my first real day back to work

Today was my first real 12 hour day back at work. I got up at 5:45 and left the house at 6:30. I was at work by 6:40am. I just walked in the door at 7:45pm.
I asked if I could just shadow today just to get an idea of how the day would go and to observe. It was a crazy day. We had really needy, busy patients. They were sweet but always needed something and kept us running. We ended up discharging 2 patients and getting 2 new ones. One was in a lot of pain and needing pain meds often, one was pooping non stop, one was gagging and puking and coughing up blood and luckily the other was sweet and not too bad, but his wife was a talker and it was really hard to leave the room without having a conversation. It was really busy and we sat maybe 45 minutes all day. I think it was a little abnormal. I hope so anyway.
So, what a start back to work after having a year off and even at that, I had done 8 hour shifts for the year before that. I was absolutely exhausted. I could have fallen asleep at the desk when we finally did sit down. I have fought the urge to sleep since I got home and now I am giving in. Man, I think I will like my job once I get back in the swing of things, but until then, it is going to kick my tail!

It is hard too because I am constantly comparing. It is hard now being an experienced nurse. I compare everything from our IV pump, to the way they chart, to the way my preceptor does things to how my old preceptor, Tonya, did things. Tonya was perfect to me because I knew no better. Now, I do know better and she is still so much more skilled and knowledgeable than most of the people I watch and observe. I miss my Tonya! I just hope all the good habits she taught me all come back to me so that I don't develop bad habits. There are so many unsafe habits I saw today. I hope I can not become lazy and always do what I know is right even if it takes longer or is not what everyone else does. Thanks Tonya for teaching me right the first time. You were the best preceptor!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!!!

Happy 1/2 birthday to my little Thomas!

It is so hard to believe it has already been 6 months. What a wonderful half a year it has been. You have changed so much! We love you so much little guy!

Memorial Day at the Lake

What a great weekend to be at the lake. The weather was beautiful. We had a great time. Mom and Dad were there, and Kenzie and Haley, Mawmaw came and Aunt Mary visited. Robbie and Pam were there. We had fun. Here are a few pics:



This weekend for Memorial Day we went to my parents house on High. Rock. Lake. in NC. Thomas had his 1st boat ride and as you can see it put him to sleep.


Mackenzie and my new neice, Haley came and hung out with us too.


Mom and Jeremiah were watching something(one of the very few times Jeremiah was sitting and not in the water.


Thomas is 6 months old and has some cute cheeks!!


Me and Mawmaw and Thomas trying to keep shaded.

I had to make this one of mom and Jeremiah black and white since that life jacket happened to be pink. Jeremiah wasnt too happy about that.

Surprise party a success

We had a surprise party for my in-laws last night. We have been planning this for a while. It is hard to plan a party in VA from OH, especially one at their own house. So, we had it all planned out that they would take Jeremiah to a movie when they got out of school. So, from then I would have a few hours to get everything ready. Danny and Karie (Daves brother and sister in law) came in and helped. Buddy and Harriet were really surprised. We had proabably 50 or so people here. YAY, one down another to go. Today I have a baby shower to throw and then we are off to Charlotte and then to the lake.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Allergy testing results

We had Jeremiah and Thomas tested a few weeks ago. Jeremiah to recheck his egg allergy and Thomas to confirm his milk allergy. So here is what we found out:

Jeremiah was a high allergy to eggs now is a moderate allergy to eggs. Improvement but still allergic. But he is also low allergy to walnuts and corn.WHO KNEW! We have never had any type of reaction that we know of to these but were encouraged to steer clear.
Thomas was a high allergy to milk- like we suspected but also a moderate allergy to peanuts. WOW- This was a surprise.(a scary one). He also had a low allergy to wheat. (crazy). The great thing was he wasn't allergic to soy, although many people allergic to milk are. So we can try soy formula, which is way cheaper and easier to be able to eat if he doesn't quickly outgrow this. This was a praise for sure though.
We are still really hoping that they will both outgrow their allergies pretty quickly. We will recheck Thomas at 1 year to see if we have made improvements and to determine what he can eat at that point.
Our doctor did encourage us to get to a pediatric allergist to be under their care, and to get more epi pens, especially now that we have a peanut allergy, since it has the highest likelihood of causing an anaphylactic reaction.
Please pray that our boys outgrow these allergies and that they never experience any type of severe reaction. This is very scary for us as parents, especially leaving them in the care of others at daycare now.

I survived

I had my first week back to work this week. Monday was 8 hours in a classroom, Tuesday was 8 hours in a classroom and today was 5 hours touring and doing a scavenger hunt all over the unit.
So, overall, not a very exciting week. I do think I will like the unit. The people seem really nice. The floor doesnt seem too stressful, but it is busy. I look forward to it. It is nice to be in a small hospital. It is so much different than Forsyth, and it wasnt even that big.

So, we are off to VA tomorrow after Dave's meeting at church for a busy and crazy weekend. I am excited for a break though. I know the grandparents cant wait to see Thomas. It is crazy he is almost 6 months old already. We get to go to Journey and see old friends. That will be fun, but I think we picked the worlds worst weekend to go to Charlotte, as it is race weekend. Oh well. Hopefully it will be warm, Jeremiah and G are swimming at the lake. We get to see Mawmaw too.
YAY!!!

Here we go...

I am off to my first day back into the work world. An exciting yet bittersweet day. Please pray for me as I go. I know the boys will be fine today as they are with Dave. Here we go...

Go figure!

Oh and by the way, after all that Pediasure excitement, Jeremiah doesnt even like it! Go figure!

sympathy for Maddy

I just received word that Maddy passed away yesterday morning. She was only 9 years old. Her little brother who is 4 got to tell her goodbye and all the family was with her. Please continue to pray for their family as this is a very challenging time for them right now. Pray that God gives them peace and comfort. Thanks

jeremiah and his new do

I have been wanting Jeremiah to get a haircut for some time now but since he thinks he is a middle schooler, he wanted to grow out his hair like a lot of them have it.
Finally, he saw this commercial for pediasure. He has been begging me for it since he saw the commercial. It is the one where the little girl is in the buggy and her mom says "we need chicken and she says I dont like chicken. We need waffles, I dont like waffles. We need broccoli, I dont think i like broccoli." Well, that must have been what struck a cord with Jeremiah because he doesnt like broccoli either so he thought he needed pediasure since he "doesnt eat healthy and eat broccoli".

So, i think this is the perfect time to use bribery. I say ok, we can get pediasure if you get a haircut, so he has been so excited, begging me to get a haircut since i mentioned it.
So yesterday we finally go to a barbershop (one i've never been to) and he get up in the chair. The man seems nice but goes ahead starting cutting without asking me what i think or how i want it to look. By the time i realize what is happening and am working to formulate a game plan to tell him to do more, he is telling Jeremiah, "this one one good looking haircut, you look great, that is a fine looking boy with his new haircut" and keeps on and on. I couldnt muster the courage to tell him i hated it. His hair was really long and all this man did was trim around the outsides and and scissor cut a little on top, and his bangs, which werent even straight.
So i paid him his $9 and was on a b-line home to 'FIX' what he had destroyed. So we ended up with a buzz which isnt what i had intended. I like it a little longer on top but not with bangs straight across. Oh well, $9 down the drain, but it could be worse I guess.
So here are before ( few weeks before) and after pics, in typical Jeremiah fashion
.

PRAY for Maddy...

Please pray with me for Stephanie Hood , a fellow MOPS mom, and her family tonight. Her daughter Maddy has cerebral palsy and had a seizure a couple days ago. All this is very complicated by her CP and she is unable to tolerate meds or a transplant. She is now in liver and kidney failure and they aren't sure how much longer they have with her. They have called in all the family.
Thanks!

Im just tired...

There are some days I am just spent. Today has been one of those days. I am not sure what all has lead to it, but I have absolutely NO patience today. I am tired, cranky, moody, just ready for bed. I guess part of it is getting up still at least once a night with Thomas, dealing with my oh so ornery 4 year old and trying to be super wife all day every day. It just takes its toll on me.
I have tried to not have expectations of Dave so that I don't feel disappointed. I have noticed I am a much better wife and mom if I can do that but sometimes, it is hard.
Like this weekend, it was mothers day and our anniversary. He did remember, I got a card for both, very sweet and my favorite dark chocolates but I just don't feel like that was enough. It is an expectation problem, yes, but it has lead me to be how I am feeling today as well. Dave was gone all day to church and then getting ready for his mothers day deal and didn't have a lot of time for me. He left at 8 am and got home at 9pm.I just feel a little disappointed and a little slighted and really worn out from these boys. I know he hated not being able to be with me and if he could change things he would have. He is good intentioned, It is just hard on me sometimes. Maybe Im PMSing too, I dont know. I love my husband and my boys, sometimes Im just tired.
I just needed to vent that. I feel a little better now.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mama's out there.
And a special Happy Mother's Day to my mom and mother-in-law.
I Love Ya'll!

more pictures of us

new pics - FINALLY

This was our trip to the zoo

Im playing the coupon game

I have decided to play the grocery game. There is a website called thegrocerygame.com and I have heard about how much money it saves you in coupons and all that so I have decided to play. I did my 1st walgreens trip today. It was ok, but my plan A was shot down when there was no Crest ProHealth toothpaste. It was on sale 2/$5 and there was a Wags coupon for $3 off 2 and then manufacturers coupons for .50 off each making it 2/$1. But next I did get some sweet deals on Cover Girl Make up. It was buy one get one half (BOGO 1/2) so after 2 $2.50 off 2 coupons and another 2 $1.00 off coupons, I got 6 things (foundation/powder/eyelash curler/polish + 2 free blushes- free when you buy 3 CG items). I also got 2 Venus razors that were $9.99 and had a coupon for $4 off and then you got a reward at the register for $6 for your next purchase so It was like free. After I purchased 9 P&G items, I got $20 back in rewards (free money for my next purchase) and the 2 $6 back for the razors, so overall, I spent $36 and got back $32 for next time. Not too bad, but a little more up front and out of pocket than I wanted to spend, but they were all things I will use and need.
Not too shabby. We will see how Kroger goes.

Things I learned that you should know...
1- Walgreens and Target both take their own coupons in addition to manufacturers coupons on the same item
2- To save the most money, you should get only what you need to get the extra rewards and buy the other stuff with the rewards in a seperate transaction.
3- Kroger doubles coupons up to .50 and anything above .50 goes to $1.00- Automatically

my 2 weeks was NOTHING...

I am so elated that Dave is home after being at conferences the past two weeks. I hate having him away for so long and the boys, especially Jeremiah, does as well. I realized just how 'bad' I had it (sarcasm), after talking to my friend Carrie. Her husband, Jake, left for boot camp 3 weeks ago and will be gone a total of 18 weeks. She has been able to talk on the phone to him once for 3 minutes. She never knows when or if he will be able to call again so has to be on call all the time, just hoping he will be able to call again. She has girls a little older than my boys so that helps, but 18 weeks is REALLY long. Yeah so my 2 weeks is nothing.
Pray for my friend Carrie when you think about it, Im sure this is stressful and lonely.