Oh dear, it has been too LONG!

I think that someday I want a person to clean my bathrooms, a personal secretary, and a family historian. I don't love to do these things, and don't excel in them. We were in Colorado and Utah for a big chunk of December and January. I was probably excused from blogging for at least that time, but I don't think I'm off the hook any more. Here are some of the most fun pictures:
Madeline and Granny Katie
In the snow with Daddy
4 Generations: Madeline, Daddy, Granny, and Papa
Just the 3 of us :)
Her dolly was the only one who understood her!
2 glasses are better than 1!
Playing and freezing!

Sorry to my Japanese friends, I did the best I could in dressing us in Yukatas! I need your help!
No wonder Madeline loves vacation, look at all that chocolate!
Here is a quick summary of our vacation: Madeline and I arrived in Colorado and spent a couple of days sick. Then we looked at Christmas lights (Madeline LOVED it and we went 4 nights in a row), hung out with Grammy and Papa-san, went caroling, and just had fun! Then Raymey joined us and we drove to Utah where we saw some of my Utah family, and then went to Granny's house (yes, Madeline has a Granny and a Grammy). We went to Tucano's for Raymey's family's tradition (how delicious!) and we also got to go to Body Worlds in SLC. That was an exhibit with plastinated bodies and body parts. It was extremely interesting, and not gross like we were a little worried it might be. It was very educational! Christmas was fun and relaxing and Madeline made out like a bandit with the gifts from both sides of the family. Lucky kiddo! When we went back to Colorado we did some projects, Raymey filled out his application to take the bar (wow, it was a LOT of information), Madeline was generally spoiled by her aunts and my parents:), we went to a Japanese market, and we saw Josh, Holly, and cousin Lydia. I know I'm leaving things out of this trip, but that gives you the general idea! We had a fabulous time and it was hard to leave family. It is really nice to be back in Nashville and for Madeline (and us too!) to see friends. I'm missing Nashville so much already. But, that's a subject for another post!

I hate this worm inside of me!!!

OK, I don't have a worm, or worms or anything. Kelly Kapur hates the diet worm inside of her (that doesn't exist). Anyway... my stomach is being really stupid and no one knows what the deal is! They thought it was my gallbladder--NO. Then maybe and ulcer--NO. I guess it is nice to know what it is not, but why the heck do I have the bad upper abdominal pains? They come and go. They are much milder this week. It feels like getting punched in the stomach.
On the up side you might be interested to know that an endoscopy is not that bad (the worst part was not eating this morning). I had to show up 2 hours early (for a 10 min procedure) and they gave me and IV. They gave me the meds and I happily drifted to sleep. I was kinda confused when I woke up. I couldn't open my eyes (I was too tired) and I kept asking them questions but then I couldn't remember the answers so I asked them over and over again. Raymey thinks I wasn't awake, but I was! I just couldn't think straight, but I do remember it. The doctor said that inside my stomach looked all right, but they did a biBopsy to see if anything comes up (maybe it is my twin?). He also said that if the abdominal pain continues the final step to make sure nothing serious is wrong is a CT scan (he didn't say CAT, what is the difference?) I was kinda mad that it wasn't an ulcer (just because I want some answers!) but, what can you do?

Thanksgiving

When we came home we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends from Church. The food was delicious and plentiful! We split the assignments 4 ways and made way too much food, but we've had plenty to eat this week. After dinner we played games and we later we put the kids to sleep. There were 3 kids and 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Madeline sleeps anywhere so she slept in a bathroom! She didn't even fuss, it was kinda funny! We were glad that we had such nice friends and good cooks to spend Thanksgiving with.
(The last picture was on Friday when Madeline actually fell asleep on me! She hasn't done this for 7 months. I held totally still for 50 minutes and snuggled her!)

Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama

Raymey added Mississippi and Louisiana to his list of states he's visited (I suppose Madeline did too!) . I've already been, but I tagged along for the ride:) We drove 6 hours, stayed in Jackson for the night, then drove to New Orleans the next day. It was fun because we saw the capitol in Jackson, and we were able to break up the drive for the baby. We ate alligator, turtle stew, and frog legs in New Orleans. Often it is a little hard for me to eat meat (since I worked swabbing carcasses at a slaughter house) but I'm getting much better. It was kinda funny that I was able to eat these 3 strange kinds of meat. I tried hard not to think of them as being cute, and somehow it really wasn't hard. My favorite was turtle stew, Raymey's were the frog legs, and neither of us LOVED the alligator, but it was OK. It was like fishy chicken. We went to the French Market after lunch and bought a Tabasco sucker to send to my brother in Argentina (he's a fan of hot sauce), a little purse for Madeline, and a fake alligator head. My family's tradition is to get little ornaments when they take a trip. Then they hang them on their tree at Christmas and it it fun to remember all of the things they've done. I thought it would be wonderful to have an alligator head on our tree (it is only like 3 inches long), that will make our tree unique!
We stayed in the Hilton because that is what priceline assigned us. We got a really good deal, but I would never choose them because 1) they charge you for internet, fridge use, parking and practically the air you breath, and 2) I don't want any more money to go to that crazy family. We had a great view of the city and the river from our room, and Madeline liked looking out the window to see the swimming pool (sheemee). We took a day trip to a beach in Mississippi. We were surprised at how much damage we saw, I guess there was so much destruction from Katrina that they just haven't been able to repair everything. The things we saw (on the beach) were either completely new or wiped out and not rebuilt. Along the rebuilt part of the beach there are broken trees that have been carved into birds and dolphins. We took quite a few pictures of the trip and they are all in this slide show.
On the way home we stayed in Birmingham, and since we arrived in the late afternoon there wasn't anything we could do. We saw some pipe factory that apparently is some national historical something or other, but it was closed, so we just drove by. All in all we had a nice little trip. We don't have any desire to visit the places again, but we did have fun and checked them off our list.

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Getting caught up

Raymey has to take the computer back to real life tomorrow, and I won't be able to use it. I have to catch up on the blog! The Thursday before Thanksgiving I woke up with really sharp pains in my stomach. I couldn't breath very deeply or move without really hurting my stomach. I called my mother-in-law Katie (my personal nurse) and my doctor's office and they both said that I'd better go to the ER because we didn't know what was wrong. I kinda felt goofy going in--the last time I'd been to an ER was when my foot was run over when I was a freshman in high school.
At the ER they gave me an IV of pain med that must have been kinda strong, it was such a relief! Then they did some tests and even an ultrasound to check out my gallbladder. They said that it was probably an ulcer and I had to go to a GI doctor for an endoscopy (Here's my little complaint about the ER. They were supposed to call the doctor and never did. We could have skipped the evaluation and not wasted more time or money, but I guess that is health care for you.) The ER doc said we could still go to New Orleans, so we did! When we got back we had an appointment with the GI doctor and set up the endoscopy (they send a tube down my throat and check out my stomach) for this Thursday so they can be sure that it is just an ulcer, and so they can know what kind it is. It makes sense with all of the stomach pains and problems I've been having lately. It is frustrating that such a little thing is so painful, but I guess it is good it wasn't some organ bursting or something.

You can't always get what you want

My little sister has told me before that someday when she has kids they won't watch annoying videos or listen to annoying songs. I pretty much agreed until the last few months. My mom gave Madeline a Kidsongs mix, and I wonder if it was some sort of sick revenge for years of making her listen to safety kids and other kids' music:) It is one of the most obnoxious CDs I have ever heard. However, when I put it on in the car Madeline instantly stops yelling or whining and she listens intently. As I was cringing to the chipmonk-like voices and REALLY dumb jokes I realized that I could either listen to my music and try to block out Madelines screeching, or I can turn on her music and try to block it out. It is usually easier to block out the goofy singing. Maybe someday they'll invent cars that can block out the noise from the back seats (like a limo window) or maybe they'll just invent quiet toddlers.

Fall

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