Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

It's been a busy month! With school back in session, as well as church on Wednesday nights and us teaching Sunday School (oh, and taking care of a baby), I haven't had much time to sit down and think, much less blog.

Plus, I've been ill. I've had stomach pain off and on since about June. It got worse around the first part of September so I went to my doctor. He recommended a gallbladder ultrasound. Apparently, the gall bladder has been known to go haywire in women who have recently had children.

It came back normal.

So he sends me to a GI doc. (oh Joy!) Who recommends me for an EGD. (don't ask me to write it out...it's a long word) Otherwise known as an upper GI scope. I had it done today.

It also came back normal.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about today. Nope, I'm here to talk about doors. Specifically, stuck doors. In hospital rooms.

So I'm sitting on this bed, in my lovely hospital gown. The first nurse's assistant came in and asked me some questions and took my blood pressure. After she was done, she left. As she left, she closed the door behind her. HARD! It was difficult for her to shut it, but she got it shut.

Fast forward about 5 minutes. Nurse #2 comes to the door and knocks. I nervously say "come in." She tries the door. It doesn't move. So I say louder, "come in!" She tries again. The door won't open. I ask if it's locked. Jim gets up to go open it for her.

The door is STUCK! I'm talking, it won't budge. Not moving an inch. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

First of all, DON'T PANIC!

Jim and the nurse keep trying, but the door holds its ground. It is NOT budging. So the nurse gets other nurses to help her. Jim tries some cards from his wallet. The nurses try. Jim tries. The nurses leave to go get help.

At this point, the reality of the situation starts to sink in. Jim and I look around the room. There is no other way out. There is one window to the outside, that doesn't open. (We're on the 3rd floor....) There are two windows into the hall, which don't open either. (You know the kind. It's a typical hospital room! Can't have people escaping or jumping or anything.)

The nurses say they have called someone. I'm picturing maintenance taking an hour to get to us....thankfully, they showed up about 5 minutes later. The bolt was totally broken. They ended up taking off the handle and pretty much breaking the door down. I think the guy used his shoulder and just threw his weight against it to finally bust it open.

All in all, I think we were only stuck about 10-15 minutes. But it was a harrowing few minutes! One nurse said she'd worked there 10 years and that had NEVER happened before. The girl who shut the door said she'd worked there for 2 years and had never seen that happen either. I have to say, it was a first for me and Jim as well.

A picture of the door with the bolt removed.

We had to plug the hole with the sheets so I could get dressed to leave! LOL!

Happy Birthday(s)!

Happy Birthday to the two special men in my life, Jim and J4!

J4 is 6 months old today. I can't believe how fast it is going!

Jim will be mumble mumble years old tomorrow! I'm sure his mother thinks the time is going fast as well. :)

In honor of these two, here is a video we shot about a month ago. It's nothing special. Just what happens at our house after bath time and before bedtime. It involves me, Jim, J4, Beta, and a cow. Things can get kinda crazy 'round here!

(Alpha was in the girls' bathroom drying her hair. She is "practically on her own" you know...) LOL!

We're Famous!

That's what the girls said tonight when they learned that Jim had been interviewed on 4029 TV at a gun show this afternoon. He got to shoot a machine gun. He was VERY excited!

1st Day of School!

Well, now that we're 3 days in, I figure I finally have a moment to post some pictures of the first day of school. This year, the girls are in 4th and 1st grade. So the drama of the first day of kindergarten is a year behind us. Still, though, it's hard to see them both getting to be so big!

Here is Beta, always momma's girl!

And here is Alpha! She is looking way too old for my comfort level....

And now......back to the 80's Retro Pop Reunion!
Yes. Both girls are wearing essentially the same outfit. Beta had the foresight to see that leggings on a 98 degree day might not be a good idea. (When I picked them up, Alpha had taken hers off and put them in her bag. )

How about those leggings and sparkly skirts? Alpha also purchased her first pair of high tops. All of the styles are making me think of the 80's and some of the stuff I wore. I can't wait to see their reactions in 20 years when I pull this picture out again.....

Lies! Deceit! Grrrrrrr.......

EVERYONE SHOULD CHECK THEIR BANK STATEMENTS!!!!!

We found fraud charges on our checking account this weekend. They were small, but fraud nonetheless.

One was for $4.92 from Fericulgames.com.
Another was for $14 from T Trepanier LLC, a construction company in Oregon.
A third was for $6.99 to www.newpetsmark.com.

One was Jim's debit card number. The other two were mine.

So, even if you are not "nerdy" like me and religiously check your account balance and bank statement, you should still look. Don't trust the bank to look out for you. They have no way of knowing which charges you made and which you didn't.

Don't be stupid and trusting! :)

The Hundredaire

We had a celebration in our house tonight.

Alpha has saved up $100!!! With a combination of birthday money and hard work, she managed to save up $100 to buy various and sundry things. She has forbidden herself to spend even $1 until she hit that magical round number.

In honor of this wonderful occasion, Beta threw her a party!

Here she is! She was the one who coined the term "hundredaire".

They made her a crown out of silver ribbon and sparkly foam stickers.

J4, Jim, and I were invited. Here is J4 playing "Pin the dollar bill on the, um, dollar bill." (It was 1/2 of a crayon-printed $100 bill and you had to match the other half with your eyes closed.)


And one last picture of J4 in his cute little onesie. (Yes, it says "ipood".)

Solids!

J4 is now 4 months old. So the doctor gave us the go-ahead to start solids! Yay! (You know, it's funny....with this third baby, I've been trying to slow down and enjoy the infant stage more than I have in the past because I know how quickly it will pass. When he went to 3-6 month clothes, I was actually kind of sad instead of happy. So you'd think I'd be that way about starting solids. But no. I'm very excited! It's always fun to see what kinds of foods they like. Plus, this puts us on the road to being able to eat normal stuff when we're in the car. No more stopping to nurse! LOL!)

Here he is in his new high chair!

He was actually kind of tired when I first fed him, so he kept putting his thumb in this mouth. I hope that helped the cereal to go down.

All messy!

And in the tried-and-true tradition of babies everywhere, he cried when I tried to wipe his face.

Here is a picture Beta took of us the other day. I like this one.

This next one is my favorite snapshot of him to date!