Apple Orchard Field Trip!

Last week Thursday I had the pleasure of attending a field trip with Boston's preschool class!  We went to the Apple Orchard. It was a VERY chilly morning and the orchard was flooded in some area's so the trip to pick apples was short and sweet.  Boston got to pick 8 apples and then everyone gathered inside to hear a story about how the apples grow.  The kids all got a sample of the apples and some apple juice.  It's so fun as a mother to watch your child interact with the kids in their class.  There was a little girl in his class who's parents couldn't attend the field trip, so she tagged along with Boston and I, and we helped her pick her apples.  Boston hasn't seemed all that thrilled about school this year and i'm not sure why.  I'm not sure if it's the new teacher, or all new classmates..but it seems to be taking him awhile to get into the groove.  He doesn't really mention a lot of the kids' names..except a few that he knew through church prior to preschool. I'm hoping as the weeks go by he starts to learn more of the kids' names and talk more about his "friends" at school.  He did see his friend Will from last years class at the Apple Orchard so he had a great time playing with him for awhile before the kids had to get back on the bus.  The next field trip is in October to the same place..but to pick out a pumpkin instead of apples!

Kashayla & Boston

  Boston posing by the apple tree!

All the kids warming up after picking apples!

Boston and his friend Will from last years preschool class.

 They had so much fun playing!

Games!

Boston is really into playing games and doing puzzles lately!  We usually play a game or 2 a day.  It's been fun playing games with him and seeing how he is learning new things each week.  He does really well learning a new game and listening to the instructions, and he is even ok with mom beating him sometimes :)  I remember playing Monopoloy Junior with my sister all the time when we were younger, so I enjoy playing with Boston too.  It's much more fun than playing transformers or sword fighting!  I'm just not very good at playing "boy" things.  Here are some pictures of the different games we play!

Putting together a giant dinosaur floor puzzle!

I got it mom!!

Connect 4

Handy Manny Uno!  This is his favorite!

Chutes & Ladders...or as Boston calls it "Slides & Ladders"  :)

Little Einstein Domino Game!  This game is really neat!  You can change up the cards in the dominos, so it's actually 6 different games in one!

 

Hickory Dickory Dock and my Prego Craving!

So i've had one craving so far this pregancy..and it just appeared recently (thank goodness!).  I am thinking I will have to start going to Sams Club to buy these things in bulk!  They are so delicous..yet not so healthy.. but I guess it could be worse.  At least i'm eating breakfast!  I limit myself to one bag per day and they are off limits to Derek and Boston when we are running low!  I also used to eat these things religiously when I was in high school.  I'm sure my dad loved that I was allowed to "charge" Hostess Mini Muffins to our account at the local gas station. 



Boston has brought home a few fun projects from school this week.  He made a Clifford the Big Red Dog and a fun Hickory Dickory Dock clock, where you can pull the mouse up or drop it down.  He still doesn't remember a lot of the kids' names yet, but I suppose after a few weeks he'll start saying more names.  There are only a few kids in his class from last year so a lot of new faces!  He already has a new 'girlfriend' ... a little girl Marie, who he also knows from church. At least it's just one this year!  Last year he had 2 girlfriends :)  Here is a little video of him singing Hickory Dickory Dock:) 

I had my stent taken out yesterday.  It went WAY better than I was expecting.  A little akward to be in that position at your WORK while one of your bosses and coworker are seeing parts of you you never dreamed they'd see... but it was fine.  I am so thankful I was in such good hands for the surgery.  It made my first hospital/surgery experience much less stressful.  I do feel a lot better with the stent out but am still feeling very bloated for some reason.  I'm not sure if it's due to the stones/surgery or pregnancy related but i'm quite miserable.  I'm making a call to my OB doctor tomorrow to see what she suggests.  I just feel like someone could poke a needle in my stomache and relieve a TON of air.  I asked Dr Arend yesterday at my stent removal if he thought I could have passed the stone on my own and he say "no way".  It was very stuck in my ureter.  He said he even had trouble getting it grasped because it was so tight.  Once he did get it grasped and pulled out, fluid (basically pee!) started gushing out so it was definately blocking my urine flow...which expains why I was feeling the urge to pee right away Thursday morning. Hard to believe it's been a week already since I was in the ER doubled over in pain.  This is much more peaceful evening :)  Have a great rest of the week everyone! 

A trip to the ER..twice in one day.

So last week Thursday I woke up feeling like I had a bladder infection.  Every 5 minutes i'd head to the toliet to just dribble.  They ran a urine test at my work (thank goodness I work in a Urology Clinic!) and it showed no infection, but a small trace of blood in my urine.  I called my OB's office.  The nurse said a small amount was ok, and somewhat common, and since I wasn't spotting they weren't concerned it had anything to do with the baby.  Throughout the day the urgency got worse, and by mid afternoon I was having abdominal pains.  I got ahold of a nurse at my work and she said to head to the ER as there really wasn't much more they could do in our clinic anyway.  So off we go.  Derek met us there, grabbed Boston and brought him to my dads and then met me there again.  It took FOREVER to get roomed and SEEN.  I was already not impressed as the urgency and pain was getting worse.  A doctor finally came in.  They did an ultrasound and the baby was fine, thank goodness.  It was very active during the ultrasound.  They also did an ultrasound of my ovaries.  I was complaining of mostly left side pain so they wanted to make sure there wasn't something weird going on with my ovaries?  Nothing showed up on the tests and my urine test at the ER showed no blood and no infection... so they send me home with NO diagnosis.  They had given me some tylenol in the ER so the pain was less than it had been.  We head home.. I grab something to eat, and immediately the pain is back, and it's worse.  The left side pain was now in my abdomen and my back and side.  I called my mom in tears asking her what i should do.  Obviously I KNEW something was wrong but since the ER had sent me home I really felt like I was at a loss.  She convinved me to call the ER, so I did.  I explained the pain was worse, and that it was unbearable.  Their advice :  Take more tylenol, take a hot bath and call my OB in the morning.  HA!  I tried the tylenol and hot bath and neither worked.. the pain was horrible.  I was hunched over and in tears.  I told Derek he had to take me back to the ER because there had to be something wrong.  I told him it felt like i was having labor pains, except they weren't coming and going with the contractions they were a constant pain.  We dropped Boston off at my dads again and headed back in.  This time they moved a little quicker.  Both of the nurses admitting me said "it sounds like you have a kidney stone".   I wanted to say "thanks.. i believe i mentioned that to the doctor earlier and she didn't seem to think that could be it".  I got roomed, got an IV for fluids and morphene, and then another ultrasound was ordered.  Sure enough... there was a kidney stone, a 7 MM stone!  Even Derek and I could pick it out on the ultrasound.

The rest of the night was kind of a blur.  I was pretty drugged up as the pain was absolutely awful.  The worse pain i've ever been in.  About 11:00 (or maybe later) I got moved up to a room on the OB floor.  The morphene seemed to be keeping the pain under control, however every time I got up to use the bathroom I would vomit.  It was awful.  By 3:30AM things were under control and I was finally comfortable enough to doze off some.  When the pain would wake me up, i'd hit my button for more pain meds and then fall to sleep again.  Early Friday morning they sent in a Urologist...  the WRONG Urologist, to discuss my surgery.. again, not impressed with my experience!  I had specifically told them Thursday night that I worked for Urology Specialists and that they better be consulting with one of my doctors as they were aware earlier in the day that something may be wrong with me.  The ER nurse assured me they were consulting with the right people..  So I had the pleasure of telling the wrong doctor that he wasn't doing my surgery..  And then I took it upon myself to get ahold of a PA at our office.. she got things rolling and about an hour later a PA from my clinic showed up and surgery with Dr Arend was scheduled for later that morning.

Surgery went well.  First time i've ever been put under for a surgery but there was no time to be nervous or scared.  I was so drugged up and exhausted I couldn't even keep my eyes open.  After recovery I was brought back up to my room..  I think I slept for about 4 hours and then the nurse encouraged me to eat something so I could be discharged.  It was so nice coming home to my own bed.. and that's basically where i've been since Friday night.  The pain is definately MUCH better but i'm still very uncomfortable and still feel the "urge to pee" quite often.  I have a stent in my bladder right now that will be removed on Wed. afternoon this week.  The stent basically holds open the ureter in case there is something else left to pass.  Dr Arend did say he looked around for other stones and didn't see anything...so hopefully this is it. 

Sorry that got long!  It's been a crazy 4 days.  I'm finally feeling better today and am hoping to get a good nights rest, and get back to work in the morning.  I haven't spent a lot of time sitting up or moving around so we'll see if I can survive my 4 hour shift at work. I will definetely be saying prayers that this is my ONLY experience with a kidney stone. I told Derek having this baby in March will be such a breeze after dealing with this pain..that maybe I won't need an epidural :)    

A sad day of remembering Papa..

On Thursday it was the one year anniversary of Derek's dads sudden death.  Hard to believe a year has passed.  We think of Jerry often, and Boston mentions his papa on a weekly basis.  He'll say "i miss my Papa" or "when is Papa coming back from heaven".  It's always hard to say that he's never coming back, but we always explain that Papa is loving it in heaven, and that someday we'll be seeing Papa again.  I think in Boston's 4 year old mind, heaven is full of toys, sports and super hero's, and of course his Papa would love it there! 

Thursday evening we all got together at Derek's moms house for a night of remembering Jerry.  We were each asked to write something to share with the group about how Jerry's death has impacted our life, or other memories of Jerry.  You all know that Derek is an amazing writer, and can put down his thoughts on paper in a matter of minutes, so when I got to work on Thursday morning and went to print out his letter that he sent to my email I sat reading...and crying at my desk.  He had written yet another perfect letter.  Derek gave me permission to share it on our blog.  I hope as you read you take a minute to thank God for your own parents/family.  Every day is a blessing and we hope that you show your own parents extra love today.  We just never know when God will call them home.


Dear Dad,


I want to start this letter with a honest and sincere, "I miss you". Sometimes I catch myself staring at blue sky, or numbly gazing off in no specific direction thinking about how life has changed since you passed on to join the heavenly angels. It's hard to think that an entire year has passed, and yet, life has still moved forward without you here. Even as I type this letter to you, my eyes well up with tears as the hole in my heart, where you resided for all those years, still sits empty. The entire family has courageously risen with the sun every morning, and at times, struggled through each and every day with an incomplete heart. You would be proud of each of us.

The last year without you has raced by and with it came an incredible amount of change. The biggest change for me, besides your empty chair in the living room, has been in my private life. I'm sure you know, but in a heroic way, your passing rekindled a fire for Jamie and I. We chose to work hard to mend our relationship and family and we were reunited in marriage on your birthday. We got permission from mom about exchanging our vows on your birthday, as we came to the conclusion that you would approve and probably didn't want all the attention anyway. It is sad in a way, that it took your death to open our eyes to what is important in this short life that we are given. I think that you would be very proud of her and I and I'm certain that you are smiling and telling everyone up there how beautiful your daugher-in-law is! We understand that marriage is still hard and needs to be worked on everyday. It seems that anything worth doing always is, and probably always will be.

A week after the funeral I started my new career as a an automobile sales and leasing representative, or a car salesman for short! And there is no need to worry, I don't sell Fords. The days can get pretty long and the job can wear on you after awhile, but knowing what kind of values and hard work you instilled in me due to your steady and quiet example, has allowed me a little success and has helped me provide for my family. I enjoy what I do and am glad that I have been able to give Jamie a chance to take on a part time work load and allow her to spend more time with Boston and prepare our house for the next Gerd boy that's on the way. That's right Dad, Jamie is pregnant and we are expecting in March! However, we don't know what the baby will be yet, as it is too early to tell. Boston called Mom and timidly told her that he was going to be a big brother. Mom was very excited for us and gave us sincere congratulations, even though she had a heavy heart that week since it was the week of your anniversary... I wish you could of been there for that call...


I'm starting to realize that all of those simple moments are the moments that I have missed the most. From meeting out at the golf course for a quick nine holes, or taking Boston to see his Papa at Hy-Vee, I've realized it is in those moments that all the memories are made and it is where most of the personal stories begin. I hope that I can be the man you raised me to be and make you proud as you walk the golden streets and enjoy all the heavenly gifts the Lord has provided for you. I try to cherish all the little things in my life now, all the precious moments. The ones that are only shared by a few and give life that added pinch of flavor.


In closing, Dad, I love you, and until we meet again... "I miss you".

Derek

Boston's First Year of Pre-K!

The first day of school is always a special day, or so I thought..  Derek didn't seem to think it was a big deal and wasn't even going to come for his first day until I made a big deal about it.  I just don't understand men sometimes, but that's a whole different blog!  All of Boston's "firsts" are extra special to me.  These firsts are moments you only get once and the way time moves so fast, you've gotta cherish each moment!  I got up early to make Boston frosted cinnamon rolls for breakfast for his first day of school.  This was his first and last first day of preschool if that makes any sense :)  We did the first day of school picture outside the house just like we did last year.  I will say it was MUCH easier on me this year than last.  No tears from mom, and Boston was much less cuddly and apprehensive this year.  He got in line with his class and off he went.  There are only 3 kids in his class from last year so he'll be meeting new friends, something he is not shy about! Here are some pictures of his first day, and a picture from last years first day so you can see how he's changed!                                
                                                            First day of preschool last year!
        

First day of Pre-K this year!

Showing off his new Transformers backpack! 

Boston and Derek

Boston & Mom

Walking into school!

Probably the last time he'll sit on my lap for a first day of school picture :(  My big boy is growing up so fast!

Lining up to head to class!

And off he goes!  He was super excited!