Road Trip

As summer is coming to a close, I felt the need to do something different and vacation-like before going back to work. The thing that I most wanted to do (and could afford) was go and see old friends back in Cabot and Little Rock. I decided to embark on a road trip last week with the three kids all by myself, as Stuart still had to stay in Bentonville for work.

We took one bag of pool gear and one bag for the hotel, and that's it! I wanted to pack light, so that I could manage to get it all into the hotel on my own, especially if a certain 2 year old decided to have a tantrum! We left Wednesday morning and returned Thursday night, and we were able to stay at a hotel in Little Rock for FREE with some hotel points we had accumulated. All of our meals were with friends, so gas was the only expense.

This was a trial run of how far I could travel alone with Arden since I've never driven with her out of town by myself. She is normally a terrible traveler who never sleeps in the car and cries/screams for much of the long drive. Amazingly enough, she did GREAT on the trip and was only mildly fussy for short periods on the three hour drive down. We arrived at noon with a picnic lunch in the van that I had brought with us and went to Splash Zone in Jacksonville to meet friends. We ate our lunch at the park next door (though the kids were too excited to eat anything!) and went swimming with the Burlesons and the Hollaways. The kids had so much fun returning to their favorite Cabot area water activity. We have so many great memories there!

Then we drove up the highway to Cabot and briefly stopped by our old house and neighborhood as well as Owen's old school. It was bittersweet to see our old life. I remembered taking Owen to his first day of kindergarten there and bringing Hudson and Arden home from the hospital. I remembered that those were my main years of being a stay-at-home mom, and how different (but good) my life is now. We spontaneously dropped by the Vances and visited with Angie and her boys for about 45 minutes before heading to the McElroys where we were spending the rest of the evening.

I had such a good time visiting with one of my best friends from Cabot, Kristy McElroy, who is pregnant with baby #4 in October!! Our children are all friends and close in age, and the boys had fun swimming for a second time that day in their backyard pool after we ate a pizza dinner. Our brief visit was over much too soon when it was time to make the drive into Little Rock to check into our hotel.

We arrived at 9 p.m. in our hotel, and Arden hadn't had a nap all day. The kids loved the hotel, although Arden was very scared to ride the glass elevator to our room on the 9th floor, and we had to force her to get in the elevator everytime we rode it. Amazingly enough, the kids obeyed so well, and we all fell asleep very quickly, with Arden sharing a bed with me and not a crib. She didn't fall out of the hotel bed (which is another first!) and slept well all night, except for the fact that she kept kicking me in the head!

We ate a big breakfast which was included with our stay at the hotel, then we loaded up our luggage to check out. The only glitch in my trip was that when we tried to get into our van on Thursday morning, the car battery was DEAD! So, I went into the hotel to see if they would let me back in my room and found out that a hotel employee could jump start it for me, so I wouldn't have to wait for roadside assistance to come. Luckily, the car started quickly, and there wasn't any other more significant problem with the van. I had initially feared that I would have to get it towed to the dealership and be stranded in the hotel for another night while my car was being repaired. We then set off to hit Mardel's since we don't have one in my area, and I got some great posters and items to decorate my classroom. The kids twisted my arm to get each of them a Webkins, which I probably gave into since I was just so happy and thankful that my vehicle was running again!

Finally, we drove to Maumelle around 10:30 and spent the next few hours with long-time friend Christine Franklin and her kids. The kids loved playing in their big backyard and playing "hide and seek." We ate lunch with Christine, and her "rainbow popsicles" were a big hit; my kids are still talking about them! We left Little Rock around 2:00, so we would be home by dinner.

The kids all crashed and slept for much of the three hour drive home, and Arden didn't wake up until we were in Springdale! It was a very fun and enjoyable trip, and it has given me more confidence to do it again now that my children are getting older. I didn't realize how much I had missed my old friends, and I know that I need to see them more often.

I love where I live now, but I love where I moved from, and I will always enjoy returning to see my old "home."

Wordless Wednesday

Silver Dollar City, Branson

Kindergarten Graduation Luncheon

Owen as Davy Crockett for a school program

Easter 2010

Arden and best friend Cheza at school

Arden and teacher Wendy (LOVE her!!)

Benign: my new favorite word!

The pathology results for my jaw growth came back as BENIGN. Praise the Lord! I hadn't really been worried while we waited ten days for the results because the oral surgeon had told Stuart after surgery that it didn't present like a tumor and was like a bone growth. His impression of what the five most likely things it could be were all benign growths, and it did turn out to be one of the things my surgeon had mentioned. It has a long name that I don't remember (I'll get copies of my pathology report in a few days via mail), but it is almost always found in middle aged, African American women. So, that was why my doctors didn't immediately think that I would be a candidate for it.

Luckily, no future treatment is necessary. I am about 80% recovered from the biopsy procedure which involved cutting open a flap in my gum line inside my chin, cutting out a piece of the bone growth, and then stitching me back with about two inches of stitches. It has taken longer for the swelling to go away than I expected, and I still have some soreness and swelling right around the area where the biopsy was taken, plus I still have no regular feeling in my two, center bottom teeth. Hopefully, that won't be permanent due to nerve damage.

I'm so thankful that it isn't anything serious that would require more invasive surgery or loss of teeth. The only slight negative right now is that I might not be able to get adult braces (which I was seriously thinking of getting in 1-2 years when Owen gets his since my school dental plan will cover adult orthodontics). My surgeon is researching this and talking to his orthodontist friends, and I'll find out more at my final check-up in two weeks. Apparently, my four (crooked) bottom teeth might be fused into this excess bone spur and may not be able to be moved or corrected with braces. I guess I'll just live with my crooked teeth if that's the case, and I'm very thankful that I get to keep them!

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Sneak Peeks

I finally got up enough energy, time, and courage to take Arden to get an outdoor photography session with a professional photographer. We had not had a professional sitting since she was 12 months old, before we moved to NW Arkansas! So, after 18 more months, my darling daughter had changed quite a bit, and I wanted to capture her preschool personality on film.

It was a challenge to photograph her, as she NEVER sits still. Not even for five seconds straight. Plus, she talks constantly, and is very social, so we couldn't get her to really smile because she was always talking and pointing. The photo shoot was done by one of my former high school students at Pulaski Academy,Jessica Ritchie,who now lives in NW Arkansas also. She is amazingly patient and great with kids (she is a former first grade teacher), and it was a very low stress shoot. We took Arden to the University of Arkansas campus where she basically ran around barefoot for 1 hour and 40 minutes while Jessica tried to capture shots. Arden talked to strangers and random joggers, chased dogs and birds, and she basically thought the campus was full of "princess towers" and wanted to climb the steps of every academic building! The summer weather was perfect at 85 degrees in the early evening with a slight breeze.

I knew that we wouldn't get a lot (or any!) shots of Arden sitting perfectly posed and smiling for the camera because that just isn't her personality or stage at 2 1/2! However, I knew that whatever shots we got would capture her spirit and age because she was in a great mood and acting just like herself.

I was so thrilled when I found Arden's cute eyelet dress (from Gap Kids) for just $4 at the Rhea Lana consignment sale this past spring since I knew it would be good for a future photo session, and I borrowed the hairbow from my neighbor Laurie since Arden normally hates wearing them (notice that Arden had removed the bow by the middle of the session! ha).

So, here are a couple of "sneak peeks" that Jessica just posted on her blog, and I will get to see all my proofs in a week or so. I can't wait. Enjoy!

Redesign

For my 20th anniversary present to myself (August 4), I decided to redo our master bedroom bedding and accessories this summer. It was a fun project, and I tried to do it in a cost-effective way with minimal furniture purchases, sales, and no custom items.

Here is the before:







Here are the after pictures:







I liked the old "cottage" look, but we had had that bedding for almost eight years, and I was ready for different colors. I also wanted to go more tailored and less feminine, so I went with chocolate brown for a lot of the background colors and a more tailored bedding set without any ruffles. I moved out the trunk at the end of the bed,changed nightstand tables, and I also removed the heavy mirror that had previously been attached to the double dresser. Those changes really seemed to open up the space since the room isn't that large. The paint color was left the same as before, but it still feels a lot more airy.

I bought most of the items at discount stores, and I repurposed many things that I already had in the room. Here is a brief list of where I purchased the main items:

Bedding: "Audubon" by Rose Tree, Dillards
Throw pillows: Walmart
Drapes and curtain rod: Target
Burlap tablecloth and side table: www.ballarddesigns.com
Wooden nightstand: Riverside Factory Outlet, Rogers
Botanical wall prints: www.ballarddesigns.com
table lamp: Pottery Barn
vintage books: Friendly Bookstore, Rogers
tabletop frames: Hobby Lobby

I'm happy with how it turned out!

Surgery Complete

Thanks for all the prayers. I finished my oral surgery on my jaw tumor. I am only in minimal pain, but it's hard to open my mouth to eat or talk at this point without causing pain. The surgeon only took out part of the mass for the biopsy because it wasn't what he expected based on the CT scan. He said it is actually more bone-like, and not presenting like a tumor or cyst (which I think is a good thing based on his opinion). He felt that it was going to be painful and invasive to chisel out all the bony mass, and it appears that the five most likely things it could be are most likely benign. So, he felt that less pain right now was warranted, and hopefully, he won't have to go back in again to take out more. Keep praying! Pathology will take 7-10 days.

I'm resting now and trying not to talk too much. I'm on antibiotics and ibuprofin for a week, plus I have pain meds if needed. Hopefully, I will be back to my normal routine in a few days. I will be greatly relieved to get the recovery and the pathology results behind me!

Surgery

School got out about a week ago, and I don't really feel in the summer mode yet. I had to return to school for a full-day conference this week to get my summer professional development hours in, and then I had to go back to school the next day to grade make-up final exams from students who missed the original exam date.

Stuart's mom spent the week at our house, so she helped watch the kids while I wrapped up work duties, and I used the time with her here to do a lot of appointments that were more easily done without taking three children with me! All the kids are out of childcare for the summer, and Arden will return to her daycare/preschool during the first week of August to get back in a routine before I return the following week for inservice days. I took Owen to the pediatrician for a check-up, and both boys went to the dentist and got haircuts.

I had a follow-up appointment on Tuesday with an oral maxillofacial surgeon. After my dental appointment three weeks ago, the dentist saw an abnormal shadow on my x-ray and referred me to the oral surgeon to get it checked out as a possible cyst in my jaw bone. The surgeon did a head CT scan which confirmed that there is a partially solid/partially fluid mass inside my lower mandible in the chin area. It is around 1 inch wide by 3/4 inch thick. It is now classified as a "mixed tumor" and not just a cyst since it is partially solid. It is impeding circulation to my lower front teeth, and two of my teeth's roots are embedded in the mass. I have experienced slight teeth sensitivity in those teeth over the past couple of months, which is a result of the growth. The surgeon said it must come out, and it will be sent to pathology as a precaution. I have oral surgery set up for Friday, June 25, under sedation. I will have the growth removed and end up with about a 2 inch incision with stitches inside my mouth. He said the recovery/pain would be similar to wisdom teeth removal.

Please pray that the biopsy results show a benign mass, so that no further treatment or surgery is needed. Also, please pray the this procedure goes smoothly with no infections, complications, and a fast recovery. I think I will have to wear an external taped dressing on my chin for 4-5 days to support my chin muscles as they heal, since he said he has to cut through them to get to my jaw bone. So, I might not be leaving the house much for the week after surgery!