4 Months

Wowzers.  Almost 4 months since my last blog post.  I have LOTS of catching up to do.  Life has been busy.  All the boys started school over 2 months ago.  Some time I must have thought that I might get a little "bored" just having Emily home during the days with me.  I am used to having to entertain Drew and with him starting Kindergarten I thought I would have large gaps of my day open.

I was wrong.  My days are busier than ever.  And not just because I am chasing a very rambunctious, precocious, curious, independent, busy, almost 2 but going on 6 little girl around all day.  Emily is a full time job for sure!  But when I thought I might be "bored" with the kids going back to school I apparently signed up for all sorts of school related tasks.

Will and I are on the Junior After Prom committee.  Yes, Jake is a Junior which is extremely hard to believe.  We have been attending monthly meetings and helping organize and work fundraisers.  I am also the treasurer so I keep track of all the money and write checks. 

I got a call from the elementary school principle saying my name had been mentioned as a good candidate to have on the SIAC.  SIAC stands for School Improvement Advisory Committee.  Meetings are held only 3-4 times a year and topics include student enrollment, budget, program studies, and school improvement goals.I have yet to attend a meeting but it should be interesting. 

2 weeks ago I got a letter home from Drew's class giving a list of the homeroom parent and parent helpers.  I was surprised to see that my name was listed as the homeroom parent.  Apparently I forgot that I must have offered to do that when I signed the kids up for school.  So now I am planning all the school parties and teacher appreciation week.  

The first couple months of school have been busy with sports and band.  Jake played on both the JV and varsity team for football.  This meant games every week on both Monday and Friday nights.  Tony joined marching band and this required very early morning practices and some evenings.  His Saturdays have been filled with traveling to different schools for competitions. 

Brodie and Drew played 2 weeks of flag football.  Will signed up as a helper which turned into him being the head coach and planning all the practices.  Practice was held on Tuesday and Thursday nights with one scrimmage on a Saturday morning. 

All that is over now.  Jake played his last football game last night and marching band is over for Tony.  Next up is basketball for Jake.  He gets a week off before practice begins for that.  Tony will still have band practice but no early morning marching band (yay for a little more sleep!)  Brodie and Drew have the winter off and will start baseball in March.

So, there you have it.  A quick recap of just some of what has been going on.  I'll save my gardening, birthdays and all that other fun stuff for another post. 

Oh what?  You wanted a picture?  Ok, here ya go.  Our little cowgirl.

Update

I am 3 and 1/2 days out from my foot surgery.  I am feeling somewhat better tonight except for an occasional shooting pain and some insane bouts of itching.  Since Will had to go back to work on Wednesday my father-in-law offered to come down and help me with the kids.  So from Wednesday morning until tonight he has stayed with us and has managed the house and kids during the day so that I could sit in the recliner with my foot elevated.  I know, amazing guy right?  Thanks to him I have a great start on my healing process.  So thanks Joel for taking care of me and the kids all week!!

If I can be patient and spend the next couple days just sitting and icing and elevating I think I will be feeling much better by the first of the week.  This would be good because the next couple weeks are going to be really busy with baseball games, track meets, appointments and end of the school year activities.

I am not sure yet how I will manage the no driving situation.  I am hoping when I see my doctor on the 7th that we can discuss a plan to let me drive a bit.  I am thinking if I wear my surgical shoe instead of the boot then maybe I can drive??  I guess we will see.  For now, I spend the next 10 days in the passenger seat...sigh...

Anyway I am feeling very lucky tonight to have such an amazing family.  Thanks to everyone who has helped the last couple days.  I feel very loved and I hope you know how much I love all of you.

Doctor Update

We went to the liver specialist today for Will. He had some liver enzymes and some other lab work come back abnormal. His liver ultrasound showed a fatty liver and we were referred to a doctor who specializes in liver disorders.

We saw a Nurse Practitioner and she was absolutely awesome! She spent almost an hour talking with us. She is pretty sure that Will does not have hemachomatosis. She is not 100%. The only way to absolutely know is to have a liver biopsy. She does not want to rush into this just yet.

Our plan is to wait 3 months and then we will have his labs drawn again. If the levels are the same or have increased we will then discuss the biopsy as well as some other genetic disorders. I am happy with this plan. I am glad they don't feel like it is a big rush to stick a needle in his tummy.

As for the fatty liver, she said that is reversible if he makes some changes. The goals we have are to lose 10 lbs in the next 3 months, cut his pop intake by at least half or even completely remove it. He also needs to start exercising. If he can do all these things it may prevent the liver from getting worse.

He is to continue to eat a dairy/gluten free diet. That has really made a huge difference for him. He is to have absolutely no alcohol.

We have another appointment in 3 months and we will reevaluate at that time. I feel so much better after visiting with her today. We now have a plan and a path to follow. I am very grateful.

Remember that cake I said I made for Will's cousins wedding shower? Here is a picture of it. I found the idea on Pinterst and tweaked it a bit. I think it turned out ok. Not very smooth which I wanted but not sure how to achieve that. The future bride and groom were happy so that is all that matters.

I have a little anxiety right now. This morning I had my pre-op physical. I am suppose to have foot surgery next week which I am really dreading. 6 weeks in a post op boot is just going to plain suck.

We see the liver specialists tomorrow for Will. I have a whole list of questions ready to ask. I will be glad once that apt is over and we hopefully have a path to follow.

The kids have been sick. Surprise. Drew has a sinus and ear infection. Emily's eyes are goopy and nasty and her nose is constantly draining. Jake is catching it now and has a really bad cough and sinus pressure, Brodie is complaining of a sore throat. Sigh...

On a happier note I got my peas in the garden last week. I planted regular pod peas and also some sugar snap peas. This weekend I am going to try and get my spinach, carrots and lettuce planted. Not sure how the garden will hold up while I am up with my foot. Guess we will just have to see how all that plays out.

Weekend

We've had another good but busy weekend. Saturday we traveled to southwest Iowa to attend a family wedding shower for Will's cousin. It was fun seeing everyone there. I was asked to make the cake. I always get nervous when someone asks me to make a cake for an event because I usually just decorate cakes for my kids birthdays. I got a new pan for Christmas from my SIL and it worked awesome. The cake turned out pretty good. I will post a picture of it once I get my camera charged.

Today we have gotten some work done around the house. It was in bad shape. We all worked together and we spent the morning cleaning and getting things put away. I feel good starting the week with a clean home. Let's hope we can keep it this way for a bit. Right now I am sitting at the library with Jake while Tony is in a 4H meeting. Will is with the 3 younger kids. They were all going to go fishing. I am excited to hear how that all went.

I am not looking forward to the weekend being over. The week ahead is looking to be a very busy one. Will is swamped at work and feeling slightly overwhelmed. He has to do some training from home which requires him to be on the phone and have it quiet. I am just hoping the weather will be nice so that we can spend a lot of time outside so we don't bother him.

Jake has track meets on Monday and Thursday nights this week. Thursday is going to be crazy because we have our first T-ball game that evening. On top of that Will has his appointment with the liver specialist that day. I am really, really looking forward to that visit.

Frustrations

I was really relieved when I got a phone call on Friday from the liver specialist office. I was quite impressed that they were able to get Will in on Monday afternoon. Thank goodness because I had a whole notebook page full of questions for the doc. I have been so freaked out wondering what exactly is wrong with my husband.

Monday rolled around and I had arranged care for Emily and my father was going to pick up Drew from preschool. I met Will out in West Des Moines at the specialist office. I think we were both looking forward to the apt. When we got inside the front desk lady said "oh I tried to call you. Unfortunately they scheduled you with the wrong person so we will need to reschedule." I was furious. I was nice but I made it clear that I was not happy.

So here we wait. I have no idea when the apt will be. So completely frustrating.

In the meantime my Podiatrist office called today and scheduled my foot surgery 2 weeks from today. I am kind of up in the air with what to do. I really want to wait until we have all of Will's stuff figured out. If he ends up getting a liver biopsy I will need to care for him for at least 24 hours. That will be tough if I too have to stay off of my feet.

For now I am going to keep the surgery date. Hopefully we will get in and have all the testing we need done for William in the next couple weeks. Crossing fingers.

Our Medical Drama

So we have had a run of bad luck with illness and just plain medical drama in our our house. January brought us a couple trips to the ER. Jake with his pill that got stuck in his throat requiring him to have a scope to check things out. Brodie had a severe ear infection.

The kids have all been plagued with allergy symptoms the last couple weeks. Yucky noses, cough, sore throats. Of course there is still all the drama with my unhealed foot which I am still waiting for a second surgery date on.

Through it all though my dear husband has been healthy. He is the one in the family with no medical drama. He has been silently dealing with some stomach issues. Mainly the problem was when he ate greasy food. It has progressed to include every time he ate he was getting sick. Even when I was making bland meals he was having issues.

I know that gluten intolerance is the big thing right now. Lots of people are going "glutn free" for many different reasons. It overall is a healthy diet. I started reserching the signs and symptoms of gluten allergies. My husband was fitting most of these symptoms. Finally having enough of feeling sick he requested that I make him an apt to be checked to see why all foods now were making him sick.

We went in to our family physician mainly wanting to be tested for Celiac disease. While we were there she decided to run some other lab tests. The Celiac labs all came back negative. That was good news. We still think he is gluten intolerant or sensitive. We have switched him to a gluten free diet and it has made a huge difference. We also think he may be lactose intolerant. After removing all milk products with the exception of hard cheese he is doing better.

While the Celiac labs came back good he had some other labs that were concerning. His liver enzymes were elevated as were his red blood cell counts. This lead us to an ultrasound of his liver and gallbladder. We had this done yesterday. It showed that he has a fatty liver. No lesions or cirrhosis yet so that is good. He also had some additional lab work done to try and pin point why his red blood cell count was high.

His one blood test came back very abnormal and now our next step is to see a liver specialists. We are waiting to see when that apt is.

It has been a whirlwind week for me. It's been difficult thinking that my husband could be sick since he has always been the healthy one in the family. He is my rock and I need to keep him healthy. For now we will stick with our gluten and lactose free diet for him. We will know what path we need to take once we meet with the liver doctor.

Update

I feel like this is the title to most of my blog posts on here lately. I have sat down numerous times to update on what has been happening in our life. If not for you than at least for myself since this is where I was hoping to journal about what has been going on.

The weather has been beautiful! Everything is in bloom. I walked around the yard the other day and snapped pictures of all the things that are growing. We have had strange weather for Spring. Things are starting to get back to normal with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s but we have been dealing with 70s and 80s the last few weeks. It has been great both physically and emotionally to spend so much time outside. I love the outdoors and so do all of the kids.

Here is what has been going on the last month or so.

My husband made us breakfast on St. Patrick's Day morning. He had all the kids dressed in green and breakfast going before I was even out of bed. Here is what he served.The kids were super excited!

Once St. Patricks Day was over, Drew and Brodie helped me take down all the decorations and replace them with Easter decorations. We made new artwork to hang on the wall in the living room. Tony helped out with this project as well. This is actually pretty large. I should have had the kids stand by it for reference. We have gotten lots of work done outside. The garden has been cleaned out and is ready to be tilled. I am anxiously waiting to plant.Emily has learned to climb and decided that it is her new favorite thing to do. We have found her many times on top of the kitchen table as well as numerous other places. I can't leave out the chickens. They are all doing well and have enjoyed being out in this great weather too. Along with the 9 adults, we just added 4 new baby chicks. I will share more about them later. Jake is busy with track, Tony is busy with marching band practices, Brodie and Drew are busy with T-ball. Spring is going to just fly by and before we know it, summer will be here.

Well Hello...

It's obviously been a struggle to keep up with this blog. I have good intentions. Every night I feel like I want to get on and write something and then I don't. Life has been busy. Very busy.

We survived Spring Break. We didn't do a whole lot. The weather was rainy most of the week. Jake was in and out with his friends almost every day. The younger 3 boys did well playing with each other. Emily was happy just to have everyone home and follow them around.

We ended the week with a trip to Nebraska to visit some of our dear friends. We had a really great time and the weather was perfect. Everyone is back to work and school now. My afternoons are quiet (when the baby sleeps that is). I always struggle during the afternoons when it is quiet. Do I nap? Do housework? Have computer time? Work on my never ending to-do list? If only there was time for it all.

Update

The weather has been really nice the last couple days. Enjoyed some time at the park yesterday with the 2 youngest children. It was fun watching Emily play on the playground. She was busy climbing, running and swinging. She is going to have a blast this summer.

We have been busy attending kids events, visiting family and doing some DIY projects. Jake has finished basketball. He had his awards banquet on Sunday. The coach had lots of nice things to say about him. That's always nice to hear. He has moved onto track where he will have his first meet next week. It is an indoor meet at Iowa State. Looking forward to this. He will be running with the Varsity and he plans to run the 4x800, 1600 and 3200. That's 3 1/2 miles!

This last weekend Tony had an all day band camp up at the highschool. He is trying out for the marching band. He is pretty excited about this. Looks like he may be in the pit playing percussion. He is pretty excited about the uniforms they get to wear!

Brodie and Drew got signed up for T-ball. They were short on coaches so they asked Will to be the coach. Apparently he is pretty popular because they told me his name came up a few times at the board meeting when they were talking about coaches. The boys are pumped that their dad is going to coach them this year. I get to be the team mom and help in the dugout, with treat tickets and all the other fun stuff that goes along with it. Our team name is the Cubs.

This is gonna be a busy Spring with all the kids being involved in something. I am happy though. It beats sitting around at home in front of the TV.

Just Updating

I was looking through pictures tonight. I came across this picture and it made me smile. I look forward to warmer days spent outside. Calm, fresh air, sunshine, the smell of cut grass, peacefulness.

I am trying to get caught up on some blogging. I have been really tired lately and although I have had time to sit down and type, I just haven't been able too. Concentration has been a little difficult. Pictures have been slim.

Along with tiredness their has been sickness. Seems like someone always has something. The sniffles, sore throat, cough. I guess it's that time of year and when there are 7 of you it's bound to happen.

We are plugging along. Jake just finished his basketball season and now track starts on Monday. He will be celebrating his 16th birthday one week from today. The day before his birthday he gets his cast off. Not sure which is more exciting.

Tony is preparing for his first show choir performance next week. He was also selected to attend the musical West Side Story at the Civic Center. They leave in the morning, have lunch (paid for and provided), and then will be attending the performance. He is very, very excited.

Brodie is doing great in Kindergarten. On Mondays he gets to head to a different classroom where they do some extra things with him since he is picking up on reading and such so quickly. He and Drew just got signed up for baseball He lost his second tooth today during gym class.

Drew is comical. Loves to spend time with his momma and sissy. Tonight he kissed Emily goodnight and said "sleep tight princess". I don't think he could love anyone more than he does his sister. It's a pretty special thing.

Emily is growing by leaps and bounds. She just had her 15 month check which I will update you on later. She says "momma" perfectly and has a really funny squinty smiley face going on right now. She just got her first molar and is working on the others.

That's life for us right now, this week anyway.

This will be a better week.

It's the start of a new week. I can't believe it is almost February. January went very fast and we had many, many unexpected expenses and frankly it has been a stressful month. I just want it to be over with!!

Last week was a bummer. Jake broke his hand on Tuesday, our van broke down on Thursday and cost us $1430 to repair draining any money we had saved from our 31 days of nothing challenge. Over the weekend Brodie was sick and on Sunday was diagnosed with strep. Sigh....this week has to be better right?

I see my new Podiatrist today. I am anxious to hear what he has to say. My bunionectomy was on October 4, and almost 4 months later I am still have lots of problems and pain in that foot. I was upset with my previous Doctor who did the surgery and kept blowing me off so I transferred my care to this Doctor. Hoping for some positive results.

Well I better get the older kids off and get myself cleaned up. I have a good feeling this will be a better week.

Update

Things are going better around home again. Knock on wood, I think everyone is over their illnesses. We went through gastro bugs and then head colds, the baby went to the ER, I was put on steroids and antibiotic, the list goes on and on. We have had our fair share for the winter.

We survived Christmas break. It was boring for the kids, or maybe not. Someone if not multiple someones was sick the entire break so we didn't do a whole lot. There was lots of game time which always makes the boys happy and content. We did spend a couple days in Colo with Will's parents so that was nice to get away.

New Years was good and we spent it with some friends of ours. We had a good night playing games on the Wii. I always love the start of a new year.

I am trying to get back in the swing of things and get some sort of routine around here. Right now I have been obsessed with cleaning, decluttering and purging. I feel sorta ADD about it and seem to bounce from one thing to another. I really need to focus on cutting back and just trying to take one thing at a time. If I could be content with just doing one or two things each day instead of trying to tackle an entire project and then getting stressed about it would be a good start. I can write it, I just need to do it. Things are always easier said than done.

All the kids are doing great. I need to do an updated photo and post on all of them. They are changing so much it's amazing. This is my last year home with Drew. He starts kindergarten in the fall and that breaks my heart. Then it will be just me and Emily. Ok, stopping here before I get emotional.

Random Thoughts

I think I have had too much coffee. Another thing to add to the list of things to do...stop drinking so much coffee. My brain feels full tonight, there is alot on my mind. Figured maybe I would write about some of it and then maybe I can sleep...maybe.

This has been a crazy couple weeks. The gastro bug had hit our house and hit it hard. The 3 younger children have all taken turns being sick. Drew bug and Emily are still suffering. Thankfully Brodie seems to be better although still complains once in a while of tummy pain. Hoping the older 4 in the house don't come down with it (knocking on wood). I feel I am safe because I had something similar to what the children are experiencing a few weeks ago. I fear for my husband and older sons though. It will pass but it is never fun while it's around.

I feel prepared for Christmas. I am excited for the holiday. I look forward to the kids and husband having time off and being home together. I see lots of movies and games in our near future. Hoping to spend a few days away from home staying with the in-laws. It won't be all fun and games though. I have big plans for the time off. I want to go through every room and de-clutter and purge. There is way too many of us, with way too much stuff for this house. Having less will mean more to me. De-cluttering, organizing and cleaning are on my list of things to do during winter break. I think I am the only one excited about this.

I am excited for a new year. I always feel good about a new year. Like a fresh start. I have many goals for 2012. Hoping I can stick to them better than I stuck with my 2011 goals. I have alot I want to do and accomplish but I also have to remind myself that I am only human and I can only do so much.

Speaking of 2012, I am excited to be attending a blogging conference with my sister in April. I started my frugal blog mainly to help others out and journal my experiences. It got a lot bigger than I had ever planned and now I just want to keep it growing. It has given me motivation and become a fun hobby for me. I have about 350 email subscribers and almost 600 Facebook fans.

I am planning another 31 days of nothing challenge for my family in January and I am going to be hosting a link up each week. Anyone who wants to join is welcome and can keep us updated with their progress each week via a link to their blog. Keeping myself accountable on my blog always helps me out and keeps me honest. The Frugal Tuesday Tip is another fun link up I do each week. I am hoping to see that grow in 2012 as well.

Ok, I feel a little better getting some of my ideas written down. Kids will be up before I know it so I better get some shut eye.

What's Been Going On

It has been a busy couple weeks around the Figgins household. When isn't it busy really, but it seems busier than usual lately. I can't even really tell you everything that has gone on.

Most recently, on Tuesday Emily had surgery on her ears. She had tubes put in after fighting a recurrent ear infection for over 2 months. Now the fluid will drain out as opposed to being stuck in her ear, causing pain and discomfort and eventually infection. She did really well during and after her surgery. The procedure itself took about 5 minutes. We barely sat down in the waiting room when they came out and said she was all done.

When they brought her to me she was crying and dazed but after awhile she calmed down. We got to leave about 20 minutes later. We came home ate breakfast, she played a bit and then she took a 3 hour nap. When she woke up she acted like nothing had ever happened. Amazing.

She was a little fussy today but she did ok. She has been really tired lately so she took another long nap.

Brodie started running a fever yesterday at school. I ended up picking him up and bringing him home. He complained of a headache and ran a fever the rest of the night. This morning he started vomiting. It was a single episode though, thank goodness. He continued to complain of a headache, tummy ache and ran a fever most of the day. It looks like he will be home with me again tomorrow. I am just crossing my fingers that no one else in the house gets it.

Random Thoughts

I just got back from my podiatrist apt. It has been 2 weeks since my surgery. The doctor took x-rays and thought everything looked good. The screw is well placed and my toe looks pretty straight on the film. She took my bandage and steri strips off and that felt so much better. It is still pretty painful. It looks strange to see my big bump gone. It is bruised and swollen right now so it is hard to say exactly how it will look when it is completely healed.

I also heard back from my family doctor this week. I had my thyroid levels checked again and they were dramatically better. 6 weeks ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was feeling horrible, extreme fatigue, weight gain, and my stomach hated me every time I ate anything. Blood tests showed that my thyroid wasn't functioning like it should so I was started on medication. My levels are much better but are still not considered normal so we are increasing my dose.

I actually feel a lot better. Within this last week or so I have finally started to get some energy back. My stomach is feeling a lot better as well.

Now if I could speed up the healing process on my foot all would be right again. On the bright side at least I don't have to wrap my foot in a baggie anymore before taking a shower. And I should be able to start driving again here soon.

Random Thoughts

As a way for me to organize my blog better I am going to title my blog posts "random thoughts" every time I feel like just writing something. Just thought I would explain that.

I am feeling extremely anxious this morning. It is gloomy, cold and a great day to stay inside and bake something. My foot is pretty sore this morning so I know I should just sit here and keep it up, but that really doesn't sound like fun.

I went to the doctor yesterday for my first post op apt. The Dr thought everything looked good. I was happy to have my dressing taken off, even it was for only 2 minutes. When the nurse pulled the dressing off she also pulled off my steri-strips on my big toe. As she ripped them off I could actually feel and see my incision opening back up. I couldn't believe she actually pulled them off. The doctor stood there and watched and said "well, we will put new strips back on there and we will see you in another week" so he was obviously ok with what she was doing.

I thought I would kick her in the face. It hurt so bad. I have no idea why she took them off. Sigh..anyway I was sore the rest of the night...and now this morning. I have a new dressing on that needs to stay on for another week. I also have to continue to wear my lovely boot for at least another week. I shouldn't be so whiny. I know it will be nice to have this done and actually be able to wear shoes and not have pain. I just hate the recovery part.

Jake has his last home football game tonight. I really want to go. I think I will try and make it to the first half. Then I can take all the kids home and Will can stay and watch the rest. But then there is the hole ride thing since I can't drive. Ugh guess I need to think about that. Ok, better get Brodie ready for school.

Random Thoughts

Today was a better day. I am sad to see my husband go back to work tomorrow. He has been amazing (thanks babe). My pain is a lot better although I am a little sore this evening. I might have overdone it a bit this afternoon. I finally got out of the house. Will took his girls to lunch (that sounds funny huh?) and then we rode with him to pick up Drew from pre-school.

This evening he and the boys played football and hide n seek in the backyard. I sat outside and watched. It was nice to just be out in the fresh air. I know, I know, I am whiny. It's only been 4 days. But I hate not being able to run and jump about like I want.

Emily and Drew are better today. Yesterday Will had to take them into the doctor after being up with Emily all night the night before. Poor thing. She was inconsolable. She has a terrible cold and ear infection. Drew has croup but seems to be less barky tonight. Looking forward to tomorrow and hoping everyone is feeling even better.

Random Thoughts

Venting...

Today is starting off sucky. I am day 3 post op for my foot surgery (bunions and straightening of my great toe). I am feeling extremely nauseated and hot. I think alot of it has to do with my pain pills which I am trying to wean myself off of and it isn't working too well.

We had a terrible night. Drew was up coughing most of the night. He has had a cough for a few weeks and now it has turned into croup. Emily was up almost the entire night crying for some unknown reason. She is now completely plugged up and miserable. Will has both children at the doctor as I type. I am so grateful he took today and tomorrow off to stay home and help me recuperate. Who knew it would turn into such an event.

The 2 youngest kids are miserable, I feel sick and my poor husband is living off of no sleep. I am really hating that I can't hop up and help out. I feel like I am ignoring everyone.

Thankfully the 3 middle boys are away at school and it makes it a little quieter around here. Hoping everyone can get some rest this afternoon.