{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

So, this week I had dinner with my wonderful friend Kathy (over at 9PeasMom). She had recently posted several blog updates that we discussed and then we discussed why I haven't been blogging. Mostly - it was because I got mad a blogger. However, that's kind of a bad excuse so here I am...

Pretty

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On Monday as I was headed home I snapped this (at a red light). It was so sunny and pretty outside. I love spring! I enjoy being able to walk outside and it's comfortable. I find myself WANTING to go for walks or stay outside with the dogs for a bit. So pretty! (For the record, I love summer too -- just from inside..)

Happy

On April 13, we went to dinner as a family to honor Thomas' achievement in Bible Drill (which Allison and I did as kids) and to celebrate Allison's and my birthday. We weren't super close as kids, but as adults - she's one of my very best friends!

On the Saturday before Easter we went to a brunch at my Grandmother's assisted living building. The food was yummy, it was fun to see my family...but this woman - I sure do love her!

Easter Sunday -- I LOVE Easter - He is RISEN indeed!

--I don't have a picture for this one...but Esther (the girls we sponsor at New Day Foster Home in China) was recently matched with a family! She will soon no longer be an orphan! How my heart sings!


Funny

I had Lily and Mercy groomed this week. Mercy got a good shave down....she's still mad at me.
Lily isn't a huge fan of riding in cars and often wonders until she finds a place she feels 'ok'. Today - it was the carseat. I guess they aren't just for babies!





This gem is from one Sunday in church -- I don't remember the context -- just that it cracks me up...every time!

Real

A gal that I work with is having a baby in less than a month and we recently had her baby shower. I decided I wanted to do something for her that included sewing so I added ruffles across the tushie of the onsies. They are soo stinking cute! Then I made burp rags. I will not do this in the same way ever again. I have devised a few ways to try again...later. I also made a baby blanket with the sweetest pink and purple flannel that said 'I Love Mommy' and 'I Love Daddy'. I added a shade darker on the back and used dark purple to stich. It turned out the easiest and my fav! I will definitely add ruffles and make blankets again!
(I also made a dress on Sunday - it was a sewing weekend!)

I am getting geared up for another baby shower. This time for a boy. I'm doing a onsie with 'suspenders' and interchangeable bowties! I'm planning to try bibs and a blanket. I'm loving that I can use this skill to create things for my friends! :)

This weekend I plan to finish a jacket for the dress I made and start outfits for the girls. We will see how it goes! :)

There it is friends! Please forgive any funky layout issues as blogger still isn't totally cooperating. :/

From my sister's blog

This is the link to my sister's blog and her post from April 2. (The Neals)

It's a post about my Grandfather. We called him GrandJack. He passed away when I was 4. That's 31 years ago this year. I wrote recently about how my Grandmother, after her TIA, couldn't remember the word 'hammock' but could remember GrandJack had one, where it hung, what it looked like, and how long it's been since he passed. Now Amy has posted this one...

I just wanted to post it to my blog too so that I could find it again and so that you could see it...I may not have known him well, but his legacy lives on...


I'll try to find a picture and post it...but that could take a while...

Updates

You know folks...I check the blog daily to see who else has blogged -- I just don't blog on MY blog too often. I'm a blog-stalker. But - when I logged in today and realized my last past was in February and BEFORE mom's surgery I thought a little update would do...

So - Mom did finally have her surgery. There was a snafoo with the workman's comp and it took a little longer to happen than the dr's liked - but it's done now.

On March 4th she went in and they stuck a loooong needle in her back and shot cement (body approved) into the vertebra that was compressed to un-compress it. (When you have a compression fracture your normally rectangular vertebra becomes more trapezoidal...there for requiring cement to un-compress it and re-rectangularize it. *Words may or may not have been made up in the explaining of this procedure*)

She ended up staying in the hospital overnight thanks to pain from the incision for the looong needle (not the back). However after a rough morning, she went home and has steadily improved. Last week she ventured out for a long afternoon for the first time since the beginning of February. She walked the mall one day, met me for lunch another, and even drove for the first time. She started physical therapy this week. She's learning how to move and bend all over again to keep this kind of thing from happening again.

She can return to work in about 3 weeks or before if physical therapy releases her. That means she will have been out almost all of Feb, all of March, and into APRIL. Oh yeah - and she's retiring so when school ends, she's done. I might be a slight shade of green...(not about the injury...just the time off and retiring -- mostly retiring.

So - that's the update on Mom. :)

(no picks...just words...be watching for a Paddy's day weekend post...I might get it done before my birthday?!)

Family Update

Mom eventually was able to have an MRI where she sat in a chair the whole time. The picture on this is appearantly not as good, but it got done. She then went to the surgeon last week and he said she was the perfect candidate for the standard 'fix your back' surgery. They basically insert a needle into the compression fraction and shoot in some 'body approved' cement mixture and viola - your all better. However, Workman's Comp denied it. (Roll eyes here) The surgeon has sent the request in again and we hope to hear something by the end of the week.

Grandmother is fine. She's back at her place puttering around being herself! I just need to remind you -- I adore that lady!

Short, sweet, and to the point -- there it is!

Pray, Support, Go

It's no great shock to you to hear me talk about that things we can do in the world of adoption, both here and abroad. I've said it before and I'm sure I will again...and again...and again: We can all do something!

Some of us can simply committ to pray. Pray for the staff, the children, the foster families, the families that will someday adopt, and/or the families that already have adopted and are now learning about their child and their child is learning a new culture. Pray for the agencies that connect children and families...pray that their motives are pure and they are truly making decisions based on the child's needs. Pray for the child's birthparents...the decision to let go of your child is a big one! Just pray!

Some of us can support. There are foster homes to support by sending monthly support. Some of the foster homes have the option of supporting a specific child monthly. Some can give a one time donation of formula or medicine or clothing (abroad). There are families here who are fostering/adopting that simply need a word of encouragement. Someone to be interested in their heart's cry for that child. We can be sensitive and not ask questions that hurt - but that lift up. Maybe that new momma is tired and needs a coffee, so you bring her one...she will be grateful! Or maybe you should just call her and let her know your thinking about her. There are soo many ways we can support the adoption world.

Some of us can go. Some of us can be the foster family, the respite care family, the aoptive family for the children here in the US. Some of us can go abroad and bring home the children from China, Europe, Africa, etc.

I, again, encourage you to do what you can...and help others figure out what they can do. I read New Day's blog today and a young girl decided she wanted to sponsor a child so she set up a lemonade stand one afternoon and raised enough for 2 1/2 months! (Here's the Story: Getting Involved)

As you know Alan and I sponsored 2 kiddos from New Day for Christmas. We have had so much fun seeing Esther and Brendan in the clohtes we sent and playing with the toys we sent. It's not a 'I'm so good - look at what Idid' joy. It's a 'I'm so glad we were able to DO SOMETHING' kind of joy. Along those lines, Esther recently became available for sponsorship. Now, I have had an affinity for Esther since I first saw her. You see she has ENT issues -- and that speaks to my heart as it's part of my daily life. So when she became available we decided to sponsor her. (In case you are keeping track - we've got the Pray and Support parts covered in our family. It's what we can do right now...) I'm SOOOO excited to do this! And there are so many others who need sponsors. It's not very much to support a child monthly. I mean - we may have to give up a trip or 2 to Starbucks...but it's worth it. If you're interested visit New Day's Sponsorship page
Another option is Hidden Treasures auctions...this is an online auction that takes place every other month to help out familys heading to Europe to adopt. We just finished on this month, so the next one will be in April. Check it out: Hidden Treasure's Auctions

Do you have a heart for the orphan? What can you do?
-Can you pray?
-Can you support?
-Can you go?

The Bible says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans..." Every little bit counts...

And because we all expect pictures in a blog...Here's Ms. Esther:

My Grandmother

So Thursday...the day that we all love because the next day is Friday and then comes weekend. Unless you get a text from your mom saying your 96 year old Grandmother is in the ER with a possible stroke, but don't come down yet. Um...yeah. That was my Thursday after school. So I called my sister and demanded to know what was up. So - long story short:

Mom had a dr's appointment for her back to say she did indeed fracture her L2 (big shock). On the way home they decided to stop to see Grandmother because mom hadn't been in a week and she usually sees her daily. They walked in expecting Grandmother to be sooo happy and instead they got glassy eyes and gibberish. Mom got the nurse at the facility, the nurse got the Ambulance, Grandmother got a ride to the ER and mom got quite a scare! After a CT scan it was decided that it wasn't a stroke (there was no blockage), but that it was likely a TIA (Transischemic attack). The way to find out was an MRI. (In case you don't remember mom's MRI story look in the post below). Knowing for sure wouldn't change treatment so we opted not to do it. Within 24 hours Grandmother was back to normal and at home in her apartment at her assisted living facility happy as a clam. She wouldn't go to dinner that night though because she couldn't let anyone see her bed-head - she had missed her hair appointment after all.

Y'all, I can not even begin to tell you now much I love that lady! She is so amazing! Who else do you know that is 96, had a stroke, has aphasia, has broken a hip, had a TIA and can still give em heck?! This lady is amazing. We all love her dearly and I want to be just like her when I grow up!

A sweet story from the hospital:
The neurology nurse came by to check on her and was making sure all was well. One of the things they had her do was identify pictures. Some more common than others. There was a chair and a feather and some other things. The last picture was a hammock between 2 trees. My GrandJack, her husband, had a hammock that he loved. Well, due to the aphasia Grandmother couldn't pull up the work hammock. So she looked at it and traced it and hemmed and hawed for a bit and said, "There's a tree and a tree and a....." Then she tried again, "My husband used to love his. His didn't look like that. There's a tree and a tree......hmmm...there's an oak tree...no a walnut tree and a walnut tree and a......" Finally the lady said, "It's a hammock" and she said, "Yes, a hammock. A walnut tree and a walnut tree and a hammock. My husband LOVED his. You know, he's been gone 30 years now..."

My friends - I teared up. She was spot on. There were 2 trees in their backyard that GrandJacks woven hammock hung between. And he loved it. And he has indeed been gone 30 years. It was so sweet. Even the neurology nurse realized that it was sweet and kindly ended the session. A few hours later, Grandmother went to her apartment. Mom came to visit and her reaction was to be expected - excitement to see her only child. Gosh I love that lady.

Ready to go home...and all smiles about it.

My Momma

So...it snowed last week. 2 beautiful days. We were in school BOTH of them. Only in Texas does it snow, stay under 30 degrees and MELT?! Anyway, on Thursday my mom's school let out 30 minutes early. Seriously - that was their early release. Then the teachers were able to leave. My mom left and walked to her car across the slushy parking lot. She said with each step the snow melted. Then she hit a slick patch. She didn't fall (that was my first question as she has fallen and broken her arm 3 times in parking lots). However, in the effort of staying upright she twisted pretty hard and that caused a compression fracture in at L2. She managed to fill out paper work and drive herself home (we'll call that shock) where my nurse sister met her. They immediately went to the Ortho office that we use and they saw her that afternoon. She had x-rays (standing/in her clothes because she couldn't move enough) and got to see the fracture. Then they fitted her with a corset brace which immediately helped with the pain. She was then scheduled for an MRI Friday afternoon.

There's a story:
She walks in for the MRI and the first thing they say is "Ok, lay down". I remind you - she has a broken back...
So she did as she was asked with much gratefulness that she had just had pain pills. The girl then proceeded to have her scoot this way...oops too far...now back...oops too far...again that way...oops...there... (with a broken back). Then she put a pillow under mom's knees so her (broken) back was flat on the metal table. Then handed her a 'stress ball' and told her it was her panic button. This alarmed mom and she wondered aloud why she'd need a panic button - how long could this take anyway? The gal told her only 30-45 minutes (with a broken back). SO they start to send her into the tube where mom immediately (like in 10 seconds flat) found out she's clausterphobic....and the MRI was over. So home she went in her brace to take more pain meds. She has continued sleeping sitting up in a chair and was supposed to have an 'Open MRI' today...hopefully with some happy pills.

Once she's had the MRI they will likely do a surgery where they use an needle (OUCHIE) to inject some kind of human approved cement that will fill in the fractures and fix the whole painful mess. The doctor told her she'll go to sleep hurting and wake up ok. (Mom wanted to know if they could just skip the MRI and do the surgery and I agree that makes the most sense to me...but I'm no doctor.)

All that to say - Please pray for my Momma. She's in some pain. I haven't heard if they ever scheduled an open MRI but if they did -- she'll need your prayers for that. Then we will all covet them for the surgery and further recovery portion.

As a side note - I found out that this kind of fracture is usually a bone density issue and that my mom may have slight scoliosis. (My Grandmother has an S curve in her back and appearantly it is hereditary.) Mom's doctor has suggested we all have bone density and scoliosis screenings in the near future.

And that my friends, is the daily news.