Achey Backs & Miracles

Hmmmm.....where to start with this weekend. Let's start at the beginning.... On Friday, Aunt Kim watched Zander, Dara and Ella while my mom was at the hospital with my Dad. The sad part is, I think we were all more nervous leaving Kim with the all 3 kids than we were about my Dad's procedure. He was having a procedure done to remove the stint they had left in when he passed his stone. They removed that stint, but put a shorter one in. The doctor thinks the opening was too small because of trauma from so many UTI's. His procedure turned out okay, it all took a lot longer than anticipated, so Kim pretty much had the kids all day. However, that all went well too. The kids were good to her and took a nap all at the same time. Zander only cried a little bit after Grandma and Grandpa left him that morning. Kim gave him a ba-ba and told me she was going to give him whatever he wanted that day to make him happy. She told me not to worry about him, she wouldn't let anything happen to him. I told her I wasn't worried about him....I was worried about her! She fixed him some sausage for breakfast...which he put in one of my mom's pans and proceded to "recook it". I guess he didn't think it was done enough......nah, he just likes to "cook" everything! Zander had Kim read to him and he played with Dara....so I think he gave Kim a fairly easy day. My Mom said that before Kim left, Zander gave her a big kiss goodbye. He must have had a good time because he was TIRED when I took him home after work. He fell asleep on the way home and I couldn't wake him up. I put him on the couch, had the tv on loud, turned the lights on, cooked myself dinner, sang to him asking him to wake up.....nothing. He didn't wake up until after 9:00 that night. So, it was a LATE night when I finally got him to bed...I finally made him lay down at midnight and go to sleep. By then it was too late for me to get anything done....I was just too tired. So, you would think he would let me sleep late.....but no, he got up at about the usual 7:30. Man, Zander, can't you sleep til 8:30???? Please?????? The late night and early morning resulted in a bit of a cranky Zander. So, here is me trying to entertain him...I'm picking him up and swinging him around. Well, apparently I'm getting OLD...because I can't seem to let a weekend pass anymore without some kind of ailment. After swinging him around, I tried to straighten up and something in my back snapped.....or crackled......or popped!!! I was trying not to cry because it hurt so bad.....Zander was bawling though because I put him down. I'm sure it was quite a site. So, all weekend long I've been taking Ibuprofen and pain pills. I'm not sure if I should use heat or ice...or alternate. But, since I'm cold I've been using heat.....and counting down the hours until I see my chiropractor on Monday. Fix me!!!!

Well, I managed to somehow hobble around and get ready because there was a sale at ToysRUs and I had a coupon and I didn't plan on missing it. They had Little Tikes on sale, buy one get one free for all toys $24.99 or less.....and I had a $5 off a $25 purchase coupon....and Zander had a $30 gift card from his birthday. It was like the perfect storm! I got him the basketball hoop and basketball and the T-ball set. I figured those would be a lot of fun for him this summer in the backyard. He loves balls so I know he'll enjoy them. I'm especially looking forward to playing some lil hoops with him. I've been wanting one of these for awhile. So I was checking out and the cashier is like "that'll be 50 something dollars". Why can't anything ever go smoothly? So, I had to tell him what his ad said, then he had to call for backup, and then the manager tried to tell me that the basketball hoop was $29.99 so it didn't qualify, and I had to explain it was on sale for $24.99, so she had to force through the transaction.....if anyone is frustrated by my run on sentence...imagine living through the ordeal! So anyway, I got the free toy, used my $5 off coupon and still have over $5 left on the gift card. Pretty sweet!

I had thankfully left Zander at my mom's house during the shopping trip. She had the girls too.....so I got to play with Ella a little bit.....which means I just held her and fed her because she doesn't do much yet. She was the exact same size as Z when she was born, so I was trying to remember him being that small. I do remember, but its so hard to believe. Ella doesn't really look like Dara. Ella takes after the Eppers A LOT! In fact, she even has her Great Grandpa Fred's receding hairline. :)










My back was hurting a lot so Zander and I went home and took a nap. This nap was earlier, so I'm not sure why he wanted to stay up late again, but it was hard getting him to sleep again. He must be going through some growth spurt or phase right now. I had to make him lay down with me at 10:00, he literally cried for about 1 minute and then was asleep!

So, here is where my miracle comes in. Sunday morning we go to church! Of course miracles happen in church.....logical huh? I was excited to see how Zander would do in his big boy class again. I wasn't sure if I would have to stay with him or not. The teacher reached for him and he went to her and so I thought he would cry then.....nope, not then. So, I went into the sanctuary and settled into my pew and waited for his number to come up....#133. After about 10 minutes...up comes a #....#186.....Whew....another 10 minutes.....#133....here we go. So I get up to go into his class. Katy catches me in the hall and says "Ok, he's crying, but he's starting to calm down a little. Do you want to let him cry it out for a little while and see how he does?" She said some moms don't want to let their kids cry so she wants to know if I want to try this or not. I'm all for it as long as its not causing the other kids in the class to cry. She said they wouldn't let him cry until he got hysterical so I went back into listen to the sermon. I of course was wondering how he was, but his # did not come up again. So as I was going to get him I saw Katy again and she said he was doing great. He cried for a few minutes and laid by the door holding his ba-ba. Then he decided to drink the ba-ba. Once the teacher mentioned they were having snacks....he apparently got over his crying spell....because if you are a Newell...nothing but nothing should ever interfere with snack time! Its in our genes! So I'm really hoping we passed a milestone today. It would be so nice to go to other functions at church and know I could leave him in someone elses care and he would be okay. It would be just a little smidge of freedom I could have back. And good for him too to socialize with other kids his age. I was very happy to get to sit through the sermon today (did I say that?). Its been about a YEAR since I've gotten to do that. I need to be able to do this more often. Its like it recharges me.....life can be so draining....I need to be recharged!

Bathtime was interesting tonight. Zander was playing and I was sitting outside the tub doing a Sudoku and he started crying. I looked over and he had pooped in the tub....and his little "lincoln logs" apparently scared him.....or grossed him out or something. So, I had to hurry up and let the water out and clean out the tub and then draw him another bath. So I got him cleaned up again and threw away his toothbrush which he had in the tub. Which reminds me....I need to buy him a new toothbrush...and put his bathtoys in the dishwasher and sanitize them. He's so cute with his toothbrush. He now has to brush his teeth with me every night. I have to put his toothpaste on his toothbrush....at 3 times because he eats it, but he watches me and tries to brush the way I do. What a big boy!

We had chocolate pudding for dessert Saturday night. Zander likes to feed himself now....look how well he uses his spoon....okay, so he's he's getting better anyway!