FYI..

I just wanted to let everyone know that Member's Mark (Sam's Club Brand) has changed their diapers and they are much better!! The are now almost like Pamper's Cruiser's. They are softer and have stretch elastic tabs that really mold the diaper to the baby.
Just thought I'd share.
Thanks!

How does it work?????

For the last 3 years (almost), aka Noah's entire life, he has wanted to see how and why things work. He has always taken things apart... his bed, door's, books, pillow cases, toys, food... you name it, but this past Sunday was his biggest exploration yet...







HIS MATTRESS!!
You can see the before and after as you look at Collin's mattress and then at Noah's springs, padding and cardboard. Yikes!
I think the pictures explain the scenario well.
Praise God for little boys. :) To think I have live almost thirty years and never once wondered what was in one of those tiny mattresses. Now I know.
I will add, that the discipline for this went smoothly. At church we are going to a class on discipline and through this disaster, we were able to sit down with the boys and show them in the Bible what God says about disobedience and then we all prayed together. I really feel like we were in control of the discipline instead of the discipline being in control of us.

A picture is worth a 1000 words....

Praise the Lord

Today I feel amazing. I am feeling better now that I am exercising and moving again.
Right now, I am not planning on going through with the P.T. and I am going to continue to work on strengthening my core. I have constant pain/discomfort, but I am able to function okay at this point.

Tribute to a Zander

Today marks the one year anniversary of a precious cousin I will never be able to meet. One year ago today Alexander Sanchez was born to Aaron's cousin and her husband and one year ago today, God took baby Zander home. I just wanted to take a minute to reflect on this precious little angel and the sweet baby Aaron and I lost who was to be born on October 30, 2004. The sweet baby our friends Joe and Erika never got to hold that was to be born later this year. The baby brother or sister that never saw the light of day that my mom and dad lost when I was just a child. The sweet twin to baby Emmaline that our friends Jen and Nathan will never be able to kiss.

As a mother I don't think there are words big enough to express the great kaleidoscope of emotions that you experience when you loose a baby. I still have the ultrasound picture from the first time I ever was able to feel the amazing feeling that comes with the knowledge and image of life existing within my body. It was over 4 years ago that we lost our baby, but I still cry when I think about our first child. I have moved past the time when I question God's reason for this, I still wish that He would have made my baby whole, healthy and here, but I rest in knowing His will is done.
So, to all of my friends and family who have lost the most precious of all gifts,
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and he shall make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

Time to face the music...

Yesterday I admit that I had a very difficult time trying to figure out what to do next. Since Jan, Super Bowl Sunday - to be exact, I have been living trying to guard my back and keep it from getting more angry with me. Those of you who have experienced back pain understand this. Well, with arthritis you need to move and keep things in shape and not rest. So, now I am able to press through the pain without fearing that I will go into spasm or worsen my condition. This has been so freeing to me!
As some of you know Aaron and Noah left this evening to go to Maryland to spend time with the Dell's as his Grandfather has been given only a short while to live. Well, when we were saying our tearful goodbye's it occurred to us that we have never been apart like this in the almost 8 years we have been married and only one time early on in our relationship and never have I been more than 40 minutes away from Noah. I still have Mr. Collin to snuggle up with and I took advantage of his absence and headed straight to the video store and rented 2 chick flicks. Now, I am sitting in my quiet house, listening to Collin sing and chat himself to sleep and I am resting in the knowledge that I am GREATLY blessed. I am so thankful to have the three most wonderful boys, I have ever met, in my life. I miss Aaron and Noah terribly, but I am thankful that Monday they will be home and I can hug them and give them lost of kisses. Praise God for my marriage and the most wonderful two son's a mother could ever hope for.

The new verdict is in...

Okay, here is the latest...
I went to the doctor today and shared some concerns I was having since my last injection. #1 on my list was that the pain is not gone. I hadn't even noticed that my leg pain was mostly gone until he was asking me questions and doing various movements while examining me this morning. Well, the good news is, the injections seemingly worked. They stopped the nerve pain and therefore they were a success, BUT the problem now is the arthritis I have. Until now, the focus has solely been on my nerve involvement, but now the focus is shifting to the arthritis (aka degenerative disc disease). The doctor said he never sees arthritis this bad on someone my age(29). So, phase 2 will now be underway...
~Get blood work done to determine if I have rheumatoid or any other kind of arthritis.
~Begin physical therapy ~ twice a week for 5 weeks at $25 a pop.
~Start 2 different kinds of medication.
~After the P.T. if the results aren't good we have some options, albeit NOT appealing to me at this time. Here they are... They can do more injections into the area where the arthritis is, but these injections only last for a short time and will have to be readministered every 6 - 8 months. The problem here is because I am so young, they cannot give me these doses of medication for the rest of my life so the next step would be to go in every 18 - 24 months and have the nerves actually burned! YIKES!! No thank you!
So now our thinking has to shift from thinking this is a problem that stinks and will be gone soon to the BIG possibility that this is our new life and deal with all that it brings. I am having a hard time processing this, but I am trusting God's work in all of this. I keep reminding myself that this may not be the set up for mothering that I imagined or the ideal wife that I have in mind, but IT IS the mother and wife God intended for me to be and He will meet our needs.
On a lighter note...
I took the boys with me to my appointment this morning. Collin is afraid of Doctor's because he associates them with pain ( broken arm, shots and fun stuff like that ) so he cried and I had to hold him for the first half of my appointment. Now I know that while holding a screaming 2 year old and getting my blood pressure taken my BP was still great. :) Then, when Dr. Manocha came in, he said hello to Noah who in turn said "hello Jesus". I was confused until it occurred to me later that Noah prays everyday that Jesus will make my back feel better and on the way to my appt this morning, I told him that we were going to see the doctor that is making Mommy's back all better. Unfortunately, our morning outing ended with Collin throwing up all over himself about 2 blocks from home. Ahh! No wonder I am tired. :)

Today...

Well, I am officially done with my series of injections and now it is a waiting game to see if they are going to work.
I want to SINCERELY thank everyone who has prayed, helped with our kids and provided meals for our family. We are extremely thankful.
I am feeling okay at this point, but I am still taking pain meds (as needed) , as well as a muscle relaxer and Aleve twice daily. I want SO much to be off all of the medication, but when I try to I quickly realize it is too soon.
I also want to know if anyone would be interested in joining me 2 - 3 times a week for fun and exercise? I am planning to start working out again by the end of the month, but it will have to be baby steps. I would like to go to Delco park in Kettering possible Monday and Wednesday to walk the path around the lake and surrounding area and thought we could finish by playing on the playground equipment and having a picnic in the pavilion. Does anyone want to join me? All are welcome!
Love to all!!