New Years Eve

Happy New Year's Eve everyone. The ball just dropped and I'm still awake! Yay!

Be on the look out for Project 365 which begins tomorrow. I have no clue what I will start with. I've been thinking about different things I want to take pictures of on my drives to Madison. Well it's easy some times when I think about it, but when I am only taking one picture a day for this project, I suspect to see some challenges on deciding.

Check back tomorrow and see what the beginning holds!

2009 is coming....

Soon it will be 2009, which means changes and New Year's resolutions will be set for most people. Like most people, I have several things I will be working on. One of which will be to lose weight. Mike and I have been shopping for a treadmill to buy. I think we found one that also has high reviews. Hopefully we'll get one soon. My second goal is to start my Project 365 on January 1st. I have been trying to decide if I want to include that project on this blog or if I wanted to open a new blog site. I think to make things simpler for the people who follow this blog, I will do my Project 365 on this one. There will be a new picture for each day along with a blogged comment about the picture. I'm excited to start this and hope to be able to find a unique picture each day that does not include my children.

I cannot believe the weekend is gone already. A 5 day weekend was certainly enjoyable, but I am very glad Christmas is over. I have an intense 3 day work week ahead followed by a 5 day weekend.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

The kids in front of the fireplace at grandpa

and grandma's house.

Messing around with black and white. I love how Devin

is smiling and looking at Jayden. Cute.

My three nieces. Jordin, Kayly, and Rianna.

Jayden was cheesin it up for the camera.

These three were ready for their pictures

to be taken. The others were yet to be found.

Jayden trying out grandpa's reading glasses

with the help of Auntie Vicki.

Good picture of Shawndra.

Dalton

I have to admit. I think I will be very glad when the holidays are over. It's such a stressful time of year and I hate looking at myself in pictures. I think I vow to never be this heavy again.

New Camera

So we went to Sioux Falls today and took the kids to the dentist. No one has cavities. Jayden is a very delayed in getting his teeth. They will do x-rays next time (6 months) to see if he has those teeth or not. The dentist said it is not uncommon to be delayed in getting teeth especially with everything that has gone wrong with him medically.

On to the fun stuff. For my graduation present, I got a new camera. It's a huge step up from what I previously had. There are actually different lenses to put on it. The pictures it takes are awesome! Here are a few of my first shots tonight. Even since I've downloaded them, I've gotten some even better shots. I'm so excited!

Yes, red eyes, but look at how clear it is!

What a smile!

Dentist Appointments Tomorrow

We're headed to Sioux Falls tomorrow for dentist appointments for all six kids. I actually have to work from 6am-10am in Madison, so I plan to meet up with Mike and the kids at the Madison exit. I hope the dentist can give us some insight on why Jayden isn't getting any teeth right now. It's cute, don't get me wrong, but he should have more than just the two on top and the two on the bottom.

I turned in a naked baby weight to the Feeding Clinic team and he has gained 14 oz! Go Jayden! He gained that in a month. They were very happy to see a good gain. We'll continue to update them with weights monthly until March when he has an Upper GI done and then a following appointment with the surgeon. Hopefully the Mic-Key button will come out in the spring!

1 year ago today, Jayden got his first haircut. No, I didn't actually remember that, but I stumbled upon a couple of pictures of him getting it. Here they are. 1 year ago.

Tired of the Snow

I really shouldn't be complaining because I'm sure it could be worse, but I am so sick of the snow, the wind, and the cold. Not to mention when it is yucky weather like this, I don't see my husband because he's working. I went to work this morning knowing there could be a few flurries, but after 3" I was questioning the weather. Now I'm coming down with a cold or something. I just hope I can get rid of it by Christmas.

Mike has added a new mark to his head. That shouldn't surprise some of you because many of us know how uncoordinated he can be when he's on snow and ice. Let me tell you, he's sitting here laughing as I type this. Yesterday he tells the guys he works with that I'm not going to be happy with him. Well he was messing with a chain and it came unhooked causing the hook to hit him smack in the middle of his forehead. I'm always giving him a bad time because he's either bumping his head, cutting himself, or falling on the ice. Haha. Anyhow, now he's got a big bump and a cut that is going to leave a nasty scar. His reply, "At least I waited until after your graduation." That's my husband.

Merry Christmas Mike

Mike has been requesting a heated driveway for Christmas, but I ran into one problem, I wasn't quite sure how to pull that one off. Then he changed his mind and said he wanted a snowblower. I figured I could do that. Needless to say, Jayden and I went shopping today and surprised him! Here he is, hard at work....

Gotta love the piles the city leaves for us at the end of the driveway.

I should mention that I shoveled half the driveway today because I was afraid I would get stuck. I got out the first time, then had to leave again and got stuck. Thank goodness there was a WONDERFUL man from NorthWestern Energy that donated 15 minutes of his time helping me get out. I seriously cannot thank that man enough for helping. I had already tried shoveling myself out and wasn't getting anywhere and was actually trying to get to Jayden's doctor appointment. We were late, but at least we got there!

Graduation!!

The day started out at the Frost Arena at 9am. I found my way to the bleachers where we had assigned seating. A few friends were near by, but not directly beside me. I found myself waiting with anticipation as I wondered who would be next to me. I watched the arena fill up quickly. Before too long a guy came and plopped down beside me and announced, "I'm f#*king drunk. Yep, I'm hammered." So you can about imagine how impressed I was with this. He had the worst smell, he hadn't gone to bed and he kept falling asleep during the ceremony. It was ridiculous. And yes, this is who I got to sit by for the next 3 hours. Other than that, graduation went really well. I found myself getting nervous when my side started going to the stage. Everyone else around me was also nervous. It happened so quick. I handed my card to the dean, she announced my name (pronouncing it incorrectly), I shook hands with the president with my right hand, took my diploma with my left hand, flipped my tassle to the left, and headed off the stage. Right away you get your pictures snapped, then around the corner, they take it again in front of the flag. Then we headed back into the arena to sit.

Leave it to me, to be a dork! :-)

All 8 of us sharing the moment.

Yep, that's my mom. She's so weird! Maybe that's where
I get it from??

Awww look, a good picture of us.

My wonderful husband who took care of

the kids during the ceremony!

Graduation Tomorrow

Here it is, the day I have worked so hard for. Graduation is tomorrow at 10am. I cannot believe it! I'm actually nervous. I don't know what to do, where to go, or how to wear my cap, gown, ropes, tassle. There's no practice. But I DID IT!! A non-traditional student who was a single mom for 4 1/2 of the 5 year journey. What an accomplishment.

Birthdays, Graduation

We've been busy around here. Shawndra and Devin celebrated birthday's over the weekend. Mike turned another year older yesterday. I meant to put up a cute picture of him, but seemed to have run out of time.

Take a peek at the Pray For Kayleigh button to the right. This little baby has been beating all the odds stacked against her. She was born at 28 weeks, weighing 1 lb 1 oz.. She is currently over 5 months old and still in the hospital. Their parents have an amazing blog full of pictures of their journey and faith since the beginning. Pray for Kayleigh!

Graduation is on Saturday. I cannot believe the day is almost here. It still seems a bit unreal. In fact, it seems so unreal that my cap and gown are still in the bag. I suppose I should get them out so they aren't wrinkled!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

Shawndra and Devin!

Update

It is not a pulmonary embolism. Thank GOD for that! Basically I managed to rack up a ton of medical bills today to end up back at square one. I still can't breath well. To explain better, my breathing is fairly good at a normal rate, but when I try to take a deep breath, I can't get it to go into my lungs. I also get winded really easily when talking (haha) and end up trying to take more deep breaths, which don't go in half the time. The doctor has put me on a new medicine, which will hopefully give me relief in a couple of days. I hope so. He is also thinking stress and anxiety is playing a part in this. NO WAY?! 2 jobs, school, kids, what's so stressfull about that? LOL! :-)

I planned on going in to work at 6am the rest of the week, but after looking outside right now realize I probably won't be traveling quite that early tomorrow. Bummer.

Graduation is the 13th! YAY!

5 1/2 Hours and More to Come

I have spent 5 ½ hours at the clinic and hospital today. I go back at 3pm. I cannot breathe. I cannot catch my breath or take deep breaths. I cannot get the air to go into my lungs. They did a chest x-ray and lab work. That looked good. Mind you, the lab poked me 3 times to draw blood. Then I went to pulmonary for an asthma test, which about made me pass out from blowing. Then we took a treatment and blew some more. My rate of exhaling was improved by 63%, but didn’t fix my breathing. The doc decided to do a CAT scan. Back to lab I went to be poked again. Then I went to the hospital for the CAT scan. After the lady heard the clinic had a hard time with blood she called in an ER nurse to put in the IV. Well, the first time he hit a valve, the second time he blew through the vein and the third time on another arm he hit a valve again. After this they called in anesthesia to do the IV. He tried, but couldn’t get the IV threaded. He went to get an ultrasound machine to try to find a vessel that would be big enough for the amount of dye to be administered at that rate of speed. He tried again. No luck. In the meantime, the doctor was on the phone with my doctor to discuss plan B. This is another nuclear medicine study that will have me breath in the radioactive fluid, like scuba diving without the water, and then they will administer the IV through a smaller IV, which they say they can do. The isotope they needed was not in Brookings, but in Sioux Falls, so they have someone getting it now. I go back at 3pm for this scan. My arms are bruised and sore from trying an IV 5 times. Oh by the way, they are looking for a pulmonary embolism, otherwise known as a blood clot in my lungs.