I Have What

On my Anniversary.. May 5.. Cinco de Mayo.... I was sitting at my computer planning another week of blogging... when it hit me...

The pain.

I was dying, or at least that is the way I felt.

I am a mom though. I tried to suck it up. I mean come on... I labored for 12 hours with only half of my body numb from the epidural. I felt the doctor cut open the left side of the body as they hurried to pull my son out. I took that pain.. and I lived.

This pain though, it got worse and worse almost immediately.

John wasn't home, he was sitting the Gulf of Mexico somewhere.. and it was Saturday, so little man was home with me.

No bueno.

Two hours later I was doubled over in pain, crying and screaming on the phone for my mother to get over here. She lives about 40 minutes away, so she came as fast as she could. The pain was terrible though.

When she finally got here, I had about another hour of pain and then it mysteriously disappeared. (See, moms do make everything better.)

Ugh. I thought to myself, "Please Jesus, don't be playing tricks with me." and then I said a prayer to beg for forgiveness for missing church last week and promised I would be in church tomorrow.

I thought it was a ovarian cyst. It's been years since I had one, but the pain seemed comparable.


Until it showed up again Sunday afternoon.

"Brother Pucker!" I cursed under my breath and called my mom again. She was on her way to a wedding, but would have her car pool drop her off.

Two hours later and sitting in the parking lot of the ER trying to decide if I wanted to expose my son to ER germs... the pain vanished just as my mom showed up. (Another sign that moms make everything better.)

I just decided that for the night I should go home with my mother. Maybe her presence would keep the pain away.

It didn't.

I went to the ER. They ran all kinds of tests on me and sent me home telling me it was a ovarian cyst. I told them it wasn't. They wouldn't take my word or the credentials from my online Dr. Degree called Google. So I went home.. disappointed... and loaded with prescriptions for pain killers.

I went to the OBGYN two days later. I had a cyst, but this was not what was causing the pain. He sent me home.

I ended up in another ER and after drinking some nasty chalk stuff and shooting some dye through my body after poking me 52 times to get a IV in.....  they did a CT scan.

Verdict?


I have 2 kidney stones.

AND

The mother load of gallstones.

"Wonderful!" I told the PA. "You are just bouncing with good news today." She laughed and sent me a Urologist.

I had to pee in a strainer for two weeks... yes.. gross.. and for two weeks.. double gross. I can't even use the restroom in peace much less try to balance a strainer while yelling at my three year old to get out of the bathroom while mommy looks for rocks.

He wanted to look for rocks too... 'sigh'.


I don't know where the kidney stone went, I never saw it.

and as for the gallstones... I will eventually need to have my gallbladder removed, but I am feeling much better for now and I really don't want to have surgery. 


But if I go MIA for a month again... you might should call my momma...


(PS. I do have some posts in May, so stay tuned..although everything will be backdated)

Memorial Day

Today our flag outside flies high.

Joshua has asked us several times, "Why are you putting that out? What does that mean?"

We explained to him several times and finally... he got it. He understands the difference between good guys and bad guys. He knows that we should celebrate all the "good guys" that fight for our freedom. He gets excited when he sees someone in a uniform and knows that they are a hero.

So although we didn't do anything extra special today, our son knows what the flag stands for, and that makes it a great day. He knows to say "thank you" for those who fight for our freedom.

So, "Thank you!".. from the Smith house to yours. You are a hero in our book.



Today, we did drive over to my hometown and pick up my Mother for a early Memorial Day lunch. My husband was so gracious to then drive us down to the beach where I spent every summer until well in my teens.

There, I had some boiled shrimp and fried oysters at one of my favorite restaurants, Stingaree.

Joshua loves that it overlooks the water and that he has boats to watch coming in and out of the canals while waiting for our food.

szxcvbnm  <---- Joshua wanting to give his 2 cents.

After we ate lunch, he and Granna relaxed out on the deck watching the boats and the people fishing.

and of course... looking down below..excited that he could see a lawn mower.

The day was perfect.. beautiful... I had only wished that we had time to head down to the beach and enjoy the nice warm waters. We did drive by our old beach house.... and it's still gone. Only the pillars left standing. The new owners decided not to rebuild and it will probably sit vacant forever.

It's ok though.. I had good memories there. I just wish I could have continued those memories with my family.

I am still crossing my fingers that I will win the lottery (so we can buy a new beach house)... but then my husband reminds me, "You have to play to win." So I uncross my fingers and thank god for the blessings that I do have.

What a beautiful day....

Camping Out

This is how we camp out.. "Smith Style."

in front of the TV... with extended cable, running water, toilets and a fridge full of food.

I actually have camped out before.. and so has John. We are saving up to buy a family tent and maybe one day we can actually do some camping under the stars... but for now.. this is perfect!!

Smith BBQ

We don't BBQ that often, because quite frankly... its a hassle.

My husband likes to keep his 'pit' in the shed.. in the back.

So I never pull it out.. therefore we only BBQ when he is home and can pull everything out himself. He is also particular about cleaning it out... its his baby... so Mama doesn't touch it.

This afternoon though, I had scored some veggie kabobs that happened to be on a awesome sale. So we got out the pool and fired up the pit.

The mushrooms were my favorite! I loved all of it. Hopefully we can score more next time we are at the store because I would love to try these again before John heads back out to work.


While John was working the BBQ pit, little man was cleaning his cozy coupe.

He can be as attentive as his daddy with some things... and taking care of their cars is one thing they both have in common.

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and I enjoyed watching both my guys having the times of their lives.

Playing In The Rain

Only my child would like to play in the rain.. dance in the rain.. hop, skip and jump in the rain.

Until it thunders.... then he runs into the arms of his parents and demands that we turn off every TV in the house so that the storm doesn't 'ruin' them.

Pool Day

Today was a easy, breezy, pool side kind of day... too bad the only pool we have is blow up and fits only about three people.

John has begged me to put in a pool... and although it would be nice, I don't want to put that much money into something we will sell in a few years.

So after church.. lunch and a nap....

we hit the Popsicles stash pretty hard.

and tried to get a little sun.

and took a dip in the pool.

Splish Splash

Finally.. Daddy is home! He has been working for six weeks now and I think we were getting to the point where Joshua and I were going through Daddy withdrawals.

I always know this when his attitude changes (mine too) and gets worse by the minute.


Luckily.. Daddy came in a week ago.. swooped us up.... and took care of us. As he always does.

Today we packed a cooler and headed to our favorite park. After some PB&J yummy'ness.. Joshua wanted to fly in the sky, so we headed for the swings.

After about 20 minutes of pushing.. Daddy was tired and we were all hot, so we headed over to the splash pad.

Joshua's favorite thing was to get under one of the buckets of water.. and wait.

Until.....

Whew.. that looked refreshing.

And little man just giggled the day away. What a life!

Mother's Day

My Mother's day this year was spent laying mostly in a bathtub full of hot water, flinching from the pain of my kidney stones...

Because of this, my sweet little angel missed out on all but one of the Mother's day projects.... but it was the best one.. and my favorite one that they do every year.

The "I love my mom because...." papers...

This year he loves me because....

OK son... lets talk about this..


I cook good chicken?  haha... Chicken nuggets maybe...

Feeds my kitten Garfield?  First off that cat is huge and is no kitten. Secondly.. yes... I feed him every three days or so because he has a huge food bowl.

Takes me to Toys R Us?  Are you kidding.. I avoid that place like the plague! and if I do have to go, I do it while your in school.

Helps you write your name?  I try to get you to write your name.. you refuse and normally throw a fit and just scribble on the paper. Fun times.

She sings lullabies to me?  I do that when you ask.

Takes me to the flower garden? We go about once a year, but I am happy you remember.


Either way, I love you very much Joshua. And whether these things are true or not, I am so happy that you think the world of me. That you do remember some of the things I do with you. You are my little baby boy and always will be. You are the one who made me a mother and gave me a chance to even have a "Mother's Day."

You were a dream.. a prayer...  that mommy always had... that came true.

So I love you with all my heart, even when you make stuff up to make me feel like a better mom.

The Paper Boy

Who delivers your paper?

Super Kid delivers mine!

Be jealous... very jealous!

Meet Steggie

It was my anniversary...Five years together.. my husband was on the ocean, I was having kidney stones, my mom came over to help out with Joshua, and my dad had just gotten off a 12 hour shift at work.

We were all exhausted.

So when dinner time got closer.. we sat there and stared at each other. No one wanted to cook. I didn't even know if I had anything to cook. So we made the decision to go out to eat.

And then we sat there and stared at each other even more.

You see, in my family, NO ONE can decide where to eat. I am actually surprised we can make it to a restaurant before they start locking the doors and turn off the blinking "OPEN" sign. I have no idea where we get this from... We love to go out to eat. We have tried every restaurant in town... and believe me, none of us look like we have missed a meal.

Mind you.. my family runs several businesses on their ranch, has staff that works for them and has to make decisions on a daily basis.

But when it comes to something our life depends on, like eating, we just sit and stare at each other for a hour ... or two...  

Finally, I spoke up and cringed at the same time as the words "Cracker Barrel" came out of my mouth.

Now, for those of you that don't know what Cracker Barrel is... it is a excellent home cook restaurant. I love it there! In fact every time Joshua has movie night at school, I run there to grab some take out. Their restaurant is comfortable and friendly. They have the cutest stuff in their front shop.

And that is where I cringe... Their shop.

Along with all the cute stuff they have, they have a toy section. Where you can buy a dollar store monster truck for $9.99. (Cringe!!) And, its always a fight to get Joshua to stay seated with us, because he wants to play in the toy section.

The Cracker Barrel people are geniuses when it comes to money making. They are headaches for people who like me that 'for the love of God' just want their kid to stay seated for more than a millisecond.

However, I just wanted some good comfort food... so we went.

After fighting with Joshua over a plastic train that costs $7.99 and was sure to fall apart within a hour of opening it, I found a Dinosaur egg that was three dollars cheaper and I proceeded to give my sales pitch to the three year old.

It worked. He was intrigued. So we paid for it.. wrapped it up.. and took it home.

All you had to do was put it in a container of water and wait...  for it to hatch.

Trying to explain to a 3 year old that you HAVE to wait.... SUPER FUN!

The idea is that the egg hatches within 24 hours and then you leave it alone and it will continue to grow for another 72 hours in the container.

So it's like growing your own baby dinosaur. And, you have no idea what dinosaur you are going to get, so there is a fun element of surprise there too!

24 Hours:

At this point, the wait game was over. That little boy tore into his egg like it was Christmas morning...

"For unto you is born this day, in the House of the Smiths is a Dinosaur... and ye shall be called "Steggie" after ye species, Stegosaurus."   ... says the Lord.


And from this point on we now have a dinosaur whom lives in our bathroom.

Welcome to the World Steggie!

5 Years

To My Dear Husband,


Who would believe that five years have passed since that unforgettable day of saying "I do." My love for you still grows stronger every single day. I would say out of the five years, this past year has been the best one of our lives. We have grown together and changed so much. Our focus finally became a team effort and although we still disagree.. we have learned to respect each other. I honestly have never been happier than this last year of my life.

You have taught me so much, you are my best friend, my advisor, my gardener, my plumber, my buddy, my cheering squad.. the person I turn to the most. I could never picture my life without you in it. You are my one true love, and I promise that I will love you for the rest of my life.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

For picking me. For loving me. For always standing by my side. For being my rock.

and as always... for being my Knight in Shining Armor.

Happy Anniversary. I love you.

Always,
Jayme
xoxo

(This is a bad picture, but it is one of our first dates together.)

Rambunctious

The greatest treasure to fill our home with joy is our active, curious, rambunctious little boy!

And this was certainly true this week, when I turned on the sprinklers and without even thinking or asking, Joshua ran through them.... soaking wet and his boots filled with water.. he didn't care. It was all about smiling and having fun. A perfect afternoon.