Just because

I really like this picture. On the tips of his toes - trying to take it all in.

Like Grandfather...

This post is directed to my dad - notice anything familiar in that grandson of yours?? 

The Walker Family Goes To The Zoo

Last weekend, Jeff and I took Andrew to the Fort Worth Zoo. We loaded up the car and took the hour drive to Fort Worth and battled the crowds on an absolutely beautiful February day. The temperature was in the 70s and we jumped at the chance to have Andrew get his first Zoo experience. We had been told that the Fort Worth Zoo was much better than the Dallas Zoo so we took the advice and went the Fort Worth route.

We had a nice time at the Zoo, but Andrew was less than interested in the animals. He was more interested in watching all of the people and walking everywhere. We had to stop him multiple times from running in to people or attempting to climb in to the animal areas. I enjoyed taking pictures of all the animals and my fellas. I was "that" mom who thought it would be cute to dress my child just like his daddy for the day. As long as I get a laugh - it's worth it.

 

Andrew noticing the Giraffes

Andrew decided he wanted to get in with the Giraffes

Gotta Get Pics of the TIGERS!

This was not a happy Lion. We kept hearing him roar as we walked around.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

We made some realizations after our trip to the zoo. 1) Andrew is too young to go to the zoo. We figured he might be but the day was too pretty to not do something outdoorsy. 2.) The zoo smells like poop. Not sure why I thought that it would not, but I was unpleasantly surprised by the constant smell of poop. 3) I think that classifying a cockroach as a zoo-worthy exhibit is a mistake. I also think that showing his habitat as a kitchen plate with people-food on it is even more disturbing. 4). The lines to get food are so crazy that I will pack a lunch the next time we go. 5) Spending the day with just my guys is absolutely awesome and I want to make sure we get to do that more often. It's easy to get caught up in the stress and then look up and a month has gone by and you have not spent any "real" time with the 2 most important people in my life.

Why today is a great day...

Here are 5 reasons that I'm having a good day...

1. Today marks the 1st time since Andrew started daycare that he will make it an entire week! I'm thrilled about that. I'm taking it to mean that some of these battles we have had over the last 3 months are going to come to an end. Goodbye Ear Infections!

2. I had an appointment with my hairdresser today and have a new "do" - no more roots and I can actually see without having to move hair out of the way to do so. It's amazing how having your hair done can instantly make you feel better. Thanks Peyton!

3. The daycare is hosting a 'date night' this evening to make up for all the snow days that they were closed. So, we have 'free' childcare tonight from 7pm-10pm. Not sure what we will do and if we will do anything, but I'm still excited about it.

4. 98% of our laundry is done - that's a really good thing considering that it's been piling up quite a bit these days. Scratch that - getting excited about that is like getting excited that the dishes are done - I can keep that status for about 5 minutes. So, I'm changing this one to be ... IT'S FRIDAY!!!

5. Jeff got his test grade back for the first official test in nursing school and my genius husband made a 92!

There are tons of things to be thankful for, even in these very stressful times. We have a sign in our house that says:

"Remember The Day's Blessings - Forget The Day's Troubles" 

Today, I intend to do that.

Andrew's Tube Surgery - A Success!

Andrew's tube surgery was finally scheduled for Friday, February 11th at 7:30am. We were instructed to get to the surgery center at 6:30am and we made it in perfect time. Mamaw came along with us as we toted our sleepy baby from Plano to Dallas in the dark of the early morning.

This was a long time coming considering we had postponed the surgery multiple times due to ice, snow and complete frustration on my part. The battle of insurance and health care costs is enough to write a book about, but not worth getting in to on the blog. The bottom line is that for the exact same procedure, same doctors and same anesthesiologists, one facility wanted over $800 more than another. I threw a fit - we are not in a position to throw around $800 - not that anyone ever should be. I'm self-employed which means that I'm not part of a "group" so my insurance costs per month are crazy expensive and that expense provides our family with very high deductibles, high co-pays and about 70/30 coverage. So, an $800 difference on top of the several thousand we were going to have to pay for the rest of the procedure brought me to tears of frustration.

But the day was here - all the cost concerns were placed to the side and we were focused on getting my sweet baby boy well. We spent more time in the waiting room than the entire surgery took. But, Andrew was having fun so we were fine with it.

When we got to the room, Andrew got his own pair of "scrubs" and we waited for the doctors.  Minus one small breakdown when he saw some nurses coming in to the room, Andrew did great. With the several rounds of Rocephin shots in his legs, he is now officially terrified of nurses and needles. Understandable if you saw the needles he had to bear 6 times in 3 days. After his small breakdown, he was fine. The Doctors came in and took him back to the operating room.

The procedure took about 15 minutes and they brought Andrew back to us. Groggy, but doing fine and happy to see us. We waited around for about 30 minutes and made sure he was going to be ok. Then we all piled back in the car and were home by 9am.

 

The surgery was a great success! Andrew is feeling better, obviously hearing better and trying to talk to us more now. It's just wonderful and I'm really glad that we have done this for him.

Hopefully my kiddo will be well enough now to enjoy life longer than a few days at a time. We are back in school now and I've got my fingers crossed that we will make it an entire week.

Andrew and "The Chef"

Andrew was introduced to Chef Boyardee the other day. You be the judge on whether he liked it or not.

Snow, Ice, Snow, Ice, Superbowl, Snow, Ice

Wow - the last week has been rough. We have had such cold weather with ice and tons of snow - well, at least tons for us. School was canceled for Jeff and Andrew almost every day last week - all but Monday. Andrew's tubes were scheduled for Friday and they were canceled due to the snow. It's a good thing because we could not even get the car out of the driveway to get there.

We finally got a reprieve from this bad weather just in time for Dallas to host Superbowl XLV. The weather on Sunday was gorgeous. Kinda cold, but not a cloud in the sky and perfect football weather. We decided to host a party and invite a few friends over to enjoy the Superbowl with us in the "cheap seats" known as our house. It was crazy to know that this huge event was going on in our city and we stayed in and watched it with friends at home. We had about 20 people who joined us as we enjoyed the commercials, cheered on the Packers, ate way too much and enjoyed the break from the freezing weather. It was nice and a very much needed stress relief.

Just when we thought the bad weather was over, it's back with a vengeance. Last night, we enjoyed a 50 degree night and woke up to ice, snow and canceled school again. The wind chill is making things feel like we are in the single digits. It's crazy and most of us are not cut out for this. There was a graphic going around Facebook last week of how we react to Snow and Ice after a day or two. It's too true to not post. Totally.Stir.Crazy. And, this is coming from someone who works from home. But usually, working from home does not include: 1) Dogs too cold to go outside so they keep "going" in the house right next to my desk, 2) No eggs, no milk, no bread, no imagination and definitely no desire to cook. 3) A child with double ear-infections who is not in the mood to nap. 4) A husband freaking out about missing school and getting time to study. 5) A cold that I've had for about 10 days that just won't let go...guess it's the stress.

Bring on the Spring! I've had about all the snow and ice that I need for this season.

One last thing - A huge thank you to my mother-in-law for coming over and rescuing us with child care assistance, cooking assistance and wine-drinking assistance (that one is with me, not Andrew. ;-) )