Biscuits 'N Gravy Cook-off

Several weeks ago (I am really behind with blogging), Joseph's Uncle Aaron was involved in a cook-off. He eats a little cafe near his office pretty regularly and commented to the owner one day that her biscuits and gravy were really good but he thought he could make a better biscuits in gravy.

So they decided to have a cook-off. They turned it into a charity fund raiser. Whoever lost would pay $1 for every vote cast. They decided to donate the money to my sister-in-law, Lisa, who is running a charity marathon to raise money for a leukemia and lymphoma foundation. They advertised it and everyone who came in got free biscuits and gravy, one of each variety.

You didn't know whose was whose. They were each on a different color plate and you picked the color that you liked best. They also tallied up the votes every half hour and whoever lost every half hour got in the dunk tank. Everyone who voted for the winning plate got to through three balls at the loser.

Although both gravies were DELICIOUS, we ended up not voting for Uncle Aaron's. We didn't know that at the time of our vote. So we each got to through three balls at Uncle Aaron to try and get him in the dunk tank.

I royally sucked on my throws but Paige got to have a turn. With her first ball she hit the target but it wasn't hard enough to put him into the dunk tank. Since she had rightfully hit the target, Lisa helped her out on her third throw by hitting the target with her hand and sending Uncle Aaron into the dunk tank!

My nephews each got to take a turn as well.

Into the dunk tank went Uncle Aaron!

It was a great time and they were able to raise money for Lisa's marathon! Uncle Aaron ended up losing the cook-off but they have decided to make it an annual event. We can't wait to join in the fun next year!

Health Update

I saw the urologist on the 14th. He confirmed my need for surgery. He is actually going to transfer me to a urologist who is joining their practice in September. She specializes in urinary reflux.

Good news is that he said that there is about a 95% success rate with this surgery. I will be in the hospital for a few days and then home with a catheter. I won't be able to lift things for awhile (not even Lexi). However, he really feels that I haven't done much kidney damage and that this can be easily corrected with the surgery.

He said that I have had it since birth and for some reason, I never struggled with urinary tract infections as a kid and so they weren't able to catch it. Even if they had caught it, they are pretty conservative with children and wait to do surgery because a lot of times as kids grow, it corrects itself. Since I am done growing and it obviously hasn't corrected itself, they will surgically correct it.

He said it isn't an emergency to get it fixed so we are hoping to have the surgery done the beginning of November. I can't even see the new urologist until sometime in September. I hate the waiting game......I will feel much better after I see her and things are set in stone.

I do feel a lot better than I did after the VCUG. The radiologist really freaked me out and the urologist was able to calm a lot of my fears.

I know that God is watching over me and that everything is going as He wants it. I just need to keep learning to trust in Him and His plan for me.

Vesicoureteral Reflux

I know, I know....first how in the world do you pronounce that and second, what in the world is it? Let me give you the technical definition from a kidney website that I found:

"Urine normally flows in one direction—down from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, to the bladder. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureters."

That definition does fail to mention that it not only backs up to your ureters but also back into your kidney.

So at this point, although I am sure you are thankful for this wonderful tidbit of health information that I have shared today, you are probably wondering why in the world I care enough to blog about it. Well, I get the pleasure of dealing with it after being diagnosed with it on Monday.

I will start at the very beginning. Shortly after getting married, I had a bladder infection. Not that big of a deal except that I don't get symptoms of a bladder infection until it has gone to my kidneys. To put a kidney infection into perspective, I would rather birth a baby with no pain medicine than have a kidney infection. With a kidney infection, it gets worse by the SECOND (not even exaggerating!) and it hurts no matter what I do, even breathing. You can never get to the doctor fast enough when it gets worse by the second.

Anyway, I digress. I also got several bladder infections and kidney infections when I was pregnant with Paige. They even put me on a medicine that I had to take every night to prevent infection. Ever since then, I have gotten these infections with increasing frequency.

A few months ago, I had two kidney infections in one month, followed by another one the next month. Thankfully, I have seen my doctor long enough that when I call her and tell her that I am in pain, she handles it immediately. Well, after enough of these, her and I sat down to have a chat about my issues. She had me go for a CT scan of my kidneys to see if I was having kidney stones. After the CT scan, she personally called (never a good sign when they don't pass it off to the nurse to make the call) to tell me that she was sending me to a urologist because although I didn't have evidence of kidney stones, I did have a cyst on my right kidney and inflammation on my left. She said that it wasn't a major deal but that she did want a urologist on board with my care.

I was a little nervous seeing the urologist but figured he would sign off on the medicine that my regular doctor had me on. I figured it would be in and out. I didn't even have Joseph go with me because everything was going to be fine. FAMOUS LAST WORDS!! After discussing all of my symptoms with the doctor, he said that he wanted me to be evaluated for reflux. I asked how we did that. He told me that I would have to have a catheter and they would put contrast into my bladder to see if it was backing up.

The tears started to well up in my eyes. Ridiculous to those who haven't had a scarring catheter experience. Perfectly normal for someone who has had a nurse rip out your catheter without deflating the balloon and you haven't been able to pee for three days.

He said that after that procedure (called a voiding cystourethrogram - more commonly referred to as VCUG) he would put a camera up in there during our next office visit. I told him that he was out of his mind if he thought that a camera was going in me without me either having an epidural or being completely knocked out. I told him it was going to be a cold day in you know where before he would even get me to have the VCUG. He told me that if reflux causes permanent kidney damage and so I really needed to have this done. I ALMOST opted for risking the permanent kidney damage.

We came to a compromise that if I was good about getting the catheter procedure done, that he would knock me out for the camera part. So six weeks later (I did reschedule it once but not because of my fear but rather because they forgot to clear it with Tricare. If any of you have Tricare, you know why this is a big deal and a show stopper) was this last Monday and I went in for my VCUG. I made Joseph go with me and told him that he better hold my hand, rub my head, whisper in my ear over and over that it was okay, and generally be emotionally supportive. Okay, emotionally drag me through this. If any of you know Joseph well, you know that emotional is not his preferred place to be. In fact, I usually have to drag him tooth and nail to get him to get emotional or even deal with my emotions. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband more than anything. I just wish he wasn't always so emotionally tough.

Once again, I digress. I also called for some Valium at the last minute to help me get through this VCUG. Thankfully, the doctor gave it to me which made the procedure much nicer. Anyway, to shorten this already long saga of a post, the upshot is that I have major reflux. The radiologist said that it was bad and that I needed surgery........soon. I have reflux on both sides. I have a lot of questions right now but I don't see the urologist until the 14th. I have tried to be pretty light about the whole situation in this post however it is pretty serious and I don't know how much kidney damage I have already sustained.

I do know that this is Heavenly Father's will and that he is very aware of the situation and more importantly, is in control of the situation. I know that even though things are really scary for me right now, that if I have faith and lean on Him, He will carry me through this.

Joseph and I have faced a lot of scary medical things in the almost five years that we have been married (in fact I might tie him in surgeries with my current health issue). He has had a major trauma accident which included six surgeries, five days in a coma, and two months in a hospital. I have had two premature babies that included a combined six months of bed rest with two of those months in the hospital. I have had two surgeries (bringing my overall lifetime total to four). We figured it out one time that Joseph and I have had combined inpatient time of over six months in our five years of marriage. Anyway, my point is that through all of this, Heavenly Father has carried us every step. He has never forsaken us and I know that He will take care of us again.

However, I could use all the prayers that I can get at this point. I will keep you posted on how everything plays out!

Slippin' and a Slidin'

A few months ago we hosted the monthly family dinner for Joseph's family. We just barbequed on a Saturday afternoon. Our next door neighbors were out with the slip and slide and invited the kids to come over and enjoy the fun! Paige, as usual, was very timid and cautious. James, our nephew, was having a blast and held nothing back! It was so much fun to watch the kids enjoy themselves and cool down from the hot weather!

Our neighbor's dog, Barracks, is HUGE! He loves to play in the water and will jump to catch water. I cut the top of Joseph and Barracks off of this picture but you can still see how big Barracks is and how high he jumps!

Paige preferred to drink out of the elephant's trunk!

Summer Water Fun

Since it has been forever since I posted, I went back through the many pictures of the summer and found some cute ones to post. One of our favorite things to do during the summer is play in the water. The kids love it and it helps pass the time, especially when they are cranky!!!

Two of the cutest girls on the universe - Paige and her cousin Josette

Running through the sprinklers

My nephew, after being assaulted by the sprinkler

This summer has been lots of fun. It has been really busy (hence, the lack of posting) and has gone by so fast. I hope to catch up soon and update our blog with what is going on with us!

4th of July Fun

Our 4th of July Fun will be divided into two posts since Blogger wouldn't let me upload all of the pictures into one post.

Anyway, we had a great and fun 4th of July this year. It was super busy and we were all exhausted by the end of it. We decided Thursday morning to go up camping with some friends who have a boat at Lucky Peak. There were a few things that had to be done before we could head out of town but as soon as they were done and we were packed, we headed for the lake. It is only about a 30-45 minute drive for us.

Once we got up there, we got tents set up and started to play in the lake. It was so much fun. That night, we lit fireworks and all of us went to bed around midnight. Lexi didn't sleep very well at all. I think she got about 1/3 of the sleep that she normally gets per night. I didn't sleep very well. I probably would have slept better had we had an air mattress to sleep on. However, Joseph took the air mattress floating down the Boise River and popped it. So, hard ground for us while camping!

On Friday, we got up and went boating. Paige decided that she wanted to ride the tube with Daddy. She had so much fun. She was even waving at me! After Joseph and Paige tubed, Joseph wakeboarded. Wakeboarding is one of his favorite things to do in the summer and he has gotten pretty good.

Later that morning, I got to learn how to drive the boat. I loved it! I also got brave enough and rode on the tube. I used to love tubing and would go every chance I get. However, I have developed a phobia of water that I can't see through and so I hate getting knocked off of the tube. I know.....weird. But the driver of the boat (Bob) was so nice and I had a nice leisurely tube ride. It reminded me how much fun I used to have on the tube. I think I may start to get braver!

After we had lunch and lounged for awhile, we packed up and headed back to town and over to Joseph's parents house where they were having a barbeque. After eating, the kids jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler in it and played in a little kiddie pool. I didn't take any pictures at the barbeque because I was SO EXHAUSTED!

After the barbeque, we came home. The neighbors were going to have a get together at 8:00 to have dessert and let off some fireworks. Joseph and the girls were asleep by 7:45 and I was asleep by 9:00 so we didn't end up going out and celebrating the 4th with the neighbors. Hopefully next year we won't be such party poopers!

Lexi had a hard time at the lake. Since she isn't walking (or even crawling on all fours, only scooting on her belly), I didn't want her to get down in the sand because she eats everything! She would get bored staying on a blanket and if I put her in the pack in play to watch everybody, she screamed. So Joseph and I spent a lot of time taking turns holding her. I think she will have more fun at the lake next year.

We did sit her in an inner tube by the edge. She loved it unless the waves from the wake of passing boats got too big. She did end up eating sand but what can you do?!?

Paige was a little fish at the lake and loved it! She just played and played and played.

Joseph and Paige getting ready for their tube ride.

4th of July Fun Part 2

Hold on tight.....here we go!

She laughed and waved. When she was ready to be done, she told Joseph and we pulled her in. She also loved riding on the boat and cheering on her daddy as he wakeboarded!

Joseph has gotten pretty good this year on a wakeboard. He had gone about 2 or 3 times this summer before our camp trip. Before this summer, he had wakeboarded less than 5 times. I thought he was pretty impressive (I am not biased at all!!!)

We had a great 4th this year. Next year we are hoping to camp up at the lake and boat for about 4 or 5 days over the 4th. We absolutely loved being at the lake and had withdrawals when we came home!