9 years and counting....

Call me overly sentimental....but today, it's allowed.

Today, my oldest turns 9 years old!!!!!!!

Holy cow, that makes me OLD-ish ;) 

I was thinking about the day he entered our lives. I was extremely exhausted. I had been at the hospital since the morning before. You see, I was induced at 36 weeks and 2 days. My blood pressure was out of control. It was the safest solution (at the time) for Mommy and baby. I was ready to give up and just let the doctor do a C-section. But Jed leaned over me and said "If you want to have this baby without a C-section, we will do it. It's your choice." So, we prayed...and then we started pushing. 24 minutes later, I heard his sweet cry. Incredible. You think hearing that heartbeat around 10-12 weeks pregnant is incredible, just wait for the first cry.

It was a special day. Our little boy had arrived. And he was healthy...even with being so early. He was a tiny one...long legged and weighing 6 lbs 2 oz. My smallest baby.

What a joyous day.

Happy Birthday to Dakota!!

-enJoy

The verdict on my knee

I'm not sure who all reads this blog. But I have so many thoughts running through my head.

I had my first orthopedic appointment today. And much to my dismay, the verdict is that I have a torn ACL. Now, I can live with a torn ACL. But living with this unstable knee will more than likely require me to wear a brace at any time I chose to be active. I was actually back up to running a little ways before I twisted my knee and fell during a Zumba class earlier this month.

You see, 2 Thanksgivings ago, I was playing soccer with the kiddos. I went to kick the ball and something twisted, popped, snapped and I fell. My knee started swelling, so I came home and put some ice on it and took some ibuprofen. All was good until I tried to stand up. Too swollen to walk. It was brutal. My sister came and took me to the ER to have it looked at. This was around the same time that Jed got up to put the turkey in the oven for Thanksgiving dinner that day (so shortly after midnight). The xrays showed lots of swelling and fluid. I was sent home in a brace with pain meds and told to follow up with an ortho doctor. Well, I called a week or so later, and wowza!!! the fees to see that kind of doctor were more than we had. So, I chose to just baby it and take advantage of having my other sister there for a visit. My knee slowly got better. Then I started to exercise. I had read somewhere that losing weight would help my knee and the pain. Well, I did that!! That was almost a year ago. And I've lost 47 lbs since then. Woot woot!! 

Well, the weight loss probably helped me endure the pain from a torn ACL a bit better. The doctor said I could stay with using the brace...but if I wanted to stay active, then having it fixed was what needed to be done. 

Oh Joy!

The doctor was impressed that I had lost that much weight just to avoid further knee issues (yay, meee!!) 

Once my husband and I decide exactly when we will have this procedure done, it will all become more real...I guess. Right now, I'm so worried about having it done and not being able to be active during recovery that I will put back on the weight that I have worked so hard to lose. But I guess if I can stay away from baked goodies, I should be good. :) 

Oh, so much to think about...read about....make decisions. All for my health and that I can do the things I need to do with my kiddos and family. 

If you have thoughts, you may share. I'm already reading up on ACL and ACL recovery stories.

But for now, these are my thoughts.

-enJoy

First post of 2015

It's 2015!! 

And that happened rather quickly. It seemed like just yesterday I was trying to figure out a way to share my thoughts. I wanted something that my children could look back on and read. The silly times, the tough times, the times to celebrate, the times to learn, etc.

January 2008 was when I started our family blog. It was a rainy day and I think I was just rambling about making some yummy soup for dinner. I was a stay at home Mommy of 2 kiddos at that time. A precious almost-2-yr-old boy and my "pretty girl". Little did I know that a few posts later, I'd be sharing about my "pretty girl's" health. She was diagnosed with a Congenital Heart Defect. Crazy how life can change so quickly. But you know, that was one of the times we learned...the tough times. 

We learned all about insurance at this time (quite the fiasco for these new parents). We learned to leave everything in God's hands. We learned to pray...and pray we did. We learned that "all things work together for good."  We made it through those tough times...with God's help and that of friends and family.

This blog became my means of communication. Rather than call all of my friends and family, I just posted a new update on the blog. It provided an outlet for me. There was something calming about sitting down and putting my thoughts on "paper". 

So...as we start a new year, I hope and pray it finds you all in good health. I know the weather is bit nasty for a few of y'all, so stay well. Take your Vit C and wash your hands. Say your prayers and tell someone you love them. 

7 years later and that precious "pretty girl" is doing wonderful <3 nbsp="" p="">

-enJoy