Daya goes to the dentist

Mommy and Daya with Dr. Molly!

Attempting to let the asst see in her mouth..

Trying out the posistion ( those are TV's in the roof! )

Maybe this chair will work - the big kids like it its gel filled!

Before it all started...

... And hates it :(

Do you blame her? She has a tiny mouth ( thanks to momma!) and a horrible gag reflex ( gain momma )

Today we took Madaya to meet her dentist for the first time. She hasn't been before and we wanted to wait until she could comprehend what was going on... Oy! Bad plan? I dunno but it was a mess. I ended up having to hold her down to get her to be ok with them cleaning - she tried every chair in the office to no avail. and the only thing we accomplished was tears - But hey she got a rubber ducky and a tooth brush LOL! Go daya!

She hated them touching her, cleaning her teeth, trying to take Xrays and in general the idea of it all. She did however LOVE dr. Molly and the office staff, along with the office. So we will be going back soon for a hands on orientation so to speak. We will work her in slowly!

They did say her bottom teeth are much too crowded ( we knew this as some are sideways ) and that shes been grinding her teeth, and that her bite however is perfect!

Yeah!! Heres some of the cuteness!

WLS update : 7 months

Today marks 7 months since my WLS post op began.

I am below goal and working hard on staying in the 135 range - not as easy as it sounds.

I promise I am done loosing for the most part ( until I have my skin/reconstruction done )

So whats new?! Well, besides the obvious changes I am going through alot inside my body too. It has stopped making thyroid at all now ( or again, I should say ), I am retaining water like its never going to see fluid again, my joints are killing me ( most likely from the arthritus ) my lupus is flaring often, and my iron levels and blood counts are not very good at all...

No need to worry though - these are all very normal for someone who has been through so much and lost so much weight so rapidly.

I am being taken care of very well, and am working hard on replenishing my system.

I am too lazy to measure myself right now - but the only thing I think thats changed is just more in the belly area.

I am wearing a S/M on top, and 4/6 in most jeans, pants. Scale today says 134.5lbs.

Daya is a mini me :)

Someone asked ( and thank you its a GREAT question! ) " What DO you eat?! " and my answer is this :
I am not limited to what I can eat, only as to how much of it I can eat. I choose not not eat many carbs, sugars, fats and starches simply because MY system does not handle them at all. Some of my favorite foods are yogurt, salad, chicken, and I really enjoy PIZZA as my treat!
I still dont drink/eat much dairy and high protein because MY kidneys don't handle it - however many post op'ers do just fine with some of those things.

My goals: To continue to improve my over all health, and maintain my new life style.

It took me 6 1/2 months to reach my goal. To date I have lost 96lbs.

Who let the dorks loose?!

I don't know but I am glad they did!

Today Mike and I took Madaya to see Cloudy with a chance of meatballs - We didn't know what to expect or think really, but we were going to see it in 3D - None of us have ever seen anything in 3d before like this...

WOW is all I have to say. It was incredible! We can't wait to see A CHRISTMAS CAROL when it comes next month because its so life like.

EVERYONE SHOULD GO SEE A 3D movie right now! :).

Here's a glimps of the dork-o family having fun!

Getting ready...

Now thats style!

The binky fairy: An answer to our prayers!

As I posted last night we have been working hard on getting rid of the paci, we have turned to the idea of the " binky fairy" and so far so good.

I wanted to share with you the videos of her getting ready for bed/giving paci's to the binky fairy and also the morning after...

It's 5pm the day after now and she hasn't asked of it much, but when she does I have been re-directing her to the new toy she received!

The binky fairy left madaya a gift bag with a nice little note in it ( see video ) and a barbie with a dog. The barbie kills me and I am sure the " binky fairy" had no idea, but the dog that came with the barbie eats and poops! Seriously! I am sure there will be some blogging to do on that subject alone!

For now -

a paci free family!

Binky Fairy

I cannot believe I of all people am about to post something to strange, silly and just so make believe! This is so not my cup of tea .... but when it comes to Madaya, as most of you know, it makes all the difference in the world.

Mike and I have tried just about every trick in the book to get Madaya to stop the " paci " habbit. We have cut the nipples, dipped the nipples in sour things, tried " cold turkey " , tossed one in the trash, " left one behind " and just honestly anything to try to get her to stop. We should get awards for the patence we have shown ( or maybe not?! )

So here we are 3 years 3 weeks after the day I NEVER wanted her to get the darn addiction in the first place chasing our lively lil miss all over the house while she giggles through this blue colored peice of plastic hanging loosely in her mouth - cute right?! NOT!
Earlier this week I posted on facebook for advice to help her stop, and one of my friends ;) so nicely shared the info on the " Binky Fairy ".

Honestly ( she is gonna kill me ) I rolled my eyes at first and said what a bunch of crap! I kept reading, following the links I was finding, reveling in the videos parents had posted claiming great succsess and just gonna say Ha - whatever people... when daya heard me listening to a video. Luckily the video was of a child opening a gift left behind for her giving her paci away and daya was very courious!
I followed her lead and answered all her questions as to what I was watching etc, and then the light bulb in my head went off.

Madaya was so full of smiles and her eyes literally glistened when I was talking of the " binky fairy " so maybe these other parents had it right - MAYBE this was my answer too - I needed a fairy!

I sat daya down and told her the story. " In 5 days the binky fairy will be here to check our trees to see if we have any binkies to give away to new babies. She works hard at her job, like daddy does ( cause daya totally gets that! ) and she needs to bring some binkies to the new babies because they dont have any. She likes it when big girls don't need them anymore because they are full of love and will make the babies really happy! " Daya LOVED it ... she wanted to give the new babies her binky right away. Now, right away wasn't going to happen because a 3 year old doesnt really get it all right then - so we embarked on our 5 day mission!

Tuesday night I gave her the paci before bed ( in its poor shape, nipple half off from the previous atempts ) and told her " love your binky tonight because you only have 4 more sleeps with it... "
and so on the next few nights!

Friday night ( night #4 ) we were at my SIL's house and Daya had already gone all day without the paci or even asking, so I just followed the natural flow. She fell asleep on the couch around 10pm and stayed asleep until we got home and then through the night...
( GUESS WHO HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING ?! )
Daya awoke in the morning to ask " Did the binky fairy come? I can't find my paci ? " to which this momma happily replied ... " LETS SEE ... "
She did. She left a small toy for daya to unwrap with a note that said to remember to put all the paci's out Saturday night because she knows how big she is and how great shes doing!

Daya soaked it up and loved every bit of it.

Today ( Saturday ) we went all day, including nap, again without the paci. Although she asked for it often we stayed strong and I reminded her that the binky fairy is coming for them and the babies really need them more! Shes been ok and knows that she should have something in the morning to look forward to.

I video tapped tonights paci packing and we took them to the porch to put outside for the binky fairy to come get. As I type this she is fast asleep in her bed and only had a fit for about 5 minutes over not having it at all...


This mommy is REALLY hoping the binky fairy comes tonight!
( and you can bet I will update! )

The infertile mertile in me...

is making sure we wait, will, and wish to get pregnant!

So here we are a new month, and like we were waiting for we decided it would be time to begin our new journey in life to become parents of a second blessing if God deems it right!
Althought our timing is never right - it will never be right and this is the choice we have made for our family it works for now and thats the plan - we wait.

Anxiously we spoke with all the dr's as we knew the risks, the benefits and are fully aware of what pregnancy means to me, my body and my health. All 4 doctors agreed that this may be scarier than the first time, but at the same time we know so much more. All have agreed to proceed with caution and great care - we will.

I had to take hormones to make me cycle, its thought I had a chemical pregnancy about 3 months ago and I never bled or anything after that ( too much going on with my body to know why ) one thing is clear though PCOS is still very much an issue in my life, and that means unfortunately my body is not working properly for reproduction. I took the hormones, started to bleed and am now mid way through a week of fertility pills. The Dr's let us try Femara this month and we will see if its enough to jump start ovulation. So far its been pretty easy on my kidneys ( clomid before wasnt - it raised estrogen levels too high ) and we will have to just wait and see now for a couple of weeks to see if I will ovulate. Were only trying the basics at this time and we are keeping our fingers crossed - we wish.

There is a ticker on the side of the blog to help some of you who care to, follow along!

Here we go on our journey to make madaya and big sister!

Momma No- No #999... or something along those lines.

If I had a dollar for every mommy no-no I have made - well I would be rich. I really should have started counting from birth!

So here you go --
This mommy has a no-no to share!

Today I was trying to talk to roo. We were standing near the trash can in the kitchen, discussing lunch options.
Ever had a discussion with a 3 year old about why we MUST eat vegitables? I was quickly getting frustrated because shes yelling at me about how she doesnt want beans, or broccoli and she will not do this and will not do that, and told me to SHUT MY MOUTH! when I 1/2 out of my mind reached out, snag'ed the blue peice of plastic and silicolon that she lovingly sucks on way too much, out of her mouth and through it into the nearby trash can. With all my gusto I said " and that paci can be done too! " after I scolded her for yelling at me in such a way.

it gets worse...

She threw herself on the ground, started crying uncontrollably about how she loves paci and she needs paci and mommy is mean! shes sorry for paci etc!
My heart melts, I'm mad at her for her attitude and even more mad at me for mine!

Needless to say later I did appologize and gave her the beloved ( and freshly sanitized ( thankfully the can was empty ) ) back with the warning that we were still going to work really hard this week on getting rid of the paci because she is a big girl now...

We have a new idea that was just sent to me, and we will be working on that ( Stay tuned for what and how it goes ) but this was not the way to handle it.

Bad mommy - no no.

The great pumpkins

We carved our family pumpkin, Madaya's pumpkin and Madaya painted her own pumpkin lastnight after we picked them and brought them home from the pumpkin patch.

Here is our work - We had alot of fun.

Madaya wanted a "Zoro" kitty pumpkin...

The lil one is roo's very own art :) and the big one is the family pumpkin we've dubbed him BOB

Daya hard at art

See her kitty? She put the whiskers on

Daddy tells roo why and how we prepare the pumpkin

Plenty more fall fun to be had I am sure...

Pumpkin Picking 2009

We took Madaya up to the Pumpkin Patch at Seimers farm in Greenbluff today ... The weather was chilly but clear and the entire population was there I think. It was so busy, and most of the pumpkins were mush as we have had really cold weather here for a couple of weeks - we were able to find our 3 pumpkins though and roo did have fun!

Look at this picture....

She can sure pout!!

( luckily this was as we were leaving, and she was in a good mood for the main part! )

Mike and I at the farm - 2009

Momma and roo love to pick pumpkins!

Laughing by the tree

Cheese

Its a roo --- ( in a very cute giraffe coat! )

Our harvest

Roo found hers! Its perfect - soon to be purrfect!

Testing the pumpkin

I spy...

Daddy pulling a roo

Ready to go pickin!

oh so cute ( no this is NOT her costume! Just her coat! )

After picking we went to Selina's and carved them - Wait till you see how cute they are!

( I will post the finished product tomorrow ) for now, its off to bed for these 3 very tired pumpkin pickers!

I heart the fall season!

WLS UPDATE : GOAL REACHED

I don't know that I will hold this weight long but it was my pre-surigical goal. To meet this goal would mean that I have now lost 100% of my excess weight!

Going into this the surgeon warned me that I may never see true goal, or that it would/should take about 18-36 months to do so but through the progression of it all it was soon decided I would indeed see that goal.

They wanted me at 135lbs as an ideal weight before my reconstruction and tummy tuck because it is estimated that I am carrying about 20lbs of skin/sub q tissue. So at 135 - 20lbs tech its est. I would be about 115lbs.

Obviously thats too thin, so I don't get to play around with it. I get to try to maintain until I am fixed. Shouldn't be too hard though now that were trying to get pregnant I am sure I can keep/ put on a few pounds!

So as of this morning I think its safe to say I have met my weight goal! I've been floating around it for a couple of weeks now, trying to slow the loss down - but today looks like its here. This is what I found this morning on my scale.....

Now let me say that while I am confident enough to say I have met my goal weight - I am not confident but am truely honest enough to say that I have not met my medical, my mental or my health goals yet. It is taking a toll on me and totally taking its sweet time to all set in. I make poor choices day in and day out and I am trying so hard to break this now while I am a " newbie " before I end up right where I was. Don't say its not possible because its that attitude that does it in.

It is true that " Just 1 bite, or 1 cheat " can do you in... because it rarely stops at just 1. I have to break this cycle NOW!

Health wise - I am still working very hard on getting and staying healthy. I am making sure to take my vitamins daily, and medications. I am working on getting back on track as we work with the endo and the gyn to get pregnant and making sure all the decission I am making are for the best.

Mental wise - I still don't see me as this size, or beleive it. I still have alot of guilt and anger and more and more get the " wow " moments when I realize that I did help myself be unhealthy before. The actions are so clear in hindsight. I like to beat myself up over it though - not good!

So ----

For now I will end this update with this

Today, SATURDAY OCTOBER 17th, 6 months 2 weeks and 6 days since my life changed forever and I walked the new trail of this journey...

I have met my goal - Today I weight 135lbs!!

Daddy is hiding peanuts in the bathroom!?

Last week, we started our Thursday morning out like any other - a sleepy roo walks into our roo, slips into our bed to snuggle and daddy slips out the otherside to go to the bathroom ( and dress ;) ).
Daya until this point hasnt asked anything really, but this day she followed him, and inturn I follow her into the bathroom where she and I are quickly brushed out of there because daddy doesnt want her to see his " parts ".

I roll my eyes as this is a battle I often have, and swipe roo out of the bathroom - on our way out she askes me " Momma why daddy make - me leave the potty?" to which I hastely reply " Oh honey, daddy doesn't want you to see his penis! " Not even thinking about that ( we do try to use proper names of things ) I walked out ...

A minute later she was upset and comes to me and says " Momma daddy wont share his PEANUTS with us - I like PEANUTS - I want PEANUTS " Just carrying on because I said " PENIS " and she thinks I meants PEANUTS!!!
At first I thought she was getting the words confused... but then when we went in the bathroom she tried looking all over for these " peanuts " when she came up empty handed she says " Ugh - My daddy ate all the peanuts. Daddy need to share! "

So while one lesson has been learned here - theres 3 more to unfold.


Skip ahead a few days because I thought we would leave it at that ( and its super funny IMO ).
She is standing in her bathroom - I tell her to go to the potty. She says I did. I said no, you didnt.
She said yes see..... theres potty in the toilet. ( No paper and no flushing ) I said You didnt go now, but you must have because theres nasty in it and you didnt flush to which she got mad and replied " I DIDNT DO IT " cause now shes mad that I caught her not flushing so her story changed ( YES HAPPENS WITH ONLY CHILDREN TOO ) I said ( playing into her game ) then who did go and didn't flush .... she put her finger to her chin and with a cute thinking look says...

" MORGAN DID IT - HE HAS PEANUTS IN THE POTTY!!! "

I was laughing ( which happens alot lately ) and didn't know what to think - but we agreed as parents not to punish if it didnt happen right then, and if we couldnt stop laughing. We have to work on this...

I flushed. She went potty and still insisted it was Morgan - keep in mind he hadn't been here in a bit!

Lord --- I swear this kid is a nut herself!

3 year olds can drive?!

In the never ending adventures of Madaya todays chapter is this :

3 year olds can drive?!


I was missing my car keys. We knew it had been since Tuesday ( today was Friday ) but we couldn't place in our minds where I could have lost them along the way.
Our car key is around 500.00 to replace 1 remote ( which is the key itself ) and we knew we had to find them.
I literally tore apart the house looking inside and out. We checked the car, we called EVERY place we had been in the past 5 days and nothing.
I decided late in the afternoon I would try tearing apart roo's room - and when I did much to my suprise we found the keys, there dangling from her bed as they had caught on the slats that support her mattress. I pluck them down and ask her " why do you have mommy's keys? " to which she happily replied " I AM GOING TO GET A BABY SISTER! ". I said "so you can drive?! " she says " YES I AM BIGGER NOW - I am 3! "!

..... So apparently yes in her mind 3 year olds can drive! In my mind most 3 year olds would rather drive to chucky cheese, mcdonalds, the park etc... nope, not our 3 year old shes headed straight to the hospital!

Missing a peice

I am really missing a peice in my puzzle I know where this peice is but its often ( or i feel it is anyways ) unreachable...
I miss it alot and hope to place it again permantely soon but for now I hope this peice knows just how much more beautiful the picture is with it in its PLACE!
.... I hope it knows just how much its MISSED and how much it sucks to not have it here.

I hope I can still fit somwhere even when I feel I fit no where near the puzzle the peice is so busy with right now.

Here's to my missing peice! I miss you!

Head Check

Madaya got her birthmark checked today by the Dermo Dr.

He wasnt happy his office made us wait so long to get in! He checked her head with the UV light, seen some glowing cells - and said " we must do a deep core biopsy asap ".
He is really worried about a couple of the spots within the birthmark itself, along with the fact that her BM has been chaning so much. He said surgery would be major and he wants to be sure to know what it is or isnt before we move further.
The biopsy will be hard enough...

Madaya will be put out completely while they take the core sample, with some roots hopefully and then they will stitch her up and send us home.
It will be done in the Out patient surgery center at Advanced Dermatology in the Valley, by Dr. Dunn and we will have results in the week after.

Her procedure is scheduled for this wednesday at 1pm.

Wish us luck...

Sick - Sucks

The Pemberton- Evans home has been bit by the nasty bugs going around!
It started with me --- Sunday after Madaya's guest for her party went home. I was feeling tired all day, but then got a sore throught that night like out of the blue followed by a running nose, achy bones and the best yet drainage lots of it! Like a brick through a window it hit me!
I thought I had beaten it, and no one else would get it ( daya had it the week before ).

Lets skip forward a week - and GUESS WHO STILL HAS IT --- and who we've added to the pack?

Mike and Daya are both really sick and a little worse, with flu symptoms too!

Its hard to say where or when we got it since lord knows everyone has something right now, but it sucks none the less.

Grandpa was admitted to the hospital today too because he's fighting this as well!

Sick - SUCKS!

Birthday Pics

Here is a glimps of some of the Birthday fun from the party...

I will get more up and posted as I am feeling better - promise!

Flower balloons

Roo loves to open gifts - and is so thankful!

Roo and Daddy in the bouncey house

dig for prizes!

Some of the party people!

roo attacks momma in the bouncey

roo painting a flower pot

The brownie cake made by momma

I know..

I know several of you are waiting to see the party on here ... and it will happen.

Daya turned 3 on sunday and it was a weekend full of events. Not only her but victoria also had a big birthday/party so we were wiped... now this momma is sick sick.
So I promise soon I will get it up.

Thank you to everyone who shows how much they love her and just how much of a blessing she is to your lives as well as ours!

We are still in shock that our lil miracle roo is 3....