Archive for June, 2010
Kevin and the girls were tickling each other on the couch. So much fun.
In other news, I’m doing much better from my liver biopsy. I’m still a bit sore and can’t pick up Carlee yet. My gastroenterologist says I have Autoimmune Hepatitis from the Solodyn/minocycline, which means that my immune system is attacking my liver. He put me on 2 different types of steroids – Prednisone and Azathioprine – and he is checking my liver levels every month to make sure they continue to come down. The steroids have side effects of their own, including increased appetite, restlessness, and foot swelling, among others I’m sure I’ll experience later.
Please continue to pray for us. Every day is different and I’m still kind of “out of it”. I am just now starting to have fun with the kids this summer, because I feel much better than I have in the past month. My prayer is that I won’t have to take the medications for years as my doctor thinks, but that I’d only need them for a few months instead – but whatever happens, we will trust in God’s timing and provisions.
I’ll write more later, and if you want the long story of what all has happened, let me know and I’ll email it to you.
I just noticed what I named this post… really, it is time to “lay it all down”.
June 30th, 2010
I made this yogurt in my crockpot the other day but forgot to post the pic.
I followed this recipe but I cheated the time a little bit, so it turned out pretty runny. (But still yummy!) I love to eat it with granola or in a smoothie.
My next cooking endeavor = homemade granola.
June 29th, 2010
Carlee learned how to say a new word today after she saw this on my “belly”.
I had a liver biopsy this morning. This is a very up-close picture of my battle wound.
Why did I need a liver biopsy? It’s the question everyone’s been asking me, to possibly save me from an unnecessary procedure. It’s part of my long story (see June 12th), but I’m hoping to have more answers when I go back to the doctor on Wednesday.
The procedure itself wasn’t bad at all; the radiologist and RNs told me I did really well and they were able to take a good sample on the first try. For this, they located my liver via ultrasound – much better than them probing the area with a needle. They deadened the skin and the area inside my body with a syringe-type needle. Then they took what looked like a small exacto-knife and cut a hole in my skin. After that, they went in with biopsy needle-gun which was probably 2 feet long. No joke. I heard a sound a lot like what happens when you get your ears pierced, and they had FIRED THE GUN. (Their term, not mine.) This meant that they had extracted a small, sausage-link piece of my liver for sampling purposes. (Again, their term, not mine.)
Now, the area on my skin is a little sore and I imagine it will be bruised by tomorrow. It’s not bleeding much and has had a band-aid on it all day. I took this pic right after my shower tonight.
Kevin wasn’t allowed to view the biopsy (there wasn’t any room), but he stayed with me before and afterward. I had a fabulous RN there who was an answer to prayer and made jokes with me the whole time. All in all, the procedure was 30 minutes long (including all the ultrasound, setup and scrubbing in and such), but Kevin and I were there for 2.5 hours total – you know, for paperwork beforehand and for making sure I didn’t puke my guts out afterward.
Please pray for a good recovery from this and for good results for Wednesday. It’s been a rough month of June for me.
June 28th, 2010
I realize Father’s Day was last Sunday. But I had this post in mind and have been completely out of it.
I made Kevin, my dad, and his dad cards from Shutterfly. Here’s the pictures I used.
And something else I made for Kevin with the kids’ help – if you go to wordle.net, you can type in words and phrases to make a graphic. The more a word is used, the bigger it will be. I entered “Thank you God for Daddy” after every sentence, and it automatically took out the common words. Colby was mainly the contributor for this, but Kennedy answered some good questions too. Carlee will get to help next year. The girls have been wearing the My Dad Rocks t-shirts I made 2 years ago. (I need to get a picture of That for the blog.)
June 27th, 2010
Everything green/yellow (everything on the left side) came from my uncle’s garden – my parents are keeping it while he’s on vacation. 2 pounds of Okra. 4 pounds of Squash.
Everything red (everything on the right side) came from the Brazos Valley Farmer’s Market today. 1 pound of red potatoes. 2 pounds of tomatoes. 2 pounds of peaches.
[And bonus points if you can name the reference.]
June 26th, 2010
Tonight we attended the Sold Out performance of “A Light in the Piazza”. The show is alternately called “…and then there were nuns”.
Katrina appeared in her first show with The Theater Company here in town. The music was fantastic and the show was very well-performed.
June 25th, 2010
I love Texas clouds in the summertime. The storm hit about an hour after I took this picture.
June 24th, 2010
It looks like Kennedy is terrified of this Chick-fil-A cow, but she really couldn’t wait to get a picture with him (her?).
June 23rd, 2010
A friend of mine once told me she would like to have a Verse of Scripture in each room of her house. I think that’s an amazing goal and so far I only have my kitchen and living room “covered”. Here’s the kitchen, right above the pantry.
June 22nd, 2010
Today is Amanda’s birthday. I ate this in her honor (but not all at once).
[In case you can't see the description, it says it's Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Fudge and Peanut Butter Chunks. Oh, happy birthday to Amanda, indeed.]
June 21st, 2010
I was driving while taking this pic, but I thought the clouds were so pretty above the treeline.
In other news, today we celebrated Father’s Day by eating barbecue lunch with my Grandfather, who is in an Alzheimer’s facility here in town. It was also my Grandmother’s & Grandfather’s 58th Wedding Anniversary today. They enjoyed having us all over to spend time with him. I am so grateful to have grandparents who unashamedly and graciously love the Lord, each other, and their family (in that order).
My kids loved the company and the food but really their allegiances lay with the 5 balloons someone brought for decoration… everyone else’s job was to get the balloons off the ceiling once the kids let them go. (Notice I said “everyone else”, not mine.) 
And, being completely out of it, I didn’t get any pics of the festivities, but we have great memories.
June 20th, 2010
This room had the most [pleasantly!] surprising finish. I knew I liked the color, but I didn’t know I’d love it.
Entering the room
Back wall (notice the 2 canvas prints leaning against her dresser? I got those on clearance at PBK, but I now wish I had ordered 1 or 3 more of them…)
And, side wall, which is blank… any suggestions for decorating?
[Color] = Cedar Green for Pottery Barn Kids by Benjamin Moore.
June 19th, 2010
[Hoping someone gets my Lion King movie reference.]
And if you don’t, just suffice it to say, “The poor stuffed dog never had a chance.”
Funny funny girl.
June 18th, 2010
Carlee looks at this picture and emphasizes the /k/ at the end of “milk”. Another funny about this picture – this week we have lost her “dinky” (pacifier). So, at 19 months of age, she is going Cold Turkey and we haven’t had to give her a dinky. Although, she did look at a picture of herself with a pacifier and say, “Dinky?”
[If you really wanted to know, Kevin bought emergency back-up dinkys. But I figure it's just as well - she's been doing pretty well during naptime and bedtime, which is when she wants it the most. I've been hearing so many more words and phrases come out of her mouth, now that it's not plugged up all the time.]
June 17th, 2010
I’m cheating a bit, because this is a pic from last Wednesday. In today’s pic I would be much much more yellow. (I’m not kidding, this is the weirdest thing… I wonder if I could even take a picture to capture it, if it would turn out?)
Kennedy said, “Mah, you put out your phone then say, ‘Say cheese’ and I will say cheese, okay?”
June 16th, 2010
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