My Heart..... on the Floor

Leighton drew his first marine mammal last month. I could not have been more proud!! We had just finished making a little mailbox out of his diaper box. Because,
you know, sorting mail is a great way to keep a little 2 year old occupado.

So, anyway, there was a scrap of tag board left on the floor and Leighton
asked for his markers. I recluctantly gave him a few markers. Reluctantly
because a 2 year old left alone with markers (away from the "mom-approved,
designated marker safe zone..i.e., the kitchen island)could spell trouble.
I suppose I walked away to tend to Chase. Or one of the many millions of other
tasks we moms do during the day.

Really, I believed I would come back to marker on the floor. And a bunch of
squigglys on the paper. But much to my suprise, he said, "look mom, I drew a whale". My little heart was melted like a stick of butter in a hot microwave! My son can draw a whale? Certainly he's still too little to be drawing actual pictures! That doesn't come yet right? Well, I guess it did.

And because it did and my heart was laying in a puddle on teh floor, I just had to go grab my camera. And proceeded to chase him around the house trying to get a picture of the infamous whale.

He decided the whale looked best on his head.



Clearly, that is just what you do. You wrap your drawing around your head when you are super-duper proud of yourself. Duh,mom.



Finally, after a little convincing he gave me a money shot. Now check out that whale!
Pretty good for a Two year old!

Dear Santa,

Well I think we ought to move on from this little pity party of mine and get onto bigger and better and MUCH MORE fun events and, of course, their cooresponding photos! So without further adue...I give you today:

He waited and watched intently.


As did his little brother.


As did his father. (mmmmm,he's cute)


Finally, he appeared. Except his reindeer happened to be on vacation today... So, he took this ride instead. (no, really, look closely....it's really him!)


And then he landed.


And right before this adorable little hallmark moment happened....


...mommy's camera battery died. Luckily, Derrick's cousin just happened to be at the big event too and snapped that picture for us. Thanks Michelle!!!

Leighton told Santa that he wanted colors, markers, paper, and airplanes. Chase just drooled and bit his hand. Mommy told Santa she wanted a back-up camera battery.


The End.

An STD never sounded so good!

I never thought I would hope for an STD!! Yeah, I know. Much like you are shaking your head and re-focusing your eyes to read that and make sure it doesn't say what you think you just read...I too am shaking my head at the fact that I typed that. But alas, it's true. And sometimes, just sometimes, you wish it was an STD. Like instead of an auto-immune disorder per say. I think I'll take the STD.

Why you ask? Why does this little momma of two wish she had had an STD? Simply because if it had been an STD which caused my joint problems, it would be fixable. I.e..curable.

Ok, I'll explain more. Because you are dying to know. I know. You see, there are a couple different types of arthritis that this could be. The Rheumy (that is arthritis lingo for Rheumatologist-yes, i'm 28 years old and I now use arthritis lingo!!) thinks I have one of a few different kinds of arthritis. One type is called Psoriatic Arthritis, bingo-this is what I diagnosed myself with several posts back. Basically that one just sucks and you have it forever. The other one is Reactive Arthritis. This is the STD one. Or it could be caused from a past infection of any kind (bladdar, samonella,ect). It seems to me in all my diagnostic internet searching that the Reactive one would be better to have becaue in lots of cases it goes away. It could still come back but I think it's just not as bad.

However, I do not have the luxury of ever have contracted an STD. That would make my diagnosis a slam-dunk. However, there is still a chance that it was caused from an unknown infection that I have had anytime in my life. I've had a normal amount of run-of-the-mill infections. It just can't be pinpointed if the joint pain was caused by this or not. So, we are left in the wait and see mode. Wait and see what the ravaging immune system I hate to call my own, will do or not do next.

So, I go on like a trooper. Hey, who ever said troopers don't cry? At times I'm a crying trooper because I'm sick of pain. Especially the recent bursitis that developed in my shoulder cuff. That happens at night when I'm sleeping and about makes me cry. But, it does ease up during the day. Some of my other joints are actually a little better. My lower back is doing pretty good. And my hip isn't horrible. My 4th toe is still pretty swollen and the ultrasound showed fluid and inflammation. That and my shoulder can be relieved with a cortisone shot (I've had a few of those in the eye in the past). However....I'm nursing so it's questionable. The Rheumy thought it would be ok but said it's ultimately up to me if I want to put my baby at risk. So I said, "Geez, just add insult to injury here and make me feel like a horrible mother while you're at it- huh doc!" Just kidding, I didn't say that,I just said, "let me think about it." Now I'm just waiting to hear back from Chase's doc to see if it would be OK.

There is another step beyond a local shot. It's a drug therapy called Methodextrate. It's given to patients who are undergoing chemo. But I guess it's very helpful with arthritis. It would address my entire immune system. But while it was "addressing" it, it would go right ahead and suppress it too. So...that one though pretty much scares the crap out of me. Plus, there no way I can take it while I'm nursing so it's not an option until I quit nursing. And even then, I think I'll pass on it.

And that' s pretty much it.

Yep, I looked at the doctor the same way. Like, "that's it?" I'm at a very high specialty doctor and there is nothing else they can do for me?

Now I just deal with the pain using Aleve and wait and see what happens. I am totally a believer in the natural side of things. Although the Rheumy pretty much foo-foo'd me on that, I think I will just keep doing what I am doing, add some more anti-inflammatory spices into my cooking and be on my way to recovery.

Until then, if I can't blame it on an STD, I will just hope that it was an unknown infection that whacked out my immune system. And pray and believe that it will get better. SOON!

4 Months

My sweet little Chase turned 4 months many days ago and I'm finally getting to his post here. MiraBella is dominating most of my internet time these days so I have fallen a little behind with the home blog. Rest assured, the post has arrived!

Chase: At four months you are one of the two cutest four month olds on the planet! Leighton, of course, was the other cutest four month old on the planet. That's a pretty high honor for both of you. Voted on and decided by your mother of course.

You are such a funny little boy these days. You thinks it's really funny when I pull your shirts over your head. Either way is funny to you. Putting them off. Or putting them on pretty much breaks you up in laughter. You are starting to roll over again. You were doing this when you were really little before you got some junk in your trunk. Now it's a little harder but you can manage if you get ticked enough. You sleep pretty good at night just coming into bed to eat one time per night. But then you usually prefer to stay there. Leighton still hasn't caused any serious injuries for you so that is a huge victory! Although he has pushed his large plastic dump-truck off the couch on top of you. You were none too impressed with this maneuveur but you recovered quickly once I swooped in. You are getting lots and lots of rolls. And that always earns you extra points in the cuteness scale. You better enjoy it now becuase it won't always be so cute. Take it from one who knows. A recent new developmental stage you have hit is the screaming stage. Not like a cry, but really a scream. You mainly just do it if we put you down and walk away. This, you are not a fan of. Oh and speaking of screaming, you also scare easily with loud noises. We try to keep those to a minimum for you because your squished up little scared face and pouty lip (although extremely adorable) is just too sad for us to allow. Well, bud, we really love having you around. You're a pretty easy baby and I'm the luckiest momma on the planet. Here you are at 4 months...or so.



And here is your big brother at 28 months or so. He's pretty cute too. Sometimes naughty, but mostly just really funny. Like when we were decorating the Christmas tree the other day. He brought me an ornament and said, "Mom, you can do it, I'm busy."

Thankfullness Continued

I didn't quite make it back on here on Thursday to tell you all why I was so thankful yesterday.

Errr...now that was like 4 days ago wasn't it?

I'm sorry I'm running slow on Sweet Little Thing here.

Busy processing all the 2009 photo sessions I did. Among other things. It's fun but A TON of work!

Ah yes, onto what I am thankful for.

My wonderful husband and kiddos of course. And my own parents. And my husband's parents. And our awesome siblings. Our nieces and nephews. That I got to see my Most Best Friend/Double Cousin, Cassie and her family. My auntie Cathy. My cousin Michelle. And my brother's super awesome girlfriend that we love for him. And that we didn't hit that deer on the way home. And that my aches are slowly.....very SLOWLY....going away. And that there are still SOME foods that don't cause inflammation. Did I say some? I meant VERY VERY FEW. But, hey it's better than none. And mostly I'm thankful that my trust lies with the one who created me.

Oh yeah, and I'm thankful for the times when Leighton looks at me and says, "That's cool-yo mom".

I'm sure he won't be saying that for too much longer. I better hold onto it while I can.

Happy Holidaying. Merry Christmasing. Until next time.

Give it..

I'm GIVING THANKS!

Maybe later I'll hop back on my blog and tell you why.....

Jesus Gettin Some Street Cred.

We got to do one of Leighton's favorite activities last night.

He met up with his little BFF, Taneah, and watched this.


Ok, this one might help. The local Holiday Parade.





Leighton and his big cuz, Jonah.




One of my faves of the night. Auntie Valerie and Chase. I think this will look great on your desk, Valerie!


Our trusty Mayor.


Even Baby Jesus got some street cred.....which is not all that common these days with the hustle and bustle of the season. I was glad to see him having a float for once! After all, he is the reason.






Chase enjoyed the parade (minus the loud sirens) but he decided to call it a night a little early.