Mirena... what now???

I had Mirena (IUD) put in about 5 months ago. We thought it would be a great method of birth control because it lasts up to five years but you can take it out sooner. The pill just wasn't working for me anymore. Well... I'm getting the Mirena out today. I can say goodbye to: bloating, weight gain, BIGGER boobs (is that possible?), acne (like I didn't even have as a teenager), mood swings (ask Garrett... seriously), emotional wreck, 20 day periods, cramping... the list goes on and on. Back to the pill for me! Why does being a girl have to be sooooo hard? I guess we could always just use the good old abstinence method.... BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Like I said... back to the pill for me.

I'll blog more later.

Jewels*

Does it really matter?

I never thought I would be one to blog about this - or consider it for that reason. Garrett was out of town this past weekend on a "Jeeping trip" in Gilmer, TX. I had a relaxing weekend at home but did miss him which makes me wonder how I ever cut it as a Navy wife... that's for another time though.

I called one of my best friend's Bridget and asked if I could go to church with them on Sunday. She was so excited to have Garrison and I come visit. Garrison and her son Tanner are best buds! Let me give y'all some background. I am born and raised Episcopalian (Anglican - don't ask) and I have an unshakeable faith. My entire (or mostly) family is Anglican, my sister is a youth director, my uncle is a priest... the list goes on and on. I LOVE the sacraments, the tradition, the reverance that is involved with the church. However, Garrett and I have been trying to find a church home for the last 6 years of our marriage. He comes from a Mormon background. He was baptized as a Christian about 7 years ago. We have probably visited 15 churches (some in other states) and still have not found the right fit for us. For a while we went to my "home church" (my parents' church) and it just wasn't the right fit. While I love the traditionalism (is that a word?) of the Anglican church I CRAVE to be spiritually fed. I don't have to have contemporary music necessarily (although I do love it) but let's face it for you Anglicans/Catholics out there... we don't bring our bibles to church, there is not an overwhelming focus on the youth, etc etc. I really thought Sunday would just be a great time to sing and have a "feel good" kind of Sunday. But I really felt the Holy Spirit while at the Baptist church... who knew?? Just kidding. But really, I felt like it could be a great fit for our family. I started thinking I was crazy becuase here I am this traditional Anglo Catholic girl and now I'm thinking of going to a BAPTIST CHURCH??? After discussing with my sister and parents it was brought up, "Does it really matter?" And the answer (in my opinion) is NO it does not. Who cares if we go to a Catholic, Episcopalian (conservative), Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, or Baptist church??? So after much prayer I discussed it with Garrett when he got home and we are going to go visit as a family next Sunday. Prayers for us in our journey to find a new church home are much appreciated in this time. That's all I have for today.

Oh, we had a great time at Disney on Ice. Here is a picture of me and Garrison:

And one of Best Buds Garrison and Tanner:

Jewels*

Hearing, Vow Renewal

Okay... I just typed an entire post and it somehow got deleted before I coudl post... grrrrrr!

I have been asked to give an update on how my surgery went and here it is:

I can hear!!! More specifically...
- kids playing on playground after walking out of my post op appointment
- my high heels clicking on the hospital floor after my appointment
- running over the grate in the parking lot
- rain on the roof
- my TV volume at 20 instead of 30 (how I used to listen to it)
- I no longer read lips
- Garrison whispering
- the click of the light switch when I turn it on

The list goes on and on. I'm shortening this post because I don't want to retype everything I just did so I'm either sorry or you're lucky. haha. Surgery went very well. They only did local anesthetic so they could test my hearing after to make sure it was successful. I was nervous about that at first but grateful looking back because I knew right away the surgery worked. Really nauseous after but doc put alcohol soaked cotton ball on my nose and told me to inhale deeply and that helped a ton. I basically had to lay in the bed for 4 hours without moving. Had to use bed pan to pee first time in my life... that was not a pleasant experience to say the least. Car ride home was actually okay. Basically had to lay on couch for 4 days, felt ok day 5, and back to work on Monday. Thank you all for the prayers. I'm so blessed that this was successful. Have to get the second surgery but waiting about a year for that. Had an awesome doc that people even from out of state highly recommend so let me know if you are looking for a good ear doc. (adults and kids)

My parents' 30th vow renewal was this past weekend. Awesome! I was super nervous becuase I found out a week before I was supposed to sing with my sis while our cousin Nick played the guitar. It ended up going good though so glad that was done. We had a great time and I really miss my sister and fam. Can't wait until they move here. Here are the pictures.

Can't wait until Thursday - Mickey and Minnie's Magical Adventure: Disney on Ice. Bridget, Tanner, Mom, Garrison, and I are going. Garrison is beyond excited!!!

I'll keep you updated.

Love,
Jewels*

What?

Hopefully I will be using a lot less of that word after my surgery tomorrow. I'm only having my right ear fixed for now and the left one will be down the road. I was reading over my pre op paperwork last night and telling Garrett the statisctics they provided. I have a 1% chance of going completely deaf in my right ear, a 10% chance of losing taste for up to a year (new diet perhaps?), a 1% chance of losing taste forever (a lifelong diet perhaps?!), a 1% chance of face paralysis (that would be my luck since Natalie and I used to watch "Sewing With Nancy" and make fun of the poor lady), and a 1% chance of having severe veritgo (basically being so dizzy you constantly throw up - awesome!). All in all the chances are good that the surgery will go well. There is a 95% chance my hearing will improve and I am hopeful for that number. I was just telling a friend earlier today who asked if I was nervous that the human part of me is terrified - I HATE HATE HATE... did I say HATE?... throwing up. And most all patients do so at least once after surgery as your equilibrium is completely jacked with. And of course I am afraid of being lumped into one of the above 1% categories. But the Christian part of me (which I know is greater than the "human part") has faith that all will be well. I have so many prayers going up for me and I am so blessed to have people that care so much in my life. So thanks all for the prayers!

I put this on my facebook status earlier but I will tell it again here. I was trying to prepare Garrison for the fact that I am having surgery. I don't want him to be concerned or confused if he sees me down for a few days and I'm not my normal self. And let's face it... to have Daddy take care of him for at least 3 days is going to be a shocker... haha, just kidding. So I sat him down last night and told him Mommy was having surgery. He got a look of utter concern on his face and asked Why. I explained to him that this will hopefully help me hear better. He said, "Why do you need to hear better mommy?" I said, "You know how you talk to mommy sometimes and I have to say 'huh' 'what'? a lot?" "Yeah he said." - because he does know this all too well. I said, "Well, after I have the surgery I won't have to ask that anymore and I should be able to hear better." He looked so concerned. To look at a 3 year old and see that they feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders is awful. He perked up and said, "You don't have to Mommy because I CAN JUST TALK LOUDER LIKE THIS, SEE?" with a big smile on his face. How sweet is that I ask you? I have to say Garrison deserves the sweetest kid ever award for that one. He thought that by talking louder he could solve my problem. I am so blessed to have a child who thinks in such a selfless way. And for those of you who have kids or even know a 3 year old that is tough to find.

As a little note I started the book Love Dare - a 40 day journey to help enrich your marriage. It is amazing so far. Garrett hasn't started it yet but I like it that way. This way we do not know what to expect every day from our "tasks". For those of you who have read it you know what I'm talking about. For those that haven't, you have to try it! It is amazing!

I am off now and I want to leave you with some pics of my awesome support system. And this is just some immediate family. I have TONS of extended family and some of the greatest friends ever! Could a girl be any more blessed?

My amazing, wonderful, funny, handsome hubby:

The most precious little boy EVER:

Who could ask for better parents?

The world's most loving, compassionate, selfless person I've ever known, my sister:

The craziest, silliest, strongest, Godliest, rock of a woman I know - my grandma:

Do I always have to have a title?

I get tired of coming up with creative little titles for these oh so pointless blogs so this one shall remain titleless - well, sort of.

Today is our 6th Anniversary. Hooray! Although I have to say celebrating an anniversary on a Monday when my system has been down all day at work (slooooooow day) does not seem like much of a celebration. My husband is super sweet though. Let me preface this by saying he is not a "flowers" kind of guy. I think he gave me flowers once when we were dating like 9 years ago. haha! He just thinks it's pointless to give flowers when they will die in like 5 days and I have to say I kind of see his point. But the girly side of me does think it would be nice to get flowers every now and then. Well he called me today at work and said, "I'm so pissed!"... well hello to you too! He said he called and ordered me flowers at 10 this morning and they guaranteed they would be at my work by 4:00. Well after talking to me a few times throughout the day he realized I had not gotten the flowers yet so he called to check the status and they said they wouldn't even be able to deliver before 5:00. So needless to say he was so upset he got a refund and said nevermind. The fact that he put the effort into it though when I know how pointless he thinks it is just because he knew it would make me happy - made me happy. He even wrote down the product number and told me to go look at them online. They were beautiful and I said thank you for the virtual flowers! :) When I found out they were almost $100 I said THANK GOD you got a refund. haha! I'm such a low maintenance wife. That is absolutely ridiculous and I really do feel for the husbands who feel obligated to buy their wives flowers every anniversary/birthday/mother's day... whenever! I told my hubby to feel free and drive by Wal Mart or Kroger next time he has a hankerin to buy me some flowers. :) That's my story for today. Here is a picture of them - yes I am sharing my virtual flowers with all of you - but the necklace around the vase is MINE! :)

I am super duper nervous about my ear surgery coming up - it's in a week and a half and I can't believe it's so close. Prayers are much appreciated!

Garrison... is that you? Workout or Hell?

This blog is mostly about Garrison...

Garrison was so cute this morning. He work his western shirt, his jeans, and his cowboy boots. He was such a sweet little thing and then we got in the car and he said, "Mommy I'm not going to cry today because of donuts". (Because the other morning he SCREAMED and threw a fit at daycare when I brought 2 donuts instead of the normal 3 that we take once or twice a week for his breakfast - I only had 4 left though and wanted him to be able to take them twice this week.) So I said, "Well that's good baby" knowing where this was going. And he said in his sweet angelic voice, "Do I have donuts today Mommy?" Me: "No bubba, we are having donuts tomorrow! Today we have a snack bar and a banana." One second I'm looking into this innocent little face and the next thing I know I hear this ear piercing SCREAM - scared me to death. I said, "Did you bite your lip?" Becuase it looked like he did and he goes "NO MOMMY!" (I'm typing that really hard as if to emphasize how he said it.) So he went from sweet little boy to psycho child in 2 seconds flat... amazing. But he cried it off and was sweet again by the time we got to school. I swear I'm exhausted by 8 AM most mornings. :)

And yesterday when I picked him up from daycare the teacher gave me that look. You know the look I'm talking about if you're a mom and your kid did something bad and the teacher has to tell you about it. So I was all prepared. I'm really not just saying this but Garrison is one of the most well behaved and well liked kids at school so it's truly rare that he gets in trouble. Apparently he went to timeout for showing his food to his friends at snack time. Well instead of sitting patiently and quietly in time out he started kicking the cabinet and eventually broke it off its hinges... really??? Really Garrison??? I was so disappointed in him. (That always gets him way more than being mad so I guess that's a good thing.) I made him apologize to his teacher, the office staff, and then have a talk with daddy and me both. Then I made him tell my mom and dad since we dropped by their house last night. I wanted him to realize that was not okay. When I was talking to him in the car about it I said, "That makes mommy so sad Garrison" and my eyes started watering (PMS - I'm really not that emotional) and I put my sunglasses back on. He said, "I'm sorry mommy." He looked at me with this agonizing frowny face and said, "Take your sunglasses off mommy. Let me see your eyes." And I did and they were dry by then. He just smiled like he was so happy that I was better. Awwww... how can they be so awful one minute and so ridiculously sweet and cute the next? That's just the day in the life of a a mommy to a three year old.

I did a cardio ball workout on Sunday that my boss recommended. She said to make sure I did the 30 minute and not 50 minute workout. The DVD menu was not clear and just said Workout and Express Workout as my options. Well there was also a 10 minute workout so I figured that was the Express one. So I started up and let's just say this was Hell and the sweedish beautiful fit instructor was Satan herself. After about 10 minutes in she said, "Okay, great warm up everyone. Now let's get started on the workout." I was literally yelling at the tv... "WARM UP??? THAT WAS THE FREAKN' WARM UP??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Well just then my oh so sensitive and witty husband walks through and asks what I'm doing yelling at the tv. So I keep going... 25 minutes in I was DONE. (Apparently I was doing the 50 minute workout.) I sat down and fast forwarded through the rest to see what other kinds of torture this lady had in mind and my husband walks back through with another smart ass remark about me "working out" (AKA watching tv). I told him I would LOVE to see him do that workout and he walked out without another word. HA! Anyways, point of my story is I consider myself to be in decent shape (cardiovascularly) as I have been (with exeption of this week due to being so sore I can barely walk) going to the gym every morning and doing about 40 min of cardio. But it wasn't the cardio that got me in this dvd. This woman was CRAZY! Squatting, lunging, squatting, lunging... did I mention squatting and lunging? I seriously could barely walk for a few days. I couldn't sit on the toilet without pain. And when I would go to sit on the couch I had to literally jump and fall back into it as to avoid putting any kind of strain on my leg muscles. Pathetic I know. And maybe I am crazy but I will try, try again!

Jewels*

Garrison, 2 lbs closer to SKINNY, Otosclerosis

Garrison cracks me up. I had this as my status earlier for those of you who do not like repeat stories. I had this as my status earlier for those of you who do not like repeat stories... haha! Thought I'd get you one last time before you skip on to the next paragraph. I like to tell Garrison that he's handsome. I don't tell him all the time - wouldn't want him to have a huge head to go along with his lanky 3 year old body, but I try to make it a point to boost him up every once in a while and let's face it people - he's pretty cute! ;)

When I used to get him dressed he would sometimes say, "Am I handsome mommy?" Well that has turned into, "I'm handsome mommy!" And this morning it was, "I'm very very handsome mommy! I'm very very very very handome mommy!".... really? Just like a man. You try and stroke the ego a bit and the head gets so big it almost explodes. Ay yay yay! It was pretty cute though. Now if he's telling me that at 15 I might have to give him an ego deflation. So then we get in the car and say our morning prayers on our way to school. In the middle of the prayer he said, "Mommy I love Jesus. I want to hug Jesus. I want to kiss Jesus." How sweet is that? I try to explain to him that Jesus is in his heart and always with him so he can "hug" him whenever he wants. He seemed to be content with that answer!

I have been eating really healthy (pretty much following Weight Watchers pont system) since Monday. I'm actually super proud of myself because I LOVE FOOD! :) I think my husband has actually tried to throw me off track a few times but I've stuck to my guns. He hates a salad and water kind of girl but his choices are (1) skinny salad and water wife or (3) fat burger and fries wife. In 4 days I've lost 2 lbs. I'm so excited! I'm one of those super impatient people when it comes to seeing results so that gives me the motivation I need to really stick with this. I will swear by the theory that the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat right and exercise. It really is true!

I am finally blogging about my otosclerosis. I've made several comments about how I can't hear very well and lots of funny stories to go along with that. I started noticing (actually my coworkers did) that I could not hear very well about 3 years ago. If someone talked to me over my cubicle I couldn't hear what they were saying and had to walk around to talk to them. The hearing got gradually worse over time. For a while I didn't notice it because I was in an outside sales job selling Medicare insurance to old people. Loved the job and LOVE how loud old people talk! Music to my ears! :) Anyways, after going to one "specialist" (if he really deserves that title) he told me I had Meniere's Disease. Basically this guy told me in a very casual way that if I chose to have more children I would go completely deaf... oh and there was no cure! Needless to say I left that appointment in tears. After taking my very wise mom's advise (moms really are always right!) I got a second opinion. This doctor decided to do a cat scan and told me I do not have Meniere's but I have Otosclerosis. (Hope I did that link thingy right... haha!) Bad news - I will probably one day go completely deaf. Good news - I can prevent that and possibly fix the hearing I've lost by having surgery. Bad news - There is a very small chance I could go completely deaf from the surgery. Good news - I have faith that it will go well! Effects of having this on me: Garrett tells me every night the tv is at max volume already when I ask him to turn it up, I have become an EXCELLENT lip reader, I get frustrated easily when I have to say "what" so many times a day I lose count, my son has even told me, "you can't hear me mommy!", and I basically do a lot of nodding and smiling until someone stares blankly at me and I say... "I'm sorry, what?" because I realize they were asking me a question. HAHA!

So, my surgery is scheduled for March 4th. I've been reading some discussion boards about people who have experienced this and the surgery. Some... not so positive, but that's my own fault for reading on the internet. I am nervous but also excited that I could possibly hear again. I am affected in both ears which is rare so I will have one ear done in March and have to wait at least 6 months to have the other done. I'll keep you all updated.

Jewels*