Hysterectomy Results

Just so you know this is my (Lincoln's) first blogging attempt. Anj is making me do this for her. She is doing great. She left the hospital yesterday around 4:00 and she has been ordering me around since. It is awsome. She is getting better all the time but she still is sleeping alot which is good. She loves visitors, even though our house is small. (hint, hint) We really appreciate all of the prayers and help that we have received. Kylee is in Snowflake with my family and she is loving it.

Another Kylee Update

Kylee is almost 9 months old now! She is army crawling EVERYWHERE & is trying to get into EVERYTHING. She got her bottom two teeth this month. She can clap & say "Yay!". She loves to dance by flailing her arms & moving her legs to the beat. Her "feisty" personality is definitely coming out! She is such a sweet girl but has a really mischievous side to her as well. She is growing out of her tv obsession & prefers exploring instead.

Here are a few recent pics of her. A lot of people tell us that she looks like us, which is pretty cool. Lincoln has had multiple strangers come up to him in the grocery store & tell him that Kylee looks exactly like him, not knowing that she is adopted. We love it! I guess that means that she came to the right family! :)

Uncle Brad & Kylee...

Kylee wearing her "tennis outfit"....

Hanging out in the laundry basket...
One of her new favorite things to do is read books...
When she wakes up from a nap she usually just hangs out until we come get her. Here she is just chillin...
She loves trying to do everything her Daddy does! (I used to not see the resemblance between her & Linc, but I've really started to see it lately.)
I'm going to have a hard time not picking this little girl up for so long after my hysterectomy! Surgery is Wednesday at 8am. I probably won't update the blog again before then, but I'll post about how my surgery went as soon as I feel up to it. Wish me luck!

P.S.- I KNOW at least one person will see Lincoln's shirt in the last picture & wonder why he is wearing it. It stands for Valley's Best Air Conditioning...not what you think it stands for! :)

I Love Daisy...& She Loves Me

One of the things I've been looking forward to the most is being able to cuddle with my dogs every day while I'm recovering from my hysterectomy...pathetic, I know. :) Daisy & Duke make me laugh constantly. Here's Daisy sitting on the couch like a person. She does this quite often!

Just hanging out...

Daisy puts her arms around our necks & "hugs" us all the time. Oh, what would I do without my cute little Daisy?
And now I'm feeling guilty that I left Duke out...so I'll be sure to do a post just about him someday soon. :)

6th Anniversary

I just realized that I forgot to post about our anniversary. It was actually a horrible day...not to be dramatic, but it was. Don't worry, Lincoln agrees. We might just have to re-do that celebration once I am feeling better! But I DO want to say how thankful I am for our marriage! THAT is worth celebrating & posting about! I love Lincoln. He is my best friend. I love knowing that I have a husband who is always there to talk to, that I always have him to hold my hand, that he loves me through somewhat tragic circumstances. He is a good provider and a hard worker. He is so forgiving. He is one of the least judgmental people I know. He is the best dad ever. He is incredibly smart. He is friendly and kind to others. He is incredible. I have never met another person like him. I love you Linc. I am thankful to have been married to you for 6 years...and counting!

Perfect Remedy...

Today was a day FULL of feeling sorry for myself. I tried everything I could think of to make myself snap out of it. I thought eating dessert would help, but since I don't keep any in my house, I opted for a big cup of peanut butter mixed with tons of sugar...disgusting you say? Well, it helped & it was yummy. Then I looked at blogs and read two of my favorites: Nie Nie and It's A Love Story...and I didn't feel sorry for myself anymore. A good attitude goes a long way! These girls are perfect examples of that! My life's not over, it won't always be this way, and the Lord is always blessing me. Thank goodness for great examples who remind me that life can be good no matter what my circumstance!

What's Really Going On

I know that people wonder how I'm doing with my hysterectomy coming up in a week. Physically I've obviously been in a lot of pain. I was switched to a different pain medication that doesn't make me quite so "out of it" though, so that has been nice. I'm still in pain while taking the medication, but it does take the edge off and makes it so that I can take care of Kylee every day when Lincoln leaves for work. My doctor doubled my other medication & I'm still having problems with it, which is causing most of my pain. There's not much that I can do about that though, since I'm having surgery so soon, so I just have to wait.

Emotionally I am good. I know that is hard to believe, but I really am! I am 100% sure that I am supposed to have a hysterectomy. I can't say that about many things, but I can about this. We have been blessed with clear answers & feelings of peace throughout this process. I honestly am not upset that we won't be able to have any more biological children. I know that that isn't part of Heavenly Father's plan for me. I realize that He needs me to do other things and I am ok with that. Lincoln feels the same way about our situation as I do.

I really don't want people to feel awkward around us, because they don't know what to say or because they feel so bad for us. We are fine! In the past when we've gone through something hard, I notice that a lot of people keep their distance or avoid us because they don't want to bring something up that will upset us. Please don't do that! We need all of the support that we can get. Our main goal now is to get things ready at home before my surgery, & then to try to have things go as smoothly as possible while I'm recovering. We are excited to see what this surgery will do for me & my health and it truly is an answer to our prayers.

Easter 2010

Kylee's first Easter was a lot of fun! She got an Easter basket with some Winnie the Pooh baby wipes and cute pink Sunday shoes from Grandma, and a sippy cup and stuffed animal from us. She loved dumping it out & playing with everything inside...

Including the "grass"...

My parents were out of town for Easter, but my mom left us Easter baskets. We got a lot of really yummy treats from her. Thank you Mom!
Easter is quickly becoming my favorite holiday of the year. I love how laid-back it is and I love what the holiday represents. Since having Jackson, Easter has taken on new meaning for me. This holiday reminds me of the fact that I will get to see Jackson again & that our family will be together again someday, because Christ overcame death. I am incredibly thankful for that gift!

For the Past 6 Days...

...I've been in my pj's every day, except when I went to part of church on Sunday.

...Lincoln has completely run our household & taken care of Kylee until he goes to work in the afternoon.

...I have had to take Tylenol w/ codeine multiple times a day, plus 4 Ibuprofen in between.

...my other medication dose has doubled, then was changed back to normal, which messes with my hormones.

I have a baby shower to throw this weekend plus a million little things to do to prepare for my surgery in 2 weeks. I'm starting to worry!

Although I do have to say that with that worry comes peace. The Lord is aware of the little things. I know that He will take care of me. I just have to be constantly focusing on that!!!

Happy Bday Dad

My dad's birthday is today. He is so important to me & has had such a big influence on my life. He taught me to always try a little bit harder & to always set goals for myself. He is such a good grandpa. Kylee loves to go on walks with my dad & loves to listen to him sing to her. Thank you for all that you have given us Dad! We love you so much!

Hoping & Praying

Today I am hoping and praying that I won't have to go to the emergency room this weekend. I am in a LOT of pain. I've been having pain for a few days & have been worried about it...but last night after hardly sleeping and then waking up to much worse pain, I'm really worried that I'll be spending most of my day at the hospital. My doctor is in surgery today, which translates to me not being able to reach her until Monday. Tomorrow is our anniversary. Oh, I hope I can just enjoy that day with Lincoln & not have to worry about myself & my pain! I'll let you know how it goes...

Update-I left a message for my dr even though she wasn't in today & she called me back with a plan to take care of things & also with a prescription for some pain medicine. It looks like I'll still be in bed all weekend, but I shouldn't have to go to the ER after all! I am SO, SO thankful!!!

Jump Street

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE that my dad's side of the family gets together for pretty much every holiday? Whoever is in charge always puts so much time & effort into planning each party. And all of my aunts are AMAZING cooks so the food is always DELICIOUS. I love it!

This year for our Annual Allen Easter Party we went to Jump Street. They opened it an hour and a half early for us, so it was just our family there. I didn't jump (since I had to watch Kylee) but Lincoln did. We ate yummy cinnamon rolls, muffins and fruit & enjoyed seeing everybody. The best part was watching Lincoln dominate at dodgeball. :) After Jump Street we all went to a park nearby & had our annual Easter egg hunt & egg toss. Unfortunately, Lincoln & I weren't even CLOSE to winning the egg toss this year. We won it two years ago...but sadly I'm starting to realize that was probably the only egg toss victory we will ever have. :(

Ok, does this picture not make you laugh? I love that they both have the EXACT same look of "I can't believe she is trying to take my picture"!

Lincoln getting ready for another round of dodgeball...

Lincoln was really into that dodgeball game. Notice his extremely sweaty head as he is gulping down some OJ...

Thanks to Dave & Elizabeth for planning such a fun party!!!

Lost Pic

For some reason I get a thrill out of finding new pictures that I didn't know existed. I found this on Linc's phone tonight & thought it was pretty funny. If only everyone had someone this cute & hairy to cuddle with during after-church naps. Don't be jealous. :)

(And I'm all about posting pics of myself where my arm looks as big as my leg. I'm just cool like that.)