Married with Children

I know someone who's husband is serving his 3rd tour in Iraq (the Marine who introduced Robert and I actually) and I know she has told us all to stop whining but sometimes I just need a pity party.

My problem today is Kolton. So far he is grounded from the computer and TV tonight but what I'd really like to do is lock him in his room. His sugars have been sooo high from the Orapred he was on (for only 3 days). Hyperactivity is just one of the signs of high sugar....they need to add "if parent feels like killing the child" to the list of symptoms!!!! Kolton is and I think will always be my challenging child.

Next problem, my dear husband's schedule. 4 out of 7 nights this week he has had a meeting related to church things. This is the part where the wife of the Marine serving says just be glad he's home every night and I'm trying to keep a clear perspective but then the poor me syndrome kicks in. Poor me having to do all the laundry, cook, clean dishes, give the kids a bath, blah, blah, blah. Last night when Robert came home I decided for him that something's gotta give. He agreed. (Smart man). We've had this conversation before but this time he really did agree with me because he actually made some changes so that he can actually see his kids before they are asleep in bed.

Ok, I'm done now.

Update

A few updates, Kolton is doing better. He saw his regular ped today and he doesn't know what his reaction was due to but the good news is Kolton is better. He had him stop the orapred which is good b/c after 3 days on that his sugar was in the 500's today....I know that sounds high and I will say that is the highest he has ever been but blood sugars I can fix...hives on the other hand...not so much.

Paul has not left for boot camp yet. There is a 50% chance he will leave next Monday and if not then, for sure on May 12th. I think Robert is holding his breath until the boy arrives in San Diego.

I declined the invite to teach an adult SS class on Mother's Day. My mom laughed when I told her about it (I laughed with her), her dog even started barking as if to laugh too. My dad didn't think I was serious and my best friend Cindy's response was "you said no right?". She knows me too well. After serious consideration w/o laughter I declined. Teaching adults is not one of my spiritual gifts. I admire those who can teach but the classroom is not where God wants to use me which is fine with me!!! (Helping Christie with the junior high girls is fine though...that classroom I can handle).

This is totally random, I'm watching the cartoon "Max and Ruby" with Josh....do these rabbits have parents??

Allergic Reaction

I've decided if something is going to happen to someone in our family, it will happen to Kolton. He's currently in the mist of an allergic reaction but we don't know what to. It started out minor on Friday morning and by 1:30 I had to go pick him up from school because he was itching. Friday night he was worse, Saturday morning he was better and had his football pictures made but of course had to miss his game. I took him to Acute Kids Urgent Care Saturday (great place to go by the way when your regular ped isn't open) and he had to have a shot of epi and started on an oral steroid.

Now, to determine what he was exposed to....we started a new vial of insulin on the 23rd and the rash started on the 25th. Of course the on call endocrinologist said no way could all this be caused by the insulin but what does he know??? Dr Stewart I'm sure is younger than me and has only studied diabetes...he hasn't lived with it!!! So this morning I went to CVS and was able to switch out bottles and we'll see if that helps.

Poor Kolton....at times he looks better, at times he looks worse. He's taken so much benedryl I can't believe he doesn't sleep all day! I feel so bad for him. Hopefully we get this figured out soon! If he's not better tomorrow we'll be off to his regular ped.

Panic Attack

I just got an email from a Sunday School teacher at church asking ME to teach his class on Mother's Day. Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. I am not a natural teacher at all. I do fine helping with the junior high girls because Christy is AWESOME. I do ok with little kids too but you'd be surprised at some of the tough questions they ask. I have never taught an adult class nor had the desire to. The Lord is telling me to stay at Murphy Road during this time of Mark and Gina leaving and all that goes with that. Since Mark announced he's leaving, Robert has been elected chair of the Deacons, and I've been asked to be on the pre-school board and now teach on Mother's Day! As Jeff Foxworthy says...."here's your sign".

Diabetes Check-Up

Kolton has his regular 3 month check up yesterday with his endocrinologist at Childrens. I've very happy to say Childrens Medical Center Legacy is now open so hopefully we never had to go back downtown to the main campus!

Kolton's A1C was 8% which is on the high end of normal for kids with diabetes. (A1C tells us how his sugar has really been doing over the past 3 months. 8% means his average blood sugar is 205...not so good). I've been told to start keeping his log again which means writing down his BS before meals and 2 hours after meals and start reading the logs for trends so I can make insulin adjustments. More goes into this log than just simply writing down a number. He has a target range for pre and post meals and the difference between those 2 numbers can't be more or less than 50. Bedtime target range is different than meal....you get the idea. Now in addition to figuring carbs and insulin dosage I get to start the logging process again. Guess my break is over. I don't mind doing all of this to manage Kolton's diabetes but sometimes we both miss the days of eating a pop tart in the car on the way to school!!!

Weekend Happenings

This weekend after Kolton's football game we took off for Gladewater. The town was having it's annual "Gusher Days" festival and although Robert and I aren't big fans of the event, the kids always have a good time. Kolton was out of school today so we stayed all day today and got home around 8. The kids love going to Gladewater and playing with their cousins all weekend. Robert got to play a round of golf with one of his brothers and I spent a lot of quality time with the kids aka I was the only parent there to sit outside and watch them!! All the kids come in at night tired and covered in dirt which is a sign of a good day. We'll be headed back in about 3 weeks. Robert's sister-in-law, Robin, graduates from nursing school. She's the over-achiever of the 3 daughter-in-laws!!!

Another PB Update

We took PB out to dinner Friday and said our good-byes...the church prayed for him yesterday and guess what? He didn't leave today as planned! When he first signed up for the Marines he was only 17 so his sister had to sign the papers for him. On Friday his recruiter decided they needed a certified copy of the guardianship papers and not the copy his sister provided. As long as they get the certified copy tomorrow...he'll be on his way. If they don't get the paper tomorrow...he'll be delayed a few more days. Even though he's 18 now they are using his original signing date so that they don't have to re-do all the processing steps PB's already done.

The word is out

I can now finally tell you the family I was referring to in my "meltdown" blog is our pastor, Mark and his wife Gina...did I ever mention they have 6 kids?! Yes it is our pastor and his family that is moving to Granbury. I've had several weeks to think about their move and get used to the idea of a new pastor but the majority of the church just got the news yesterday and are still going through the emotions. I know people will leave the church just because Mark is but Robert and I will stick it out and see who the Lord leads to the church as the new pastor.

PB Update

Robert talked to Paul's recruiter today and Paul is shipping out for bootcamp on Monday. We will be out of town this weekend missing the family "stuff" on Sunday so Robert is meeting with the recruiter again on Thursday to get all the info. Paul will be staying at a hotel here in Dallas on Sunday night and his flight to California will leave on Monday. If we were in town we could go to his hotel Sunday night and take him out to eat. I'm hoping Jonathan and his family will go see Paul Sunday night. We'll have to say our good-byes on Friday. I may be too pregnant to fly when he graduates from bootcamp which will be a total bummer but at least Robert will be there. Not too many months ago we would have changed our plans to be with Paul on Sunday. It's been a looooong journey with him and now we have to put our 2 boys first.

Baby Update

Today Josh went with me to my doctor's appointment and he was freaked out by the whole thing. He didn't really like the parking garage, and really didn't like the sono machine. I had another sono today because Robert's DNA didn't want the doc and I to hear it's heartbeat. On the sono everything is fine. The only issue seems to be my blood pressure...big surprise. Remember I was on bedrest with Josh for the same reason. My doc ordered some labs so we'll see what happens with that.

Ladies Night Out

Tonight was my monthly ladies night out with ladies from church. Tonight we hit Asados for dinner and then I ended up staying at Carrie's too late when I dropped her off and I still had to stop by the grocery store. When I got home at 10 (ok I'm old if I think 10 is late...that used to be early) my kids were still up! The joke every month at dinner or the movies is that my kids will be up no matter what time I get home and sure enough they always are!! I always have fun when we all get together for dinner....we always have a good time, good food and lots of laughs. Tonight's funny moment was when the waiter offered us all a shot of tequila w/o knowing we were a church group. Doesn't he know Baptists are closet drinkers?? Just kidding. It wasn't so much the fact that he offered the shots, it was the look on Ami's face when he asked.

USMC Recruit

Paul Brown aka "PB" came over tonight and has decided (again) to go into the Marines. Yes this is the same PB who enlisted last spring and even had his ship date to boot camp on the calendar..then he changed his mind and backed out. Now he has changed his mind once again...worse than a girl. For those of you who don't know Paul, he is a kid from church whom we have known since he was 12 and he even lived with us for a while his junior year of high school. We call him our adopted son and most the time he doesn't listen to us just like our own 2 kids. He graduated from Plano East in May and has finally decided to listen to Robert...shock I know. Robert has always said Paul has what it takes to be a great Marine hopefully this time he'll go through with it.

Saturday Fun

Our day started off with a football game. I don't know if Kolton's team won but I do know he had a great time.

As Helen says, I am soooooo pregnant. I remembered at 11 that we had a birthday party at 2...we didn't go. The little girl was turning 1 so I figured it was ok we didn't show besides that we didn't RSVP since I had forgotten all about it!

Next stop, Rangers game and Third Day concert. Another prego moment, I forgot the camera in the car so I have no pictures to post of the concert and game! Rangers lost of course but everyone had fun. We went with a big group of people from church. I know my boss and her family were there too and her daughter was suppose to be purposed to during the 7th inning stretch but it never happened. I'll have to get the details on that tomorrow. Kolton and I ate too many peanuts...he got sick this morning and my stomach still hurts!!! Next time I'll remember the camera and we won't be eating peanuts!!

"ER"

Finally! My favorite shows are starting to come on again after the writers strike. Can't wait to see Grey's this month too. I'm tired of watching cartoons, if anything, at night with the kids.

Texas Weather

Ok, so the storm that moved through North Texas last night did nothing in Sachse except rain but must not have been too windy. Our pitiful fence is still standing as is the small "tree" in our front yard. I went to my office today and saw all sorts of damage as it took me over 30 minutes to go from George Bush & Midway to Trinity Mills & Midway (which normally takes maybe 10 minutes). In addition to trees uprooted, I saw stoplights twisted, bent and on the ground, signs blown out, a metal light post on the ground, and drove around a big clump of metal in the road...not sure what that was. One thing I did learn this morning, drivers here in Texas cannot do a 4-way stop. I went thru 3 intersections today and it was total chaos. Maybe Jeff Foxworthy needs to add....'you might be a redneck if you blog about a spring storm in Texas'. The Watson household is boring huh?

KU #1

Even though I went to Kansas State University, I still had to support my fellow Kansas college and cheer for KU during the final four. Robert and I watched the last half hour of the game and I really thought KU had lost the game....until the 3 point shot and overtime! I would have loved to be at that game. I'm not much for watching basketball on TV, I prefer the energy and excitment of being at the game. Robert is anti-basketball since he's a short white guy but I went to a high school in Kansas and in that state, high school basketball gets all the attention unlike high school football here in Texas! Go Jayhawks!!

It's a G-I-R-L

No, not me...my friend Hannah that had the meltdown with me. She and her husband Brian found out today they are having a girl who is due in Aug. Their son Jacob will turn 2 in Sept. She felt like she was carrying a girl. I don't feel anything but nausea so mine is probably another boy! I'll find out mid-May.

Meltdown

Thursday night Robert told me a family in our church is moving. We talked about it for a while and were both surprised and sad they were moving but knew it would be ok...we'd see them again...just not as often. Over the weekend I went to a ladies retreat with ladies from church and my friend who is moving was there and we didn't talk about the move and I was just fine.

Today in church however I was not so fine!! It was very weird for me to go to church and see my friends and know they would be leaving soon. By the end of the church service I was a basket case!! I went out into the foyer and had a meltdown..luckily my friend Hannah who is also pregnant was in the foyer and was able to have a meltdown with me even though she didn't know why we were crying util I told her. Anyone who knows me very well knows I never cry but once I get started I can't stop!! So when church got out and people started filling up the foyer, Hannah and I made a mad dash to the bathroom to continue my meltdown.

I'm not sure exactly when my friends will be gone but I sure hope I don't cry every time I see them until then! I know I'll be ok and I know God will use them in great ways in their new town and church but I sure wish He would leave them where they are!! Robert and I have known this family longer than we've been married and their move is going to be much harder on me than I thought it would be. In my mind I know all will be well but at the same time my heart breaks that they are leaving.

Handy Manny

Josh loves watching Handy Manny. I don't speak spanish and I don't have any talking tools, but I did manage to fix my washing machine. That's right, me, not Robert, but me...all by myself!

Mommy...Daddy needs your help

Those are the words I heard last night at 10:00 and yes Josh was still up. Our washing machine got to the rinse cycle and decided not to shut off. Although Robert was in the room next to the laundry room, Josh found the mess. The laundry room was flooded and the hallway was getting a good bath. After calling 2 neighbors and getting s shop vac, we had it cleaned up by mid-night. Apparently a Maytag washer isn't the best and mine has aged in dog years. I've only had it 6 years! We tried to look at the bright side, we didn't put in hardwood floors like we wanted to, and the carpet isn't new...could've been worse. The best part...Josh took a picture which I will have to post.