Just one Debbie-Downer post...

Most of you already know that I have a connective tissue disorder. But what does that really mean?? I've had tons of broken bones, torn ligaments and tendons and so many surgeries that I lost count a long time ago!

I spent most of my high school and college years in and out of the operating room and sported hundreds of very sparkly and brightly colored casts and splints. I wasn't able to play sports and I missed so many days of school that my classmates probably didn't know the real me. I won't ever be able to do push-ups (not that I really want to! HE HE) or play many sports. I pray every single day that Kalvin won't have this genetic disorder as well!

Today I was very disappointed when my hand surgeon's appointment office called and cancelled my appointment for Wednesday. This appointment had been scheduled since January and now he's completely booked up until the end of July... I try not to complain too much about hurting. No one wants to hear that and I definitely don't want people treating me differently. Because I was pregnant and now I'm still nursing, I haven't been able to do any 'regular maintenance' on my hands. No surgeries or cortisone shots... Carrying around a 20 pound baby has definitely taken a toll of them! My thumbs are just waiting patiently (or not so patiently!) for the day I can have my joint replacement surgeries done! Hopefully in the fall...

My hands are like road maps with all the scars. I also don't remember how many screws are in there anymore! I don't like wearing bracelets or watches because they rub on my scars.

I dread shaking hands with people because I fear they are going to hurt my hands even worse...

Pink is my favorite color for a cast...especially when they add sparkles! I have a special wardrobe for after surgeries that includes shirts with one sleeve cut off, fluffy down vests instead of coats and anything with very stretchy sleeves...

My mom has been at every single surgery, come along to 99.9% of my appointments and helped me out with all the recoveries. She's washed my hair, wiped my butt, and dressed me countless times :) What would we do without moms??

I enjoy matching my cast colors with the holidays or planning outfits around what color my cast is.

I often wonder...Why me?? Why am I the one who has to go through all this?? I just need to remember that there are so many people in the world suffering and those people would gladly take my problems over theirs! I am truly blessed with a wonderful family, a great husband, and the most smiley little boy ever!

Women's Expo + 3 little boys!

Yesterday afternoon we ventured over to a women's expo! We stuck out like a sore thumb...partly because we were the only people at the whole entire exhibit and also because we had 3 strollers with 3 little boys! Everyone is always so much friendlier when you have a baby!

It was nice not fighting crowds and also super nice because one of my sister's won a drawing. (I think because no one else entered!! hehe!) I'm still hoping the make-over place draws my name!

Look how cute those boys were...

I've been away...

I haven't posted in a few days and I also haven't taken any pictures! Kalvin, Vera, and I are visiting my parents this week so we've been kind of busy! Dan is busy working the weekend away so we thought it was a perfect time for a visit!

Plan for today: Women's Expo with my mom, 2 out of 3 sisters, and some little kids! Should be a great day!! I'm bringing my camera but we'll see if I actually remember to take any pictures. :)

This is a picture of my sisters and I from a little over a year ago! I wish we were able to spend more time together! I have a great family!

Happy Saturday!

Rowan's pet snake!

My sister, BIL, and 2 of their 4 kids stayed at our house Monday night. We were so excited to see them! Yesterday morning Rowan(age 3) caught a snake and he was SOOOOOO excited! No worries...this one was outside (where they belong!). He just reached down and grabbed it by its tail. We put it in a Ziploc bag (we learned they can survive like this for awhile!) and he took it home to show his older brother and sister! Anyone else want to take any home with them??? I'll share!!

Just a little tidbit...when I look out my dining room windows, I can usually find at least a couple snakes in the grass! It's insane! Snakes used to be a novelty item...when you only find ONE every few years, they are kind of fun! When you have hundreds of them in a single season...the fun wears off and they are just nasty slithering critters!! Maybe I should write in to one of those TV shows where they donate/build a new house for you?!?! Seems like a worthy cause to get my family out of this snake infested home! Tuesday night was Kalvin's first swim lesson! The picture below was taken 5 minutes before we had to leave. I felt bad waking him up because I think he's teething again so he had a low-grade fever and was just more droopy then normal! He was pretty sad to wake up but did great at swim lessons! He was very brave and didn't cry at all! I was pretty impressed because I thought the water was freezing!!

Kalvin still isn't feeling that well this morning. He still has a low fever and actually just threw up a bit ago. Poor baby! It's so sad seeing your children not feel well! Hopefully those teeth pop through soon and I'll have my happy little boy back!

I also received the most beautiful package in the mail yesterday!! I'll be writing more about that this week!

Vera's Bling

Kalvin discovered Vera's new name tag today and then only wanted to grab at it! Vera was ok with it until Kalvin started pulling really hard. They are two goofy babies!

He's not a huge fan of puppy kisses and I can't blame him!

(Are you getting annoyed with all my Vera/Kalvin posts lately?? It's hard to resist now that they've started interacting more!!!)

Good Morning!

It's a great morning here! Hope you're having a great morning too and a fabulous weekend!

Here are the pictures I promised yesterday! ENJOY!

(Please ignore my terrible bed-head...and focus on Kalvin's sweet smile!)

Our day of shopping

I'm sure you're all expecting an awesome post because I've been absent for a few days! Truth is...I've got nothing! Sorry!

Today I went shopping with my mother-in-law. Kalvin now has some summer essentials! Bring on the warm weather!! I noticed that it's very hard to spend any money on myself lately but I have no problems buying other people things. I think this is the exact reason many moms get in a plain-Jane rut! It's so much easier to put everyone else first...especially your kids!!

Here's Kalvin's new clothes. A few of those things were 80% off at Macy's! (That's why there's such a random mix of things!!!)

Why yes...these are pink shorts for Kalvin!! Aren't they awesome? I'm super excited for them!

I also have no problem buying our dog things! She actually really needed this jewelry though, I swear! She didn't have any tags on her collar! The back side has our phone number!

It seems like Kalvin spends most of the day napping so I haven't gotten any pictures of him lately! That will change tomorrow..I promise!!