My Optimism...

..Is

Slowing

Beginning

To

Fade...

.

.

Every night when I go to bed in pain

.

Every morning when I can't pick my chunky little man up out of his bed

.

Every day that I miss something...like Henry's first field trip

.

Every hour that I wonder if I will feel normal tomorrow...next week...next month

.

Every minute that I don't feel good

.

Every second that I think this could last forever

.

.

My

optimism

is

still

here...

.

It's just not as bright as it used to be

Wordless Wednesday: Earth Day 2009

For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 Minutes for Mom!

Orange for Stellan

Stellan is scheduled to have surgery today. Please be in prayer for Stellan, his doctors, and the whole MckFamily! Go check out My Charming Kids to get updates and more information!

Multi-tasking

I Heart Faces Week 15: Self Portrait

Go check out the I Heart Faces Blog to see more entries in this week's contest!

Keeping It Real
I am also going to cheat a little and use this photo for a tag I got from Kelly and Shasta!

The Rules:

Take a picture of yourself right now

No primping or preening, just snap the picture

Load the picture on to your blog

Tag some people to play

NO CHEATING {Oh well..at least I followed some of the rules}!

Both of those lovely ladies also tagged me to do

8 is Enough

8 Things I am looking forward to...

1. Feeling back to normal!

2. Jason working less

3. Summer

4. The pool

5. The beach

6. Mini-vacations

7.Eli learning to walk

8. Kindergarten next fall!!

8 Things I did yesterday...

1. Slept late

2. Skipped church {I couldn't get moving yesterday, literally!}

3. Enjoyed Jason being off work, even if it was only half a day

4. Took medicine

5. Watched some reruns of Jon & Kate + 8

6. Baked a cake for Jason's B-day

7. Ate cake and ice cream

8. Fell asleep on the couch while Jason watched Iron Man

8 Things I wish I could do...

1. Not procrastinate so much

2. Be more patient with my children

3. Learn to sew better

4. Sing...other than in the car and the shower!

5. Take great photos

6. Be more productive

7. Cook...good food!

8. Feel back to 100% now!

8 Shows I enjoy...

1. Lost

2. Heroes

3. Chuck

4. Ugly Betty

5. My Name is Earl

6. Scrubs

7. Friends

8. Pushing Daisies....it got cancelled, but it was SO good!!

8 Friends I tag to play along too!

1. Emily

2. Tracy

3. Mandy

4. Karen

5. Jennifer

6. Morgan

7. Konnie

8. Amanda

I tried to tag people I knew hadn't played before...but anyone is welcome to play along too!! Oh, and consider this a tag for Keeping it Real too!

And now for award time!

I receive both of these awards from Aileigh! Thanks Aileigh...sorry it took me so long to post them {check out # 1 on Things I wish I could do}! I'm not really sure how this award thing works....but I am passing these on to all of lovely followers who are so sweet and leave such great comments all the time!!

Trike-A-Thon!

On Friday, Henry's preschool class participated in the St. Jude Trike-A-Thon!

All the kids brought their tricycles and bicycles to school.

They had a great time riding their trikes {and bikes} and raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital!

After all their hard work, they had an ice pop and got a few SUPER cute stickers!

Random Picture Challenge

April 2008

or

13th folder

42nd picture or 4th {if you don't have that many!}

This is Henry riding his bike on our back patio.
Jason had spent the ENTIRE weekend {and then some}building a new pergola over the patio, and the boys spent most of the weekend helping him or riding their bikes while he worked.

Go check out 4 Little Men and Girly Twins for more Random Picture Challenge!

Time to Lower the Baby Bed!

This is how I found Eli after his nap yesterday morning!

Needless to say, Jason spent about 30 minutes last night lowering the mattress on the baby bed!

SUPER Cute Kid Questions!

Jason and Grant had this conversation in the car a few days ago, and it was just too cute not to share!

Grant: Daddy, I saw a new episode of Wow Wow Wubzy today!

Jason: Really, was it good?

Grant: Yeah! Did you see it?

Jason: No. I was at work.

Grant: Don't you have a t.v. at work?

Jason: No.

Grant: What do you do when you get tired??

********************

Jason also tried to teach Grant how to tell a knock knock joke during this same car ride!

Grant: Knock Knock

Me: Who's there?

Grant: Banana

Me: Banana who?

Grant: Are you not glad that I did not say banana!

What are some SUPER cute questions that your kids ask?

Wordless Wednesday: Cute Baby Booty!

For more Wordless Wednesday check out 5 Minutes for Mom!

Quick {SUPER} Update

First, I want to again thank everyone for their kinds words, thoughts, and especially prayers over the last few weeks!!

For the first time in probably two months, I almost feel back to normal...and compared to how I had been feeling the last few weeks....I am doing SUPER this morning!! I got out of bed feeling like I was 28 and not 98!! I have never been so happy for the phone to wake me up {thanks Mandy}!!

After being given my first diagnosis, I decided I wasn't quite happy with everything. I decided to see a few more doctors and make sure we had it right before I took the medicine that had been prescribed.

I went back to my internist last week, and he sat down with me for about an hour explain all the tests that had been down. He also gave me two referrals: one to a dermatologist and the other to another rheumatologist for a second opinion.

I had both of those appointments yesterday.

The dermatologist did a biopsy of the rash I have had on and off since November. It was a painless procedure, but I do have three stitches {my first stitches other than c-sections} that I have to go back and get removed next week. It will be few days before we get those results back.

The rhematologist I saw yesterday was SUPER. He basically knew exactly what I had a soon as he looked at my rash and I told him about the joint and muscle pain, high fevers {104 at one point this weekend!}, and sore throats that I have had over the last few weeks.

I now have the official diagnosis of Adult Onset Still's Disease. It is a form of rheumatoid arthritis, but ALL of my symptoms go along with this specific disease. The treatment plan is basically the same, just a little higher dosage of medicine and a little more closely monitoring to make sure all the symptoms are under control. The doctor gave me an initial dose of the methotrexate in shot form yesterday and drained a TON of fluid off of my knee.

I am still a little freaked out about have a lifelong illness and having to take such a strong medication for an indefinite amount of time...

...But I am finally starting to feel better, and that is what matters!

I Heart Faces Week 14 Easter/Spring

Eli checking out his basket of goodies on his 1st Easter!

Go check out the I Heart Faces blog to see all the cute faces in this week's contests!

Happy Easter

Happy Birthday Henry!

Henry is 5 years old today!

We celebrated his birthday last night with a party.

Henry picked out Batman for his party theme.

He was so excited about turning 5...he insisted on having the piece of cake with the 5 on it!

Happy 5th Birthday Henry!

Wordless Wednesday: Toothy Grin!

For more Wordless Wednesday check out 5 Minutes for Mom!

I Heart Faces Week 13 My Friend & I

This is my entry for I Heart Faces Week 13 My Friend & I!
Go check out their blog to see all the SUPER cute faces in this week's contest!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Henry and Grant together.

I took this picture a few years ago, Henry was not quite 2 years old and Grant was probably 8 months old.