Day 197 - Hanging with Momma

Often times in the morning Kaycee and I will play on the floor of Grammy's room. This morning was no different, especially since Grammy was getting ready for her procedures. We wanted to comfort her as much as possible while she drank the nasty prep and ate nothing all morning. 

We dropped her off at the hospital (mom was waiting to help her in) at 2pm, then we to take Grampa to the train station. Lucky dude is getting to spend the rest of the week with GG and GGpa! Then we went back to the hospital to wait for Grammy to be done. She did wonderful and all the tests came back clean!! They are running biopsies just to make sure. 

Anthony made dinner tonight, Bugali, his favorite meal that I make him.  And then it was an early night for everyone. Hospital visits where us out! 

My prayer for today is a prayer of thanksgiving for clean tests and a great hospital experience. Grammy did great and God is good! 

Anthony's Bread Pudding

Over the weekend Anthony made bread pudding. Normally it is made with raisons, which he can't have. But he made his without. I am very impressed that he found a recipe from a book, followed it and made a tasty dessert!!

Day 196 - Hanging with Grammy

Kaycee spent a large amount of time on Grammy's lap today. It is so sweet to see the two of them interact. Grammy had to be on a clear liquid diet and start the prep today for her procedures. It's a miserable way to spend your day, eating only chicken broth and jello. Although, I went to the store and bought her white and yellow gatorade, clear strawberry/kiwi soda and some lemonade and some pina colada frozen fruit bars. Those made the day a little bit better!

My prayer for today is that Grammy's procedures go well tomorrow and that they provide some answers to her medical questions! 

Extra Morning Nap

Kaycee got up extra early this morning. I think that's from spending a lot of time out of routine this weekend. She needed an extra catnap early in the morning. So before Grammy even woke up, Kaycee fell asleep in my arms. It's been a while since she's slept in my arms, and I LOVED it. Sometimes I wish that I wasn't so strict about her learning to sleep in her crib. This was a precious moment! I let her sleep in my arms and snuggled down for a nap myself! From the first moment I was pregnant, I prayed for a snuggly baby and this morning my prayer came true!! 

Day 195 - Visit From Uncle Marty

Grammy wasn't feeling up to going to church this morning and so Randy brought Marty over to see her after church. It was so good for Grammy to be with Marty, she loves spending time with him. Randy and Marty stayed for lunch, which Anthony put together! 

Anthony and I went on a date tonight and Kaycee spent the evening with Grama and Grampa. We went to Lou Malnotis for pizza and then to Par King golf for mini golf. I love to date my husband and it was definitely needed. 

How?

I found Kaycee in her crib like this, this morning. Daddy put her to bed last night. Clearly she didn't want to be in any jammies, anymore! 

Days 193/194 - Women of Faith Conference

Kaycee and I spent Friday and Saturday at the Women of Faith Conference with Molly. Unfortunately, Susie wasn't able to go to the conference which provided an extra ticket for me to attend. Molly and I left Friday afternoon around 330p and thought we would arrive right on time.  Traffic and an hour time difference thought different... We missed most of Friday night session, but we did make it for Natalie Grant!! She was awesome!!  After the conference we drove to our hotel, which must have been on the hotel strip because after passing several Marriot hotels, we finally found ours. We went to park the car and almost had a heart attack when we discovered it was $36 for the overnight parking. Fortunately, we had Molly with us! She found us another lot at a State Park right across the street for $10 overnight parking, instead. After leaving our stuff at the front desk, parking in the lot, walking back through the dark, and checking into the hotel, we finally made it to our room. Unfortunately it was right across from the elevators, which we thought was a horrible option for Kaycee. So 2 rooms later, we were unpacked into our 12th floor room. Giddy with hunger and sleep deprivation, we finally went to bed.

Saturday we got up, got ready, and left the hotel. We dropped our stuff off at the car and walked to Panera for breakfast. The line was out the door, down the stairs and to the street. But we got our breakfast and walked to the conference.  The speakers Lysa Terkeurst, Lisa Harper, Priscilla Shirer, and Liz Curtis-Higgs were awesome. Kaycee and I had to step out during Matthew West because he was too loud. But overall the conference was wonderful. It was a great reminder that I'm a woman and I need God just as much as I did before. I needed to be reminded that I was a child of God and that he is able to do anything!! 

My prayer for this weekend is a prayer of thanksgiving for the gentle reminder from God and a prayer of strength to continue my walk with my Lord! 

Day 192 - Visiting Sarah and Miriam

After visiting SCJ we headed over to Sarah's for lunch and play time. Kaycee and Miriam are so adorable with each other. They're starting to interact.I love my time with Sarah. It's like we start where we left off the last time.

My prayer for today is a prayer of thanksgiving for the blessings God has given our family in our jobs and our friends! 

Visiting SCJ

This morning Kaycee and I traveled up to Wisconsin to visit our friends Sarah and Miriam and to visit S.C. Johnson Elementary. It was wonderful to see my coworkers and to visit the school again. I don't miss teaching in a school, I LOVE being at home with my baby! I do miss the students and seeing the light bulb go on in their head. I will go back one day.  After visiting SCJ we went to O&H to buy kringle and then off to Sarah's!

Day 191 - Cupcake Class

Tonight I went to a cupcake class hosted by the Library at Michaels. A wilton instructor taught the class. It was very basic skills such as coloring icing, filling a bag, and basic stars and dots. We did get all of the materials for free including the cupcakes. It was fun even though I didn't know anyone. Next time, I'll register Molly just in case she can go! 

My prayer for today is that I am an ambassador for God through my cake business. 

Day 190 - Hanging with Z, G and T

Tonight I hung out Z, G and T while Molly and Rob went out on a date. We played memory and headbanz, both hilariously fun! It has been such a blessing to have the Carris family so close. Babysitting exchange!! 

My prayer for today is that Anthony and I never lose sight of our marriage! 

Zucchini corn pancakes

Tonight I tried a new recipe - Zucchini/Corn Pancakes. They sounded really yummy, but when trying to plan a meal around them it's a little bit difficult. I wasn't sure what type of meal this was... Mexican, American... who knows. We ended up putting sour cream and salsa on them. 

Kaycee also helped Momma make baby food today. We tried making more pears and carrots. Momma burnt the pears on accident. So we'll be starting over next week. 

Day 189 - Grammy's Tests

Today was Grammy's tests. We started off the day normal (except for Grammy's clear liquid diet before 7am). Kaycee and I dropped off Grammy off at the hospital, where mom met us. She took Grammy in to get her ready for the tests and Kaycee and I went to take dad to the train station. He was headed to Champaign to spend the week with Gramma Nancy and Grampa Tom. Then Kaycee and I went back to the hospital and picked up Grammy. We came home to dinner that Anthony had made.

Thank God for a clear test for Grammy. He said there was nothing wrong that he could see, no cancer. But he did do biopsies, that we should get the results of soon.

Day 188 - Zoo With Family

After church we went to the zoo with Gramma, Grampa, Grammy, and Jon. We saw as many animals as we could including the big cats, bears and my personal favorite the sting rays.  I love spending time at the zoo, especially with family. It was great to have Grammy outside enjoying the weather and to have the family around to love on Kaycee. It was especially wonderful to watch my husband get down into the sting ray tank and pet them.  If they would let me I would get in the tank and swim with the sting rays. 

After the zoo, everyone came back to our house for dinner and games. I'm so blessed with a wonderful family!