PTL.....Great News..... PTL

I have great news, I have been praying for this for a while now. Wm. has a new job. Well, technically, he is still at IMS (Immediate Mail Service) but he will no longer be working in Inkjet. He will be the Warehouse mgr. He will be working alone, something he is pleased about. It should also have a considerable raise. Not exactly sure what "considerable" is in their eyes, but we are grateful for anything we get. He should be starting in a week or two, depending on how long it takes for them to find a replacement for him in Inkjet (will that be possible)?
We are very pleased about this new opportunity and thank the Lord for his continued blessings!

Matt has reminded me of 4 more signs he knows.....WOW 27!

Family time.....

Josh, Jackie, and the girls stopped on Friday and had lunch with Matt and me on their way to Rochester. I love when the kids are together!

Saturday we celebrated Susan's birthday with cake and ice cream. Uncle Roy came too......If there is cake, he doesn't want to be left out :-)

Sunday turned out to be a horrid day for me. I woke up with a terrible headache in the middle of the night and things went down hill from there. I spent the entire day in bed with the exception of frequent trips to the bathroom.

Today, Josh, Jackie and the girls stopped on the way back home. We went to the mall in Auburn (Jackie's favorite) but left empty handed. We did stop at Payless on the other side of Auburn so the girls could get shoes.....I had promised them on Friday that they could have new shoes when the came on Monday. Susan, Tom and Matt came at 3:30 and we had some cake and ice cream to celebrate Uncle Roy's birthday. Obviously, he came too. The plan was to have a cook out but time was very limited and we decided on ice cream and cake.....OK and chips and juice, cookies and Italian ice!

This is Susan's birthday......Matt thought the cake on Uncle Roy's plate looked better. Actually, he took the frosting off of most of our cakes!

Baby Lauren with Aunt Susan. She is sporting Lael's newest treasure we got at the mall...I guess we did get something after all.

Alyssa and Matt in the "big hole" in our back yard where they removed a tree. This spot is a favorite of Matt's. He runs around the back yard and then yells to me "Matt's in the big hole".

These next two are 4 of my 6 adorable, intelligent grandchildren. Did I mention I love being a grandmother? Did I tell you Lauren is rolling over and saying Mama?

Now honestly, have a ever seen a cuter bunch?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN

Today my sweet Susan is 37 years old......I am certain she won't mind that I told you how old she is......on the other hand, I feel ancient saying it. Nonetheless, this is not about me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN MICHELE

Update *edited

Lunch for the workers at church on Saturday went well. Susan not only drove me there but stayed and helped me set up, serve and clean up afterwards. They all thanked us for a great meal so I guess I did OK. We decided on making one of the favorites from the pastors luncheons at CFC ; grilled chicken Caesar salad.

I stopped at the Thrift store on Fri. night when we went to Wegman's for the fixings for Saturday's lunch. I was very excited.....I found a Fisher Price Kitchen for Matt for less than $5 and a workbench. The kitchen has been a real hit.....he has played with it the entire morning, stopping only for breakfast.

This was so worth the time and elbow grease it took to scrub it down with Clorox spray. The workbench is out on the porch (yes with all the other toys, Susan) so we will go out after lunch and see how we like that.

I had been thinking about how many signs Matt knows now. 21 come to mind right away: Mommy, Daddy, baby, eat, drink, sleep, bath, ball, stop, go, water, milk, please, thank you, your welcome, all gone, more, friends, story, help and potty. He can count by signing but sometimes gets confused as it is different than counting on your fingers. I am so glad we worked on learning some of the signs because although he can say all the words now, it definitely saved us a lot of frustration when he couldn't. Even now, if I can not understand him I ask if he knows the sign. If he does, he shows me.

*I just thought of 2 more signs he knows.....yes and no!

Tomorrow will be my last shot of Euflexxa. While the pain is so much less than it was before I started them, my knee "went out" on me last night. That was one of the reasons they opted for surgery the first time. Please continue to pray that the shots will be all I need. Thanks.

more ramblings from this old fat Grandmother

First, my knee is beginning to feel better ....I was very surprised how the pain had returned following the second shot.
I was really enjoying the cooler weather and now it hazy, hot and humid once again. Nice for Matt to be able to use the pool but not so good for me. The air has been on for days now and I have not been able to do any laundry. I really enjoy doing laundry.....yeah, it is somewhat therapeutic and I like feeling like I have accomplished something.....I love smelling fresh clean clothes. Anyway, the air has been on and Wm. asked me not to run the dryer when the air is on. I really have no idea why other than it may blow a fuse, or trip a breaker or whatever it does. You can see I am really up on the mechanics of the house. This was not a problem with the washer/dryer when it was downstairs.....technically it still is. (the washer/dryer we put upstairs is one unit so it would fit in the old linen closet)
I mentioned before that the church was putting on an addition and that on Sat. the home groups were preparing meals for the workers. Well, yesterday someone called to tell us they were going to ask families to make the Sat. meal. Wm. volunteered us for tomorrow. I am glad to do it would just rather have had a little time to prepare. Wm. said I should do what I did for the pastor lunches I made for CFC when we worked there. That should work! I always enjoyed doing that but then again I always a month to think about what I would serve. Now the only problem I see is that we have one car and Wm. will already be at church working when I need to bring the food. OK, Susan to the rescue????? If she can't take me, she will surely let her father use one of the vehicles they have to drive to church so I can get lunch over there.
State Fair opened down here yesterday. Wm. wants to go.......I think we were just there when Josh was Matthew's age.......does it really change?

Two of three

I had shot #2 this morning. I did not have the surgeon and it was not quite a painless as the first. I am pleased to say that I have a lot less pain since I got the first one. They told me that for a small percentage of people the shot works right away, for most however, it takes up to a month after the 3rd and final injection. I went shopping with Susan on Saturday and walked all over the store. On Sunday I walked from the car to Wegman's and then around the store. Before this Wm. had been letting me out at the door and then I would do what I could but he went and got most of the groceries and brought them back to the cart.
Matt was thrilled he was going in the "big blue car with Papa" this morning. In fact, he was so excited, Papa had to take him to McDonald's for breakfast while I finished getting ready for the doctor appointment. Papa said that when they pulled in, Matt began singing "old McDonald had a farm". All the way to and from the doctor's, which is only short ride from the house, he kept telling us "red light......stop!" Green light......go! (he signed it too) He is getting so good with his signing.
I took Darlene's advice to Danica about getting a treasure box for Jamison and found a note card box with a hinged top and it works perfectly. So far, we have collected some rocks, tiny stones and 2 feathers. He loves finding things and then saying "Hurry, treasure box" I love it. Thanks Darlene, I would have never thought such a small thing could bring so much joy to one little boy.

Friends

I had a very good day yesterday. My friend from Canton came down to pick up her hubby at Hancock. She came in the afternoon and we went to the Christmas Tree Shop......don't you just LOVE a bargain????? I got 2 new Blue's Clues videos for you know who . I am very tired of the same old ones. I think he is busy playing with his toys and try to shut it off and he screams NO, blues clues on! Anyway, we had a good time....it is definitely not like when I go with Wm. who sits down on the first piece of furniture they have on display and then waits. (Hey, I am not complaining, at least I can go there) He kids how he is sure that every worker in China as laughing at all the stuff they make for the Christmas Tree Store and we all flock there to get a bargain.
When Wm. got back from working on the church, we went to Kirby's for the best ribs in town. I am not the only one who thinks so, they print it on the menu :-) .
We had a chance to catch up on some of the people and things at CFC and both our families. I talked a lot......probably too much. Hey, we have not talked like this since we all worked at CFC. It was so good to see her and talk to her. I had a great day. (my knee was not even bothering me too much).
She left to pick up her husband at the airport after 3 weeks in China. I am sure she is glad to have him home. Now I hope we don't have wait another 2 years for a visit from her!

Looking ahead

The past few days I have been looking forward to the weekend, no not just so I can sleep in.....although I do like that part! My friend is coming to Syracuse to pick her husband up at the airport. So she is coming early and we are going to the Christmas Tree Shop....did I mention I love that store.....OK, maybe a time or two :-)
Because his plane does not get into Hancock until 10pm, Wm. and I are planning to take her to Kirby's for some dinner. I like Kirby's, nothing fancy but excellent food and service and it is only about 10 min. from our house. They have an excellent BBQ from now till Labor Day.
Could my sweet little Matthew already being showing signs of the terrible two's (after all he has only been 2 for 2 weeks)???? Yesterday I saw a side of him I have never seen. He was playing with the blocks when the tower he made kept falling over. He became very frustrated and instead of asking for help or signing help like he usually does; he stood up and threw the box of blocks, then he threw the box of Lego's and then the box with miscellaneous toys; but that was not enough, he went out on the porch and got his little chair and brought it back inside just to throw that also. That backfired though as it hit the floor and bounced back and hit him in the legs making a big scratch. This brought tears and after he was finished crying and we picked up the mess, he was his old self again.
I realized that I need to stop speaking in the third person to him. He takes everything I say literally and when I say "Let's go get our swimmers on and go into the pool; he brings me 2 two swimmers, one for himself and one for me". Yesterday when I was making his breakfast, he was opening and closing the silverware drawer. I told him there was nothing we needed in there and to stop opening the drawer. When I opened the drawer to get out a fork to scramble his egg, he slapped my hand and said "No, no".
update: my knee is doing so much better since the shot. I still have 2 more shots to go and the doctor said it should continue to improve for a couple of months. PTL


OK Gramma, you have taken too long and I am not waiting any longer. I'm outta here!

Aside from the pool, and cooking, this is my favorite place to be......unless Papa is home!

So far......so good

Well, I had the first shot of Euflexxa in my knee this morning. I did not have Matthew today because the doctor from the practice I saw last time had told me there could be a lot of pain and swelling with the shot. So far.....so good. I do not have a lot of pain or swelling. My neighbor Rose had told me that the shots were worse than the surgery for the meniscus repair, so I was expecting the worse. This morning with my devotions and prayer, I rebuked any bad side effects......I would appreciate it if you would stand with me in this.
This morning I had the surgeon give me the shot. He said he was very concerned with the amount of arthritis I had......it has gotten much worse since the surgery I had in Nov. He also said the PT was not showing any results other than the movement kept it from becoming too stiff. He also said I can do the same exercises at home. He wanted me to especially discontinue the therapy until I had all the shots and after that if I felt I wanted to go back I could. (I don't think so)
They are pouring the footers for the church addition this week so William is going there right after work and will be working until 9pm.
While I am enjoying getting caught up on a lot of things I have wanted to get finished this summer, I miss my little helper. I am no doubt getting more done than I ever could if he were here.....actually, I do not do anything other than care for him when he is here.
I am happy to say that I not only survived the nursery duty on Sunday but I actually enjoyed it. I was very surprised at how the nursery is run compared to CFC.......a difference in policy. Like we had a baby who cried the entire time he was in there. I asked how long we tried to quiet him before we got his parents......the answer was until service was over and they came to get him. The nursery worker changes the diapers, too!

blue plate special???? (edited)

Papa came home from work early today so Matt wanted to cook him some lunch. He wanted his chef hat and apron on but put the carrots from Papa's lunch pail right on his stove (cooling rack) and not in his shiny new pans. Thanks Steph, the pans and chef hat and apron have been a real hit.

Susan took him to get his hair cut last night. He really needed a haircut and he sat much stiller than he had for Betsy. He was content blowing on the whistle from his goody bag from his party and then sucking on the lollipop that the hairdresser gave him.

Finally finished my latest creation :-) It is a nursing blanket for Eleora. In case you can't see, it is pink and white checked on one side, white on the other.

Party time

It was a good day for the party.....no rain, lots of sunshine and a a little breeze. The kids had a great time. Susan set up 2 pools and they had them and the huge (10'x 10') sandbox which seemed to draw all the kids like a magnet. There was a cook out with all anyone could ever want to eat and drink. A Blue's Clues cake from the bakery and another one made especially for Alyssa with no eggs or milk, that was 4 cupcakes and a single layer cake which made the paw print (a clue). Susan had a Blue's Clues pinata that she filled with tons of Alyssa safe candy. Each child got a Blue's Clues notebook to write down the clues when the found them......yep, even a game of Blue's Clues. Hey, what would a Blue's Clues party be without a game of Blue's Clues.

I was hot......no stifling but a very happy old fat gramma. I got to see 4 of my 6 grandchildren and I got a chance to hold them and love on each of them. Yep, it was a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW

Happy Birthday Matt .........2 years old today

One down, one to go

One session of PT down this week and one more to go. I have a myriad of exercises to do at home, all of which seem to exacerbate the pain rather than relieve it. I don't mind elec. stim. when it is with heat as it was last week, but I do not like it with the ice, or that they keep turning up the levels.
After the session, however, my DH took me Tassone's for crab legs. Did I mention I love crab legs? Yeah, I know, only a million times. The best part was that we only used one of the two gift certificates we had. You know what that means, another trip for crab legs. Oh, I do enjoy crabby Mondays. The poor waitresses, not so much. There were people there we got there that were still there when we left.....almost everyone was having the crab special. OK, not Wm. but I bet 8 out of 10 people were there for the all you can eat crab legs.
Matt has been surprising me with how much he really knows this morning. He can count to 10, knows a lot of the alphabet and the sounds the letters make, he knows his colors, 2 that he showed me were magenta and teal.....(how did he know that?) Besides the signs he knows, he knows when to say please and thank you and really shocked me this morning when he said "hurry, potty". We have been working on it for what seems like forever but he never really manages to go......maybe things are beginning to look up.
He has been telling me about his birthday party coming up on Sat. He tells me who is coming and then that it is a blues clues party and his is having a blues clues cake. He is excited but no more than gramma......I get to see the girls.
If you are not Matthewed out by now, here is a funny story from yesterday. Early in the morning the neighbor's cat was back for a drink from the pool. When we went out to the pool in the afternoon, Matt got on his hands and knees outside the pool and put his face in and licked the water. I said "oh, no, Matt, that was is not for drinking, just swimming". He replied with "meow, meow".

matthew.com

Now I know that I am with Matthew from 7:30-5:30 every day so nothing he does should amaze me, but still he does. He loves to "cook". Now this consists of taking all my pans out of the cupboard and mixing, stirring, anything he can find in them. When we were in Canton for Lael's birthday, he spent all the time he was inside, playing with Alyssa's kitchen. I bought him a toy fry pan and some plastic food thinking he would leave my pans in the cupboard. No, he just has one more pan to "cook" with. Yesterday, he took my expandable cooling rack out of the cupboard, all the pans including his and put the rack on the window seat. He expanded it all the way out and put his pans on it and proceeded to tell me it was his "stove". This morning his stove was the first thing he got out. He asked me for some toast and some snacks which he then used to cook in the pans. I think that is really using your imagination when you still have not even turned 2. (one more week)

musings

The neighbor's cat came over to get a drink from Matt's pool. It must have drank for more than 10 minutes!

I wonder why it always seem to hurt worse after you start PT than before you went. The reason for going is to stop the pain and get more use and better ROM from your appendage, right?
I know I complain more than I want to. I remember my mother always complaining about her head aching and how the family always thought she was just whining or a hypochondriac. Well, when she died of a brain aneurysm, it was a different story. She actually had a reason for her complaining. No, I don't think that a torn meniscus, even on both sides of my knee or a torn ligament will be my demise. I don't want to whine but it is a nagging pain that gets worse with even walking. Now when your "job" is to look after a 2 year old, sitting down all day is not an option. The more I walk, the more it hurts. I have exercises which seem to exacerbate the pain more than relieve it. I heard twice yesterday from 2 different people that surgery for a torn meniscus does not "work" for 50% of the people who have it. Sue and Terry seem to be the only ones I can think of that are actually better off since the surgery. I also do not remember the orthopedic surgeons every telling me that before the surgery. Now what? Will the Euflexxa gel they are planning to inject in my knee relieve the pain? Well, I do not have the answer. I think that it may alleviate some of the rubbing of bone against bone caused by the loss of cartilage due to the arthritis. This is not a sure fix either, but I feel better about trying it first, before the knee replacement. Who knows, it may be just what I need.

update

The weather was gorgeous over the weekend. Saturday Wm. chose not to work at the church, and no I sure that standing in the trench for the foundation while running the sump pump had nothing to do with it. Really, he did some things around here that needed his expertise.
We painted our shutters on the house burgundy (something I wanted done since we moved in nearly 2 yr. ago) They look fantastic. I was not a big fan of the faded blue ones that were on the house.
Wm.'s sister Karen is moving out of the apartment that my in laws had for many years. Needless to say, there was a lot of stuff still there that was Wm's mother's. All the siblings met at the apartment on Sunday afternoon to go through it and decide what they wanted. We took back the armoire we had given them for Christmas one year but I am so pleased that we were able to get some of the pictures of when William was growing up. I have our family pictures since both my parents and my sister have all passed away. Anyway, there are some of grandparents, great grandparents, as well as Wm.'s baby pictures.
What blessed me most was a carriage robe that Wm.'s grandfather had made for him out of string. I know what you are thinking but it is really nice. He made a loom and then made the carriage robe on it. You would be very surprised it is made out of string. Now, considering Wm. will be 61 in Nov. it is really a surprise that it is in very good condition.....no tears or holes, just some yellowing as it once was white (duh, like string)
Wednesday I start PT again. The cortisone shot I had is beginning to wear off and the pain is creeping back into my knee and the limp is once again noticeable. I am looking forward to 8/14 when I get the first shot in the series of Euflexxa. I am hoping it will bring the relief I so desperately desire.
Matthew turns 2 on August 3rd and his party (Blues Clues party) will be on Sat. Aug. 4th. I am excited that 4 of 6 of my grandbabies will be together. Granted, Lael and Alyssa are not babies anymore (even Matt tells me he is not a baby anymore; "Matt, big boy" but they will always be my grandbabies.
I had promised Debbie Regan that I would come up for John Eastmond's birthday (can not believe he is 16) and this is the weekend that Andrew, Kathy and John will be at CFC. I did however, sign up for the 4hr. class at church on Sunday at Faith Chapel.

Not what it seems

I had thought, well Susan thought so too, that it was the sunblock that was causing the rash on Matthew. Guess it is not what it seems to be causing the rash at all. All the sunblock did was irritate the rash causing it to be worse than it was. Anyway, I said all that to say this.....his rash is much improved. In fact it is 100%+ improved. Jackie had suggested we use Eucerin cream on him (once she said it, I remembered that was what she put on Alyssa and also what the doctors told me to use on Josh, decades before). You can not know how grateful I am for her advice. Now that he is doing so well I have reintroduced the cran-raspberry juice (diluted of course) and he not had any more outbreaks.

On a more somber note, I have been inundated with emails regarding my decision I made about my knee. Seems I am the only one in favor of a passive treatment. You are all probably right but since I am the one having the surgery, I will try this passive treatment first. If this does not help, then I will consider the surgery, yes, the knee replacement! That all seems unnatural to me. I know that it has been done many times with a lot of success (there are people in church as well as Donna's mother that I know of personally who have made a miraculous recovery) I still see the trouble that my neighbor Rose has with her knee. Now, Wm. said Rose had problems with her surgery after the meniscus repair (need I remind you that I also did) I am scheduled for a series of 3 injections on 8/14, 8/21, 8/28. In case you were curious, the shot of cortisone I had last week has eased the pain in my knee considerably.

Update

First, today was my appt. with the orthopedic surgeon as a follow up to the MRI I had 7/3/07. Well it showed the was a lot of arthritis there.....no surprise. It also showed that the meniscus was torn on both the right and left side of my knee......and yes, they did repair one side in November. Apparently, I have torn it again. They also have found that I have torn the ligament that goes from the knee to the thigh. Because of the extent of the damage, I am a candidate for knee replacement. Whoa! Hold on there! Not so fast! I need to get my head around that. Yes, I knew it was a possibility going into it but in the back of my head I thought they would not have to go that far. He gave me three options.

1) passive treatment: a shot of cortisone today, more physical therapy and another shot once they get clearance from BC/BS that will lubricate the joint. (the shot costs $2500).

2) was another arthroscopic surgery on my knee to repair the meniscus on both sides and the ligament. (excuse me, didn't we just try this option in Nov. with little success)

3) a total knee replacement.

OK, guess which was my choice. (that was difficult, eh?)

Today was our anniversary. Wm. went in early and worked 6 hr. and came home to take me to the doctor. Afterwards, we went to the Christmas Tree Store (and no I still have not used my gift card) From there we decided on Kirby's for dinner (actually, neither of us had eaten lunch so we went at 4pm for lunch/dinner) I opted for Kirby's as we both like it and while Wm. is a good sport and will go to Red Lobster, it is not his favorite.

I thought you might like to see the flowers Wm. sent me today. Daisies are my very favorite. BTW, our cards for each other were different on the outside but had the same sentiment on the inside. 33yr. will do that for you I guess, you even think alike (I thought they used to say you began to look like each other after a while)

edit: Susan and Matthew were just here to bring us an anniversary card and 2 gift certificates to Tassones........all you can eat crableg Monday night, here we come!

weekend update

The weekend found Wm. at church building. I took the opportunity to drag the boxes of old pictures up from the cellar, where they had been since moving in. If you remember in our house in Madrid, we had a wall in the office with our family tree in pictures. I had taken our pictures and copied them in black and white and then put them all in black frames and one wall in office was covered from floor to ceiling. Now, I hadn't even tried to put them up here as Wm. said I had entirely too many. Saturday, I sorted out all the pictures, paring down and what I ended up with was 1/2 of what I originally had. I do not have any pictures of the 2 youngest grandchildren other than digital and I am not happy with the grainy look I get on my printer. Now all I have to do is to hang them up.....Wm. is already counting the nail holes it will leave in the wall.
I mentioned before how we were trying to find out what was causing the rash on Matt. He looked pretty good on Fri. when he left here. It was still visible but not red like before. On Saturday afternoon Susan called to tell me she thought it was the sunblock. She had gotten a sunblock spray when the summer began. I used it for a while and then when he came back after vacation, I asked for lotion instead, I did not like the lack of control from the spray and having to spray it in my hands before rubbing it on his face. Anyway, she used the spray sunblock on him on Sat. and almost immediately, his rash got all red again.
When Wm. came home from working at the church on Saturday, he got cleaned up and we went to Kirby's. On Saturday and Sunday we usually only eat one meal in the late afternoon rather than lunch and dinner. So Kirby's was having their BBQ specials. I had the BBQ clambake. It was BBQ ribs, fried clams (the best I've ever had) baked potato, corn on the cob and watermelon. Then they also are running a contest to give away a huge stainless steel gas grill. Not that I would ever win, I have never won anything in my life. OK, that is not true.....when I belonged to the Red Hats, I used to win a lot of the drawings.
Looking forward to Thursday because it marks another year with my DH but also because I will find out the results of the MRI on my knee and the doctor's prognosis.
Really missing my little princesses and Max (no not the dog, Morrigan's brother; I am including Morrigan as one of my little princesses cause she is)
It is so hard not to watch them grow. Lael and Morrigan both lost a tooth!
Matt's birthday is the beginning of August and I will get to have 4 of the 6 together then. I really envy Terry being able to see them on their vacation.

ramblings

Yesterday we had planned to go to the Amish Market near Seneca Falls. With the rain we got yesterday we decided this was not wisdom. We ended up going to get Uncle Roy (who wanted to go the Amish Market) and went to the Fingerlakes Mall in Auburn. They (Amish Market) have a small store in the mall with some small furniture, signs and homemade fudge as well as bonnets, aprons, etc.

I mentioned before that our 33rd anniversary is 7/12 . Not sure I mentioned here that I wanted a new wedding band. Now I have had 2 diamonds and lost the setting out of both, as well as a pearl ring with diamonds on each side. Lost the setting out of that also. My wedding ring was a wide gold band but my arthritis is getting bad and is causing my hand to become somewhat deformed; ie, large knuckles, etc and I had visions my wedding ring having to be cut off. I finally took the time to work it off my finger (not an easy task) Anyway, I said all that to say my DH got me a new wedding band yesterday for my anniversay.

Matthew was back today. He was not happy that it rained off and on and we could not go outside. His rash is much improved which leads me think it must be something here and not at his own house that is causing it. I thought it was strawbwerries but then he does not have them everyday here. The only thing I could think of that he had everyday was the cranberry raspberry juice. I called Jackie to see if she thought that was enough to cause the rash.
She suggested I keep a journal of what he eats while he is here. She also thought that it may not be food allergy but an environmental one. He first got the rash just before Lael's birthday when pollen was high.

When he came in today I said "Hello my sweet Matty". He then pointed to himself and said "Matt". I said Matty, he said "no, Matt". I told Susan tonight that he wanted to water the plants in the garden (Wm. mom gave him a small watering can and he helps me water the plants every morning) I told him it was raining so we did not need to do it. He got the watering can and said "water" while he signed the word. Now he has never signed this word correctly, but it was close enough that we knew what he meant. I said what did you say? He said water again and then used the correct sign. Now did he know that all the time?

Matthew at the beach up at camp (near Old Forge)

mini vacation

Well, I had my MRI this morning. It took longer to get from one side of the city to the other than for the MRI. My follow up appointment is on our anniversary.
This mini vacation is working out very well. Yesterday I got caught up on a lot of things I had been wanting to do for a while but never took the time.
Susan, Tom and Matthew are up at camp in Old Forge until tomorrow and then on Thurs. it is back to work for all of us.
Last night on the way back from Wegman's, I saw an easel out in front of the Thrift store. I asked Wm. to stop so I could look at it. It was a child's easel.....red, yellow and blue plastic with a chalkboard on one side and white board on the other, made by Crayola.....for $4.99. I washed it up and it is in excellent condition. Matt loves to "write" and color so now he will have the option of painting and using chalk. I got one very similar to this for Morrigan one year and it was $40. (yes, she does still use it but then her father is an artist so they encourage creativity).

Great Day

The weather was more to my liking today, not quite so hot.....Wm. and Uncle Roy were both freezing though.
We had a cookout this afternoon. Wm. mother, Uncle Roy, Tom, Susan and Matt (which by the way is now Matthew's name.....he corrected me when I called him Matty) Susan and Tom were going to camp to this weekend. Now they have decided to leave in the morning. I am very glad they were here as Wm. mother wanted to know if any of the grand kids would be here. We had a great time with lemon pepper and also BBQ chicken on the grill. I made salt potatoes and salad. For dessert I made strawberry shortcake.
For the past few weeks I have been concerned with a rash that Matty (oops I mean Matt) had. Susan insisted it was from strawberries. I was sure it was not......it seemed to be only around his mouth and on one side of his torso. Guess what! After eating strawberries, the rash was bright red again and it had been fading over the weekend.
I am blessed that I will have a few more days of "vacation" as she is not going back to work until Thurs. morning. I have my MRI on Tues. and Wm. needs to work 4 hr. on Tues. and 4 on Thurs. in order to get paid for the holiday. So going somewhere is out of the question. I have a few more crafty projects I want to work on the next few days.




Here are a few pix of my garden this year. Not bad for a woman with a brown thumb. I especially love the flowers on the hostas. Last year one had a small flower on it but nothing like this!
Trust you all had an excellent weekend.

more ramblings

Suppose that I really do not have anything blog worthy to say, nonetheless, I am going to ramble on for a minute or two.
Wm. got the back deck pressure washed and painted/stained the same as we did the front porch last year. It really looks good, so much brighter. The problem comes that it is just too hot to sit out there. We get sun on the back deck pretty much all day long. So either we need an awning, an umbrella or as I suggested a pergola (like that will happen).
Our 33rd anniversary is July 12th. No, no plans.
I am going to have the MRI of my knee next Tues. While I need to know what is causing this pain, I am not looking forward to another surgery. I really do not understand how you can tear the cartilage when they told me after the last surgery that I had no cartilage left in my knee and it was literally bone rubbing against bone. I also wonder how many times you go to a surgeon that they don't feel surgery is the best route.
Matty opened the door to the linen closet yesterday and mumbled something I could not understand. I said do you know the sign? He stopped and thought for a minute. Shook his head no. I said then tell me again what you are looking for. He turned around and shouted....."band-aid, my boo boo". Alrighty then! I think he may finally be really ready to potty train. I am definitely going to try one of the charts from the link Jackie had on her blog.
Today when he was coloring I started asking him the colors. He laid all the crayons in a line and started naming off the colors......I had no idea he even knew Pink!

Here we go again

Well, I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon this morning. They were way behind (surprise). Once I got in he suggested I go across the hall for an xray. The wait there was even worse. I was there more than an hour. He finally called over there to see what happened to me! After checking the xray, he decided that I needed another MRI (another surprise, NOT) He thinks maybe I tore the cartilage on the other side. I grumbled under my breath and he said there were no magic pills, and more PT would not help. ROM was not the problem. He also said that until I had another MRI, I could not have the cortisone shot I didn't want after the last surgery. On the way out of exam room a woman was leaving with her scooter. I said (tongue in cheek) what about just giving me a Rx for one of those. He did not see the humor in that! OK, I said all that to say I am right back where I was last Nov. If the MRI shows it is not a tear, then he thinks it will mean a knee replacement. (Maybe by then he will consider giving me that script) :-)

Fat Grandmother's day off

I asked for yesterday off as my back and knee have been really bothering me. Matty's other grandmother is up in Old Forge at their camp so Susan offered to take the day off and stay home with him. However, she had a doctor's appt. this morning so I opted for this afternoon off instead. No big plans, that would be difficult without a car, but I really do not feel like driving somewhere anyway. My big plan for today is to just rest with my knee elevated, something that is difficult with a 2 yr. old, as well as catch up on a few things. Wm. is working over, again.....while I am thankful for the extra money the overtime brings, I would rather he was home after 8 hours.
We have a few places to go tonight once he gets here. I did not get to Wegman's this week (they have the best fruits and veggies).
I read Amanda's hubby's blog about Fred Thompson. I was very impressed. Politics do not usually impress me (and I know very little about it really) but he has good moral and ethical values. He is pro life. A better candidate in my book than Mitt Romney. At the risk of sounding bigoted, I can not endorse a candidate who is part of a cult, and yes, I do believe Mormonism is a cult.

Home again, home again....jiggity jig

I am not a happy camper......I just finished writing out this entire blog and when I was spell checking, the entire blog disappeared. Here we go again:
We never made it to Lael's graduation Friday night :-( We did however, make it up for her parties. The family party was at 11am which meant we had to leave here at 8am which in turn meant I had to get up at the ungodly hour of 6:15 (I would only do this for my grandchildren) The family party went until 2 when the friends party began. That was entirely too much excitement for an old fat grandmother!

Alyssa watches as Lael opens her Gracie doll.

These are the cakes Jackie made for Lael's party.
Cute, eh?







This is my very favorite picture and why not? It has 2 beautiful princesses, my adorable little Matty and my sweet William. I absolutely love these dresses. I knew they would be too much for Josh and Jackie's taste but the girls seem to share my fondness for them. They are much better made than those "dress up" princess dresses that I have been know to pay a fortune for for the girls. I figured if nothing else, these would make excellent dresses for "dress up" time.


After we left Lael's party, we met Bub and Deb Regan at Lobster House in Norwood for a birthday dinner. Then it was on to Kenny and Betsy's house for cake and presents. Betsy made the most delicious cake.....Creamsicle with a mousse frosting.....YUM. I got a new purse from Deb and Betsy surprised me with a gift card to my favorite store......The Christmas Tree Shop!
The ache in my head and knee escalated throughout the night and this morning all I wanted to do was go home. So unfortunately our plans to attend CFC were replaced with a quick stop in Canton to kiss my 3 little princesses goodbye.
Matty came over when we got home to give Papa his Father's Day gift.
Tomorrow the celebration continues, with dinner at Tassone's for all you can eat crab legs.
Uncle Roy's gift to me. Did I mention I love crab legs?????? (probably too many times)

Edit: just got these pictures from Jon.

I love this one! Max and Morrigan

This is adorable too. Aren't my grandchildren too cute for words? Where else could you find six more adorable kids?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little princess!

Lael Teresa Card is 6 yr. old today!

smile

If you know me at all, you know I don't just go around smiling. Matty makes me smile. He loved Thomas and Bob the Builder but this week they have been replaced by Elmo and Blue (Blue's clues). Susan bought him another Elmo......this one has a potty chair and sippy cup. You squeeze Elmo's hand, he asks for a drink and then, you guessed it, he needs to use the potty. Matty is good at giving Elmo a drink and then setting him on the potty. This was supposed to entice your child to use the potty himself. Now up until yesterday, Matty had no problem sitting on the potty. (going on the potty was another story) Yesterday and today, he won't even try to sit on the potty and he goes so far as to put the potty seat in the linen closet!
He was watching a video of Elmo that was something we had from the girls and he dances when Elmo (Melmo) puts on his tap shoes. When that was over he told me "more". I said you want Elmo on again? He shook his head no and made the laughing sound the Count from Sesame St. makes. We got a video from Betsy's grandchildren that must be at least 10 yr. old. It has the Count teaching how to count. He loves it.....who would have thought?
Things have not changed a lot from last week......Wm. still working over time. Friday it was until 9 and last night 8. I hate eating that late. I know, he is not happy working that late either. And yes, I am very thankful he has a job. Last week he worked over every night; hopefully it is a trend that won't continue.
Susan has gone to Erie today and then on to NJ tomorrow I think. There are grand openings in both places. She will be home again late Wed. night.

#134

I finally broke down and made an appt. with the orthopedic Dr. because of my knee. The first appt. I can get is 6/26.....more than 2 wk. away. YIKES! I can barely walk now.

Friday is Lael's kindergarten graduation. I was hoping to get there for it but it looks like we probably won't. :-( We are going on Sat. for her birthday party. This is the first year she has had separate parties for the family and her little friends. She is definitely growing up too fast. They all are.

This week is really a busy one for our family. Thurs. is both Jackie and Lael's birthday. Friday is my (are we ready for this?) BIG 60. I don't know when I got old......most days I feel 90 though. LOL ......and Lael's graduation and then Sun. is Father's Day. Whew......I will need another weekend just to get over this one!

We took a 4 hr. class at church yesterday. It was on Discovering Spiritual Maturity.....prayer and Bible study, etc. The next class is on finding your ministry and the fouth is on enlisting people for the worldwide mission of sharing Christ.

amazing.......

I find it amazing and I really do not know why, as I have seen first my own children and then the other grandchildren go through it. Still it amazes me. Matthew has been increasing his vocabulary on a daily basis. He says a word and if he knows the sign, he does that also. This week he has been talking a blue streak. Yesterday at lunch, well today too for that matter, he told me what he wanted for lunch. Gone are the days when he would open the fridge and bark (that meant he wanted a hot dog, duh, I get it) He said hot dog, cheese, melon. I took out the Hoffman's, he took out the cheese and watermelon. Then he said (and this is why I was amazed) "pudding, please". I was shocked and asked what did you say......he repeated pudding, please. I said, pudding? and he signed and said please!

I also have a very funny Matthew story to tell......if you have had your quota of Matthew for the day, I suggest you move on to another blog. I have laughed about this for 2 days........ We went for our early afternoon (we go for many) walk the other day when we came upon a squirrel that was dead on the side of the road. Now because Matty loves squirrels I was unsure how to tell him it was dead. Remember, there is one that comes on our porch and eats goldfish crackers that Matty drops. Anyway, when we got close to it, he began signing squirrel. I could see it was dead but it also had it's paws under it's head and was lying on it's side. Matty said "Aw" and made a snoring sound. I started to laugh and he told me to shh. So, I said shh, we don't want to wake him do we? I have tried to avoid going that way for the last few days as it is still there but now in pretty bad condition. There is another grandmother in the subdivision who cares for her grandchildren however, she allowed them to play with the dead squirrel.....what's wrong with that picture?

132

This weekend was wonderful. We went out to lunch on Sat (more like an early dinner) to Kirby's. I like Kirby's......we just learned on Sat. that it was the old Mr. Steak franchise that became the Kirby's chain. Anyway the food is excellent and it is close by, right on the way to Wegman's.

Sunday was the Neighbor-fest at church. It celebrated not only the 18th anniversary of the church but also the groundbreaking for the renovation of the building. We found out yesterday that our church building was actually built on the word. When they poured the foundation, they had people bring in old Bibles that they put in the foundation and continued with more concrete. After the sub floor was on, everyone in the church wrote Bible verses on the floor before the carpet went in. Yesterday, they asked people to find a rock and put either their name or a bible verse on it and then they built an altar with them in a hole they had dug where the middle of the foyer will later become. So the altar will become part of the foundation of the renovation like the Bibles did. I think this is as Matt would say "cool".

There were a lot of people at church. Many visitors. It was nice to have the service outside under a tent but it was hot, very hot. There were games, tons of food, worship music, and let us not forget the bounce house. The 23 people of the school of ministry at Faith Chapel planned it all and were in charge.

Betsy stopped by on her way home from Rochester where she stayed with her grandchildren while her daughter and son in law went to the Homeschooling convention in Syracuse. What a treat.....I not only got to see my friend who I miss more than I thought I would, but I also got a haircut.

She cut Matty's hair too. It looks fantastic but it took three adults to hold him down so she could cut it. I am so thankful she was persistent. He looks so cute and not like a little waif any longer. He jerked and she ended up with the scissors jabbing her between her fingers. Didn't really seem to phase her but it definitely looked painful to me.

What fun!

This is how we spent most of our day today. He loves it! The first time we went in he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Soon he was splashing and running around and kicking his feet. He kept making the sign for water and telling me "cool". I told him it was a pool. He said the P sound and then cool. When I tried to take him out, he would run around so I would have a hard time trying to catch him. He would tell me to sit in the chair and no, he did not want to get out of the "cool".

This afternoon was a different story.....he thought it was funny to jump in and out of the pool. I told him that if he got both feet out of the pool, he was going inside. He decided it was a riot to straddle the edge of the pool. One foot was in the pool and the other out on the grass. He was out and in. He told me so too! Gramma was not nearly as amused as Matthew was.

TaDa..........

OK, what do you think of my latest creation......I am very pleased with it.

129

The weather this weekend was beautiful. Not too hot, just perfect. Saturday night we got a thunderstorm with torrential rain. It didn't really last too long. Monday we went to the Home and took Wm.'s mother out to dinner. They had BBQ ribs for lunch and then they had an ice cream social in the afternoon, so all she really wanted to do was go to Wendy's for a salad. Not where we went but that we came and spent time with her and took her out.
We spent a lot of the weekend shopping for Lael's birthday. Susan went over the top as usual!

I did get my lamp made from the large birdhouse. I love it! And yes, I will get a picture up soon.

I had my follow up appt. at the ENT surgeon today. The good news is that cyst has not increased in size since the first MRI seven months ago. The bad news is that the swelling and pain in my neck are still there. She has no reason for the swelling or the pain but does not consider it a problem. (for her it probably isn't) I told her I could accept that it was not sinister but wanted an explanation of why it was swollen and painful. She had no answer and told me if I insisted they would do a biopsy of the cyst/growth but because of where it is, behind my jawbone near my ear, it would not be easy. Even if they did the biopsy, it would not resolve the swollen lymph node. So I guess it boils down to : I must be a hypochondriac! (I always thought my mother was so I guess it is official, I am my mother) My children are probably shaking their heads yes now.

I had Matty today until 2pm. When we went outside he counted the steps: one, two, tree, foe. Papa counts them every morning when he takes him for a walk before work. Wm.'s mom sent home a begonia with us yesterday and a little watering can and some tools she got for Mother's day, so Matty and I could plant it in the garden. We did and he just loved doing it. I am hoping he will be like Lael and learn to tell me the flowers from the weeds. She used to tell me "Gramma, you really need to do some deadheading on these flowers" (she had to tell me what deadheading was, though) He has a new word that he uses all the time now......it's "cool". Is that a riot or what?

I can not wait until the middle of June. Lael and Jackie's birthday is on the 14th, my birthday and Lael's graduation is on the 15th, and then Lael's party is the 16th, with Father's Day on the 17th. One busy weekend but I get to see the girls. At the risk of sounding like a broken record again, I miss them so much. We have been down here almost 2 yr. now and I am still not used to seeing them whenever we wanted to. I am excited with the gifts I got this year too. An Our Generation doll with some outfits.....Matty got her an outfit and Uncle Roy got her a beauty chair with a hair dryer and brush and curlers and a cape. She showed me all this when we were in Watertown last month. I was glad for the idea and ran with it!

Bob the Builder and creativity

I was very inspired by Amanda's creativity and because Matthew is very "into" Bob the Builder, I tried my hand at doing something creative. Bob is made of luan plywood which I drew and Wm. cut out for me. I did not put his typical tool belt on Bob as I wanted him to be a coat rack. The "tool belt" consists of 3 hooks for Matty to hang his jacket and hat on.

I used to have the baby changer under this shelf (which you can not see) here but Matty was always either standing up or rolling over, so it became much smarter for me put the changing pad on the futon and change him there. I bought a night light at Christmas Tree Shop which was a bulldozer, for only $1.99. It is the size of a small lamp but uses a night light bulb and sitting on the shelf above Bob, seems the perfect place for it.

This weekend I am going to try to turn one of the large bird houses I used to have in my kitchen in Madrid into a lamp. I got the lamp kit already but decided I needed a threaded rod. Now, if anyone is looking for birdhouses, I have 2 boxes still unpacked downstairs, yours for the taking. (Sue, you want some more for your collection, right?)

Love it........dislike it

I Love:
my grandchildren, all six of them are so special yet have such different personalities
a bargain; (no doubt why I love the Christmas Tree Shop) Yesterday Susan, Matty and I went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store just a few minutes of our house. We were looking for toys for Matty to play outside with, in good condition, that would not cost an arm and a leg. Eureka, everything was 1/2 off there yesterday. Susan got a Little Tike's tricycle, a Little Tike's dump truck, two small Fisher Price trucks, a Little Tike's wrench, and a Fisher Price truck that is pulling a wagon. Oh, yeah, and a pair of OshKosh overalls in excellent condition (he now wears the same size as Anthony who used to give him hand me downs) How much for all this treasure, you are asking yourself???? Under $10. My neighbor Ann has a grandson who is now almost 5. She sold me a Little Tikes table with three attached benches for $5. Last year Susan got a Little Tikes slide from her for $5. Both in excellent condition. You gotta love that.
the harness we now have for Matty. I know you are thinking, how can she put a harness on that child like he was some dog. I can because I am concerned he will run into the road and I would rather be safe than sorry. He really doesn't mind it. In fact, I asked him on Fri. if he wanted to go for a walk (I meant in the stroller) and he brought me the harness. The neighbors have stopped me to tell me how smart that was to use the harness.
that Matty is more vocal now. He says, or at least tries to say everything. If he knows the sign for it, he signs it and says it. (please, thank you, water, etc)
how much he loves his grandfather, all the kids seem to love Wm. and when we were at CFC most of the kids there did too. It makes me happy to see how much he wants to do what Papa does, and how he is happy just to be with him. I love that he sings his Papa song whenever he is at home. (this is just singing Papa, papa, papa)

I dislike:
grocery shopping despite the fact that we have some pretty elaborate grocery stores nearby.
spray sunscreen, you really don't have the control you do with the lotion and I don't feel safe spraying it around Matty's face.
that my knee hurts as much as it did before the surgery.
that the swelling in my neck is not where the cyst is.
that I feel bad more days than I feel good.
smell of cleaning products: as I cleaned the bathroom this afternoon, I realized how much I really dislike the smell of the cleaning products. The toilet bowl cleaner from scrubbing bubbles does a good job on the toilet but it literally makes me nauseous. Likewise, the cleaner for the sink and bathtub.

126

I had my MRI yesterday. The only open MRI is across the city in East Syracuse. We took the thruway across, as 690 is bogged down with construction. We were half way there when Wm. asked me if I had picked up the requisition for the MRI.....and of course, I hadn't. We had to turn around and go back. Before we could go there, however, we had to go to the ENT office to pick up the old MRI films to compare the new one with (if you remember, we had to go get these films and take them to the ENT last week)
I was taken in and had removed anything metal, ie, earrings, etc. Part way through the first one the tech stopped it and asked if I had removed all metal. I reassured him and he started again......he stopped again part way through and asked me again. I reassured him I had but then remembered I have a metal post in my front tooth. That was causing the interference, but there was nothing they could do about it. Once they finished they talked to my doctor who decided it would be a good idea to do two more sets with contrast injection. The tech had a horrid time finding a "good vein" and had to go find reinforcements to poke and prod the other arm for one.
I did not have Matty yesterday and after the MRI, we went to Carousel Mall so I could get something for Jon Christian's birthday (May 28th). I had looked in Steve and Barry's with Josh and Jackie when we went to Watertown and saw a few shirts I wanted to get Jon. I am not big on going to the malls anymore but I did have an enjoyable time with Wm. We ate lunch , after 3pm, at Johnny Rocket's, a 50's style diner.....it was fun and the burgers were good and the fries (American, of course)(we shared one order) were fabulous.
We ended up having to buy a new VCR/DVD combo yesterday. We had a DVD that still works great.....unfortunately our VCR died on Mon and they no longer sell them anymore unless you buy the combo. We were in the middle of watching an Elmo tape on Mon. when it died and poor Matty was devastated. I first thought it was the tape. Our children's VHS tapes have been watched many times since Lael and Alyssa were little. I tried another and another and finally decided it was the VCR. Bummer! We have been trying not to make big purchases but this is a "work expense" :-)
I made a strawberry pie while Matty took his nap on Tues. I put it in the fridge before he woke up and we just went outside to the sandbox. When I finally got him to come in for a snack (a compromise to stopping for lunch) he opened the refrigerator, saw the pie and before I could stop him, he stuck his hand in and took out a handful of berries and glaze. He turned around with a red glazed smile to announce "MMMMMM". I was not a happy camper but I could not help but laugh. After all, I had told him to find something he liked for a snack hadn't I?

Crab Legs

Ah, the crab legs last night were fantastic. I was very glad we made reservations as it was packed. I thought maybe it wouldn't be because of Sunday being Mother's Day. Service was slower than usual and we stayed until we got our fill :-)
The sandbox has been a real hit. Matty loves being out there. Yesterday we were out from 11 -1:30 and I finally had to bring him in kicking and screaming. Today was more of the same. The temps are in the high 80's but there is quite a gusty breeze. This makes throwing sand in the air such fun as then we can see the wind.......he throws it up and then laughs and screams wind, wind. Gramma is not quite as impressed.
Max learned to roll over on Sunday. It took him most of the afternoon to finally do it and once he did, he slept for 5 hr. Susan said "he is his father's son".

124

I trust yesterday was all you hoped for in a Mother's Day. We went to church and then to Susan's. From there we went to get a sand box for the back yard.....we have a fenced in yard but with nothing out there, it did not hold Matty's attention for very long. Now we need to work on getting a swing set.
In the afternoon, we went to the Home to see Mom Card. Will's sister Karen was going to take her lunch but ended up being taken out by her son. The Home had a tea for the residents and their families but we went after the tea as it was my understanding that some of the other brothers were going to be there for the tea. No one was. I felt bad for her, she had her friends, but not her family. We got her some DVDs.....she loves movies but not with any bad language or violence, etc. We got her Second Hand Lions and Green Fried Tomatoes. She has netflix but still has a hard time finding "good" movies. Matty got her some bags of goldfish (1 cheddar and 1 pretzel). She was pleased, Matty shared his with her the last time we took him there and she liked them (really, I think she liked Matty sharing more than she liked the goldfish)
Susan and Matty got me a new dress....that was the last thing I expected as Susan paid for the ticket for me to go to NC to see Morrigan and Max in Feb.
Now with yesterday being Mother's Day and graduation at the colleges here, reservations for dinner were at a premium; so we opted not to go. The best part of that is that I am getting to go to Tassone's for dinner tonight. Monday night is all you can eat crab legs......Oh, I do love crab legs. Well, I love sea food! We really need to go ME. We have been saying that for a while but never have.
Well, I certainly missed being with the "girls". I think this the first Mother's Day since Lael was born that we have not been together. Don't say it.....I know moving down here was my choice. I still believe it was the right decision. We prayed about it a lot before we came and I feel it was what God wanted us to do. I admit, I did not take into consideration how much I would miss the girls. I miss Morrigan and Max too, but I never saw Morrigan more than twice a year anyway, so it is different than seeing the girls every day.
Did you see that adorable picture of Lauren on Jackie's blog? What a beautiful baby (who looks exactly like her oldest sister I might add) ! Actually, we were looking at pictures at Susan's yesterday and she has one on her TV of Lael and Alyssa when Alyssa was a baby, Lauren looks a whole lot like that. All this time I have been saying that Lael and Lauren looked alike and like their mother and Alyssa was the spitting image of Josh when he was little.
Wednesday is my MRI.....still find it amazing that there is only one open MRI in the city. And No, I would never consider sticking my head into a closed MRI!

Good news and bad news

The good news is I went to the ENT surgeon this morning. She looked at my MRI films and agreed with Dr. Nolan that where my neck is swollen and sore, is not the problem. The bad news, and this may not really be bad news at all, is that the films showed the cyst to be farther back on my jaw bone than the pain and swelling are. She has decided to do another MRI to compare to the first.
As for my ear ache and sinus pressure and pain on the left side, she gave me some Nasonex spray. Wow, amazing stuff, my sinuses opened right up.

I did not have Matty today, his other Grandma does. Good thing too as we once thought of taking him along. My appt. was for 11:30 which was right during Matty's nap. This was why we had second thoughts. Anyway, I never got in to see the doctor until after 1 and didn't get out until 1:30. They told us to come early so we got there at 11am. Believe me, I was not a happy camper. I told Wm. that our time was just as valuable as theirs but it didn't change anything. We still sat, and sat and sat and sat..............

122

Today was a gorgeous day. We went to church (Eric is back from Hong Kong) and then went to trade cars with Susan. We took her car as Wm.'s mom has trouble getting in the Explorer(I have trouble with the low cars and much prefer the Explorer; but this was not about me)

Susan and Matty came along and we took Mom Card to lunch. She seems to be doing pretty well. My sister in law had said she was not happy at the Home but she appeared to be in good spirits.

Jon sent me some new pictures of Max.

He seems to have the same temperment as Lauren does. He is now 13# and 24".

I definitely think that Max looks as much like Morrigan as Lauren does like Lael. He is the image of Morrigan when she was a baby and they are both little carbon copies of Jon Christian.

Morrigan starts kindergarten on July 9th and Max will be going to the Day Care across the street from the school.

Both the school and the Day Care Center are in their neighborhood.

Jon and Donna have arranged their schedules at work so that the children can be picked up at 2:30. Donna starts back to work on Thursday and her mother will be watching Max until August when Day Care will take him (he has to be 6 mo. old)

I miss them....when we worked at CFC we could take time off when we wanted to, I miss being able to do that. I miss rocking my grand babies. It is very hard for me to be away from 5 of them most of the time. I treasure the time I have with Matty but Lael, Morrigan, Alyssa, Max and Lauren are growing up and I am missing it.

121

Absolutely loving this weather. Like being able to walk and get out with Matty. At the same time my knee (yes the one I surgery on in Nov) is aching again. I know it is because there is no cartilage left but it does not make it feel any better because I know what it is. I am actually looking forward to seeing the ENT surgeon next Wed. I have put this off as long as I possibly can. While my regular physician says it is nothing, I would feel much more comfortable hearing it from a specialist.

Matty is becoming more vocal and wants to be outside all the time. He has become less interested in potty training (I was not sure he was ready anyway; he will sit on the potty but rarely does anything more than sit)

He has been eating better since his eye teeth came in. Here are a couple of pics at lunch yesterday.

Yes, he loves to try on our glasses. These are just my magnifiers from the $store and they are the weakest ones.

(I hope you don't think I let him wear them around no matter how weak they are.)

He had a Hoffman hot dog and some french fries for lunch and in the middle of that he decided he would try on the glasses and that I should take a picture of him. He couldn't be still for long.....in the middle of the pictures, he decided he needed a drink. He must think he looks like Papa with these glasses on as when he put them on, he said "Papa".

I can not tell you how happy it makes me to see how much he loves his Papa (still find it strange that he changed from Grampa to Papa). From the time he gets here in the morning, until he leaves he is talking about Papa. When he opens the door in the morning, the first thing he does is call "Papa, Papa".

All through the day he picks up the phone and says "hello, Papa". When it rings, he runs to it yelling "Papa, Papa". And when it gets to be 5 o'clock(how he knows it that time, I have no idea), he climbs on the window seat and looks out the window calling "Papa, Papa". When Papa finally gets home, he beams and can't get outside to meet him fast enough. I miss that about the girls.....Lael and Alyssa used to love being with him too.