Life is good!

We are finishing up our first week of the changed schedule with Nam. He has struggled a bit, as he always does when his world changes, but he is settling into the new routine. I really think he is going to like it a lot better. As much as he loves being here and spending time with Grandad, he really likes his alone time with his momma. This gives them a lot more of that. Dennis and I are enjoying the shorter trips to Weatherford, too. It also breaks up his trips back and forth, so they don’t seem so long. He is getting tired of the hour-long drives from his house to ours!

Stephen contacted me Monday morning to tell me that Mandy was in labor. After a long 27 hours, Gracie finally decided to make her appearance. Even after that long of a labor, she looked a lot like a c-section baby. She is a big girl, 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21.5” long! Mandy was determined to go the distance and avoid another section this time, and she succeeded. I’m really proud of her strength and determination! So far, Gracie seems to have a very sweet disposition. She is content and sleeps very well. Hopefully, everyone can get caught up on their sleep now that they are home.

Nam and the other boys had fun playing together after Gracie’s birth. They were being a bit loud and rambunctious at the hospital, so we found a park just down the road, and took them to run off a little energy. They are getting better and better at playing together! They especially loved romping with Uncle Ricky! Nam was really intrigued with Gracie…especially when she was nursing. After he figured out what was going on, he pointed to Mandy and said, “She milk? Gracie drink her all up!”

Nam and I baked “snickermoodles” yesterday. He is really getting good as a baker’s helper! He handles the controls of my Kitchenaid mixer perfectly and adds all of the ingredients after I measure them. I scoop the batter and he rolls them in the cinnamon-sugar, making sure that they are completely covered. Then he places them on the cookie sheet and flattens them. He was pretty excited when I told him that Grandad and I couldn’t eat any of them, so that left more for him and his momma and Uncle Ricky!

Dennis and Ricky have still been working on trim for the house. Ricky is sanding and painting the old trim that is salvageable, and they are replacing and painting what needs to be replaced. Next week, Dennis hopes to replace the wood under the gables on the sides of the house and get them painted. It will really be nice to get the outside of the house spiffed up. It has needed it every since we bought the place 13 years ago!

We have a dove’s nest in a bush at the corner of the house that has a couple of eggs in it. We are trying to leave it as undisturbed as possible. It is fun watching the momma and daddy dove caring for the eggs and sharing it with Nam. It will be even better once the baby birds hatch out!

Nam discovered the library this week with Dennis. They happened to go during storytime, but Nam was a little too shy to join in. However, they have some pretty cool toys to play with. I need to renew my card, so I can start checking out books and videos for him. I really think that once he gets used to things, he will really like going for storytime. They also do fun projects with the kids. Sheila plans to take him to their local library as well. He is really enjoying books a lot better now that he understands English well!

Our new diet is going pretty well. We’ve both lost a few pounds, and Dennis’ blood sugar is consistently lower than it had been. My blood pressure, even though it had been ok before, has also dropped already. I’ve had a couple of failures with trying new recipes (like cauliflower pizza – UGH!), but mostly we have enjoyed the food. We are eating a LOT more veggies and a LOT less carbs. Nam is doing very well with it, too. We were having spinach and eggs for lunch today, and he said he liked the green ones!

I get such a kick out of listening to Nam talk. Even though we sometimes struggle trying to decipher a word or phrase, we can understand almost everything he says now. His comprehension is what really blows me away! I have to admit, though, that my favorite thing he says is “Thank you, Gwanny!” Ha! He has such a cute little husky voice. I do tire of it at times though…especially when he is using his “outside voice”.  He routinely calls Dennis “ole Grandad”, and Ricky is “Uncle Licky” (still having trouble with his R’s). He is still fixated on relationships; marriage, in particular. He asks dozens a time (or more) a day about what our wedding rings mean, why we got married, etc. He was asking me one day why I married Grandad, and I told him it was because I loved him. So I turned and asked him why Grandad loved him. He looked at me like I was silly and said, “Because I’m his grandson!” Last night, Dennis was talking about breakfast and asked Nam if he knew what breakfast was. Nam didn't hesitate a second before answering, "Pancakes!"

Looking forward to another weekend! All I have planned, aside from normal household stuff, is prepping food for our potluck on Sunday. I’m going to do Daddy’s fried rice. It has been awhile since I fixed it, and he gets such a kick out of it when we take it to a gathering. I also plan to do a (mostly) sugar-free banana pudding…also his recipe. He and Bobbie are both doing quite well at present. They are enjoying their life at Brookdale now and seem content. Daddy hasn’t brought up trying to get his driver’s license back in MONTHS, so we are hoping that is all in the past now. They enjoy their Sundays spent over here, but they are always tired and ready to go home afterwards. It is good to see them happy again.

I hope things are going well for all of you!

A week of changes

This past week, Sheila decided to start a new schedule. She and Nam will only be spending one night a week with us…Thursdays. We will also start meeting halfway to get him and hand him off. That means that they will only be eating supper with us on Thursday also. (They've been eating here 3-4 times a week.) This will give them more time by themselves, which will be a good thing. It will probably take a little getting used to for everyone, but I think it will be a definite improvement. (And Gina will be keeping him one day a week…Wednesdays, unless something else comes up.)

We had a good week of adventures and firsts with Nam. We took him to the state park on Monday and walked (as I mentioned before). Then Tuesday, we had a hotdog cookout (his first time to eat one that we know of) and then a trip to Cabela’s. He REALLY liked the cookout! He enjoyed Cabela’s, but he was much more interested in looking at the toys than the taxidermy. Ha! I hadn’t planned to buy him anything, but I ended up not being able to resist getting him an old-fashioned pop gun. Our kids loved those when they were little.

Ricky did quite a bit of work on the outside trim of the house and shop, so Grandad and Nam spent a lot of time out there watching and “helping” him. Then Friday, Nam and I worked on a couple of projects. I made some finger paint out of cornstarch and food color and turned him loose. For a kid that can’t stand to get his hands messy while eating, he sure loves diving into the finger paint! He had the stuff up to his elbows! Fun times!

On our day off Wednesday, Dennis and I went to meet with a nutritionist. He is still struggling with his blood sugar (although he is still just “pre-diabetic”). I knew most of what she told us, but it was helpful for Dennis to hear it all. He has always been a carboholic (as am I!). We have decided to make some very dramatic changes in our eating habits. I’m spending a lot more time at the grocery store (replenishing fresh veggies) and a WHOLE lot more time cooking. I normally cook breakfast and dinner, but we eat out a lot for lunch…or have sandwiches and suchlike. Now I’m cooking all three meals a day, with very limited use of bread or other carbs. Even though we’ve only been implementing the changes for 3 days, Dennis can already see his blood sugar slowly coming down. We have also moved our walking to evenings. It was just too hard to keep up a regular schedule with Nam here. We should both start shedding weight and feeling better soon.

We also (finally) got around to ordering the replacement pane for our bay window Wednesday. It will take a week or so for it to come in. Then that afternoon, I went for a haircut. I’ve been wanting to get it done for months (even before our trip to Vietnam), but never got around to it. It is a little shorter than I wanted, but it will grow fast. I love the way it feels right after a cut! The longer my hair gets, the more it tangles. When it is halfway down my back or shorter, I don’t have problems with tangling. Plus it is SO much easier to wash and brush…and has more body! I would love to keep it trimmed to just below my shoulder blades all the time, but I just hate going to the beauty shop. So I usually just let it grow for a year or so, then chop it off and start over again.

We are still waiting on little Miss Gracie to make her appearance. Her due date was last Sunday. I know Mandy must be miserable! We’ve been talking a lot about her with Nam. I can’t wait to see how he interacts with her! (He loves babies!) While waiting for Gracie to be born, Melissa rushed ahead and had Nora Grace this week. Even though she came almost 5 weeks too early, it looks like she is going to do just fine. I’m very happy for her sweet family!

Today has been a really slow day. We woke up to cool temperatures and rain, for which I am very thankful! I did a webinar for my CASA continuing education and finished a book that I’ve been reading. We decided to eat out for lunch (grilled chicken salad at the Mesquite Pit), so I haven’t really done much of anything around the house. I bought some frozen zucchini spirals that I plan to use for spaghetti noodles (for Dennis and myself) for supper tonight. We really are able to eat most of the same entrees that we normally do…just tweaking them here and there. The main changes we are making are lunchtime and snacks…plus adding a LOT more veggies all day long. Ricky is eating most of the same things that we are. He is focusing on his health, too…working out and eating healthier. He actually wants to gain weight, while we are needing to lose, so he isn’t restricting his carbs like we are. I’m thankful that Nam is such a good eater. He may not eat everything that we do, but he will eat most of it. He is sad that we no longer stop to buy donuts though…and Granny isn’t baking cookies as often. (I do plan to still bake them occasionally for him…and then send them home with Sheila!) But we explained that we need to do this, so that Grandad and Granny can be healthy to take care of him for a LONG time. He’s ok with that!

Enjoying Springtime

I took Daddy for his pain management follow-up last Tuesday, and they told him he didn’t need to return for 3 months. He still has some pain in his back, but that is to expected until up to 6 weeks after the procedure. His cellulitis seems to have cleared up. It isn’t hurting him anymore and is no longer feverish. So he is feeling fairly well for an (almost) 88 year-old. Bobbie got her boot removed on Thursday and is no longer in a wheelchair, but using her walker. She is still pretty unsteady and weak, but she says she is feeling good. They spent all day on Friday doing her (GI camera) test, but they won’t have the results until her appointment next week with the doctor.

Nam and I baked snickerdoodles on Wednesday. He is really a good little helper. I would measure the ingredients, and he would add them to the mixing bowl and turn on/adjust the mixer. Then I scooped the batter into balls and he rolled them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and flattened them out on the cookie sheet. That kid sure LOVES “snickermoodles”. If he had his way, we would have them every day. The rest of us can't afford to have them around that much though!!!

Friday was a busy day. I went to Hobby Lobby to pick up some supplies as soon as it opened, then went to pick up Daddy for the day. He decided he might as well get a haircut as long as he was in MW, so I took him to his barber first thing. He enjoyed watching Nam play! He even joined in a game of "kickball" (while sitting on the couch). Dennis had found a beach ball last week in our yard, so we have had fun throwing and kicking it back and forth. Ricky has been doing a lot of trim work outside, so we would play out there and watch him. Daddy was ready to go home around 3:00 that afternoon, so I got back home just in time to start cooking supper.

I started on another baby afghan last week for a friend on mine. It shouldn’t take as long as Gracie’s did. I’ve already got about a third of it done.

Daddy and Bobbie made it to both services yesterday, and spent the afternoon, in between, playing Skip-Bo together. They are really enjoying being back together after her stint in the hospital and rehab! Bobbie even ate a good lunch. It was the first time she cleaned her plate (while eating here) in longer than I can remember! I think getting her blood count back up to a decent level has improved her appetite.

It looks like Nam may FINALLY be starting to sleep to a decent time! Sheila told me he slept until 6:45 yesterday morning and 7:00 today! She couldn’t believe it when she woke up with him yesterday and it was already getting light outside. Yay for progress!

This morning, Dennis and I and Nam went for a walk in the state park. It was our first time with Nam. He did great! We spent an hour out there. He would run ahead of us until he started getting a little nervous, and then stop and wait for us to catch up. We didn’t see any critters, other than butterflies and bees and birds, but we did see a few wildflowers. He walked the entire time, even when we climbed the big, steep hill! He has really turned into an outdoor-loving kid! He and Grandad are on their way to the city park right now. He likes to go when other kids are around, so he can play with them. They usually end up going 2 or 3 times a week.

We are planning to take Nam to Cabela’s tomorrow afternoon before taking him home. Dennis showed him some pictures of the store, and he is VERY excited! He will love looking at all of the taxidermy…and the guns. He is definitely indoctrinated into the Gerrald lifestyle.

This is the week that Gina starts keeping Nam on Wednesdays. That will give us a little break in the middle of the week and also be a good time for us to schedule appointments. This week, we are going to see a dietician to talk about what we can do to help control Dennis’ blood sugar. He isn’t technically classified as a diabetic, but his blood sugar keeps getting steadily higher. Although I have a pretty good grasp of a diabetic diet, it will be a lot more effective to have a professional tell him what he should and shouldn’t be eating.

I hope that you are able to be out and enjoy this beautiful spring weather! 

Health update

Well, I'm glad Daddy told me he needed to go to the doctor. We were able to get him in first thing Friday morning. He has cellulitis on his knee. He was in so much pain that he could barely get in and out of a chair. It got worse before it started getting better. He was in really bad shape on Sunday. He needed help every time he had to get up, and his knee was very red and feverish. The antibiotics are finally starting to help, but it is still very painful. I'm not sure the 10 days of antibiotics are going to do the trick. From the little bit of research I've done on the subject, if left untreated too long, cellulitis can quickly get into the bloodstream and cause sepsis. I'm very thankful that THAT didn't happen!

The photo shoot Saturday morning went very well. Nam was a little shy at first, but he quickly turned into a little ham! He is SO photogenic! The ones of Sheila and him turned out beautifully, too. As part of our gift (along with the digital rights and 6 pages of prints), we also got a beautiful 12x22" framed print. I went with an 8x10" of Sheila and Nam in the center of two 5x7" poses of Nam. I love it! Nam was also very pleased the first time he noticed it hanging on the wall in the living room. He really wanted to get a picture of our whole family together (like we had made a couple of years ago, right after Shepherd was added to our family). We told him we have to wait until Gracie is a few months old, and then we'll get that done. This kid LOVES family!

Saturday was a miserably cold and wet day, so after the photo shoot, we came home and stayed in the house the rest of the day. Sunday, we picked up Daddy, as usual, for morning services. We had a lot of visitors at Highway! Some were passing through to attend the visitation and funeral for Sister Cox. I hadn't heard of her passing until Sunday morning. She was such a dear woman, but she suffered for such a long time. I'm sorry for the loss that her friends and family are feeling, but I'm thankful that she is finally at peace! We came home after the morning assembly and had a simple dinner of beans and cornbread. Daddy was really struggling, so we took him back to Brookdale and stayed until we knew he would be ok on his own. Bobbie was also back from rehab. They were sure happy to be back together! We really had to talk to them seriously about NOT trying to help one another get up...especially now that Daddy is having such a difficult time. We definitely don't want one or both of them to end up back in the hospital or rehab. It is time they learned to use the "call cord" when they need help!

Yesterday, Rue and Pappy kept Nam, so we could tend to medical appointments. I took Daddy to the hearing specialist. I really enjoyed seeing how everything was done. The specialist was very informative about the whole process and explained why it is so important to treat hearing loss early. As hearing diminishes, the brain doesn't receive enough stimulation and begins to atrophy...causing dementia. The damage cannot be reversed. So even with his hearing aids, Daddy's hearing is only at 63% in his left ear and 78% in his right, and he doesn't hear a lot of consonant sounds. The hearing aids are really helping him though! They are still on a low volume (they will gradually increase the volume as he gets used to them), and he already hears SO much better. I took him to the pain management doctor today, and I didn't have to "translate" for him what the nurse and nurse practitioner were saying.

While I was in Weatherford with Daddy, Dennis was taking Ricky to Granbury for his test. They ended up spending all afternoon waiting! Ricky was about to starve by the time they finally got to him (he hadn't eaten any solid food in over 36 hours). The test showed that everything was completely normal, so we still don't have any real answers.

Last night, JW and Janette came over and brought supper. They are looking for houses in this area. We really enjoyed our visit with them! I think they got a kick out of Nam. He was pretty hyper. He had had a great time over with Pappy and Rue and told us ALL about it.

Bobbie is doing well. Tonette got her set up with home health yesterday. They will come a couple (I think) times a week for physical and occupational therapies and also help her bathe. She is still in a boot and spends most of her time in a wheelchair. She can walk with a walker though. I'm sure PT will be trying to get her to use it more and more. She goes back to her orthopedic doctor on Thursday and then has another test done on Friday (where she swallows the camera capsule to check out her complete digestive tract for any source of bleeding). Her hemoglobin is much better, at 10.2. It still isn't normal, but it is finally rising since they took her off her blood thinner.

So that about sums up how everyone is doing here. I hope all of you are faring well! There has been SO much sickness lately! Take care and God bless!

Family

I spent a good part of last week getting ready for Stephen’s family to come for the weekend. Thursday, I baked an angel food cake and some snickerdoodles. (Nam made sure, on Saturday, that HE got the last cookie, instead of Grandad. The last time I made Snickerdoodles, Dennis ate the last one and about broke the poor little guy's heart!) The kids got here in time for lunch on Friday. Sheila and Nam didn’t come until a little afterwards. Nam had had to go get his second round of shots that morning. Then Sheila took him to the zoo for an hour or so to reward him for being so brave! (He wasn't nearly as sore this time as he was the first round!) It was fun watching the boys playing the rest of the day and on Saturday. They really enjoyed themselves! I had ordered a 3-pack of toys that you can disassemble and then reassemble (using plastic screwdrivers that came with them) and play with them:  a helicopter, a motorcycle and a train engine. They came in Friday, which worked out perfect! I told the boys that they were mine, and had to stay at my house, but they could play with them whenever they were here. So Jesse and Nam picked out which ones they wanted and Shepherd was happy to take what was leftover. They did really well working with them! They spent a good bit of their time over the two days playing with them. I was amazed at their dexterity in working with the tools and screws.

When it was time for Stephen’s family to leave Saturday, we all went to Brookdale so Daddy could see all of the boys. We sat outside in the courtyard, while the boys ran around playing. Daddy really enjoyed their visit, as did several other of the residents at Brookdale! Then we drove to FW to an Ethiopian restaurant for supper, and to celebrate Shepherd’s 2^nd Gotcha Day anniversary. I wasn't sure that Dennis would agree to go, since he is NOT an adventurous eater. But he ended up liking what he got. (Thankfully, one of his sides was collard greens, which he LOVES!) Of the three littles, only Nam liked the food. After eating, we decided to have the coffee ceremony, which was fun. After making our coffees, the hostess/cook made the boys some “children’s coffee” – warm milk with a little chocolate syrup added. They got a kick out of that. It was fun having all of the grandsons together, but boy was it ever busy and noisy! It was also good to visit with Stephen and Mandy. Mandy is about to pop! We are hoping to meet little Gracie any day now!

Speaking of which, I FINALLY finished the baby afghan that I’ve been making for her…today on our way home from Arkansas. I managed to do the final 5 or 6 rounds on the trip. I was determined to get it finished before our little girl made her appearance! (Oops, I just checked my pattern and realized I have a couple of rounds of edging to do before I'm finished! I should be able to finish this weekend, Lord willing!) I'll post a picture next time of the finished product.

We had 2 funerals to attend this week. My cousin Allan (Aunt Coez’s next to the oldest son) passed away on Saturday and was buried Tuesday. This was her third son to lose. I can't imagine how much that must hurt! The funeral was scheduled for the same time period that I had to be at the doctor, so Dennis picked up Daddy and they went. Ricky stayed home and kept Nam while we were all gone. Buddy Kelly also passed away Sunday morning (my sister-in-law’s dad), and his funeral was today in Benton. Sheila told us that she would manage Nam if we both wanted to go, so we left yesterday morning. I had to have some bloodwork done first thing, so after taking care of that, having a late breakfast and running another errand, we headed northeast. We made it in time to get settled into our room before heading over to the visitation. Dennis had known Buddy for almost his whole life…since his family moved to Houston when he was in 5^th grade. He was a very friendly and happy man who was well loved by all. He had really been having a lot of health problems over the past few years, so he was ready to go (at the age of 90!). My heart goes out to both his family and my Aunt’s family.

While I’m still on this subject, I want to commend my s-in-l, Linda, for the wonderful care that she took of her dad during his last years (as well as her mom before she passed away 6 years previously). The Kellys lived just across the pasture from Warren and Linda, and Linda (with help from Ben and Laura’s family) was over there daily to tend to her dad. During his final couple of weeks, his health finally declined to the point that she could no longer take care of him at home, so he was moved into a hospice facility. But she never stopped caring for his needs! She is probably going to be a bit lost over the next few weeks (or months), but she really needs and deserves a good rest!  

I got a call from Daddy this morning that he wanted to see a doctor about his knee. It has been bothering him for a couple of weeks. I THINK it was probably strained when he tripped at church and almost fell. I was able to get him in to see his primary care doctor first thing tomorrow morning. I imagine they will probably xray it to see if there is any visible damage. I'm hoping it is just a strain and will heal on its own.

Bobbie is supposed to be released from rehab on Sunday. She is feeling much better! Daddy told me this morning that she is disconnected from everything except her catheter (which may have been removed by now). She has also been walking (with her boot and walker) to the dining room. I hope she has a smooth transition going back to Brookdale. I know Daddy is ready to have her home, and she is more than ready to be there!

I’m looking forward to seeing Nam tomorrow and hearing about his last couple of days! On Wednesday, he spent the day at work with Sheila. She said he did very well! I'm so thankful that she has such a good boss who allows her to bring him with her when necessary! Then today, Pappy and Rue took care of him all day. I know he’ll have a lot to tell us about that! Pappy had planned some kind of project for them to work on in his shop.

Saturday morning, Sheila has an appointment to take Nam to have his picture taken. She asked us to go, so we can get one of us with him. I hope he does ok. He’s a little “iffy” about having his picture taken. Sometimes, he is fine with it. Other times, he gets very angry if you take his picture. Hopefully, he will look forward to getting all dressed up and going for a special photo shoot. He is such a handsome little guy and so photogenic!

Monday is going to be a full day! Ricky is scheduled to have his colonoscopy done (still don’t know what time). I take Daddy at 1:00 to the hearing specialist to get tested for hearing aids. Then JW and Janette are dropping by (with pizza) for supper that evening. That will be Nam and Sheila’s night to spend the night, and they are really looking forward to meeting Nam. (Rue will be keeping him all day, while we take care of medical appointments.) Then Tuesday, Daddy goes back to the pain management doctor for his follow-up from his procedure on his back. He’s still having pains, but they had told us to expect that. It will be interesting to see what they say about how he’s doing. I’m not sure he’s going to have as good of results as he had hoped.

Well, this has been a long couple of days, so I’m about ready to turn in. Please keep those who are grieving in your prayers…as well as Lesa A., who is recovering from back surgery! We saw Keith at the funeral today. He said she is in quite a bit of pain, but the surgery went very well and they are hopeful for a full recovery.