encouragement...

"Out of every disappointment there is to be gleaned some treasure. The enemy would whisper 'all is lost'. I say to you much can be gained. Refuse the temptation to brood over what is gone. The PRESENT challenge requires your undivided attention. Give no time to dark thoughts. Depression ...undermines the vigor of the soul...." ~On The High Road to Surrender by Frances J. Roberts

(this was posted on my friends Facebook status update and I thought I would share it here)

Esophageal obstruction...say what?

Pot Roast. I have been craving pot roast for about two weeks now. You know with brown gravy, mashed potatoes (of course with brown gravy) and green beans? Oh it sounded so wonderful! I had thought about making it, but since Justin doesn't really like it it would really be me eating the left overs. (Justin would have at least tried it the first meal) At this point I decided to see if there was a restaurant that served it. YES! Cracker Barrel does.

To make a long story even longer, we decided to invite my parents to lunch on Saturday and then after lunch they would take Ian for the afternoon while we went home to work on Ian's big boy room. We had seriously been praying that I wouldn't get too tired or weak or pregnancy sickness, so that we would be able to really work hard on the room.

Ok, back to the pot roast. I ordered mine and took the first bite. OH NO! I started choking. I headed to the bathroom and threw up what I could. I just didn't feel like it was all the way out. My mom came and checked on me and we headed back to the table so I could try and drink some water. Well it couldn't go down, so of course it came up. Thankfully I had grabbed a few paper towels from the ladies room and was able to throw up the water into that. Justin got me another napkin for my walk to the bathroom. Basically my family ate their lunch while I spent time in front of the toilet trying to get the roast beef out.

My mom came back and checked on me and said they were done and asked if I wanted to go to the doctor. I said yes. So they loaded up the car seat into their car and took Ian while Justin and I went to Mercy ER. They got me right in, which was nice. I hate having to wait in the ER waiting room, there are often some strange characters there.

The doctor came back to see me and immediately felt my throat area and said he would have to get a specialist in to push the food down my esophagus. I should mention, this was not how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon. I guess I should have added not choking to my prayer list.

They had to put me out, which I was glad they were able to do, because even with the heavy meds I still gagged during the procedure (says the doctor). I can't imagine how it would have been if I wasn't drugged up! I felt so much better when I woke up and couldn't believe it was over. They sent me home and told me to stay away from meats I have to cute with a knife (steak, roast beef, etc) , rice and bread and to eat soft foods for the next day or so. Once baby Owen is born I will follow up with the doctor and they will dialate my esophagus. I have to wait till I am done breast feeding though because they will use even stronger drugs to put me out for that procedure (at least this how I understood it).

So there you go! I am now paranoid about chewing like a million times before swallowing and can't feed my pot roast craving. I am super thankful for my wonderful husband and wonderful mom and step dad who were so willing to help during this time.

I think I might have had an anesthetic hangover this morning because I was so tired and had a headache all day. Needless to say we didn't get anything done to Ian's room. Oh well, God knew.

Yummy yummy to my tummy!

Oh my goodness, y'all I just had the best mini muffin ever! They are called pecan pie mini muffins! I got the recipe from Bake at 350's blog. Let me tell you that they are SO wonderful straight out of the oven. I am just hoping they will be good once they have cooled down. I am taking them to our girls night tonight. So excited about that by the way! Our FLOCK is so good at having socials. We are so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful church family!

Feeling patriotic today..

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Rumor has it...

Rumor has it today is the first day of spring. Like most of you in the line of this snow storm, I am wondering who didn't get the memo.

Since Ian can walk now we took him outside to see the snow. He wasn't too thrilled with it so we didn't stay out in it too long. But it was fun getting all bundled up (hopefully for the last time this season). Here are some pictures to see what I am talking about.

Fun times...

To check out my day yesterday check out this blog (click here). We had so much fun and it was very refreshing to be able to not worry about Ian for about 2 hours! Thank you Lord for giving me such great friends!

Just a few random stories...

Sometimes I think of things to say but I don't really feel like it is long enough to be considered a blog post and at the same time it is too long to be considered a facebook status update. So I thought I would share just a few things on here today. I hope you enjoy!

Last night at 10 till midnight my cell phone rang. It really scared the crap out of me, because if someone is calling that late it should be an emergency. Well it was not, it was just some random number. I did not answer it. Then about 4 minutes later the phone rang again. Same number. Ugh. I answered it. The guy on the other end had a middle eastern accent and said "Jessica this is Ben from Stars pizza". I quickly interrupted him and said you have the wrong number and it is late. I then hung up. My insides were just calming down when we heard a loud noise outside that sounded like either someone shooting a BB gun or perhaps a cat running on our covered porch roof. Anyways, it got the surrounding dogs barking. Justin looked outside, but didn't see anything amiss. We finally got to sleep. And that is the end of that fun story. :)

Ian looked pretty handsome yesterday for St. Patrick's day! He had his green shirt on and wore it well! He even ate green for dinner. ;)


The other night Justin had the hiccups pretty bad. Now I don't remember the story word for word but it was pretty funny. I think I asked Justin to do something with Ian and he said can't you see I am handicap right now! It was so funny! We started laughing and then he started to choke on his drink, it then turned not so funny so I didn't say anything at the time. But I thought I would mention it here.

The fun didn't end at the last post...

So I only thought that Ian getting sick all over me was the end of the throwing up saga. I was SO wrong. Here is what happened:

Thursday morning, around 1:30 I woke up with horrible pain. I knew the pain right away and got to the bathroom to throw up right away. I knew immediately that this was not pregnancy throwing up. After Justin helped clean things up we laid back in bed only for me to throw up about 6 more times with in the next hour and a half. It was just awful. We finally called the on call doctor because I was also having pains after every time I threw up. I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not. The doctor had us go to the labor and delivery floor at the hospital. Justin got Ian up and ready and had the car pulled out and called me to let me know he was ready for me to come out. Then it came, the runs. Ugh. We then headed to the hospital and on the way there I threw up again.

Up at the labor and delivery floor I couldn't sit up and collapsed on the floor threw up again and had to haul it to the bathroom again for the other reason. After that they got me hooked up to an IV so I wouldn't get dehydrated and so that they could give me medicine through it.

Ian wasn't going back to sleep so I finally sent Justin and Ian home so they could rest for awhile, since it looked like I would be there for at least a few more hours. I got to go home around 10 in the morning. I slept for most of the day while my wonderful husband took care of Ian and did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. He is always amazing, but was extra amazing during this time.

Sadly this is not the end of my story. Friday morning I woke up with a migraine and that lasted till Saturday night. So I was pretty much out of commission from Thursday till Saturday night. Not fun at all. I am just glad that things are back to normal, some what at least. Now my allergies are in full action. But I can at least function enough to take care of Ian and do a few things around the house.

Ok, that is the end of my story. Wish it was a more fun story.

My day in a blog post...

I would have said my day in a nut shell, but I am pretty sure this story is too big for a nut shell ;)

Have you ever felt like you got something that you didn't deserve. Perhaps a good grade in school or maybe you didn't get charged for your drink at dinner. Well today I was well aware that I have a husband that I don't deserve! Here is why:

Last night I didn't sleep good at all. In fact I just didn't sleep. I laid awake in bed most of the night just honestly thinking of how I would vent to Justin when he realized I had been awake all night. Lets just when I don't get good sleep I am not a nice person. I am pretty sure that at this point I was on the verge of being evil.

Enter Ian. I had heard him coughing off and on for about an hour. I kept telling myself that I would go check on him if he kept it up and of course that is when he would quit. Finally I decided I better go see if he was running a fever (Justin and I had been sick the last week so I thought he might have what we had had). With thermometer in hand I entered Ian's room to be swept away with the smell of vomit! The poor kid had been throwing up, not coughing. We will save how bad I felt for another post.

I then had to call Justin in to do the clean up as the smell was making me gag and all Justin needed was to have two people to clean up. So I went to our bedroom while Justin cleaned Ian up and once he was done I came back into the living room to talk to Ian while Justin took the blankets off Ian's bed. Justin then asked what he should do with them and I said we should probably just throw them in the wash. I should probably mention that it was 4:15 in the morning. My wonderful husband then proceeded to not only wash Ian's blankets but also put in the rest of the clothes in his laundry basket as well as some of our dirty clothes. How wonderful is he? Well just keep reading to find out!

We (and by we I mean Justin) finally got Ian back to bed and I decided to lay on the couch so I could make sure and hear Ian if he threw up again and about 5 minutes later he did. So once again I call Justin in to get his sheets off the bed. Thankfully we got there in time that it wasn't on Ian or his blankie so I took him to the living room while Justin cleaned up. Again we put Ian to bed. I had the computer up (facebook of course) and so Justin calmed me down and said it would be best for me to close up the computer and try to get some sleep. So that is just what I did, well I tried. I stayed on the couch again. About 15 minutes later I hear Justin up. He is putting the clothes in the dryer! Keep in mind it is still really early in the morning. Being the selfish, evil, sleep deprived pregnant women that I am I just laid on the couch while he did all of this.

I finally go to the point that I felt like I might fall asleep if I went to the bedroom. About 30 minutes later Justin's alarm went off. He of course hit snooze and slept in for a bit before getting up to get ready. Ian was still asleep when he was ready to leave for work so I thought I would be fine if he went to work and I was left by myself with Ian. Little did I know.

When Ian and I got up I was so tired I just wasn't thinking. I got him a cup of milk. I am sure that all of you can see what is coming next. After Ian finished his milk he threw it right up all over me! I immediatly called Justin on his cell phone and asked if he could come home. I told him what had happened. He came home to me sitting on the couch wearing nothing but a blanket. My throw up covered clothes laying on the floor. He then starts with cleaning up the clothes and starting yet another load of laundry. Once he finished that I took a shower. Oh how I felt better after that! Then Justin gave Ian a much needed bath. We called the doctor and they told us this was going around and at his age there really isn't anything they can do unless he is running a fever. They suggested some Pedialyte and Popsicle's to help keep him hydrated.

Justin then let me go to bed while he stayed up with Ian. Which I should mention that Ian was in a good mood this entire time. He never once was upset because of the throwing up! Justin stayed until after lunch and then went to work for a meeting. Let me tell you though that I have no doubt he would have stayed if I needed him too.

As you can see I have the most amazing husband in the world. I truly don't deserve him. He is so wonderful to put God first, family second and others third. I don't know what I would have done with out him today. I love him so much.

I hate that Ian was sick today, but if he hadn't been and Justin hadn't had to help out so much I fear that the evil, selfish, pregnant women would have shown her face. Thank you Lord for keeping me from showing that side of myself today!

The best things in life...

1. random kisses from my one year old!
2. random gifts and kisses from my hubby!
3. the smell of a cold bathroom (I know it sounds silly, but I love it!).
4. my one year old laughing
5. even better than #4 is hearing my one year old, my husband and myself laughing all together!
6. spending time with my girl friends once a month on girls night!
7. whirlpool tubs!
8. chocolate (you didn't think that was going to be left off the list did you?).
9. seeing two lines!
10. knowing that I will spend eternity in heaven!

Bonus #11. the smell of holidays!

What is your top 10 (or 11) best things in life?