Me and my harmonica

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was such a nice day. I will post some pictures later. We got some family photos taken and I'm excited to see them. Christmas is all about being with your loved ones and eating, of course. jk

I went to Colorado for my brother, Gary's wedding. It was so nice to be with my family and be there to see Gary and Emmalee get married. He is my youngest brother and now we're all hitched. I looooove weddings! getting dressed up, seeing friends and family and eating yummy food. It's the party to have. I want to post a few photos of that later as well.

After I flew back to Ohio, Eric and the kids picked me up and we drove home. The next morning Avery had her n-g tube replaced with a g-tube, going through her stomach wall. The procedure itself went well, but boy did she wake up mad. Last night and this morning she was still in some pain, but she was smiling before she fell asleep for her morning nap! hallelujah. Last night her blood oxygen levels were low, they even dropped at one point to 35 (she was 85 before the procedure). She's on some oxygen now and I'm certain it's the extra fluid in her that's bringing her levels down, and that will improve. Sooo, long day and night, but she's on the mend and hopefully we'll go home tonight or, and I really hope not, tomorrow morning. Happy New Year to us

Thank you to some friends for watching Zachery while we're here. I've thought a lot about Zach this year and how he's doing with everything. I feel that we all might be behind, but we'll make it just fine.
Happy New Year 2009!

I like it ah laut!

This was taken today. She was eating a little, I think, until I gave her a bigger bite and it all came out. Avery was happy til then!

This is Zach and Avery's great grandma Marie. She is wonderful and loves her grand kiddies. Avery loves her too. She's giving the "she's-number-one-sign".

Zachery has been trying to weazel toys away from Avery. It's kind of funny. He said to her, "Oh Avery, I think this is your favorite toy" as he trades toys with her (so sly). Toys he hasn't played with in years, suddenly he needs them. Sharing seems to be the topic these days.

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. 2 days really because Christmas Eve is just as much Christmas to me. All the anticipation of Christmas, family gathering, treats, lovely smells, music, lights and other traditions start on the Eve. :)

We changed Avery's appt. til Tuesday to find out if we'll go ahead with her g-tube here. We had a lovely icy storm and the trees are still covered in ice, I like it. I like it ah laut.

Digging Deep

My dear friend from childhood, Aryn, has started blogging everyday. I love it. While Aryn has always been a blast to be with, naturally her daily quips are delightful. I have gotten away from the daily posts and I think Aryn has the idea (I know there are many more who also blog daily and we followers do appreicate). If you write everyday, you have to get more creative and dig a little deeper to find something meaningful/amusing worthy of posting. Then you're looking for something during the day or whenever to share with the friendly folks out there. I'll try to dig a little deeper, for my own benefit.

Update on Avery: Avery continues to not swallow food/drink. She either gags and/or spits up. We had a consult about getting a g-tube placed in her stomach (to replace the feeding tube down her nose to her stomach). We are tentatively scheduled to have this done Dec. 30th (to get it done this year) here at St. V's hospital. Friday we have a pre-op appointment at the hosp. and we'll meet with the anesthiesiologist then. If the anest. isn't comfortable doing this on Avery, we'll have to schedule this at U. of M. in Ann Arbor. I certainly don't want to go up there, too much angst for me. I hope the anest. doc will feel confident in doing this here. If not, best to side on the safe side. Placing a g-tube is a minor procedure and she'll only stay overnight (if all goes well). Sooooo, let's all hope for the best and I hope the best means to do it in Toledo, but I'm not the boss. :)

Tangent: When I was about 10 years old, my mom forced me to participate in 4-H. Most of my friends were involved as well, so that made it all right in my mind. Anyhoo, one day after a class, one of the girl's mom came to drive us girls home. Aryn and I had walked to and fro all over the neighborhood for a long time (well I moved there when I was 9) and we knew where we were going and felt comfortable doing this. When the poor mom came to get us girls, I said no thanks, we'll walk home. The mom insisted we ride and so we got in. But I was miffed that I was being made to ride. The next stop, I nudged Aryn and said to get out, we were walking. The car stopped and I pushed Aryn out. This nice lady was upset and said we had to get in and I said, "No, we can walk. You're not the boss of me!". What a lovely thing to say to your friend's mom, (and she still is my mom's good friend). We walked to Aryn's house where she promptly was grounded and I slinked home and breathed a sigh of relief when I found out from my mom that no one had been by. I hurried and went out to play in the snow, just as the phone rang. oh uh. Sure enough, I was called inside and promptly grounded and Aryn and I had to take a flower over to this lady and apologize. In my defense to my mother, I smartly said, "Well, she's not the boss of me." Classy.
*I think I might have already posted this story. Sorry, it's still a good one.

Oh Zach

Today at church, Zachery looked so nice. Eric had gotten him all dressed up in a suit jacket his great grandma had given him. But just cuz you look nice doesn't mean you'll act nice. Zach wanted to yell during the sacrament and between me and a nice lady at church, we took him out 3 times. Hello! crazy kid. The nice lady must have a magic touch because Zach calmed down after that. I tried not to cry and enjoy the meeting. Ah well, it's over and the little dear is sleeping now. I always wanted a boy with some spunk and character, but not during the sacrament. :)

We went to our ward's Christmas party last night. It was a fun evening with breakfast, Santa and skits. Zachery decided to go on stage, but tried throwing basketballs off. Thankfully someone was there trying to stop the balls from going off stage, as I was yelling at Zach from off stage. Why can't he just participate like the other kids? Basketball is more fun than being a shepherd, but not when you need to just be a shepherd. Oh well, that too passed. I think I got another grey hair today! Oh Zach, I love you.

All of You

I couldn't bring myself to post much lately. I have enjoyed reading up on friends' lives via their blogs. There are so many talented, interesting, wonderful, kind, amazing individuals out there and I'm happy to know more about them and be inspired and uplifted by them. So, thank you!

Merry Christmas! It's coming, the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat.
The sound of bells ringing as you enter the local stores. I always feel a little guilty, even if I put a little in. Guilty that I have enough, not excess, but enough and many do not. I feel so bad for those who stand outside with signs, will work for food. Even if they make some good money that way, we still have more. We still are warm in our cars, or semi-warm, and it makes me feel sad for them and I wish I could fix it all. Instead, I'll give what we can.

I have had my fair share-o-treats this week and it's only the 2nd week of Dec. Mmmmm, but it was good. So, here is to holiday treats, giving what we can, and enjoying reading about all of you!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Birthdays, buckets and trees

I have had a lot of ideas for blogging this week, but there seemed to be something else to do. :)
Here is a list, because I like lists, of outstanding moments this week.

1) Zachery turned 4! Happy Birthday little guy. We celebrated a bit with my parents when they were here and he was soooooo excited! It was his birthday. :) Zachery is growing up fast and while I love it, a part of me is nervous that I don't know how to raise a boy/teenager... He is becoming more independent and a better helper, yay. We just love our little guy. He woke up miserable with a fever today; poor guy.

2) Our Christmas tree is up, lit and decorated (they happened at different times.) I love our tree, well, all decorated that is. I've collected ornaments over the years from places I went to and to represent things we've done, and the people who gave them to us. This way, it is memories and people we see when we're looking at the tree.

3) My bucket list. I was talking to some friends about bucket lists. I realized I had a longer list before I was married and happy to say I did most everything. The sad thing I realized is that I really don't have a list now, nor personal goals made. I want to go to Hawaii someday and I want to write a song for Valentine's Day, but that's it. Sooooo, come New Years, I'm determined to get a nice bucket list made. :)