[19/52]

Mother's Day
Strawberry Picking
Disney on Ice

We had a busy week.

We started off with church Mother's Day morning. Followed by lunch at Beast & Barrel. We then spent the afternoon at Coolidge Park playing in the fountain and ridding bikes. Usually when we ride our bikes only one of us gets to ride because the other has to help Finley. This was our first time ridding together as a family. Finley's biking confidence is growing everyday and I think we will be able to take the training wheels off soon!

During the week we had a field trip out to a local farm where we got to pick strawberries.

Friday we left for Atlanta to see Disney on Ice. Finley go to go to Frozen while we were in Nepal last year for the first time. So I was excited to get to do this one with her. We spent the afternoon at my parents and had our first pool day of the season!

And now I will leave you with the very intent face of Finley watching The Little Mermaid and destroying her cotton candy. 

10/52-18/52

So..................... I have been sorta kinda slacking on the 52 week photo project.... Lets just call this a catch up.

[Week 10] It was raining a lot that week. So we spent a lot of time at the library. Matthew was also out of town, and my sanity was starting to go missing. I decided to take Finley to see Cinderella. She really enjoyed it.

[Week 11] Matthew had surgery so we kept things simple and easy. He was getting a little stir-crazy by day 3 at home so we made a trip to Coolidge Park for our first sno-cone of the season.

[Week 12] A friend of ours was kind enough to throw an Easter Party the weekend before Easter. There were yummy treats, an egg hunt and even a balloon drop! It was legit!

[Week 13] We had another Easter Party and actual Easter to celebrate!

[Week 14] Since we are part of a church plant, doing things on Sunday's that are out of town are hard. My family also likes to put all the birthdays in April, we have 5 birthdays in one month! So this was the prefect chance for us to get together to do Easter and birthdays with our family. We also got to go to Rock City for their Fairy Tale Nights. It was a night of Princesses and fairies!

[Week 15] My birthday was this week. My only requests were to eat fancy donuts for breakfast and BBQ for dinner. Matthew and Finley helped to make my wishes come true :)

[Week 16] We had Finley's birthday lunch at a local tea room. The girls had a great time and loved the hot tea! We also made a trip to the zoo for the first time here in Chattanooga. We finished off the week with a community service project helping out a local pregnancy center.

[Week 17] We dug up the space for our garden this year. It is going to be huge and we are planting a few new things like pumpkins and corn!

[Week 18] Finley had her first violin recital. She did great! She stood still on stage and followed her instructor really well.

Now that I am all caught up hopefully I will be able to keep on top of this! I am taking pictures every week... just not posting them like I should be :)

I am in a perpetual Saturday + 10/52

and I'm not sure if I like it or not.....

**Side note: this will have week 10 pictures for the 52 weeks project :) #slacker**

I feel like it has been Saturday for the past week. Some might be OK with that. I would definitely be OK with that if I was on a vacation.... but I wasn't...

Last Thursday after work Matthew left for a 5 day boating trip that he goes on every year at this time. Which made Thursday feel like Friday. When I woke up Friday I kept thinking it was Saturday. It was also rainy and nasty on Friday and Saturday, which made it hard to get out of the house and do things - like go to the park to burn off energy. And you can only go to Wal-mart so many times before it starts to get old. So to the library we went....

Saturday night I messaged Matthew to ask him how much he thought a little bit of sanity cost. I was thinking it cost 2 movie tickets, 2 drinks, and some popcorn. Sunday after church Finley and I grabbed a quick lunch at McDonald's - #dontjudge. Then we headed off to see Cinderella. I didn't tell Finley what we were doing. This girl loves surprises, it is her love language. When we got to the movies she was so excited!! Once the movie started she kept asking where Cinderella was and when the movie was going to start. I think she was expecting the cartoon. Oops. I asked who her favorite character was. She said the Stepmother, that was unexpected. I would have put money down on the Fairy Godmother. But I do have to say the Stepmother was the best dressed out of everyone for the whole movie! After the movie we went to play with Kylie for a little bit. Before I knew it, it was after 7:00 and we had not had dinner. So we rushed home had a quick dinner and I put Finley to bed. I savor the nights when Matthew is gone. Not because I don't want him around, I do. But I get to watch whatever I want until whenever I want. It.is.glorious.

I feel like we did something on Monday... but I can't remember. My days are starting to run together at this point. Matthew came home Tuesday afternoon and we had a good day having family time. We went to Coolidge park and walked around. Finley and I rode the carousel and then we stopped for a sno-cone. Matthew's mom came into town that night. Matthew was having hernia surgery the next morning, so she came to stay with Finley while I took Matthew to the hospital.

We got up at 5:30 am to head to the hospital and we were home by 1:00. The surgery went well. They gave him 4 or 5 different anti-nausea meds to keep him for throwing up. He threw up a lot the last time he had surgery. This time he actually woke up hungry. Since we got home we haven't done much. Matthew has felt good and is up moving around, but he gets winded and tired easily. He is starting to get cabin fever pretty bad and suggested we go back to Coolidge park today. I had to put the kibosh on that, 1) It has been raining for the past 2 days so it is going to be muddy and 2) I know we will get down there and walk around for 15 minutes and he will say he is ready to go home. Then Finley will have a melt down because she isn't. Soooo I think we may hit up Sonic for happy hour later today :) Hopefully that will cure his restlessness for a few more days until he can go back to work.

Well, let the Saturday's continue.....

When it is no longer your choice

If you have been reading for a little while, then you know I have been having some health issues. I have been in and out of doctors offices. I have had my blood drawn more in the last 2 months then I have had in my entire life and I have had every type of scan possible, except a PET scan.

Originally, just before Christmas I made a trip to the ER for pain in my side. We were expecting them to tell us in was my appendix. They quickly came back and said it was a blood clot in a vein going to my right ovary (Ovarian Vein Thrombosis). They sent for more testing and came back and said it was actually a ovarian cyst and instructed me to see an OB as soon as possible. Due to the holidays and it being so close to the end of the year, getting an appointment took a bit longer then wanted. But within a week I was in a OB's office having another ultrasound down. He left the room and took a bit longer then he should have if everything was normal. When he came back in the room he told me the original diagnosis of the blood clot was correct. The thing is, this type of blood clot doesn't just happen on its own. There is usually another medical issue that is causing it. I was told to take an aspirin a day and the clot should break up on its own. But my doctor wanted to find out what could have been causing the clot. So off for more scans and a full panel of blood work to find any kind of clotting disorder.

My scans came back fine, with no infection which was good news. A few weeks had passed since I had the blood work done and I was getting ready to call my OB to find out what the results were. That day I got a call from an Oncology and Hematology office with a referral to see them. I was confused because I hadn't had any results reported to me. I call my OB office and they explained that some of my blood work came back with a mild clotting disorder and they wanted a hematologist to take a look at my records. So off to another doctors office for more blood work.

I arrived and sat down in the room. The doctor came in and began the normal questions as he went of my file.

What brought you here?
Do you understand what is going on?
What is your medical history?

Then the less common questions began....

Have you been pregnant before?
How many miscarriages have you had?
So only 1 pregnancy and 1 live birth?
Were there complications?
Hmmmmm.... so no miscarriages? Really?

He then called his partner in to the room and we repeated the same conversation. Then they began to talk like I wasn't in the room. They are both Indian, so they were talking so fast to one another and I was having a hard time keeping up. I was able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. They were talking about how it wasn't a severe clotting disorder, but it should have presented by now. They said I should have had a harder pregnancy and both seemed very surprised by the fact that I had had a successful pregnancy. They kept asking if I was sure that I had had no miscarriages. I told them I had taken several tests over the past few months before getting a positive test. And only had 1 positive test followed by a great pregnancy and a birth.

Then they began to talk about medications. The hematologist explained that if I were to want to get pregnant again it could be difficult and dangerous. The clot could effect my right ovary and make it stop working and the clotting disorder could put me and a new baby at risk. He wanted to start a round of blood thinners in order to "protect my fertility." The blood thinners would help break the clot up and keep another clot from forming. He said this should have presented before now. It should have been harder to get pregnant and stay pregnant for me in the first place. They were surprised to see the disorder present so late.

The things is, Matthew and I are more then likely done having kids. I would love to have a second baby and have always thought that we maybe would at some point, but I am also content with just Finley. But there is something about being told you can't, you shouldn't or if you do it could be dangerous to have another child that makes me say "but what if I wanted more?" Matthew and I are also kind of system buckers. So if you tell us we can't do something we respond with a "you don't know me!" (Not that this means we will be having a second baby any time soon!!) But your heart plays a funny trick with your brain when you hear those words and you start to run all the reason you want another baby and what it would be like. But now it is no longer your choice to not have another child. It was a choice that was made for you. There is something satisfying when you say I am done. This is a choice I am making for me and my family. We are happy and content and complete. There is something that breaks a little inside you when you are told it is no longer your choice.

Doctor visits and the ER

** Warning: this post turned out longer then I expected it to... and sorry if it doesn't make total sense, I am trying to type this while on painkillers :) **

If you follow me on instagram then you know that I spent most of yesterday in the ER. It was not how I a planning on spending my Saturday.

Truthfully I haven't been feeling well for a while. I have had no energy or motivation. If I had a busy day, where I had a lot of errands to run or a long playdate, I would just be wiped by the time I got home. I had strep a few weeks ago, and just felt like I haven't been 100% since then.

Then almost 2 weeks ago I started to really not feel well. I began to feel like I was getting another kidney infection. I began drinking a lot water and cranberry juice hoping that it would take care of itself. Over the next week I was still in some pain and discomfort. Matthew was headed to Boston for 3 days for work and I told him if I wasn't feeling better by the time he got home I would make an appointment with my doctor. When he arrived home this past Wednesday afternoon, I still wasn't any better.

I called first thing Thursday morning to make an appointment. The guy on the phone told me they were booked up for the day. I explained what was going on and he told me to hang on a minute. I heard him talking to the doctor and when he came back on the line he told me to come in as soon as possible. The doctor would see me as soon as I got there.

I was taken back right after I walked into her office. They took me back and ran the normal doctors appointment stuff (weight, blood pressure, pee in a cup... you know). The doctor came in pretty quickly. We talked about how I was feeling and she did a physical exam. She said I had an infection somewhere, but she wasn't sure what was causing it. It could be a UTI that had turned into a serious kidney infection, it could be a virus that attached to my kidneys or is could be a kidney stone. She had some other concerns because I had some tenderness near my appendix, but my symptoms didn't match those for appendicitis. She gave me an antibiotic and took some more blood to have more tests run. She told me if my symptoms didn't get better or got worse by the weekend to go right to the ER. They wouldn't be able to confirm a kidney stone or my appendix rupturing without doing a CT scan.

Friday morning I could tell me kidneys were feeling better, but I was still having some serious pain in my right side. I haven't been sleeping well so that night I took an Ambien before bed. Even with the sleep-aid, I still didn't sleep well. I wasn't able to get comfortable and every time I moved I hurt. I had tried to call a friends dad who is a doctor Friday night to see how long through the weekend I should wait before going to go to the ER. I missed his call that night, but he called first thing Saturday morning. He told me not to wait and go ahead in.

Shortly after we arrived at the ER and I spoke with the doctor, they started me on fluids and gave me something for the pain. She then sent me to have a CT scan to rule out appendicitis. Every doctor I talked to over the past few days said my symptoms were a-typical of appendicitis, but it couldn't be ruled out until they did a scan. After the scan was done, the ER doc came back pretty quickly and explained my appendix looked fine, they couldn't see it on the scan which is a good thing. She then told me it appeared I had a clot in a vein going to my right ovary and my symptoms seemed to line up more with that. She then sent me up to have an ultrasound done to confirm the clot.

It was about 20 minutes between when she told me what was going on and when they came to get me for the ultrasound. Matthew was trying to make jokes to lighten the mood and told me "don't move!" I was trying not to get too upset, but it was scary hearing her say that I could possibly have a blood clot.

The ultrasound took about an hour. I would say it was top 5 most painful things I have ever experienced. When there isn't a baby in there, they mash down on you, HARD. It felt like she was touching my spinal cord with the ultrasound wand. She kept telling me to relax and be still. It hurt so bad it took me to tears. I was already tender and in pain in that area and now she was just mashing away! I thought I was going to wake up with bruises on my stomach this morning!

It took the doctor about another hour to come down with the results of the ultrasound. While we sat there waiting, we had pretty much resounded that I was going to be admitted with the possibility of surgery. Matthew tried telling me how they would get rid of the clot. I told him what I needed from the house and that he needed to make sure the guest bed was cleaned off and ready for my parents to come up. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came back with a good news/bad news situation. It was NOT a blood clot and I was being discharged, but I did have a "critical cyst" and would need to see my OB as soon as possible. I told her I had a follow up with my regular doctor on Monday, she told me to still go to that appointment and she would more then likely refer me to an OB/gyn. The ER doctor prescribe me something for the pain and nausea until we figure out what the next step is. From what I have been told, I will most likely have to have the cyst removed. I'm not sure how soon that will happen, especially since we are just days away from Christmas and New Years. I am in a good bit of pain and am uncomfortable, so they may want to do it this week. I guess I will find out when I see my doctor tomorrow!

But for now I am taking it easy and hanging out watching a lot of Netflix and taking naps :)

blogging break/ life lately

Well... it looks like I needed a little bit of a break. It wasn't something I meant to do... it just sorta happened.

We always come home from Nepal just before we get dumped into the holiday season and it seems like the weeks just go by faster after that.

We have also had a rough go this fall as far as health goes. One of us has been sick on a semi-regular basis. Luckily we haven't all been sick at the same time. You know you've had it bad when the pharmacist starts to recognize you. Matthew came home form Nepal with a virus that he had a hard time shaking and made getting over the jet lag much harder. Just days after he felt better, Finley came down with a cold. Then it was my turn and I think I got the worst of it. I either had the flu or strep throat. I'm not sure which... but it was rough. It was one of those sicknesses that you are praying for God to heal you or take you home. You know it will pass in a few days, but it seems like you will never get better. I woke up at one point with 103 fever! This also means we go into quarantine mode during our sickness and then a few days following, if we are able to.

When we haven't been sick, we have been on the go.

Here are some pictures of just a few things we have been enjoying recently.

We have had several bonfires and roasted lost of marshmallows.
We went to the aquarium for the first time in months.
We have spent a lot of time in Coolidge Park.
Matt's dad and nephew came and spent a few days with us over Thanksgiving.
We got to go walk through the lights at Rock City.
We cut down our first real Christmas tree since Finley was born.
We have had a camp out in our backyard (on one of the coldest nights of the year. All the mom's and kids ended up inside in beds while that dad's stayed in the tents.)
We traveled to see Matt's mom's side of the family for Thanksgiving. Sorry... no pictures. I left my phone at home.
We went to a birthday party at a trampoline park. That was so much fun! Finley did not want it to be over.
We had a mom's afternoon and attended the online ThriveMom's conference. It was amazing to participate it.
We had a baby shower for a new friend today and it was so cute! We did a superhero's theme!

So you see.... it's not that I haven't had stuff going on... I've just been to lazy to post anything about it. Hopefully I can get better about! The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Currently

I was reading Treats and Travels this morning and saw she had done a Currently post. I've seen them before and have always found them interesting, so I figured why not do one myself!

CURRENTLY

Reading: Blogs, Proverbs31 Ministry emails, and a book called "Say Goodbye to whining, complaining and bad attitudes in you and your kids." So far so good... now just to implement it in our house.

Writing: My first Currently post of this type. I have done "currently's" on life updates, but not one like this. I am also working out the 2nd part of our Nepal trip.

Discovering: My camera, I have had it for almost 2 years and I take it everywhere but don't use it like I should. I am finally figuring out how I like to take pictures and how I like for them to look. Also, I am figuring out what I don't like and how to change it.

Watching: New Girl, when Matthew is home. And Gilmore Girls, when I am by myself.

Listening: My worship play list on you tube, specifically The Rend Collective "Build Your Kingdom Here."

Thinking: About how I would like to be back on my normal schedule. I am over feeling wiped at 7 pm and wide awake at 5 am! I'd really like my 11 pm - 8 am sleep schedule back now....

Needing: To go to the gym. I haven't been since the week before we left.... so basically I will be starting over because it has been a month since I've been.

Feeling: The funny disconnected/depressed feeling being jet lagged brings. It's funny... it is very similar to the feelings you have after a baby. Everyone around has continued in their normal routines, while you went off doing something else. And now that you are back you are trying to find your rhythm again with the normal routines around you. It's strange and I don't like it. This is my least favorite part of coming back from a trip like this.

Wanting: A diet coke........ so very badly......

Loving: Our time spent at the pumpkin patch as a family this past weekend. Matthew is never thrilled about doing those types of things, but once we get there he is always glad I made him do it. I look my camera and was able to get some really great pictures. You can see some of my favorites over on instagram. After I post the pictures to my personal facebook page, I got some messages from some friends that are legit photographers. They were very encouraging and gave me some great tips to keep getting better pictures.

If every day could be like this past weekend

If you know me, you know I do not like summer. I hate being hot and sweaty. I can only handle summer if I am near water. Preferably a pool. Or a pool next to a beach. I love the beach, but not the sand. Strange I know. I want to be in a pool looking at the ocean from May through September.

But if every day could be like this past weekend, I might be able to make it until August when we head to Hilton Head.

It started on Friday. We spent the early part of the afternoon at the public pool. As I was putting our stuff down and talking to a friend, Finley B-lined it for the pool. Clothes and shoes on, no adult with her. I dropped everything, and chased her down. Told her she needed to wait and take off her shoes and dress before she could get in. So in the middle of the walk way, she stripped down and headed back to the pool. She is one determined little thing. It started to rain, so it cut our time a little short. But it was good while it lasted.

Friday night we went out to Nightfall. It is a local festival they do on Friday nights (duh). They have food trucks, live music, and all the motorcycles come out. It was a nice night to be outside, the rain cooled everything down.

 We had Italian ice's. I went looking for the frozen lemonade guy, but he wasn't there.

 Selfies

Finley loves to ride around on Daddy's bike.

Finley is currently obsessed with rocks and stones. She picks rocks up every where we go and says "I need this one for my collection!" While we were in Texas, my mom spent $6 on one of those little bags of rocks. She loves them, she has them lined up on her windowsill in her room.

Matthew has wanted to take Finley gem panning since we moved to Chattanooga. When he realized she had a interest in rocks, he started to plan on taking her panning.

So Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast and headed to Racoon Mountain, which is litterally right around the corner from us. We did it as a surprise, and she LOVED it!

Look at the face. She was thrilled.

After the gem panning, we went home and had lunch. We grabbed our swimming stuff and headed out to a swimming hole Matthew has been wanting to visit.

Finley wasn't so sure about the river at first, but by the end of the day she didn't want to leave.

We found tadpoles, and I think Finley could have chased them all afternoon.

Sunday after church we all went to Coolidge Park for a picnic and fun.

The kids played in the fountain and rode the carousel.

This is most of our ladies, but not all. We took this picture towards the end of the day, so some people had already headed home.

We finished our day with a shaved ice. 

 It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

If every day could be like those 3, I think I could handle summer a bit better.

We were suppose to head out to Riverbend tonight to see Toby Mac, but we currently have a bad storm rolling through. So I am not sure if we are going to make it. Sad. Tomorrow Boston is playing and if the weather stays nice, we will definitely be at that one!

Here is a great start to summer!

Is it over yet?

Is summer over yet? Because I am over it.

I can usually stand the heat and humidity until about July 4th, but after that I am counting down the days until fall. 

Which is silly really, because summer doesn't "officially" end until September. Then it will most likely stay hot for another month (or longer) here in the south. 

I don't know what it will be like here in Chattanooga though. I have been told it starts to cool down sooner up here, but I will believe it when I see it. I mean really? How much difference can a 100 miles make?

I am so over the sweating and the humidity. It is reeking havoc on my skin and hair.

So now I will start counting down the days until Fall. 

Happy hump day!

I can't wait until this weekend! I get to go see one of my besties and go bridesmaid / flower girl dress shopping!

Currently

I have been seeing these "currently" post up on a lot of blogs and I really enjoy reading them. So I have decided to one too!

FEELING: Better today. I had a good laugh from a friend last night via text message. It was much needed. 

READING: Nothing right now, but I plan on starting the last book of the Fallen series by Lauren Kate today. 

LISTENING TO: It raining outside. Again. 

THANKFUL FOR: A husband that is good at fixing things.

THINKING ABOUT: Our next preview service and my to-do list to get ready. Also, homeschool planning for Finley for next year. I have a list up supplies I need to get, and more gets added every day. I am also thinking of how to set up her playroom to make it a good place to do school.

EATING: homemade and slightly healthy Chocolate chip banana muffins.

WATCHING: PowerPuff girls with Finley

LOVING: Finley being in the random compliments phase. All day "Mommy, I love you!" "mommy, I like your eyes." "Mommy, I like your shirt." It is pretty awesome!

LOOKING FORWARD TO: I am looking for to seeing some friends at a friends birthday party this weekend (adult style! no kids!). And a baby shower for one of Matthew's co-workers. I can't wait to meet some of the people he works with!