Leavin' on a jet plane....

but I do know when we'll be back again. :P See ya later, suckas! We are headed to Hermosa Beach, California, for a week... we're staying at a beach house hotel (the picture is of the view from the hotel). I am soo excited to just relax and unwind. Macey keeps asking me "Mommy? Mickey Mouse?" So yes, we are going to Disneyland too, while we're there. And whatever else we can think of.... I love these kinds of vacations, just go with the flow! I am super nervous about the flight, cause Mace is SUCH a scaredy cat with loud noises... she refuses to go on our 4-wheelers anymore! I'm hoping that my stash of gummy bears and Care Bear coloring books will keep her entertained... we'll see! It's not the best timing for a vacation, with my health problems and all, but we've had it booked for a while. I had a ct scan this morning and the results are in... only one SMALL kidney stone in my right kidney. The Dr. said that it shouldn't be causing me much pain. I told him unless he has a small stone in his right kidney, he's not allowed to have an opinion! :P I am not in a ton of pain, but it scares me because I know how painful it can get, and how fast... so I am equipped with my meds!

Buh-bye! I'll be thinking of you all while I'm relaxing on the white, sandy, warm beach! Mwahaha.

My name is Macey... I like to dance!

If any of you have seen Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick.... you have to be laughing after reading the title. I used to be pretty creeped out by the show... but now I kind of like it. Wow... there's a sentence I never thought I'd say. Anyway... here's a vid of Macey shakin' that booty to one of her favorite songs! She's even got a little bit of "the robot" goin' on! I couldn't be prouder...

Here we go again...

(Insert eye rolling, tongue sticking out, angry, not-so-smiley face here).

Remember my post about having a kidney stone removal procedure done? It shouldn't be too hard to remember considering it was LAST MONTH. Ugh. Anyway... my problems are back again. It's felt like I've had a bladder infection lately, and my kidneys have been aching. After a urine culture and a round of antibiotics that didn't work... apparently I don't have a "severe UTI" like the doctor had originally thought. I'm headed to my Urologist on Thursday to hopefully get things figured out fast. My urine sample did have blood and pus in it... which obviously means something is going on. No good. My awesome friend Marie, who just so happens to be a nurse told me there are a few possibilities... but calmed my fears by telling me that cancer is at the bottom of the list. (I am always self-diagnosing myself with some sort of cancer.) So if you wouldn't mind... would ya say a quick prayer in my behalf? I need all of the help I can get! I am so sick of being sick!!

More pictures!

I just got the cd of Macey's pictures! I am so excited!! But I'm going to have a heck of a time deciding which ones I want to print!!

Eggst.... are you?

Macey really got into her 1st easter egg hunt. She kept yelling "eggst, are you?"

She was really sick Saturday night (had a fever of 103), and had to stay home from church on Easter Sunday. Randy stayed home with her so I could go teach the Sunbeams. I was mad I didn't get to dress her up all pretty in her Easter dress! When I got home from church Mace was feeling a little better, so I gussied her up and we went outside for a Easter egg hunt. I had to get some cute Easter pictures somehow!

After the hunt I was talking to Macey about Jesus and Easter... when I was done I told her "do you know that Grandma Judy is with Jesus? She's in heaven with Him." She didn't really pay attention to what I was saying, and was just excited I was letting her out of my arms so she could play. Well, yesterday she was playing with the picture I have of my mom in the front room and I asked her "who is that, Macey?" (I am afraid she's going to forget, so we talk about "gamma SHudy" a lot). She looked at me and says "oh, thas Jesus" -- and pointed to my mom.

At least I know she's listening to me.... even if I do confuse her.

Playing catch up...

So we have been quite busy these past couple of weeks! First, Macey turned 2 on March 3. I am still in denial I have a 2 year old. Where has the time gone!? We threw her a fun birthday party... it was all care bears- her favorite! I probably went a little overboard with the decorations and that, but it was so much fun to plan! We had lots of fun, Macey and her little friends loved the cupcake pinata! Just pull a string and it opened, no bats necessary! Good thing, with a crazy tantrum-throwing 2 year old... anyway, it was great and I'm glad that's all behind us now! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!



After Macey's birthday I didn't have much time to relax.... on March 4th I had kidney stone removal surgery. I have had kidney stones for a long time, and actually had lithotripsy (where they blast them outside the body with lasers) last September, but my doctor was only able to get a big one... I still had several small(er) stones in my right kidney.... obviously not very fun to live with. So anyway, this procedure I had done was not fun. To ensure that we get ALL of the stones this time, the doctor had to go "up there" with a wire thingy and try to scrape them (the stones) out with a basket thingy. Make sense? Yeah, I didn't get it either... good thing I was put under, huh? When I woke up in the recovery room, the first thing Randy said to me was "they put a stent in". I looked at him in disbelief. They put a WHAT in!? Ho boy.... if you don't know what a stent is, that's probably a good thing... but just so you know what I'm talking about... here's a picture. Apparently during the procedure my ureter started to swell which isn't good, so they put a stent in that reaches from my kidney to my bladder; it acts as a straw. It kept my ureter from collapsing. If it doesn't look like it, let me tell you-- it's PAINFUL! I was in constant pain for 2 days until we had the go-ahead to get it taken out. That was a lot of fun too, let me tell you. I wish I was put under for the stent removal... but unfortunately, I was VERY awake for it. I don't know if I can ever look my doctor in the face again. After 1.5 surgeries (remember they actually had to yank that thing OUT), an ER visit for kidney/ureter spasms, and a week long bladder infection, I am proud to stay I am STONE FREE!! WOOHOO! I'm doing better every day, but still not feeling 100%. It's crazy what a surgery can do to your body!

Well, if that wasn't enough... my sister Heather had her 5th beautiful baby the day I got my stent taken out, and I went up to Idaho to help her out (after a few days of recovery for me). This was a really big deal to me because this was my mom's "thing"... to take care of her girls after having babies, or when we're sick.She took SUCH good care of us, I miss my mom the most when I am not feeling good, so I knew it was going to be very hard for Heather, just having a baby and all. It was a lot of fun being able to help out with a newborn. I felt my Mom near and knew she was watching over us. I just loved holding little Miley, wondering if she was looking at Grandma Judy right now. While I was in Idaho, we celebrated my Dad's 64th birthday. We decided to make it a BIG deal, and boy was it ever! We spoiled him rotten, and he spoiled himself with a brand new 4-wheeler! A Grizzly 700- special edition, even! It was really fun. I think all of us teared up when we sang him Happy Birthday. My mom was so close, we could all feel it.

And, last but not least, I had Macey's 2nd year pictures done while I was in Idaho. My sister Heather's (who had the babe) best friend from high school does photography as a hobby. She is AMAZING. I had her take Macey's pictures and I am SO pleased with how they turned out. She posted a few of them on her blog... check it out!
http://www.katieportraits.blogspot.com/
Click on Miss Macey to the side, and Little Miley is my new cute niece! Hooray for good photogs! Mace was such a little stink the whole time, I'm really surprised we got any good ones at all!

Well, that concludes my catch up session. I promise myself to never get that busy again. :P

Finally!

It probably goes without saying that I like to live in the past. Nevermind how I look right now, remember back in college? I was so hot. Oh, thanks... I don't really do my hair now, but you should have seen me in junior high, people were so jealous of my bangs. Forget about Bratz and Polly Pockets... I want to hear about Care Bears and Rainbow Brite!

To me, there isn't anything that can compare to the old tv shows I loved growing up as a kid. Rock of Love with Brett Michaels? The Amazing Race? Mmm, sorry. I'd rather spend my time watching Duck Tales (which Macey has 2 dvd's of, by the way), Tale Spin, Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, Coach, The Cosby Show.... and the like. All of which you can now buy on dvd. This is all fine and dandy... but what about my favorite childhood sitcom of all time?! What about PERFECT STRANGERS?? Until just recently, Perfect Strangers had been forgotten by the American people... buried, by 15 years of watching useless tv shows. Well guess what... not anymore! Last month the 1st season and 2nd season of Perfect Strangers was released on DVD. I cannot begin to tell you the excitement I felt the day I was searching Amazon.com for any Perfect Stranger paraphernalia I could get my hands on, and found that they had RELEASED A SEASON on dvd!! I immediately called my sister, who was just as ecstatic as I was. Needless to say, I ordered the discs ($19.99 a STEAL if you ask me!) and anxiously awaited for them to arrive. Now that they are here, and I am homebound recovering from surgery with a sick little girl... I fully intend on devouring... I mean watching every episode, multiple times. I don't care if Macey doesn't like them... she has her care bears and duck tales to entertain her. I'm thinking about buying her some light up L.A. Sneakers too. Wait... is it bad that I'm making my child live in my past, too? Whatev. Bring on the Balky Bartacamus!!