CRAZY LIFE

So I have stopped posting since June 2017. Our computer got too slow, I had problems logging into our account (on account of Shade having a school google account that was messing with it and it took me a long time to figure all that out), and we were saving photos in so many different places, it was hard to find all the ones I wanted to use and shrink them to fit my posts. And then life just got super crazy. I don't really know if/when I will get caught up with older posts.

In January 2018, I started working at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, just on a typical medical/surgical floor that got turned into a stroke unit (which I had to get certified for). Then in August-October we got licensed to foster so we could eventually adopt two of our nieces who were in Foster Care in Utah. There was a lot of red tape and lots of issues we had to fight in order to get that taken care of.

In January 2019, we had the worst of the legal battles to fight for our nieces (over $15,000 worth!). We were finally able to adopt them in August! It has been an adjustment adding 2 very strong-willed (one being a PTSD child) into our family, but worth it! Kellen also started going to Mexico for work in May, and continued to do so about every other week for the rest of the year (16 times total!). Also in August, I got pretty sick and my body killed off my insulin-making cells and I now have Type 1 diabetes. Figures. It took about 4 months of daily headaches and fatigue, as well as frequent severe migraines to get that all sorted out. I am still trying to find a good balance with my daily medications.

2020 has started out crazy too. I worked a TON for the holiday break, and just finished my last shift this weekend until the end of February (since January 2019, I now only have to work 3 shifts per 6 week schedule, but I try to pick up extra shifts when Kellen has time off), so I have been exhausted pretty much since last August. And now Kellen has another work trip to Mexico planned for February. But Kellen and I are planning our FIRST KID-FREE vacation (since becoming parents) coming up soon! We are very excited! Hopefully this will be our great start to a great year!

FATHER'S DAY

Kellen had already gotten his big present - a new grill! But we were able to celebrate the kids having one of the best dads in the world! We had some yummy food, Kellen got a massage, and even some fancy chocolates from the kids. We sure are lucky to have such an awesome guy who does so much and sacrifices so much for us to have such a comfortable, happy life! We sure love you, babe!

MAY MOMENTS

Other May Moments
Shade: Baseball, "Shades", Best friend Chuang before moving to China, Dinosaur he had to make out of recyclables for Cub Scouts (Caniculosaurus)

Olive: Pig Hat, Sad & still beautiful, Selfies

Eli: "Shades"

Isaac: Learning to swing on his belly, Eating dirt and playing peek-a-boo, "Shades"

All Kids: 4-Wheeling, Crazy faces (Eli & Olive), Loving the backyard and sprinklers, Olive & Eli helping Isaac (and crazy poses)

Misc: Small Scorpion, Tiny Frog, Fresh grown cucumbers, The gardens compared, Trees growing everywhere in Georgia!

MEMORIAL DAY BBQ

I am still a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom), so I didn't have to work this holiday weekend. We had a few friends over for a BBQ - Kellen had gotten an early Father's Day present - A new grill - and we wanted to try it out. It was a nice day - the weather was perfect! The kids had friends, we had some nice company, and yummy food! It is nice to have a decent sized yard with privacy :)

FRICTION BURN

The kids and I were playing in the basement. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and grab some snacks. I wasn't upstairs more than 5 minutes when Isaac came up the stairs screaming and Shade came running up behind him saying Isaac hurt his hand, but he didn't know how. It looked like a friction burn to me - like he had scraped it against something and scraped the top layer of skin off. I tried to get more information, but Shade was adamant that he didn't know what had happened. I cleaned it up, bandaged it, and then scoured the basement trying to figure out what had happened. We do have a treadmill down there, but we have talked to Shade many times about not playing with that, and the key to turn it on was still hanging high on the wall where little kids could not reach it.

I did not like the look of Isaac's fingers, so the next morning I took him in to the urgent care center as soon as they opened (it was the first night of a holiday weekend). Unfortunately, since I didn't know what had happened, I was unable to tell them exactly what kind of injury it was, so the Nurse Practitioner deemed it a heat burn and treated it accordingly (silvadene cream, wrapped, etc), then recommended a dermatologist and to come back for a follow-up dressing. I tried calling the dermatologist, but they gave me the runaround and recommended a different doctor, who did the same thing, etc. So I was unable to get a specialist to see his hand. I took him to his pediatrician the next day they were opened, and they recommended a burn clinic up in Austell (an hour's drive away).

We went to see the burn specialist, and he said it looked like a friction burn, not a heat burn (thank you!), and said it was too late to do some initial treatments (like a skin graft), and we would have to let it heal a bit more first, then do another assessment to see if he would need surgery. That night, Shade asked me if they finally decided it was a friction burn. I though it was weird for him to be so concerned and to bring that up, so I had a discussion with Shade and asked him again if he knew what had happened, and that I would not be mad anymore, but we need to know how to treat the wound. Shade finally confessed that he had turned on the treadmill so the older kids could race cars, and Isaac had walked over and touched the treadmill. Shade said that he didn't want to tell us because he was afraid of getting into trouble. I told him he was not in trouble, that any punishment we could have given him would not have been as bad as the guilt he had to carry this whole time from doing something he knew he shouldn't have done that resulted in severely injuring his baby brother. We talked about how telling the truth may not keep you from getting into trouble, but it makes EVERYTHING easier than lying about it and getting into even more trouble later. I hope Shade learned a valuable lesson!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

This year went by way too fast! Shade did GREAT with his grades again (all A's)! He is liking his new school Peeples Elementary, and has already made some good friends. So now he is done with 3rd grade and we will have a 4th Grader! We also got Olive registered for preschool - Starr's Mill Academy - across the street from Shade's school. It will be an all-day preschool (8:00-2:30), and I am sad to have her away from me for that long of time while she is this young, but she is so far advanced from Eli and Isaac, that she really needs attention in other areas, which is hard to give her with the other 2 boys always tagging along - but especially social skills. We have thought about it a lot, and we both feel that this will be a good thing for her. Plus, it isn't just a play-based preschool. They teach letters, phonics, writing, counting, adding, etc. So I don't think she will be completely bored. I am sure there are things she will learn that I haven't covered with her at home. But as an added benefit, as Olive and Eli clash quite a bit, this will give me some good one-on-one time with just the two younger boys. But until then, here's to summer vacation!!!

MOTHER'S DAY

This year for Mother's Day, I was still recovering from my septoplasty, so I didn't make it to church. But my kids brought me home a treat from church anyway :) I also had a rough patch when Kellen was working out in the yard - today was rough, not gonna lie. But you know what made it awesome? When I was sitting on the couch this morning and my 4 yr old daughter said "Girls need to cuddle!" Then she jumped on my lap with a blanket and yelled "I'm so excited to sit by you!" And after I made dinner, my 2 yr old son took a few bites, then looked at me and said "Thank you, mommy!" Then after I spent over half an hour cleaning up a not fun mess (I wasn't really supposed to be bending over yet), and I was unhappily putting clothes in the washing machine and my 1 yr old baby just walked over and put his head on my shoulder and gave me a hug. And then later that night, when I told my oldest son to go to bed and he said "Okay, let's say prayers." Then afterward, he gave me a hug and kiss and said "I love you, goodnight!" I am so lucky to have 4 awesome kids. I feel so blessed!

The kids also got me a couple of fun things - like chocolates (even though I am diabetic...😜) - they were so excited to give me stuff! But Kellen got us some bluetooth speakers for our phones. That is pretty cool since my phone's volume doesn't go very high anyway, and I can make/take phone calls through them also. Love my sweet family! 💗💗