Bring on December

It's the last day of November and I have to say, this is the earliest that I have ever had a Christmas tree up. Instead of fighting the mall crowds the day after Thanksgiving, we went to pick out our Christmas tree. As of right now it is up, with lights, but no ornaments. I am planning on doing that tonight once little Whitney goes to bed. I do have all our other indoor decorations out though. Tomorrow I am hoping to get a little outdoor decorating done. We've never really done a whole lot of outdoor decorating, just some wreaths and garland. We need to get as much done as possible tomorrow since I'm not sure if my physical labor (aka. Ben) will be in or out of commission come Tuesday. I've come to realize that I have taken his abilities for granted. It is such a blessing to have not only a strong and smart husband, but a helpful and willing one as well. Hopefully his injury wasn't a means for me to learn a lesson...

Hope your Thanksgiving was a special one. We had one couple over and made all the fixins'. We are still enjoying them! Here are a couple things from the last few days. That little girl is a silly one! Until later...

Toe Update

For those of you wondering...We have learned a little more about Ben's toe situation in the last couple of days. The specialist that we will be visiting next Tuesday got to see Ben's MRI and x-rays yesterday and he actually thought that it may not be as bad as we originally thought. On Tuesday we will be going to Charlotte to get a fluoroscopy. This is basically a moving x-ray that Ben will either have to be sedated for or numbed so the doctor can move his toe around and take the pictures at the same time. Based on what he sees from that will determine if Ben will need surgery or not. If he does need surgery it will be done that same day or Wednesday. Please pray that the decision for surgery or not will be clear cut. We want to make sure we get this fixed the right way the first time and not just for football, but for quality of life in general. We aren't getting any younger you know! I guess that's it for now. We'll be sure to keep everyone up to date as we learn more. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Good News and Bad News

It's been awhile again and much has happened since the last time I posted, so I will apoligize now for this lengthy post. For starters, you may or may not know that I have had two brief hospital stays since October with kidney stones. No, the pain has not been as bad as labor, but only because I haven't let it get that far. Each time I thought I was having symptoms of a bladder infection and knew something wasn't right. So, I have been able to seek treatment before I could fully experience the pain. Darn! Long story short, I have them (still), but am without pain (for now), and there is nothing they can do about them until after the baby is born (20 more weeks). Oh, and by the way, there is one just hanging out in my kidney that is 1.4 cm...yes that is centimeters, not millimeters...Yikes! Onto more exciting things...

Today I am 20 weeks...half way there! And we are growing each day. I can feel the baby move alot more now and Ben has even been able to feel it kick and move around.

Now, do you want the good news or bad news first? Ok, good...IT'S A GIRL!!! Yep, we found out today that Whitney is going to have a little sister. Ben "knew" all along and has figured out that he is best equipped to father little girls. He says it's because he's more interested in what girls talk about rather than "guy talk". I don't know if I agree with that as you can really get him going about dirt bikes and such. I must say though that he is a great daddy to that little girl that's already here! At any rate, we are extremely excited to have this little baby girl on her way and even more excited that she seems to be healthy. All measurements and blood tests have come back great. Praise God! Whitney seems to be excited as well. Soon after the ultrasound we got her to say "sister". It, of course, was really cute.

And the bad news...

This is Ben's foot, big toe, wrapped...Unforntunately, Ben injured his toe in the game this past Sunday. He stepped on someone else's foot with his toe and basically bent it back, hard towards his ankle. It happened late in the third quarter and he tried to walk it off, but wasn't able to finish the game. After x-rays and an MRI we found out today that he will require surgery and therefore his season is over. Some of you may have heard of "turf toe", well this is the worst kind of turf toe you can get. The problem is in the joint where the big toe and the foot meet. There are two little bones on the bottom of this joint that are supposed to have ligaments attached to them. Ben's, at the time, are either unattached, torn, shredded...whatever you want to call it, but they aren't how they should be. We are currently waiting to schedule the surgery with a specialist in Charlotte, probably early next week. After that he will have a 4-6 month recovery process. Ben's spirits are good, dissappointed, but good. The focus now is to get healed and get healthy the right way the first time as turf toe can be a lingering injury if it is not given proper healing time. If you think of it, please keep him in your prayers to stay encouraged and patient during the process. He is already getting antsy!

My hope is to not have this long a post again...thanks for sticking it out. Blessings to all!

One Proud Mama!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile...there really hasn't been much going on around here. I had a baby check up last Wednesday and everything seemed to be fine. I have been feeling the baby more, still not very consistently, but more frequently than the previous week. We find out what we are having on 11/24. Only two more weeks! We had a big weekend of visitors, Ben's parents, grandparents (Walter and Lillian) and his Uncle Tom and Aunt Lucinda were all here for the game (or Whitney, maybe) against New Orleans. Whitney had a big time entertaining them. The Falcons won again, are 6-3 and tied for 2nd place in the division. Not bad for being predicted to only win 2 games this season!

Now for the proud mama moment...I know I have multiple reasons to be proud of my little Whitney, but this really made smile! Friday I was unloading and putting away the massive amount of groceries I had bought for the weekend. Whitney was quietly and intensely concentrating on taking out and replacing some items from the bottom shelf of our pantry. Normally this would cause my OCD to kick in. I mean, things certainly wouldn't be "in the right place" after she was done, but because I needed the freedom to put things away and she was content, I let it go. Once I had finished I headed over to Whitney to help her put things back in the right place, and found this...

Are you kidding me! How could I even think that she would make a mess? She is my daughter right? Now, I promise you that I have NOT taught my, not-even-two-year-old, how to organize, but apparently she too recognizes the importance and convience of organization! So proud! Although, maybe we should keep a better eye on the things we do...she obviously is picking up on things.

A Beautiful Weekend

It was a great weekend here, sunny and warm. Grandma and Grandpa Lykowski were here for a visit, so Whitney exhausted a lot of energy running around with them. Yesterday we went to the park to play. Slides seem to be her favorite thing, but she is also showing more interest in the sandbox and of course the things that she isn't big enough for yet. She definately keeps us on our toes! Today we didn't get outside as much. I am not feeling well, just a cold, and Whitney seems to be cutting a tooth and she has been, for her, a bear today. We did get to watch daddy and the Falcons win today! Yeah! A good way to finish a great weekend! Hope yours was enjoyable as well. Have a blessed week!