Sleeping big boy style

While Daddy and Bubby were out 4 wheeling today it came nap time for T-Bone. I ask if maybe he would like to nap on the couch while mommy watches some TV. He said no and wanted to sleep in bed. I couldn't believe it. Not sleep on the couch? He kept saying the word Bubby to me and pointing at the bedroom where they sleep. He was very excited about it.
When we got into the room he bounced into brother Bubby's big bed. Ohhh I figured it now.
So I gave him his woobie (blanket) and paci and tucked him in. I told him that he couldn't get out and he said ok mommy. He fell right to sleep and never got up until I told him that he could. Wow, sleeping in the big boy bed!
I guess it's time to take the top bunk bed off and put it on the ground next to Bubby. ")
Does that mean that I have to take the crib down now? Now wait a minute that thing hasn't been down since Bubby was in it. I'm having 2nd thoughts. ")

A cold 4 wheeling day!

Well that cold front is here. Yikes it's cold. I reminded of a few years ago when another family and us went to Sea World in mid April in San Antonio. The first day was great the second not so great. During the night a bitter cold front came in leaving us in the cold and wet. We all ran to the closest Walmart like every other tourist in the area snagging up anything that looked cheap, warm and waterproof. It didn't help us out much. After unloading and attempting to walk across the parking lot we gave up on Sea World. Freezing and disappointed we headed to the closest Chuck E Cheese's to not make a waste of the whole day.
We ended up driving back home later that afternoon. While headed home we ran into a hairy snow storm. It was so bad that Daddy was having a really hard time seeing the road. I can remember pulling over to a station standing in the heavy snow fall looking at my friend J in amazement. It was mid April and snowing in Texas! Crazy.
Nothing new.
Daddy and Bubby bundled up with a lunch and headed for a 4 wheeling trip about 1 1/2 hours away. Hope they have a good time and keep warm. T-Bone and I are hanging low today. Just the two of us. Right now he's loving the time with mommy and the toys to himself but later he'll be missing Bubba pretty bad I'm sure. If it wasn't so cold out there we would make a day of it and maybe pay a visit to a museum in Fair Park. But having a warm quiet day at home sounds much better. ")

Better day

Today is much better for me. Thank you Lord.
I slept better and my nose is not bothering me now. So far my pressure is about 113/61 without any discomfort. I hoping and praying that I've found the one that will help me. I'm only using a very small amount (2.5mg) once a day and hope I'll stay there without having to increase the dose. I walked this morning and felt good doing it. Lately it's felt like climbing Mt. Everest going for a brisk 30 minute walk so it was very nice. ")
On another note we are getting ready for a cold front to blow in! I've already planted my herbs, green onions and strawberries. Daddy planted some hot peppers too. Thank goodness we decided to plant in pots so I've moved them into the garage for the next few days. The nights are suppose to bring in the mid 30's! Crazy Texas weather. Isn't it Texans that say "If you don't like the weather, stick around and it will change"!
I had already dewinterized the chicken coop last weekend thinking for sure that the cold spells where gone for the year. Wrong. Nothing that I few trash bags and cardboard couldn't fix! Ha.
Turn on the heat lamp honey I'm coming home to roost! Poor girls.
And Daddy and Bubby had some serious 4 wheeling planned for the last few months this weekend with a co worker of his. Maybe I'll just bundle them up and pack a lunch with hot coco and sent them off anyway. We'll see.

Crying over split milk

Well I've tried to keep a good attitude about all this blood pressure medication but to be honest I'm cracking. I'm on my third medication, Lisinopil. I am taking the lowest dose possible 2.5mg once a day. I'm hating it as much as the others. Yes they all do a great job of lowering my blood pressure but with the cost of terrible side effects that hinder my physical being that in turn hinders my attitude.
My first drug Benicar so far seems to be the best but is a non preferred drug with my insurance. The side effects where feeling sleepy, foggy brained and dizziness, tight chested and short winded.
The second one was Diovan, a similar drug in the same class but cheaper. I did well with light headiness, dizziness for the first week. Then my lower back pain and heel pain became unbearable (Doctor said that she didn't think that this was related to the med). Funny that about 24 hours after getting off of Diovan my pain was going away. Also their are literally hundreds of reviews stating the same problem. Hey what does she know anyway.
My third is in a different class and an ACE inhibitor. I took my first 2.5 of Lisinopil yesterday morning hoping for the best. I did well but for some dizziness and a couple of episodes of a creepy cold feeling running from my shoulders to my back. Later in the evening I started to notice that my nose is starting to swell and I feel all stuffed up. My sister tried two different kinds of ACE inhibitors only to have consent sinus infections. I've had all the sinus problems I want in the this life with 3 sinus surgeries, thank you. I'm going to continue to try it out but not too far if I don't get better with the side effects. I'm trying to eat good and exercise so I hopefully can get off the meds but it's really hard to exercise when I feel so bad. This stinks.
I've tried to check into the more natural herbs to see if anything could help me out. The ones that I 've found are for maintaining a normal blood pressure. I've known too many people that suffered with high blood pressure and then suffered a heart attack so I'm taking this seriously.
Yes this in one of those venting posts.
I was getting the boys some milk to drink with their oatmeal this morning. As I was trying to pour, I kind of had a light headed moment and spilt the milk all over the counter creating a good little waterfall down the cabinet door onto the floor. I just wanted to lay in the milk and have a good cry. Then I remembered the saying of " Don't cry over spilt milk" and gathered myself again. The moment may have passed for now but I can feel it building inside of me. I'm praying that God give me the wisdom and and direction that I need to get this under control and the perseverance to get there. ")

Funny story about Daddy and T-Bone

Tonight as I was getting our dinner ready in the kitchen I couldn't quite hear what Daddy was saying but I could hear serious concern in his voice as he was talking to one of the boys. My curiosity got the best of me and I walked around and peeked into the den. I could see Daddy holding his finger in the air asking T-Bone the question "What is this? and Where did you get it from?" I couldn't see anything on his finger so I asked what "it" was. He said he wasn't sure but it was sticky and he needed to know where he got it from. He was even asking the older son about it but he seemed clueless about it. So I moved in closer to see if I could help out. He again asked T-Bone the question of where he got "it" from. T-Bone said no. Hummm this is baffling. I asked if I could see the goo in question. As soon as I did I thought it appeared to be some type of booger. As the words were coming out of my mouth Daddy asked again where it came from. T-Bone this time acting a bit bothered answered again "no" but this time pointing at his nose. Ahhhhh he's not saying no, he's saying nose! I fell to the ground laughing so hard I thought I'd pop. Daddy on the other hand ran off to the bathroom to do some serious hand washing.
That will teach him to keep to himself next time! Hey if there not crying and no bodies getting hurt, leave them alone! ")

My Father's Day Curriculum last day for Bubby

Well today is Bubby's last day in My Fathers World Kindergarten Curriculum. For our math curriculum we are using Math U See and we still have a few weeks till we wrap that up for this year. He has blown my mind with all the things that he has learned this year. It amazing just how much a 4 year old can retain. In the Curriculum he has learned the recognition, phonics, and writing skills of the alphabet. He has also began the skills of early reading. He has also learned about different subjects starting with each letter per week. We watched as his ant farm workers set up trails to make a home for themselves and his Painted Lady larvae went through different stages to become beautiful butterflies that we let go just a few days ago (He couldn't wait to set them free just like the ants, so they would be happy and free). We also learned about God's word and the simple truths and promises that he has given us if we are his children.
It been a fascinating year for us and he's made teaching him an easy task. He's been a great student and I'm looking forward to 1st grade next year. ")

A day at the Japanese Botanical Gardens

As a playgroup day during spring break, my friend Ms. T hosted a day at the Japanese Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. The weather was a great day to be outside. And most of the traffic appeared to be headed out towards the Zoo. We walked admiring the simple beauty of nature and the wonderful feeling of being in it. The sounds, smells and the sights of spring in the air!
After walking around the garden we found a nice spot under the big trees in the 4 seasons area and had a picnic. Bubby climbed (ok I helped him) his first tree and felt like the King of the trees. It was a proud moment for him and he did want it to end understandably. T-Bone ran like the wind with every step looking like he was going to stumble he was moving so fast but only did a few times. As always he wound brush himself on and continues on his journey not missing a beat. All the kids ran around the trees playing tag and having races after lunchtime. Then soon it was time to pack up and head homeward. Surprising no one took a nap heading home. Even me ")

Test Day

Happy dance!!!! Praise God! My tests results from my Echo stress tests from this morning are normal! Even my EKG was normal and he said that I tolerated the stress well. I'm free to move about now! So my plan is eating a heart healthy diet and continue exercising though I will increase my cardio part. I want to age without drugs if all possible. I'm hoping that I can reach that goal and get off my blood pressure meds and lower my weight and get a better lipid panel in a few months. Please feel free to say a prayer for me. I really need to change the way I eat and take care of my self. I have three boys that need me around here! ")

The war wages on in the health front

Well I got some more news from my doctor today. It seems that my Lipid panel that was run in my blood work came back high. Tygliserades are over 400! Since turning forty I've notice a increase in that number when ever blood work was done. That's when I started taking garlic, fish oil and vitamin e supplements. It helped. But I stopped taking them in the last part of January a few weeks before getting the derma filler injections. It seems that they can increase the chance of bruising and swelling if you are taking them. I had a lipid panel ran last November for my Ob check up and the number was more that half that! So a long story made short my doctor wants to put me on another med called Vytorin to see if we can get it lowered. After reading about it I'm not too sure I'm going to give it a try. It can really cause some liver damage and I would need to be monitered every few months with bloodwork. Plus it can do some serious damage to you muscles. I already feel yucky from taking the Diovan for my blood pressure. I really thinking that a serious change in lifestyle is in order instead of doping up on drugs. I believe that with a good diet(something I don't do) and exercise (something that I already do) I can get this stuff under control, that is if my Echo stress test comes back good tomorrow. If it doesn't I'll have some serious thinking to do about my future health.
They say that if the test comes back with good results it's a safe bet that there is no heart problems yet.
You know I'm kind of upset when the doctors never had suggested eating good and getting some cardio exercise to me. Thier first suggestion is medication and I notice that the drugs that are being chosen are the most current kind in the market with samples to try them out. Beware of the pusherman! The story continues......................................

Hypertension meds

I'm on my third day of hypertension meds. I think I'm doing good compared to some.
The first day so far was the worse. Light headed, dizziness and some tingling in my feet. I just felt sedated. My pressure has gone down with each passing day. In some ways I feel better in another I don't. I'm hoping that the side effects will disappear in time as my body adjusts to the lower pressure and medication. I'm still fighting the fact of taking daily meds. I just don't like it. I feel like I feeding the big pharmaceutical monster.
I'm scheduled for an Echo Stress test next Tuesday morning, St. Patrick's day. (Did you know that that St. Patrick was not Irish?) They told me that I will get the results that day after the tests are completed and speak with the doctor.
I had plans to go out and dance with some of my girl friends this Saturday for my birthday. I asked my doctor about it yesterday and she gave me the clear. Yahoooo. I promised not to get too out of breath.
I was joking with Aunt J, one of my friends that is going that I would give her a list of my medications and some emergency numbers when we go out. ")

On second thought.........

After telling him that he HAD to take a nap today Bubby's reply was "Go away Mommy, just go away" followed by " but not too far ok momma?".
Love that boy!

Bringing in 45 years in style

Well today I'm 45. Ugh. I can't say that I was looking forward to this one. I remember doing poorly on my 35th as well. It's like 5 years to 50! What's that about?
I'm young darn it and I'm staying that away too!
And it's also my 13th Wedding Anniversary too. Yes I got married on my Birthday. I have always said he was the best gift I ever got. We eloped in a way. We didn't tell our families just some close friends came to the Chapel. I was 2 hours late to my wedding! We kept getting lost over and over again. My friend was driving and I was a nut case in the passenger side. It was like that dream you can't get where you need to be. What a nightmare. It was like some evil force was at work. By God's grace we made it and my nerves melted the moment I saw Daddy Dude all dressed up in a tux waiting for me. I had NO second thoughts about what I was doing that day. It was an awesome day that brought us to today and I'm thankful.
So are you wondering what I got for my birthday? Well I got some wonderful flowers delivered from my boys today. And I consider my derma injections a gift too. Great 45th present don't you think. I might be asking for the same thing next year. ")
And my dear sweet doctor Paula thought about me too. She gave me a brand new prescription of hypertension pills. How thoughtful don't you think? Yes, I've been battling to keep my blood pressure down for a few years but it's winning so we have to try and do something. I HATE taking meds! Most seem to solve one symptom and cause many more. But I reached a place of a rock and a very hard place. If I don't get my pressure down I'm going not only increase my chance of a stroke or heart attack I'll damage my organs, and I kind of need those. As I stand now I am at stage one hypertension and that increases my chance of stroke/heart attack by 4 times. Yikes. Before prescribing my meds Dr. Paula decided to do an ECG because of some of the other symptoms I was complaining about. Well it didn't come back looking right compared to the one I did in 2003. So I'm off to do a Eco stress test to see if there is any heart damage from loss of blood flow or as they call it heart disease. Of course I'm hoping for good news. She told me to not exert myself until we get the results of my tests. She doesn't know what she's asking of me does she?
I took my first pill this morning. So far it's made me feel tired and I bit light headed. I hope that all I have to deal with until my body gets used to of the lower pressure. I read over 173 reviews for this med and some of those poor people went through some pretty awful side effects. My sister suffers with hypertension too. She started about the same time and very similar symptoms as me. She told me the same thing as the doctor, sometimes it takes a few different drugs to find the right one for you. Hope not for me. ")
So though I glad for been given another year I'm bumming about the getting old part. It's hard to avoid when it's hitting square in the eyes.
And yes I'm having a pity party theme this year. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!
Yuck.

God's toothbrush

Tonight after brushing his teeth, Bubby said to me "When God's mommy tells him to brush his teeth he has to use a HUGE scrubbing brush because he's SO big a brush like mine wouldn't work".