Spiderman!

My little Spiderman has been trying to do this for a good 6 months after seeing a kid on YouTube do it. He was amazed when he saw a kid dressed like Spiderman scale his wall and he hasn't stopped trying since. He has finally mastered it...and he won't stop doing it. He's starting to freak me out because it seems like he gets a little higher each time he does it. He has to just let go and jump down so I'm waiting for a broken bone. I told him not to do it anymore...after I got the picture. :-)

You Can't Do That

I went to the rheumatologist today for a follow up appointment. For those of you who don't know, I have osteoarthritis and mainly have pain in my knees, lower back, and feet. At the last appointment he told me to stop running. It surprised me, and will probably most of you, that I actually developed a love for running. I wanted to run a half marathon like Mondo did.

I was determined to not let my joints squash my dream. So I went for a jog...and did the whole 20 minutes limping. I had stabbing pain in my right knee and feet the whole time. My dream was officially squashed. So, a few weeks later I decided I could power walk to get my exercise in. The knee was better but the feet were killer. And I wear expensive running shoes!

I discussed all of this with the doctor today and he told me that the xray of my knee showed bone spurs under the kneecap. Ah. That explains the excruciating pain I feel every time I go up or down stairs or bend at the knees to pick something up. Not that I have time for surgery, but he said that wasn't a good option because the spurs tend to come back. And, yes, they do. I had knee surgery when I was in nursing school and had spurs shaved off. Now they're ba-aack.

He told me I need to do Pilates, bike, or swim. No running, no going up stairs, no walking. So what, should I just lay in bed all day?? I know I'm not truly physically incapacitated like some people. It's just frustrating that I am only 32 and have so much pain with little exertion. And to top it off, the doctor basically said to take some Ibuprofen, stay off my feet, and he'll see me in 6 months. Really? I don't think he'll be seeing me again...ever.

There really is no final point to this post. Just that I'm frustrated and feel like I can't exercise without joining the gym again and who has time for that?! And no, I'm NOT waking up at 0530 like I used to to work out. I'll just be flabby and out of shape. Can't wait to turn 40. So far my 30's have been awesome. (Insert sarcastic face here!)

Caleb's "Real" Birthday Party

So, after hearing Caleb ask for the 1000th time "Is today my Toy Story party?" Mondo caved and bought him a cake and we had a quickly thrown together birthday party for him...3 months after his birthday. I had the table cloth, cups, napkins, etc from when his actual party was planned so all we needed was the cake. I called my mom about 30 minutes before the "party" and asked if they could come. Mondo's family was already stopping by. So poor little Caleb finally got his party. Too bad there were no gifts. Luckily he didn't notice. Nana threw together a little present (a bag filled with Hershey kisses and candy canes) so he was all set!

Good job on the cake Mondo! It didn't have a Buzz on it so I quickly grabbed one from his stash (and washed it first of course!) and stabbed it into the cake.

Hmmm...he doesn't look very excited to finally have this party.

Yikes, good thing I washed Buzz's feet since Ethan is licking them!

Oh yes, Nana also threw in some Kit Kats and a Hot Wheels car into his "present" bag.

He finally warmed up to the party once Nana held him and helped feed him his cake.

He decided he was ready to be a big boy....

...and take down his baby swing. Such a sad day for Mommy and Daddy.

Cousin GG got to stay for a while and we had pizza for dinner which they ate outside under the swingset.

Caleb's First Swim Class

Caleb had his first swim class 2 weeks ago. He is taking them at Emler in Southlake just like Ethan did. I was fully prepared for him to scream the entire time. He is not scared of the water but he is scared of strangers! He was super excited to get to swim...until we walked him up to the pool. His grip got super tight on both of our hands and we had to peel him off and nudge him toward the pool. Then we bolted!

Here he is giving us "the look". Much to our dismay he never shed one tear. Just looked a little unsure of what was going on.

He practiced holding onto the floaties and kicking his legs.

Very serious. Still no smile.

He learned how to get out of the pool by himself. (I took most of these pics through the glass so I wouldn't disturb him).

Just making sure we're still there.

He was a little unsure about floating on his back. She kept patting his chest and sang the ABC's to him to help him relax.

There's a smile!

He was being silly and trying to look sad while rinsing off after class.

After swim class we went to eat at Christina's. It's only about 1 minute from Emler. He LOVES the tacos there!

And of course, poor little Ethan was there too. He got to play at the "Stay N Play" place across from swim class. And then he dined of mac and cheese at the mexican restaurant. (So my child!!)

*Update: He did great at his next swim class. He jumped off the side from a sitting position and went under water. After class he went down the big yellow slide! It's super fast and threw him under the water. He definitely doesn't have the fear that Ethan had.

Caleb Singing

This video is actually a few months old (note the diaper). I stumbled across it last night and it just makes me smile. He is singing along with a contestant from American Idol last year.

In Case You Haven't Heard...

I am still stumbling across friends who don't know what has been going on with my mom so I thought I'd update everyone.

She recently had a test done to check the amount of blockage in her carotid artery. The test was done by injecting dye into her veins. The dye travels up to the brain. The doctor said her carotid artery was fine but her ventricles in her brain were abnormally large. Several tests later it was determined that she needed surgery. She has a "lesion" on her brain stem blocking the flow of fluid from her brain, thus causing swelling in the ventricles.

She had surgery (a ventriculostomy) on Thursday morning. They drilled a hole in her skull then made a hole in the base of her brain to make a new place for the fluid to drain. She stayed over night and was discharged the next day. Who knew you could have brain surgery and be discharged a day later?! She has a baseball size chunk of hair shaved off from the hairline on her forhead back. Luckily she is able to part her hair the other way and it's not very noticable. She has had minimal pain. Just mainly pain around the incision site. Amazing.

Now that the surgery is over, I can admit to my mother that I had a little meltdown the night before surgery. I was doing pretty good overall until then. My mind started filling with negative thoughts. I had a bad feeling about the surgery. I was terrified that my mom was going to wake up and be a vegetable or not know who I was. I tried thinking positive and praying but my negative thoughts got the best of me. I lost it. My mom is like a sister to me and the thought of her not knowing who I am and having to explain that to my children was almost too much to bear. I had to make a big glass of chocolate milk and watch Days of Our Lives to calm my mind.

I'm glad the scary surgery is done and she can move on with her life. Hopefully she won't be as forgetful now but I think she was forgetful before all of this started. :-)

Love you Mom!