Keeping my hands busy

Let's just say that the evenings have been the hardest for me since I have started my weight loss journey. So, since I began losing weight in January, I have taken up crocheting again to keep my hands busy at night. I figured if my hands were busy, then I would not be using them to shovel food into my face! Here are a few of the blankets that I have done.

The one above for was for my friend Jen, whose baby boy is due the day after Easter. This pastel pretty is for my co-worker and friend Sara. Her bouncing baby girl is coming in June and we are all very excited to meet her!

This blanket is for a family friend, Karen, and her little girl that is going to make her debut in April.

I am currently working on a blanket for myself, even though I should really be finishing a blanket that I started making for Brian about 7 years ago! Ssshhh.....don't tell him!

A New Journey

I decided once again to join Weight Watchers. It seems like this is the 122nd time I have done this! This time I decided to do it online. Like I have said, this is not my first rodeo so I thought I would give the online thing a try. Besides, I really wasn't a fan of the woman that did the meetings in my area. Anyways, since January 27th, I have lost 17.5 pounds. It has been a struggle, but I keep on keeping on. One of my accomplishments has been getting my wedding band back on. It has been a while since I have been able to wear it, and I am happy that I am finally able to wear it again!

The Heart of the Matter

Back in August of last year and again in January of this year, Brad had an issue with his heart. Both times, Brad came to me and said that his heart was hurting him and he felt like he was having a heart attack. Each time we called the doctor and they advised that he was probably having this heart issue due to dehydration. Both times, it did go away after about an hour. After the last episode in January, he was scheduled for his 6 year check up the following week. I brought this up with his pediatrician and she was going to send us to a pediatric cardiologist to get a baseline EKG, so that if the rapid heartbeat was to happen again, we would have something to go from. At the end of January, we met with the pediatric cardiologist. First came the EKG and the nurse saw something on it and asked the doctor to see us then instead of waiting 6 months to be seen. As soon as the cardiologist listened to Brad's heart in the stethoscope, he stated that Brad has WPW. This means that he has an extra electrical pathway in his heart. This condition can lead to episodes of rapid heart beats. Normally, electrical signals in the heart go through a pathway that helps the heart beat regularly. The wiring of the heart prevents extra beats from occurring and keeps the next beat from happening too soon. In people with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, there is an extra, or accessory, pathway that may cause a very rapid heart rate. This is called supraventricular tachycardia. The doctor then sent us across the hall to have a Doppler sonogram done on Brad's heart. It was then discovered that Brad also has Ebstein's Anomaly. Ebstein's anomaly is a rare heart defect in which parts of the tricuspid valve are abnormal. The tricuspid valve separates the right lower heart chamber (right ventricle) from the right upper heart chamber (right atrium). The condition is congenital, which means it is present from birth. At this point, I am beyond scared and worried about what will happen to Brad. The doctor stated that at this point, Brad's valve is not leaking so there is not much concern. He will monitor Brad and see him about every 4 months. The doctor also put Brad on a heart monitor for a month. He was to wear this all the time, except for bathing and sleeping. Brad was a real trooper with the monitor. He had to press a button every time he felt like his heart was beating fast and the monitor would record his heart rate for 90 seconds. We then had to transmit the readings over the phone. As of now, things are good and I haven't heard from his cardiologist regarding the readings. No news is good news at this point!

Look Who's 6!

With the beginning of January, we celebrated Brad's 6th Birthday. So very hard to believe that he is six already! This year, Brad decided that he wanted an Army birthday. We decorated with camo balloons and Army tanks and Jet fighters. We invited the family over to celebrate. As is tradition now, we served baked ziti before we had cake and ice cream. Let's just say, Brad is very spoiled by our family! His favorite gift, even though he hasn't gotten it yet, is a brand new bike from Gramona and Pop.

I think the best part of Brad's birthday was this fantastic cake made by my good friend Debbie. She did an AMAZING job! And it tasted as great as it looked!

So much has happened...

Well, since I last posted back in June 2010, so much has happened! Brad started Kindergarten in September. This is huge for him! I was a bit nervous about this transition as he would no longer be receiving any services for speech, occupational therapy or a social skills group. I was most concerned about the social skills aspect of this equation, as this was the last thing that he was getting help with in preschool. It was really beginning to help, then it was taken away. Needless to say, Brad is doing wonderfully in Kindergarten. He is progressing right where he should and on some things, he is ahead of the game. Our nights have been spent learning "sight words" and doing projects to help him learn his words.

In October, Brian and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. So hard to believe that a decade has passed since we were married. Everyday is an adventure! Also, in October I helped with a wonderful fundraiser for a great friend. Her daughter has many developmental and physical disabilities and was in great need of a service dog. However, a service dog costs over $11,000.00! Can you believe it?!?! This costs is mostly for the training of the dog for the specific needs of the individual. So a fundraiser was put together so Gracie could receive her service dog. At the end of the night, we had raised more than enough money for Gracie to get her dog. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that our community got together and raised all the necessary funding for this very deserving little girl!

In early December, Brian had surgery to repair a hernia in his abdomen. He was in the hospital for two days (he was only scheduled for one). Of course, during his time in the hospital, we had one heck of a lake effect storm! It felt like the snow was never going to stop. Brian recovered and is back to normal now.

The holidays were crazy, fun, wonderful and very sad at the same time. Four days before Christmas, we lost my grandmother very unexpectedly. It was very sad and our entire family was in shock, but we all got through. We put on a happy face as we did not want this to ruin Brad's Christmas. After all, he is at the age where Christmas is still magical and full of excitement! This year we even got a holiday guest, Roger the Elf on the Shelf. Everyday Roger was hiding in a new spot, watching Brad to make sure that he was behaving!

Well, this is my update to the end of 2010. I promise, my next post will bring you all up to date on 2011!

Epic Fail!!

So, I have not been very good at keeping up with my blog. I guess I would consider this an epic fail on my part. I just have not had the umph to post anything of late. But I believe that it is time to turn my frown upside down and start on my blog again! I promise that I will keep up-to-date on my posts. This is all part of the new leaf that I am hoping to turn in my life. More to come....