Disney Land: Part 1

The day after the reunion ended, Grandma and Grandpa Joy took us to Disneyland. They had been telling the girls that when daddy was all done with school they would take them. For about a year they have kept asking if daddy is all done with school yet. Well the big day finally came and they were so excited! Jason's brother's family came with us too. On Tuesday, after about 10 potty stops, we made it to our hotel, which was only 2 or 3 blocks from DL. We spent Wed.-Fri. at DL and came back on Saturday.

Entrance to the park
Sophie, Regan, and Janie

We met Pluto right off. They were star struck:)

Sophie getting Cruella Deville's autograph

Half the excitement for me was watching the girls excitement. Isn't that what makes Christmas fun too when your grown up? Sophie would especially get worked up. We stayed one night to watch the water show, Fantasma. Sophie was squealing the whole time. I LOVED it!!

Grandpa Joy and Sophie chillin'

The carousel was a favorite

Even big kids like the carousel

Waiting in line

Daddy and Regan on the Dumbo ride

Me with Greg, Peyton, and Gavin

These three were inseparable. They loved small world so much!

The girls were so good the entire day.
Meeting Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore was so exciting too.

I waited for the girls while they got pictures taken with the Hundred Acre Wood gang. OK, someone caught me....I collapsed.

Sophie came back to tell me about meeting Tigger and Pooh.

I was pretty pooped by the afternoon. I collapsed back at the hotel and had braxton-hicks contractions the rest of the night. I had only been off the feeding tube for a week and felt pretty weak....still do as a matter of fact. The next two days I got a wheelchair and did much better.

Greer Family Reunion 2011

August 4th-8th the Frank and Dawna Greer family reunioned at Trend West Resort in St. George.

Mom and dad with all the siblings. I'm 24 wks. preg.

All 14 grandkids.

Carson got baptized that weekend.

Annual talent show. Regan, Sophie, and Brinley singin' it up.

Gavin and Brinley

Mom always gives out great prizes for everybody afterward.

Of course, lots and lots of swimming!
Sophie, Hailey, Kayla

One of Gavin's many jumps. The kid is a water dog!

Family Game Night
Porter

Crash and burn

Apples to Apples: Dad is the judge the whole time so you never know what card he's going to pick:)

Kandra even put together a "Minute to Win It" game for us to play. So fun!

Sophie

Regan and Grandpa

Brett the Stud

Sophie, Regan, Grandpa

Gavin, Sophie, Regan

The only thing that would have made this reunion better is if Jason could have been with us most of it. The last day of school, presentation day, his teacher was so nice and gave them another project to do. So he had to stay and finish up this stupid project and got to the reunion Sunday afternoon, just in time for it to be over Monday morning.
We had a great time this year. Thanks to everyone for making it a memorable time!

Freedom!!!

August has been crazy. I don't even know where to begin. I guess the beginning would be a good place to start;)
July 29th I was officially released from bondage.....aka the ball and chain....aka the yellow worm....aka the nose ring.....aka the %@#$ feeding tube!!!!!! Words cannot articulate my feelings on this subject. (If you missed my thrilling "Life with a feeding tube" post, you don't want to miss it. That holds alot of my feelings on the tube there.) Words also cannot articulate the grossness to which said ball and chain was when it came out. All I can say is that I threw up immediately after it came out. Yeah, it was that gross. This picture is in the hospital after it was taken out. I had to snap it and send it to my fam. I meant to post about it that day, but I got busy. So sue me.
I had been going to the doctor weekly since May, and the last couple weeks I started to gain weight and stop throwing up. So he said if I felt I could live without it we could take it out. A couple weeks before I probably couldn't have. As much as I hated the dang tube, it scared me to take it out because I still couldn't eat very well, or regularly. I did lose a few pounds the first week it was out, but I've gained that back since. I still struggle with eating before noon and nausea most of the day, but it is definitely better than it was. Me and my bff Zofran are still kickin' it in da hood every day, and it's helping more than it used to. I'm back to monthly doctor appointments! Hooray! This did ruin my chances for the Miss Pregnant America Pageant, but it was worth it:)

Jason and I are doin' this freedom thing "Dual Survival" fashion. (Anybody else watch that show besides us?) Jason finally won his long hard battle for freedom on August 6th. His bondage with architecture school.....aka ball and chain....aka first (not second) home.....aka widow-maker....aka the dungeon.....aka hell, has finally come to an end!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a hard road for us these last three years, but we have come out victorious. I'm proud of Jason and his perseverance. He has worked very hard.This picture was taken after the graduation ceremony at the beginning of May.
FYI: The baby-napper security system is such a huge success that we are on back order and can no longer take orders. Thank you.

High flyin'

There has been a lot of ambition and high aspirations around here. The girls have decided to invent a baby-napper security system from an ingenious entanglement of yarn.

I have been assured from Regan that if anyone tries to come in and steal our baby, they will be immediately caught and unceremoniously thrown out. You can order your baby-napper security system for a one time payment of $19.95. (Installation not included)

Entrepreneur Regan

Entrepreneur Sophie

I, myself am trying out for the Miss Pregnant America pageant and have sent in these photos.

(19 wks)

(22 wks)

I should be a top contestant and I think the nose ring gives me an edge. I am still waiting to hear back from Ambercrombie, American Eagle, and Victoria Secret for modeling consideration.

So, as I said, we're high flyers around here. Don't mean to brag......it's just how we roll.

The unveiling...........

So here we are. At the point in which planning gets kicked up a notch. Do I start making boy blankets or start finding all my girl supplies? Can I start spending money or do I save some by spending only a little;)? Do I keep the old manual or get a new one?




And the verdict is most positively, unquestionably, with out a doubt......



To say that I wasn't shocked would be a fib. However, I am not disappointed. A healthy baby was what I wanted and that's what I'm getting! She looked great in there and was maybe as active as her big sis was. That is a maybe, cause I don't know if many could beat Sophie. Anyway, I got home court advantage, I don't need a new manual. I know the plumbing and drama girls have. Bring it on!!

I need to squeeze the lemon

Name that movie:)

My mom came here a week ago to help and enough cannot be said of her goodness to us. We appreciate her so much for this kindness. Jason has felt a huge weight lifted and even seems happier when he comes home:) Thanks to my dad too, who is going without her. We are going to have to move in a month or two and that has been a stress on me because it will pretty much be up to me to pack up. So she has started on some things that we aren't using and that is a huge relief as well.

I got my tube replaced and it seems to be working well. Found out that it doesn't matter how I take my meds. By mouth, or in the tube to my stomach or intestines, I'm going to be sick, sick, sick. So if I take it or not, it's kind of a lose/lose situation really. However, I have an ultrasound on Friday so we get to see if we need to learn a new plumbing system or not:)
I've picked up scrapbooking again since sitting up to the sewing machine isn't working out at the moment. My laptop is on a little table next to the couch and I can lay here and do it easily enough when I feel good. Typing is harder, but oh well.

My girls say the darndest things....

We were talking about the girls clothes sizes and how Regan is growing into size 6. "Does that mean I'm 6 years old?" she asked. Sophie is into size 5, except that she has a small bum and could wear a 4 still. She let out a cry of indignation and Regan consoled her by telling her not to worry, she had a big bum. Hehehe.....only time in your life where a big bum is desirable.

At the dinner table, Regan said, "What if the baby comes out a vegetarian? What would we do then?"
Ummm.....no idea....good question. What if it comes out a democrat?
"What's a democrat?"
Just eat your dinner sis.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of baby joys private materials:) This is suga' tits signin' off......ya'll come back now, ya hear?

4th times a charm?

Thursday Jason and I "celebrated" our 10th anniversary. Crazy I tell ya. I can't believe it has been that long. Time flies when your having fun. Jason said that we could celebrate it in January. I didn't understand. He said that maybe I would be feeling better by then. In that case, let's make it March just to be sure. We went to Olive Garden with the girls. I had a bread stick and was stuffed. The girls told the waitress their life story and she was a very sweet listener.

I'm sitting on the couch with the girls watching a Donald Duck dvd, which Sophie is in love with. She giggles and thinks it is so funny. Regan will laugh but not at the expense of Donald. She keeps telling me and Sophie to stop laughing at Donald. She feels bad for him. "We need to listen to him and never laugh at him or make fun of him." My little animal rights activist. She may be joining forces with PEETA soon.


In other news, my tube got a clog that would not be unclogged. I worked on it for a couple hours. My doctor worked on it for a half hour. All to no avail. So I had to be scheduled to get it replaced. I went in Friday afternoon for the procedure and talked to the doc about keeping the bridle (nose ring suture) out this time. My nose was SOOOOOO sore from being yanked on about 50 times a day. And it has created a cold sore where it was sitting. My cold sore has now spread to the left top and bottom of my lips. Ouch! They were concerned about the girls pulling it out, but we decided that I could get it put in later if it became a problem. While putting it down, the camera showed that I have gastritis which would explain why I feel so bloated and can't eat more than a few bites of anything without feeling terribly full.

So after I woke up from anesthesia, my throat was irritated and I coughed and part of the tube came up. This made me start vomiting violently and each time more of the tube would come up. So much of it came up that the whole thing had to be taken out because it was clearly out of my intestines. I ended up waiting another couple hours for an available doctor to put it in again. This time they put a dissolvable clamp at the end of the tube and clamped it to my intestine. It only lasts a few hours. Long enough for the nausea and coughing to abate.

That night, I'm sitting on the couch and Regan is acting like a wild animal and falls on the tubing. I'm sure that if I had a bridle in my nose it would have ripped through half my nasal septum. As it was, the tubing pulled out quite a bit. I was able to shove most of it in and just prayed that it hadn't come out of my intestines.

I haven't taken my meds for a couple weeks now because they make me terribly sick. The doctor was concerned about me not taking them and said I could crush most of them up and put it through the tube so it wouldn't sit in my stomach if taken by mouth. So I did that the next morning. After a couple hours I got very sick and started throwing up fluids and my meds. I didn't drink anything that morning, so I knew that my tube had pulled out of my intestines and was now draining in my stomach. I was so bloated that morning and in pain. I couldn't finish my whole feeding. I was sick all day yesterday and because of the gastritis, I've had to slow my feeding down so it goes all day.

I hate to think what my dr is going to say when I call him tomorrow. I'll have to get this dag-blasted thing replaced again. They'll put the bridle in this time for sure :( Maybe 4th times a charm?

Life with a tube....

How do I put this in words that are adequate enough to describe the full spectrum of emotion one feels when inserted with a 150cm tube? IT SUCKS!!! Not adequate enough? I'll give more detail...

Imagine you have a sore throat. Not just a little tickle, or an irritation that you can ignore most of the time. This sore throat has spawned from the very depths of hell, threatening to choke you and cut you off from the very air that you breath. Strep throat......child's play. The pain reaches to my ear so I can't lay on my right side. I think they scratched my throat on the way down and it swelled and for a few days. It was all I could do not to go screaming in madness...if I could have screamed, which I doubt. I could barely talk above a whisper. Water barely made it down.

Imagine a smell that you have come to associate with nursing homes, being thrust down your nose for 19 hours a day. I have worked in nursing homes. And I do NOT like vanilla Ensure. Then you have to flush the tube every 4 hours with water so it doesn't get plugged and a new wave of nursing home floods the tube once it's reinserted.

Imagine you have a tape adhesive allergy. You wake up from the tube placing procedure and find medical tape strapping the tube to your face. Now when you get home and collect all your senses, you take the tape off and find a nice red patch where the tape had been. Brilliant. And it's still there.....over a week later. Lovely.

Imagine that the doctors don't want this tube to be pulled out, so they tie some string around the tube, pull the string around your nasal septum and come back around to the same spot and tie it off. Great thought all on it's own, but sometimes the tube gets heavy and you cannot strap this tube to your face with tape to keep it in place. If the tubing falls, or you forget how the tube limits your movement, this causes a great pull on your highly sensitive nose ring. You might say $%*&!!! (Don't imagine this part too hard, I don't want your eyes to water.)

Imagine that you still can't tolerate food by mouth and are throwing up several times a day, or in most cases dry heaving since you don't dare attempt even apple sauce, and a few inches of the tube comes up every time you do. This makes you heave more, especially when you have to shove the tube back down, hoping that it is still in your intestine and not in your stomach.

Imagine that this tube has created some gnarly, super stinky, green boogers backed up into your sinus cavity that like to drain down your throat and gag you. It is like swamp thing has checked into a nursing home.

Imagine that after a week long horrific bout of constipation because of all this "nutrition", you find that you have lost more weight (while receiving 1900 calories/day)!! Down 25 lbs and not sure if this thing is working at all!!!!

Then imagine that you go to the doctor for all this hassle and they are showing about as much sympathy as a maimed clown holding a homeless sign. Then they can't find the babies heart beat, which only makes your heart beat race, and they pull out the ultrasound machine and there you see your little baby moving around with heart beat and all. Almost 16 weeks now. Serendipitous.

For those of you who were wondering what it is like to have a feeding tube, I hope this gives a little insight. For those of you who weren't wondering.....why have you read this far?

Not sure if this post had any comic relief properties for you like it didn't for me, but this might help.....

Regan wants a brother and Sophie wants a sister. They just know I am going to have two in my tummy. During the ultrasound I said, "See girls, there is only one baby in there." Sophie replies, "Let's just pretend there are two, ok mama?" Hahaha

Regan asked me if I wanted a girl or a boy. I said it didn't matter, I would love a girl or a boy. Knowing she wanted a brother I asked if she would love the baby if it were a girl. She thought for a minute and said yes. Then I asked Sophie if she would love the baby if it were a boy. She pretty much immediately said no, only a girl. I told Regan that if we were having a boy, she would get ALOT of baby holding time since Sophie wouldn't want to hold a boy. Sophie pipes in, "Umm I think I like girls and boys." Hahahaha.......thought so.

Check out my new accessory...

This thing is so inconspicuous that I don't think anybody will notice, do you? I know I look super sexy (Jason thinks its hot;) and all you ladies are jealous, but don't be hatin' on me. Just trying to keep it real here. I get to keep this new lucky charm for 4-8 weeks. My body decided it didn't want to be like a druggy shootin' up anymore and really wanted a nose ring instead (it is literally tied around the inside of my nose so it won't come out). I'm a rebel, I know. So....I am officially a pregnancy loser....let the humiliation begin!!!!

Well.......

That's right...13 1/2 weeks. I've been sick and tired, but I had an ultrasound today and baby Joy is still alive and growing!! That is the most important part. I was just in shock when I heard the heart beat at 10 weeks. The dr. said, "Don't you believe me?" I told him no and could I please have an ultrasound. "No need to. I'm 100% sure that is a healthy heart beat.
He said I could have genetic counseling and it offered an ultrasound so I jumped at it. Glad I did, the little tyke was worth looking at.
I also found out that I am a week farther than we thought from the first ultrasound. Also very encouraging.

Regan was concerned the entire time that the tech was hurting me and the baby. She kept asking me if I was still doing ok. So stinkin' sweet.

I told the girls when we saw the baby holding up "his" hand that "he" (I keep getting a boy vibe so I always think of the baby in masculine terms) was waving at them. They loved that and giggled.

As I've mentioned, I've been pretty sick. I'm down 20 pounds and have already been to the ER to get fluids. Yesterday my dr. came up with a plan. I will go to the infusion center everyday for a week and get i.v. fluids. If I'm doing better, I'll keep going. If not then I'll probably get a feeding tube?!?!! (Guess he doesn't think string cheese and a few crackers a day are cutting it.) How humiliating. Hope it doesn't come to that. I wouldn't want to be seen in public. "Hey look at me, I can't hack pregnancy! I'm a pregnancy loser!" Yeah, sumthin' like that.

I've lost a lot of weight and was concerned I had twins because my stomach didn't really get much smaller......ok lets not pretend....I look like I'm 5 months pregnant. I have PCOS and was found to have a cyst on my ovary last pregnancy. No concern about it really. This ultrasound showed that it has grown to the size of an orange. A little bigger than the baby. So yeah, I kinda am carrying twins.

I'm optimistic now. We're past the point at which my previous babies have died, and I'm hopeful that things will continue progressing normally. Jason and our home teacher gave me a blessing a couple weeks ago which really lifted a weight off me. Prayers are not discouraged:) Please send some our way. Ciao!

P.S. No I didn't make those cookies. I haven't baked, cooked, cleaned, sewed, crafted, or done anything for that matter for 2 months.

P.S.S The post last month where I was kinda out of my mind and sounded a little crazy........well I was super sick and feeling really sassy about it. It was my way of retaliating against it I guess;)

P.S.S.S. The post below is pretty cute with more Regan and Sophieisms:)

Regan and Sophie Babyisms

Pretty much every day this year R and S have asked if I have a baby in my tummy and have given me their orders. Regan wants a brother and Sophie wants a sister. They just know I am going to have two in my tummy. During the ultrasound I said, "See girls, there is only one baby in there." Sophie replies, "Let's just pretend there are two, ok mama?" Hahaha

The girls came home from preschool with a little plant they planted in a yogurt cup. Regan was going on and on about how much she loved her tomato plant and wanted to keep it forever. When I told the girls later that day that I had a baby in my tummy they were ecstatic. Regan gave me a hug and said, "Oh Mama, a baby is way better than a plant!" Melted my heart. "Mama, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Stop doing the dishes and go rest. I'll do the dishes." Very sweet sentiment, yet it was pretty much a pie crust promise.....easily made, easily broken.

Regan and Sophie are NOT going to be naming the baby. If they did it would be something like Toodally-doo, Dinosaury, Hanky-la-der-de-der, Shootsy-coo, or my personal favorite.....Doodilly-pop-de-dop. These are names they give their dolls, stuffed animals, or bugs they find. Sophie wants a girl to be named Sophie. Guess she likes her name;) So yeah, they're out on giving input.

Watching me throw up has become a spectator sport. One of the girls will hear me pouring out my blessings to the porcelain throne, run in and yell at the other to come see. Although lately I think they are getting bored with it because Sophie was talking to me while I was wretching my guts up and got mad that I wasn't turning to look at her and talk to her. She even got mad in the car, wondering why I wasn't driving. Kids these days....so desensitized. FYI-I keep a ziplock bag in the car for emergencies like the one above.

Nothing to do with the baby, but I had to post it cause it made me laugh. Sophie said family prayer last night and part of it went like this..."And please help us to not look for bugs anymore......except ladybugs because they are my favorite..." Hahahaha.....anytime Regan is outside, her head is down looking for bugs, worms, frogs, you name it.