What A Way To End An Amazing Year

It was a great weekend visiting family!! Katie and I had a wonderful trip! She stayed healthy!! YAY! It seems like she gets sick so much when we go to North Carolina... I'm almost thinking that she might be allergic to something in the hotel that we stay in when Don makes the trip with us... when it's the three of us we usually stay in a hotel because there just isn't enough room at Mom & MomMom's. When it was just MomMom, Katie, Mom and I - it was like a "girls weekend" - four generations!! We had a lot of laughter!! Katie is already missing them and looking forward to our next visit!!

Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Linda are always just so wonderful to Katie. They are almost like another set of grandparents. A child can never have too many people loving them, right?!!

Aunt Linda had a really hard time this Christmas after Sarah and Jacob being here this summer - it just seemed to be a little harder during the holidays. I so understand that because I miss them desperately too... and I'm just a cousin/aunt. So, I think it was good for her to spend some time with Katie too! They both seemed to enjoy each other!

We went to the library on Friday and Katie got like 30 books. The coolest librarian EVER, Mr. George, helped Mom and I find great animal books for Katie. He was a young african-american guy with a 10-month old daughter! He loves working in the kids section and Katie thought he was really cool!

What she thought was even MORE cool was Aunt Linda's story telling! She is the BEST!! She should have her own PBS show or something!

I have to get some pictures of Mom and I. It's either her or I always behind the lens so we rarely get pictures together! Don is going to take some when we go over the first of February!

Better go spend some time with Don! It's our SIXTEENTH wedding anniversary tonight! Isn't that crazy!? I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful husband! So blessed to have a wonderful family and great friends! So blessed to have this wonderful life!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Love,
LA :)

Having Fun In North Carolina

Katie and I left Knoxville on Thursday afternoon to head to North Carolina. We had such a fun trip over. I had told her that we could listen to Christmas music on the way over since we hadn't celebrated Christmas with our family in NC yet but then no more Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving next year. We sang our hearts out on the way over!! Traffic was horrible - thank goodness for the GPS because we escaped interstate craziness several times for the saner backroads.

When we got to Mom and MomMom's - Aunt Linda, Uncle Ronnie, Uncle Jim, Aunt Rima and Ronnie were all here (and of course, so were Mom and MomMom). Katie hadn't seen Uncle Jim and Aunt Rima in several years and she was use to getting to my moms and it being quiet and people showing up later. Everyone was in the kitchen, a small kitchen, and Katie was like "wow, so many people it's making me dizzy..."

Uncle Jim and Aunt Rima gave her a stable set with a horse that resembles Sunny a little. She was very excited but so cute!! Ronnie started putting it together for her and like a true Hulen (must be where I get it...) he dove into assembling it without the instructions. Well, he started having problems. Katie realized this and went and got the box with the picture and brought it to him and said "Here, this might help you". He continued to have difficulty with the doors and roof and Katie went and got the instructions and gave them to Ronnie and said "I think you need these". Katie actually helped him figure out the doors and roof. He was pretty blown away!

Katie was WOUND up and of course didn't fall asleep until close to midnight and again, of course, she sprang out of bed at 7am. So, she was a little tired and cranky today but we still had a great day!

Funny story - Katie when she goes over to Cassie and Alex's house... she gets upset when they squabble... especially if they squabble with their little brother Malachi. The family has told me that Katie will try to tell everyone to get along and she's even broke down in tears a few times when they wont stop arguing.

Well, on the trip over, I was trying to explain to Katie who Uncle Jim was since she hadn't seen him in so long. I was telling her that Uncle Jim was Grandmom's brother just like Uncle Ronnie was... that they all three grew up together. She sat in silence for a minute or so and then she said "Mom, you don't think they are gonna squabble do you?" I knew exactly what she was thinking... comparing them to the Rhyne's and I said "Nope - they play nicely with each other's toys now that they are all grown up". She said "Good!"


Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Linda came back over this morning. I love seeing Aunt Linda and Katie together! They just adore each other and always have so much fun! Aunt Linda always knows just the thing to do with Katie or just the thing to get for her! Uncle Ronnie always just enjoys watching Katie. Aunt Linda and Katie definitely have one big thing in common... missing Sarah! When Katie saw Sarah's picture in the guest room beside her picture, she picked it up and gave Sarah a kiss and said "I'm sure missing you!"

They gave Katie a Disney Princess Tent Set! She LOVES it! I thought she was going to sleep in it tonight but she decided the floor was too hard. She moved all her animals into it - her ipod, DVD player, books... there was barely any room for her - let alone me when she convinced me to climb in with her. She helped Uncle Ronnie put it together and again - she picked up on something that he and I missed when we were getting it assembled! But, to our credit - there were no instructions! :)

Katie discovered her new favorite dessert today. Chocolate Peppermint cake!! Also, she loves MomMom's deviled egg sandwiches! Ever since Lisa fixed deviled eggs at Thanksgiving - Katie wants them like every other day! Well, MomMom had fixed egg salad... but Katie wanted nothing to do with egg "salad" so I changed what I was calling it to "deviled egg" sandwiches and she ate one and a half for lunch and two for dinner! Kids! It's all about the psychology!

We got MomMom's iMac set up tonight! It has the 24" monitor and I set the display for the larger font, increased the font settings in all her programs and SHE CAN SEE! YAY! She was in tears - happy tears but tears!!! She's been having so much fun with Mom on their eBay store, we had to fix it so she could continue... so Don and I went in together with Mom to get it for her for Christmas! PLUS, now she can video conference with Katie and I which she is going to LOVE! She loved chatting with Don tonight! I don't know who is more excited, MomMom with the new computer or Don, now that he has another MAC convert...

LA :)

Christmas Is Over...

...but boy was it great!! We had a great Christmas - actually I believe it was the best in several years. We spent Christmas eve with Gran, Dad and Marilyn. We had a little bit of a catastrophe - a pretty major plumbing problem that we are dealing with today - but we didn't let it ruin Christmas. I was proud of Don and I... especially me... since I have such a tendency to worry and plan for "worst case"... we just realized that it was Christmas Eve and there was nothing that could be done and worrying about it wasn't going to change the outcome. So, hopefully, the plumber will show up today and it wont be as major as we thinking it could be.

Katie seeing Santa at the mall on December 23rd was perfect because she remembered exactly what she'd asked him for and when she got up Christmas morning - she was so happy. It was the best Christmas yet with Katie as far as her handling opening several gifts and not just plowing through them... unemotionally. She wanted to know specifics about each thing and was excited.

I got her a pink fuzzy blanket shawl and it has this inside packet of lavendar bead filling that you can heat in the microwave and then it's suppose to be soothing to wrap up in. When I told her how it works.... she said "that is so impressive..." and that's when I got this shot... how fun!!!



The morning started off with Katie coming to me and she was so excited and she said "I think Santa guessed all on his own that I love horses and unicorns and he brought me a BIG white horse coming out of a box...."



We took turn opening our presents and this is the first year that she was interested in what Don and I also got. We had a great morning! Then we fixed pancakes with heart smart bisquick, turkey sausage and Cary's sugar free syrup. I only had one pancake and one piece of sausage with a glass of milk but it was still a lot of carbs compared to my normal breakfast... NAP TIME!

Gran, Dad and Marilyn rejoined us at 2pm and we had a great rest of the day! We had a lot of laughter and just fun talking! It was the most enjoyable time we've had with Gran in a year... so that was nice.

Katie was determined to give Grandpa a new look. He wasn't too cooperative. He's a great grandpa except when it comes to messing with his hair...lol!



Katie entertained us for an hour with a fashion show using all the things that came in her dress up trunk. She loved it!! She also put on a show using her Hannah Montana microphone. She also got the Hannah Montana Spotlight Tour for Wii - we just haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I'm sure her friends are going to love that gift as well!!!

Tomorrow I head to work and then Katie and I head to North Carolina. Mom, Don, Katie and I went in together on a very special gift for MomMom that I am so excited to help her get up and going! MomMom is so excited!

Tomorrow is my surgiversary! Yikes - I don't even want to weigh. But, thank goodness the holiday food focused season is almost over!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I'm sure we are all off to have a wonderful start to 2008.

LA :)

Tom

Christmas Eve Eve

We went to the mall this morning at 8am. We beat the crazy crowd and it was WONDERFUL! It was peaceful and quiet. We were there until 10:30 and right as we were heading out - it really started getting crowded.



Katie went to see Santa and she told him that she wanted a Parrot (thank goodness for Hasbro and their "mechanical toy" parrot), a cinderella dress and a Hannah Montana microphone. "I don't need anything from Build A Bear because I was just there" she tells him.

Santa needs to gain a little weight! Even Katie commented that he wasn't very squishy! LOL! He got up and walked around after we were leaving and he was skinny! Seems like he would have had some fake padding...



It did Gran a lot of good to get out and see some of the Christmas stuff at the mall - the people, the decorations, etc. She's always liked that kind of stuff. She loved every minute of seeing Katie at Build A Bear building "Lexy" her new pink leopard.



Katie got an email from Build A Bear three weeks ago showcasing the pink leopard that was new. She shrieked that she "really, really, really wanted that! I told her that maybe she could tell Grandma and Grandpa that she wanted that for Christmas and that they could take her. Well, that's exactly what happened.



She had $50 from her Grandma Sue that she took with her for accessories which she really enjoyed picking out! It was great fun!!! Katie had to of course initiate Lexy into her very own Animal Kingdom - Angel (the pink cat), Cuddles (the Siberian Husky) and Rocky (not shown - but a UT cheerleader bear)... all these guys are from Build A Bear. Obviously - one of Katie's favorite places to go.

Dad and Marilyn really got a kick out of it. They didn't even know it existed. Marilyn is glad to know now that Kevin & Kelly have two adorable little girls under the age of two... wont be long for them.



We capped off our day by having our annual Christmas dinner with our best friends Rick and Lisa and Katie spent the evening with Dad, Marilyn and Gran! We had such a nice time. We went to Puleos and we laughed and laughed and had SO MUCH FUN! They are truly the best and we are so thankful to have them in our lives! We always enjoy our time together and we are so at ease...totally ourselves with them!! Although I think our waiter was ready to get rid of us! :) We stayed too long after finishing our meal for his liking!

Of course, I had my camera in my purse to take a picture of them and to get our waiter to take a group picture and once they were there - we were having so much fun - I forgot!!! Dang it! That ALWAYS happens!!!

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! It's turning out to be one of the best!!!

LA :)

Martha Stewart We're Not!

But, we had a lot of fun!



And plan to have some more!!

We are staying out of the Christmas Craziness today but plan to be at the mall tomorrow morning when it opens for last minute items. Dad and Marilyn are taking Katie to Build A Bear and we are going to try to see Santa before it gets slammed at noon!

Christmas was just a blur last year between work, eBay (remember I had tons of those Fisher Price toys - not this year with all those recalls) and getting ready for my surgery.

I'm actually enjoying almost every minute of Christmas this year!

Hope everyone else is!

LA :)

P.S. I Love You

Don & I have started occasionally taking advantage of our winter Friday mornings together and having a "REVERSE DATE". He will take Katie to school while I get ready and then we do eBay shipping and get that out of the way and catch a 9:15-10:00am movie. Then we get lunch and pick up Katie! We call it a "REVERSE DATE".

Last Friday we went to see I AM LEGEND. Will Smith was wonderful! Just love him. The writing and special effects - not so much!

'

Today we went to see P.S. I LOVE YOU with Hilary Swank, Lisa Kudrow, Harrick Connick Jr. Kathy Bates... It was WONDERFUL!!! Alot of sadness but a great romantic drama/comedy. The music was great and I've already downloaded the soundrack from iTunes. The couple in the movie reminded Don and I so much of ourselves with their relationship. He was upbeat, carefree and always optimistic and she was the planner and worrier. He taught her an awful lot about enjoying life - just like Don has with me.

We had a little bit of a scare today with Hogan. He hurt his back somehow and he was in so much pain. He ended up at the the vet having xrays and spending the afternoon for meds. Turns out it is just a pulled muscle and we have to keep him from jumping for a few weeks. How we will manage to do that... he is such a leaper! But thank goodness it wasn't anything serious.

Don and Katie built a Gingerbread house tonight and Katie and I baked cookies - or at least prepared the dough for the cookies. It is chillin' overnight in the fridge. Dad and Marilyn get here tomorrow!

Wow, it is 11:55pm on December 21st. Wow! Three days left until Christmas.

Hope everyone is staying sane and happy!

LA :)

Approaching My One Year Anniversary

And, I'm having mixed emotions! I'm so thankful to have lost the weight that I've lost but since Thanksgiving - it's been hard. I gained three pounds at Thanksgiving and I managed to loose those three pounds but it took the past three weeks and now we are smack dab in the middle of more food focused holidays!!

Katie is soooo wanting to make Christmas cookies and a gingerbread house and SWEET POTATO casserole... how can you make these things and not eat a little...

I've noticed that I've been able to eat more without feeling as full...

I definitely have the winter blahs... I miss being active outdoors!! I love our new treadmill but it's not nearly as nice as being outside walking with Hogan or swimming or the FARM!!! I miss the horses - the farm is soooo dang muddy right now! We were out there on Tuesday and I started crying as we were leaving... It was great being out there and I just didn't want to leave!

Here's the plan! December 27th is my "surgiversary"... I'm going to do what they call "the 5 Day Pouch Test". Most medical professionals and WLS patients refer to the new stomach as a pouch. It can be stretched... most consider it a tool. It's a "tool" to help you do what you couldn't without WLS.

I'm going to North Carolina to visit my family with Katie on December 27th and my mom is going to do the 5 day diet with me and help me. I have a big mental block thing with liquid protein... I was drinking chocolate protein when I started having my complication and I never wanted it again. BUT, I have to do liquid protein to do this pouch test diet. So Mom and MomMom are going to help me!

I didn't have brain surgery - the emotional love of food is still there. So, there is this 5 Day Pouch Test that I am going to start on my anniversary. It's suppose to reset my pouch to it's post surgery state - 1 month post op.

It's two days of liquid protein, two days of soft protein and then one day of solid protein and Voila! Back to where I should be hopefully!!

I am still DRASTICALLY healthier than this time last year! I wake in the mornings feeling RESTED!! I'm sure I had un-diagnosed sleep apnea. Mom and Don both said that I would stop breathing in my sleep.

I no longer have high blood pressure. I'm not taking near the antidepressants I was this time last year! I can do anything with Katie that I want to - within reason!! I can shop in ANY store!

But, I didn't land in the hospital on January 2nd in critical condition for any of this to be a waste!

Please continue to support me! I couldn't have accomplished any of this without my family and friends!

Phhhppt! to those who think WLS is the easy way out! OPRAH! :)

LA :)

There but by the grace of God go I...

For years and years, I dreamed of having a big family. I still do at times... I always thought Don and I might be one of those families you occasionally see on a show like Dateline or read about in Good Housekeeping that adopted 15 kids... That is back in the day when I thought it would be a breeze to be Super Mom!

Well, everyone knows that Don and I struggle just raising ONE! Granted, Katie has multiple special needs...

Anyway, we are hooked on this show on Discovery Health... Jon & Kate plus 8! We love watching this. We admire this couple so very much (although sometimes I want to reach through the tv and shake Kate - but then I realize I'd be no better - probably worse if I were raising 8 children under the age of 7)!

This seemingly normal couple got married and seemed destined for an average life, then they had twins. Okay, still pretty normal existence now that the twins are weaned and out of diapers.

Then Kate (and Jon will never let her forget it)wants just one more baby – a sibling for their twin girls. Jon thinks, hey two is plenty, let’s just go about our normal life. Kate insists on one more. "I bought one and got five free", she says on the show.

I love this show because it makes me feel so abundantly blessed to not be quite so abundantly blessed. Does that make sense? I mean, thank you God for not blessing me with twins and sextuplets!

It’s a really good show about their day to day existence which is now anything but ordinary. Their grocery bill at Sam's was over $1,000. Think about paying that bill next time your checking out. Could you even cover that and your mortgage? The next time I'm trying to book a babysitter... I will be thankful that I'm just getting a babysitter for one child. If they ever get a babysitter - it's not for dates - it's for normal life stuff... they have to split up the kids. Amazingly - they don't have much outside help - even from family. They are very independent.

I seriously giggle in sympathy every time I see this family. Don and I will pause the show and just look at each other in disbelief!!! Then I quickly want to throw salt over my shoulder and/or knock on some wood to somehow prevent anything similar from ever happening to us. Thank the Lord we choose adoption instead of pursing fertility treatments because I just don't think I/we were cut out for raising multiples.

Although, you always have to fall back on that belief that "God never gives any one person any more than they can handle..."

Watching a special episode last night with Don made me even more thankful. They packed up their commercial sized custom van PLUS a Uhaul trailer and headed to Orlando from their Pennsylvania home. They took SIX three year olds and TWO seven year olds to Disney!

We love, love, love to travel and Katie is such a wonderful traveler! She may have melt downs after a rough day at school but she is an AWESOME traveler. She may not be able to focus at home to have a conversation... but we hit the road and we have the best talks EVER! She may not mind very well if we go to Target to shop - but when we are in a crowded airport - she is right there doing everything she is suppose to - 1st request ALWAYS!

Don and I decided last night that when she travels to new places... she must just get the right amount of stimulation. It keeps her even keeled... tires her just the right amount to where she sleeps at night... she's not in her "normal" environment so she is more aware of listening and following directions... not sure! But very thankful!

Anyway, watching this family's journey to Disney made me realize how much fun we had in May and how much we want to go back. We've decided that for now - it's going to be a birthday tradition for Katie. Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Maybe we will have a better experience at Epcot next year as well! It will be hard to top last year's special invitation to meet all the prince's and princesses... but...

atleast we don't have to pack a Uhaul trailer to do it! :)

Blessings to everyone during this holiday season!
LA :)

THE WARMTH OF A HORSE

When your day seems out of balance
And so many things go wrong,
When the world seems against you
And the day drags on so long,
When frustrations and life consume you
And fill you with remorse,
Go out into the pasture
Wrap your arms around your horse.
Her gentle breath enfolds you
As she watches with those eyes.
She may not have a Ph.D.
But she is, oh so wise!
Her head rests on your shoulder
You hug her good and tight,
She puts your world in balance
And makes it seem all right.
Your tears will soon stop flowing
The tension will be eased.
The nonsense has been lifted
You are quiet and at peace.
So when you need some balance
From the stresses in your day…
The therapy you really need
Is out there eating hay!
~ Anonymous

I so need more time with our guys on the farm! I have decided that I definitely don't like being indoors! *sigh*

Smoky Mountain Christmas @ Dollywood

We made plans to go to Dollywood when we picked Katie up from school yesterday. We took Cassie & Alex with us. Don wasn't too sure about doing that but I knew it would be fun!



The interstate had some kind of major snafu when we were heading out of Knoxville so we ended up going out Chapman Highway. When we got to about Seymour, Don was giving me these exasperated looks... the girls were listening to a Radio Disney Christmas CD and talking like 3000 miles an hour about Miley Cyrus, Aly & AJ and other teen pop people. The car was full of laughter and fun (and like I said - exasperated looks from Don).



We got to Dollywood and the girls were bubbling with excitement. They started talking 5000 miles an hour on the trolly into the park about what the strategic plan of events was going to be once we were inside. Katie just wanted to be sure that there were no plans for water rides...lol! Not at 40 degrees there weren't (besides they were closed)! This is a picture of the four of us imitating the silly reindeer statues.



Cassie and Alex haven't had as much "thrill seeking" ride time as Katie. So they were perfectly content to head to the County Fair area and ride rides like the carousel, the tea cups, the flying dumbo, etc. Katie still loves riding those rides - especially when there is as much laughter as there was with me, Cassie, Alex and her riding them... but she wanted to ride some more "speed" rides. So, she and I went to the Dizzy Disc and Cassie and Alex watched trying to decide if they wanted to attempt it. The answer for then was NO!!



We spent a little too much time for my liking on the tea cups and I had to trade spots with Don for a bit and let him ride.



The girls decided they liked him better in the tea cups than me anyway. I do too much giggling and Don is much more serious about making it spin really fast! Although, from the looks of this picture, Don isn't spinning the wheel so much.....? We rode the bumper cars and I laughed so hard I almost blacked out. Katie and Alex rode together and Cassie rode with me and Don was solo. Cassie was screaming at me the whole time to "go faster and RAM Mr. Don!!" Katie loved it - she loved Alex hitting me and Cassie!



We saw some of the Parade of Lights on our way to get some dinner and then we saw the really cool Carol of the Trees as we were coming out from dinner. We met some of the nicest people while we were eating dinner. We went to Aunt Granny's buffet - we figured that was the best thing to do. Katie and Cassie are terribly picky eaters and I'm limited... so the buffet at least had choices. Cassie ate three rolls and two big bowls of green beans. Katie had fried chicken, corn on the cob and hot chocolate. *shiver*

The girls really wanted to go back to the County Fair after dinner so that is what we did. They rode the kiddie roller coaster twice and when Katie came off that second time, she was frustrated and really had to have more action. She convinced Alex to go ride the ferris wheel. Don went with Cassie back to the flying dumbo's and I went to the ferris wheel with Katie & Alex. The three of us rode together and Alex was scared to death. Of course, we got stuck on the top for about five minutes and Alex is scared of heights. Katie and I just kept hugging her (gently so we didn't rock the car) and telling her she was doing great! All of a sudden, it's like someone flipped a switch on her. I told her to just take a deep breath and started talking about the lights, gingerbread houses, etc and she just relaxed and then started loving it.

Once Alex accomplished that... she was ready to take on bigger and better things as long as she was in between Katie and I. So, we went back to the dizzy disc. Alex didn't like it too much until it was over and then she decided that it was pretty cool and that she would do again on her next visit.

We did a few other things and then it was 9pm and the park was closing. Katie had been up since 6am. Her eyes were all glossy from the cold and from being tired. It took us a while to even get back out to the trolly area and when we finally did - Katie just broke down in tears. "I'm cold, I'm tired". Katie had on four layers, a scarf and mittens but by this time - it was in the low 30's and she was pooped. Alex immediately too off her big down coat and gave it to Katie. Cassie and Alex were both hugging Katie and telling her she was going to be ok.

It was so great seeing Katie be a supportive friend and help them yesterday and then in turn seeing how they are such good friends to her. Once we were in the car with the heat going, the Disney Radio Christmas CD playing, Don's exasperated looks starting again - Katie was good to go until we got home at 10:30pm.

When Don and I were sitting out rides, we were talking about how much fun the evening ended up being. We are going to try and go back at least one more time before the Christmas season is over and see a show or two in addition to the rides in the cold!

Today, Katie is going to Malachi's birthday party. It's at the Chuck! *sigh* That is my LEAST favorite place on the planet!

This morning we are going to take Gran breakfast and decorate her condo for Christmas. The clock is really ticking... not sure how much longer she can live their alone.

Then tonight we are going to put up our decorations! YAY!

Merry Christmas! Happy Saturday!