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.

So Pretty

Do you suppose they'll appreciate these pictures when they are 16?

Yes, he's pretty. He loves to wear headbands!

Fake Money Scam

While I was working on Friday night, we had fake $100 bills come through. It was amazing to me that the cashiers didn't catch how fake they felt. To their benefit, they did pass the marker test, but the actual "feel" of them was so thick and smooth. They even had the security line and watermark on them. Managment went through the videos and seemed slightly sure of who did it. Well the next day, a member of management seen these two guys come in wearing the EXACT same clothes! They strolled through the store with management discreetly on their tail and the cops waiting at the door. From what I heard, at one point they thought they were being followed and ditched their cart, but went to pay for just a few items. Just as soon as they paid, the cops pounced on them and handcuffed them. They were from Guatamala. How dumb can a person be to go back to the same store in the exact same clothes, one day later, and pay for merchandise with additional fake money!!

Now today, we found a fake $20 bill. This one is missing the watermark and the security strip and also has some cheap looking purple on the bill.

Tis the season......

Videos, why?

Good Morning! Why is it I can not get videos to upload on blogger? I tried months ago and now I tried again the other night. I wait for over 2 hours for a simple 30 second video to upload and it never does. I don't think blogger should give you the option of posting a video if they can't support it. Ok, I'll get off my box now.

I have OFFICIALLY 3 classes left and I GRADUATE! December 13th is right around the corner and I will be the first in my family to actually graduate with a degree!! Neither of my parents went to college, so it's a huge accomplishment for me. Not only that, but I did all but ONE semester as a single mom and a non-traditional student! Even as I type, reality hasn't sunk in. I need to buy my cap and gown. Maybe that will help.

Well, I'm off to work for the next 14 hours. Oh the joy of having two jobs......

Today's Appointment

We did not get the news we hoped for, but I guess I'm ok with it. Dr. Karl doesn't usually remove G-tubes in the fall or winter because that's when children are the sickest. He tends to be an overly cautious man, but I can respect him for it. He wants to leave the tube in for two reasons. One, if Jayden is sick and refusing to eat, we can still get fluids into him through the tube. Secondly, Jayden's weight to length is on a downward trend on the curve charts. Jayden used to be in the 50th percentile, now he is in the 10th. He gained weight, but a very small amount. The feeding team claims he's getting enough caloric intake through what he takes daily, but would like to see him take in more calories through food instead of "milk". We will also start transitioning him from Pediasure all of the time to some whole milk once a day. We need to continue to offer him a variety of foods, not just the foods we know he will eat. I feel we do this already. When we make supper, we don't make Jayden special foods. He's served what we eat. We're hoping Jayden continues to gain weight, otherwise we will have to resort back to the feeding pump at night for additional calories.

They also said he's delayed in speech and recommend speech therapy. He already receives Occupational Therapy, but will start receiving Speech too.

We will continue to take him to the doctor once a month for the next 4 months getting a weight check. Around February or March, we will make see Dr. Karl again, do a repeat Upper GI and then talk about removing the button, assuming he's gained adequate weight.

Feeding Clinic Today

We're headed to feeding clinic today in Sioux Falls. I have high hopes that Dr. Karl will give us a date for surgery to remove his Mic-Key button. I will update later!

Sick Jayden

Jayden has been sick for well over a week, running a fever for 5 days, throwing up off and on. He slept all day yesterday. Mike took him to the doctor yesterday and he has ear infection and sinus infection. We attempted daycare today. That didnt' work so good. He layed on the couch all morning, tried eating lunch, and then threw up again today. I just fed him a banana and he devoured it, so hopefully he can keep that down. His ear is draining a really thick goopy green stuff, so the infection must be coming out. Poor little man, I hope he gets better soon. He's just not himself.

Icy Day and a Steep Driveway

Have I mentioned I love my house? I love having a garage to park my car in! I love that our street is finished and there is no more drop off or muddy mess at the end of my driveway. However, I've decided as of today, that I do not like my steep driveway when it's icy. I learned today that even having breaks on and "thinking" you are stopped, doesn't mean you will stay in one place on the driveway. Yep, that's right. Backed out of the garage today, nice and slow, reached up to push the garage door opener to shut the garage, when I had the weird feeling I was moving. The pine tree next to me was moving, but that just wasn't possible. At that moment, I realized I was sliding down my driveway. I frantically looked both directions hoping and praying there were no vehicles coming because I obviously wasn't able to stop. Thank goodness there was no traffic, no children, no garbage cans, no mailboxes....just me, entering our road SIDEWAYS after sliding down the driveway. Let me tell you, it's a feeling of NO control. The amazing thing? I actually got back UP the driveway when I came home. Ok, it took several attempts and I had to gun it across the street, but I made it. My car is safely parked in the garage, basking in the heat, and thankful for a safe trip home.

Now the ice stories don't stop there. I cruised down HWY 14 at 40 MPH until I realized it was just wet in the driving lane. There was no way I was going into the passenger lane. That looked nasty! I run my errands, go to the chiropracter, and then head to Wal-Mart. I thought Wal-Mart had some GREAT front row parking spots. So I parked, opened my door, and stuck my foot in 6 inch deep water. No wonder these great spots were open...they were FLOODED! So I back out, and move to the other side of that row. Nice spot, it's dry, looks good. I get out and at the same moment I am doing the splits getting out of my car I realize I'm on really thin slippery ice.

I should also mention that dragging two very full 30 gallon garbage cans across the lawn is a joy too. Crunch, crunch, through the snow/ice. I get to the boulevard and realize once again that I am sliding on my lawn/dirt. I jump to the rocks. Bad mistake, those were worse than the lawn. I'm sure I looked absolutely silly. At least I didn't fall....

Graduation is Coming!

I'm so excited! Graduation is coming up fast! The ceremony is on December 13th and begins at 10am. It sounds like the ceremony should take less than two hours. I had mixed feelings of whether I wanted to participate in the ceremony or not and I have decided I think it would be fun to walk through. It's also a way to put closure to my college education.

34 days to go! Can anyone tell I'm excited???? :-)

I should mention on a totally different note that Jayden is now sick. He threw up last night in his crib several times which led to a bath at midnight. This morning he has a fever, but is in good spirits and playing. Mike and I both thought what "good" timing for this to happen. We just happened to not have daycare today, so it was a way for us to be home with him. Tomorrow is a holiday, so we'll be home then too.

I best shower and get cleaned up. Have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Joseph!

Joseph celebrated his "Golden Birthday" yesterday by turning 8 years old! I cannot believe how fast the kids are growing up! I tried telling him he was 6, but he kept insisting he was 8 (with a smile). Silly Val.

Here is his cake. It was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. YUM!
Joseph posing so nicely. He was so tense holding that cake.
I think he was worried he couldn't hold it or it would slide. I knew it was ok.
Boy, we better be careful. Looks like that cake could catch fire!
After singing Happy Birthday, he blew out the candles.

I wonder what he wished for?

Joseph says, "Is there cake on the bottom?"

Val says, "Yep, the whole cake is ice cream."

Joseph says, "Oh no wonder it tastes like ice cream."

Devin loved ice cream cake. Well everyone did for that matter.

Shaylee showing how cute she is with ice cream on

her lips. Silly girl.

Shawndra doesn't look too thrilled.
Jayden LOVED ice cream cake.

Everyone was done eating and he still sat

at the table to finish his. I tried cleaning him up

so we could open presents, but he shook his head

and kept on eating. I should know beter than to

take ice cream away from a "pre-toddler".

Can you tell he enjoyed it?

Halloween 2008

So Halloween has come and gone again, and I am late at posting pictures. But I figure it's never too late to share, right?! We chose to do Halloween on a budget this year instead of wasting money on costumes that would only be worn once. Needless to say, we had 3 girls that got new pajamas and went as "pajama girls", although the oldest two figured they were "animals". You can see why in the pictures! The other three were either used in previous years or were bought on sale at Planet Kydz. Yay for consignment stores! Enjoy the pictures!

Some Fun Pictures

Shaylee took a bunch of pictures yesterday using my camera. She took some amazing pictures, too. So I decided to take a few pictures of the kids who were outside.

This one was beyond funny. Shaylee did not want to crawl into the leaves because she freaks out over lady bugs. I got her in there....barely.
Jayden taking a pose in a tree. He usually doesn't cooperate. Today he did!
This is one of Shaylee's pictures. She was taking pictures of Devin and the cat walked by and heard the lens moving. Right where she stopped is when the picture was taken. I love it.
This is another one Shaylee took. Jayden looks like he's really telling Devin a story!

Hobos Get Physical 2008

The kids turned for a quick shot at the parade.

Jayden and I hanging out watching the parade.
Jayden was intrigued with the rocks and sand and spilling his milk. Then he caught glimpse of a lady bug friend and tried to pick it up. Well, the lady bug friend walked right onto his finger. I thought for sure he would freak, but he didn't. He's definitely a boy! The picture is a bit blurry, but you can see his friend on his finger.
Auntie Vicki and Jayden
Yep, there's us...with another self portrait.
Jayden watching the band.
Burrrrr, trying to stay warm!
Mike and Vicki. No she wasn't listening to music...it was used to keep the wind out of her ears.
My niece, Rianna. Isn't she cute!
My other niece, Jordin. She's cute too!!

Curve Ball

Life threw a curveball in my direction last night. It totally took me by surprise and upset me to no end. Apparently when my pre-grad check was done, it was done Birth-8. Well, I'm B-5. So my advisor sent it in again, told me the classes to take, and I registered. Well 5 weeks into my final semester I find out I need a 320 hour practicum! Basically I can't graduate in December. We've petitioned the school and it's now sitting in financial aid awaiting approval. Assuming they approve it, I will be able to do this practicum at my job. It's just more work to pile onto my already over flowing plate. I was so mad. Looks like I have to write journal a journal each day about my day and I also have to read 10 journals and reflect on them. I can't even find the time to do the readings for my classes I'm already taking. UGH. Well what's another piece of stress to add to the rest of the year. I keep telling myself only two more months and I'm done. DONE. Just work and family. No homework, no papers. If only it could be done with the snap of my fingers.