with a wire to a box that reads his pulse and oxygen levels somehow. (It was 95% and his heart rate was 160 ... he was screaming and very mad so I wasn't surprised about the rate.) After talking with the doctor I learned Chase's tonsils were huge in addition to his expected croup. So, he needed a strep test and an X-ray to rule out where the infection was. Everything pointed to croup, and because Chase was having trouble swallowing and was so miserable (100.7 temp), he got the steroid shot. I asked about whether Blake or Julia could get this, and she said they could but it wouldn't be as bad as his because their airways are bigger. And she said adults can get it too, but we usually get a cough and lose our voices and that's the extent of it.

Well, she was right ... except I haven't lost my voice yet, and the kids have been rather miserable -- ok, me too. Blake decided at the last minute to stay home from school on Tuesday, and Julia has been quite a bit off today though it wasn't a school day for her anyway. I got ready for work this morning and took Blake to school. After I dropped him off I coughed hard enough to almost get sick, and just in general felt awful (I ache all over) so I picked up my cell phone and called my supervisor and told her that I'd changed my mind and just couldn't come to work. Stinks because I already missed Monday! Here it is almost 10 pm and I'm not thinking I will be well enough to go to work tomorrow either. :( Tyler's response, "Cool, no daycare at all this week, then!" I bet we will be charged anyway ... didn't have the heart to tell him.

I'm supposed to take pictures at a baby shower this weekend. Unless we all start feeling better very soon I won't be able to do it. I feel awful because they asked me especially to do it. I was just thinking this past weekend how we all needed to stay healthy. And I've been trying to learn more about my camera since I found out about the photo-taking opportunity too. I will be sad if I can't be there. :(

So, anyway, thanks for reading my babbling ... especially if you've made it all this way. I hope the pictures made up for my boring narrative. :) I'm off to bed. Hopefully I will feel much better, and Julia too ... I have a feeling we'll both be home tomorrow, though. :( Please send us GO AWAY GERMIES vibes!!! :)

Tax time ...

For the past few years, I have looked forward to tax time. Neither DH or I have any exemptions on our paychecks, so we both get the full amount taken out. It works like a savings account in a way, because we always end up getting money back at the end of the year. I know we could increase the exemptions and get more take home out of our checks, but this works for us right now (not the greatest savers).

This year, though, is special because we are getting out of credit card debt with our tax return. It is such an awesome feeling to know that starting in April (because I'll get one last statement from these two cards in March for interest) we will be out of that kind of debt. Next is to pay off my car loan ... and that is due to happen in September this year, and finish off my student loan. Our total debt is under $6,000 right now, split about evenly between the car loan and student loan.

I'm also trying to put at least 10% out of each paycheck in savings. I just started this, so we'll see how it goes and I will try to increase it of course, but I think at least 10% can be done, and having no more credit card payments should make this possible too. I've been putting extra on my student loan payments for the past few months too. If you can't guess, I want to get in a better and safer financial situation in a big way.

Saving sounds wonderful, but I do have to admit I have this nagging feeling in the back of my brain that this is just too good to be true. Something is going to go wrong. The washing machine hasn't been sounding great for a long time, but I already know that the repairman would just say it would cost as much to buy a new one, and Tyler's car keeps having new issues, and my computer has been slowing down. And, I want to buy this house (Tyler keeps going back and forth on me). I am going to work on our saving money, but will it be enough? We only have one short year at best to get this going because of the way the loan for this house worked. It would be awful if we had to move out because we couldn't gather enough funds for a down-payment due to semi-unexpected expenses.

So, while I am celebrating our big accomplishment with debt, I still can't help but worry. Isn't that sad? I suppose worrying about financing is just like being a mom and worrying about your kids ... which leads rather nicely into my next topic if you can read the journaling on this layout:



I know that I just finished talking about saving, but this is something that I don't do much of either ... buying things for myself. I've been wearing the same winter coat since the late 90's, and the only spring coat I own is one that my mom gave me last summer that she'd purchased while working on embroidery stuff. So, there is an upcoming challenge about scrapping about something you learned today ... and I scrapped about how sometimes a mom just has to take care of herself. :)

Thanks for reading my babbling!
~Melinda