Day 3...coming to terms

I have never been taught to walk away from anything throughout my life.  In fact,  when I was 16, I totaled my parents van. It was the van I had prayed for us to get, even, right down to the color. I was on my way to DC and hit black ice and totaled it soon after I got back, my parents had a new /used van for us and guess who had to drive? Me of course because they couldn't have me afraid of driving or afraid of life.
Yesterday I didn't do the greatest at facing the situation head on. I tried and well, let me explain.
I was supposed to have a nurse come to the house to help with the drains and the bandages.  It had been 48 hours and I was allowed to remove bandages for showering. I was looking forward to it.  Showers always make me feel better and with all the iodine on me,  I was a little itchy so I wanted to clean up.  The nurse didn't call so Adam took the bandages off. Seeing not much left of where my chest was but an incision made me feel light headed so I had to sit on the toilet so Adam could still take care of me. He put a fan in the door to cool the air and gave me a cold washcloth to hold on my forehead.  Then he used a warm washcloth to take as much of the iodine off my shoulder and arm while being super gentle and understanding. He joked with me as he checked to make sure everything looked good and then re-bandaged me carefully.
It wasn't even that my belly looked like it stuck out farther and made it look larger.  It was simply grieving the loss of part of me that I see every day. It is also grieving the loss of intamacy to some extent. Yes, reconstruction is an option but that will be another surgery,  more pain, new things to learn, etc.  I am thankful that God is my fortress.  He never changes. I can always count on Him!
I am blessed with a patient, knowledgeable, gentle,  & kind husband and so many others around me, too many to name. Continue the prayers please.  I followed directions and took pain meds every 4 hours for 48 hours and now it's time to see how it goes backing off of them.  My skin is still dry and itchy in spots, I'll see if I can fix that today. Hoping to be a little braver & stronger today than yesterday so I can get that shower I long for.

Sorry no cool graphics for verses today. This is the first blog post I've done from my phone I think & I'm not pushing it. Have a great and blessed day.  I know I will because it is Sunday and I'm expecting God to meet me where I'm at.

Life is Changing

Well, today is my last free Thursday not actually on some sort of time constraint.  On Monday, I start a part time job at our church as the youth pastor's assistant.  It will be for 4 hours on Monday & 4 hours on Thursday. Nothing too much but it is definitely going to change how things have to work at the Pierce house.  I have been trying to finish patching the living room walls & ceiling so that we can have it texturized soon.  I would have liked to have the living room completely finished before I start this new position but I start sooner than expected & I will have to just work it in throughout the week & weekend.

I can't believe that tomorrow is already Good Friday.  It is crazy how it has come so quickly & yet it is at the end of April (not that silly March stuff).  We have been keeping quite busy with things.  The first weekend of April was the tail end of spring break & we spent the morning at the Pinewood Derby for Braly.  It was fun!  Then we headed to the Bonifas Arts Center for a circus open house.  We ate lunch (for free) had cotton candy, popcorn, pop, & corn dogs.  The kids enjoyed painting some pictures, getting balloon animals (Gabby had a HUGE flower & Braly had a sword, Morgan  missed out).  They played a beanbag toss game & won bead necklaces & walked around learning about the Skerbeck family & their history of the circus.

The following week Rachel & her kids came to stay a few days with us & we were able to celebrate Mom & Aunt Carol's birthday.  We had yummy Chicken, bacon, Quesadillas for dinner & cake & ice cream for dessert.

Last weekend I drove to Natalie's house to help her clean & get it ready to sell.  I stopped at Menard's to buy the sticky tile she asked for & we ended up spending the day doing a little cleaning but mostly installing the tile floor in the back bedroom & bathroom.  I must say that I was impressed with how nicely it looked when we were done.  It wasn't perfect but Nat was satisfied.  I didn't leave until late & had to drive home in a blizzard at 30 mph.  It was worth it though to help my sister out.  She has such an amazing heart for others & it is  nice when I see her getting blessed.

Today is the last day of the week for the kids. I'd like to do some egg coloring with the kids tomorrow if we have time.  We have to order Braly's new glasses & we want to attend Good Friday service at 1pm so we'll have to work it all in.  We have the option on Sat to attend an Easter Egg hunt in Felch but I think it might have to be missed since we will be heading that way on Sunday after church.  We'll see how it goes.

For now, I did my exercising & have checked my email.  Morgan is playing with her best friend Briar & I need to get a shower & a few other things done around here before it is lunch time.  Have to get the oil changed in my car.  And think about what I might wear to the girls  night out (Come As Your Not). That's gonna take some thought.  Plus I'd like to come up with an idea for a contest to win a Photography package as well as a few other wonderful prizes.  More to come.  Oh creative juices....start flowing!

So Quiet

Today is our last week day of our Spring Break & there is an almost deafening quiet in our house at this moment, except for the clicking of the keyboard as I type.  Yesterday we found out that our neighbor's cousins would be coming in yesterday or today.  They are 2 little boys that my 3 love to play with.  So at 10am the doorbell rang.  I was still in my sweaty exercise clothes so I let the kids answer the door in their jammies.  I did say it was Spring Break didn't I?  Hence the jammies so late. :)  When they opened the door to see the boys & neighbor girl outside they got so excited & started talking fast & loud.  They immediately ran upstairs to get dressed for the day & went outside to play in the cold.  I think its about 40 F but with the wind, it feels quite cold.  They played for about an hour & then were invited inside next door to play in the house.  I said  yes, and that's why my house is so quiet.

It makes me filled with joy each time my kids are so excited & happy that they have neighborhood friends to play with.  Siblings are almost always around to play with, so its nice when a few other friends are added to the mix.

Time for me to mix up some more plaster patching stuff so I can get 2 layers on the trench in the wall today.  I'm hoping to have the wall level again by Sunday or Monday.  I am looking forward to having the living room finished with beautiful color on the walls & ceiling.  Our new painting on the wall as well as other decorations to make it inviting & cozy.  And hardwood floor with a big fuzzy area rug to sit on.  It's gonna be beautiful!!!

Wanna see a pic of my gems?

That's right, you guessed it.  My gems are my 3 children.  I think this turned out great, especially considering it was taken at school.  I only bought the disc with the proof on it so I can do what I want with it.  So excited. Wished it was here a little sooner since I had a coupon for 50% off of a canvas print earlier this month.

Funny story about Gabby's hair.  She wanted it curly like she wore it for her Christmas program so we put the curlers in it after she showered the night before.  Then in the morning, we took them out. I heated the curling iron up so that I could curl the pieces that didn't curl & she looked great!  I should have taken a pic of her.  We decided that the kids would just ride to school with  me since Gabby said she didn't want to wear a hat & wreck her hair.  And since I had to bring Morgan to get her pic taken with them right when school started it was no big deal.  I sent Braly outside to shovel the snow since we got a few inches & it was snowing at the time.  Gabby was still eating so I didn't think to tell her to stay in the house when I went upstairs to give Morgan a quick bath & blowdry her hair.  Needless to say, we came down ready to head to school & I found Gabby outside helping with the shoveling.  Ugh!  Her hair was went & limp with the beautiful snow.  I called her in, had her look in the mirror & she was like agh! Now what Mom?  We ran upstairs, turned the curling iron back on, & got the blow dryer out.  I did as fast a touch up as I could but it wasn't quite the same but she looked beautiful all the same.  We were late getting to school & then I had to pull them out of class to get their pic taken together and it's fabulous!  So glad we had it done!

Big Picture Classes Blog Tip

This is mostly for me to remember my contribution to BPC.  So this is what the Tuesday Tip that was shared on the Big Picture Classes Blog looked like.  Thought I would share it on here so that I have a copy of it to share with my children once they get older & start reading my blog.

February 08, 2011

Tuesday Tip!

 

Don't you hate it when things explode & make a crazy mess in your microwave?  Do you forget to clean it up right away or not have time so it crusts on?  Or maybe someone else in your house made the mess & you discover it after its been there for awhile.  Besides getting a cover to use over the food to help decrease the messes, I learned a simple trick.  Fill a coffee cup half full with some vinegar & a little bit of water.  Microwave it for about 30 seconds and then watch the splatters of food wipe off the inside of your microwave with little to no scrubbing.  

Jeannette Pierce

Growing up

Yes, this is another post about the kids growing up...well mainly Morgan.  I just have to reflect on how much she is changing lately & so quickly.  She went from wearing diapers & waking up absolutely SOAKED, to cold turkey wearing just undies.  As I sat here this afternoon researching washing machines so that we can purchase a new one since our 5 year old one died, I let Morgan play Daddy's computer.  She has been a SUPER challenge to get her potty trained...nothing like the other two.  She would fight me when I'd ask if she had to go potty & a few minutes later she was in tears & yelling for my help because she had peed her pants.  She would REFUSE to go when I asked her to try & then have an accident.  She'd do the same when I tried to just tell her to go potty & I'd practically have to drag her there & sit her on the potty & force her to go.  I tried timeouts, privileges taken away, spanking, etc and NOTHING seemed to work with this girl until she accidentally went to bed on Super Bowl Sunday night without a diaper on.  That was a HUGE turning point for this little girl.  She not only hasn't worn a wet diaper since but she's had much fewer accidents AND the one thing I wanted to really write about today, she is going to bed much nicer.  More like a 4 year old should.  And she spent the night with her friend while we were out of town & not only went to bed nicely with her friend, but she also behaved like an angel I'm told.  This girl is also reading some words.  She has been sounding words out & though she needs a lot of practice still, she is doing fantastic with it.  I am one thankful and proud momma.  So happy God blessed us with three wonderful children.  Parenting isn't always easy or fun but it really can be rewarding.

Check this out! :)

Many of you that know me, also know that I LOVE to scrapbook.  I often visit & take classes from the Big Picture Classes website.  A few months ago they decided to do Tuesday Tips.  They are tips that can be for scrapbooking but aren't limited to scrapbooking because let's face it, we don't just scrapbook each & every minute of our day, right?  I decided to share a tip that my mom shared with me....check it out

http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/blog/tuesday-tip-2-11.html

And do you know what I got for my contribution?  A $10 gift certificate to apply toward classes at BPC!  Sweet eh?