Happy Halloween!

Madaya hasn't been herself lately, and has been pretty sick. Some cold stuff, but mostly tummy issues and in general poor health. Much like any other halloween so far, we were wondering if she would even get to enjoy it - this year she did - barely, but she did.

We had a great day by going to Toys R Us for a parade and trick or treating with the giraffe, and then chucky cheese to play and have lunch and then mobius kids to have a halloween party. Madaya enjoyed it and it allowed us to not be swarmed with many people - every where we went was pretty quiet and dead. At the end of the day ( 8pm ) she was ready for bed as were we and we had alot of smiles to be shared :)

Madaya was a peacock and even was on the news tonight. She won a costume contest at mobius and will be enjoying her prizes for months to come ( free skating, ice cream, gift certificates and more! )

This was one of the best halloweens fun wise - but we didnt get much trick or treating in wich is ok since she is allergic to the corn syrup and dies, she doesnt get candy much anyways!

We didnt even get to see many family or friends - but hope you all had fun!

Here's a glimps at some of it though ( and the news cast is to be coming to us! )

Cake walk ( only no candy here - just fun and stickers! )

A peacock CAN FLY!

Checking out some prizes from her winning bag

Daddy and Daya love MOBIUS!

Daddy and Daya playing at CEC

Momma looking annoyed... tired... or just curious?



Check out the moves... and the tail

SMILE

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!