Health Happenings..

Update: After I posted this earlier, we found out Doug has been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to go get a stat X-ray on his colon, more details will come from the doctor once it is read . We now need to change his diet and most likely go ahead and change all of ours, to gluten free. I know our grocery store carries gluten free items and am going to try and set up a tour to find all of the items that they have, so that I do not have to search when I go grocery shopping. We are asking for guidance from the Lord and we are glad we finally know for sure the self diagnosis we made earlier. It is a relief to know something for sure and how we can handle and take care of it now.

For those of you who know and those who do not, here is an update on Doug's back and shoulder. If you remember, back in January he fell at work and hurt his back and shoulder and getting hurt at work, well can be a hassle to say the least. Why? Well you have to deal with worker's compensation insurance and not your own health insurance, which would have solved everything by now. Back to treatment, at first they thought is was a pulled muscle and said it would heal on it's own, wrong. All the while, he has been hurting and nothing really being accomplished, let's just say when it comes to a company's insurance paying for something, they deny, deny and deny more until you take them to court. That's right court. So, finally a judge court ordered treatment for his back, in May, that's right nearly four months later, all the while he is at home hurting. He has a 3/4 inch tear in a ligament in his lower back, which will eventually heal on it's own, we hope. They tried physical therapy to help with the muscles around it but that just made it hurt worse. So now, this Tuesday, I will be taking him to the orthopedic specialist to get a shot in his back, right in the ligament to see if this helps. They have approved three shots, how kind of the insurance company. The lawyers will also be meeting on Tuesday to try and decide what they will do for his shoulder, a torn rotator cuff, that's right they are fighting against treating that as well and here we are six months later, with nothing accomplished. Doug is a trooper, he has been back to work under doctor's order for a month now, although he is hurting, he loves his job and his family and we truly appreciate him and love him very much. So, please keep him in your prayers and we hope that these treatments work and he stops hurting.

Praying for Stellan

Many of you know MckMama and the story of Stellan. I hope that you will lift their family up in prayer, Stellan has been going through a rough few days and his little body is fighting hard to keep up. The last I read is that they will be airlifting him to Boston. Please keep him and his family in your thought and prayers.

Consequences

Do you give your children consequences if they do not listen? My boys are great and they do really well but every now and then we have our moments to where the draw for them is to strong and they forget what they should be doing. Take today for example. We go to FedEx Kinko's to ship a diaper cake and before we even get out of the car I tell them to listen while we are in there and afterwards we will go to Jamba Juice if and only if they mind. When you walk in the draw must be too strong because they immediately see candy and packing peanuts. Eli proceeds to toss up a bag of peanuts after repeated requests to please stop and Nic is drawn to the candy and decides he can't hold back and opens the Mentos. I told them both since they didn't listen we would not be going next door but instead go home. After I paid for the Mentos, I heard the girl at FedEx sort of giggle as we were walking to the door and hearing me telling the boys this. Either she thought they were cute or she was wondering if I was going to follow through with what I told them. The boys did not like that I started putting them in the car and into their car seats, all the while saying, "Mommy we will listen." I tell them both they should have listened while they were in the store and we proceed to head home. Both were very unhappy and wined the whole way home. But once home, calmed down, eating lunch and talking they realized they should have stayed beside me and they would have gotten a juice drink. So what do you do when your kiddos do not follow through, continue on and ignore or follow through with the consequence?

* I found this cartoon and just thought it was too hilarious *

Busy Week

We have had a busy week around here. I received quite a few orders, I need to ship one out, we delivered one and will deliver a few more in the next couple of weeks for baby showers. Doug was off on Thursday, so we made a delivery and then went and ate dinner at El Chico's @ Promenade. Nic and I went to get cookies at Great American Cookie and Doug and Eli went off looking for NASCAR shirts, they didn't have any luck though. We then heading over to Michael's for more ribbon and decided to go out to Utica Square to meet his mom and aunt and listen to the music. If you haven't been you should, it was great and the weather was perfect, the boys had a blast as well. Doug, being the sweet husband he is brings me a mocha frappuccino from Starbucks @ 7 o'clock in the evening and of course me and my will power couldn't hold back, I was up until at least two in the morning. Friday we relaxed in the morning and the boys and I were off on an adventure to Target and then the grocery store. Who knew cherries were so darn expensive? And then this morning, Eli was signed up to play soccer and he is so excited! Poor Nic doesn't understand he isn't old enough yet, he keeps thinking he is going to play as well. After sign-up the boys and I headed down to Tulsa to meet my mother-in-law at An Affair of the Heart. My very first time ever going, we thought about getting a booth and we will most likely next year. We have had a great week. I haven't taken any pictures recently and I need to save all my picture to a CD so that I can erase the ones on my Sandisk, there is nearly 500 on there. In other news, Doug and I came up with an idea the other night and we are trying to figure out ways to implement it. We think it will be a great service to our church and community. I need to get back to work, until next time.

Aging and hair color

Call it genetics, environmental factors or just aging but I hate it. For the last couple of years I have been getting white hairs, not gray but white. Not a lot of them, just a few and enough to annoy you but I also go about pulling them out with tweezers. Doug at first thought it was funny and now he sees me checking my hair often to see if those pesky stinkers are back. My hair is auburn and it is not like it is noticeable to everyone else, it is to me. Being twenty-nine, I didn't expect to have white hair this early in my life. So now I deal with it the way I know how until some other way comes along.

Recalls on baby items to pass on...

Here are just a couple of recalls that I received via email from the consumer product safety commission on some items you or someone you know might be using.

The first is for the Aqua-Leisure Industries, they are recalling their inflatable baby floats due to drowing hazards. The recall can be found here. If you have any of these items please call for your refund.

Sold at: Juvenile product and mass merchandise retailers nationwide, including Target, Toys “R” Us, Wal-Mart, Dollar General, Kmart, Walgreens, Ace Hardware, and Bed, Bath & Beyond from December 2002 through June 2009 for between $8 and $15.

The second is Kolcraft. Which produces these: Kolcraft, Carter’s, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bear and Eric Carle Play Yards. The recall information can be found here. They advise people to stop using them and call Kolcraft for a free repair kit.

Sold at: Babies R Us, Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Target and other stores nationwide and Internet retailers from January 2000 through January 2009 for between $50 and $160.

Just a few tidbits that I thought you might like to know.

4th of July

Our 4th started out quite rainy just like everyone else around Oklahoma. It wasn't looking very promising to watch fireworks, but eventually the sky begin to clear and we decided we were going to Mimi & Papa's. Eli's quote of the day while we were sitting at the stop light, "Looks like we are going to Mimi & Papa's to watch fireworks after all." That boy loves watching fireworks Nic on the other hand not so much. We arrive in Tulsa and meet Doug after he gets off work then head over to his parents for some great grilling. The food was delicious and we head out to the backyard and set up the boys pool and bounce or castle as they call it. They splashed and bounced for a good 1 1/2 then dessert was strawberry pie and a patriotic trifle, absolutely delicious! The boys were off again to play and bounce for another 30-45 minutes before we got them dressed and headed down the street to the neighborhood bounce that was set up. We played down there for a bit and back to Mimi and Papa's before the neighborhood fireworks show started. We had a ball and it was a really long night, the boys crashed as soon as we got home. Can't wait until next year!!!

Blue Bell's "Taste of Summer"

The above pictures are from the weekend before the 4th of July. The last weekend in June is Blue Bell's "Taste of Summer" and this is our second year to go. We had an absolute ball although it was 100 outside and it was morning and earlier afternoon. After arriving we immediately ate ice cream and then headed over to get hot dogs for lunch. We went through at least eight bottles of water while there. When lunch was done we headed over to bounce, at least the boys did mom, dad and mimi roasted in the sun. The boys enjoyed three bounce houses and then more ice cream. We made our way around and the boys managed to find a fire hydrant the firefighters had turned on. They were soaked and loving every minute of it. No I did not have a change of clothes and they rode home like that but it was so hot they didn't notice. After playing in the water we went of to the putting greens and took our turn, then off to tour the facility and home we went. We had a blast and you can bet we will be back next year!