Beating the Heat...

It has been one HOT summer. I am so grateful for air-conditioning.

Jasmyn returned from her stay with her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. Hannah has never been happier to see "Thithter!" Jasmyn had a great time. She enjoyed a couple concerts, art shows, movies, and shopping.

Hannah not wanting to let Jasmyn go.

We went to the movies and Jasmyn decided to sit in Hannah's seat on the way there. Silly girl!

Hannah had her hair cut. She sat still...for her. She enjoyed the hair cut, however, having the cut hair land on her kind of stressed her a little. She had to keep picking it up off of her and throwing it on the ground.

Sprinkler fun!!! She kept putting her bottom into the sprinkler and giggling. Hannah had so much fun in the sprinkler!

Jasmyn recently had her friend stay over. All three of the girls went out to paint in the evening.

The big girls took poster boards and Hannah decided that she would use the side of the building as her canvas. Laughter was in abundance!

Congratulating each other on a job well done.

Jasmyn's

Cassidy's

Hannah's.

Li'l Gardener...

We have a Li'l gardener here on the farm.

The pictures are in reverse order.

They are trying to save a dying Citronella plant by transplanting it. They have already saved two by transplanting.

Hannah also got her very first "big girl" bike. She has so much fun on it.

A few of her flowers. She picks them daily. Can you tell she likes yellow?

And this is Hannah's pride and joy right now. Her first watermelon. She planted the plant early on in the spring and spotted this little melon the other day. When she goes and checks it she makes a slurping sound and says "Mmmm. Yummy!"

Progress...

Painting has begun in the kitchen this week. Hannah helped. I believe she put more paint on herself and the floor then the wall, but the laughter was worth it!

The color is Mocha Mousse.

Pictures of Hannah's painting job. She got to help with the priming.

She had such a great time helping.

Jasmyn is at her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin's for the week. She has been shopping, to the amusement park, and a concert already.

Dolan has been working ridding the world of pests, trying to maintain equipment of the farm, and mowing. His work is never done.

I have been recovering. A long slow process. A lot slower then what I thought. On a positive note: Relatively Painless! YAY!

Still seeing doctors and there is a chance that I will need another surgery in the very near future. Masses were found on my thyroid. 3 to be exact. 2 solid and one cystic. The biopsies are this upcoming week. The results appointment is early next week. Right now it seems as if it is one thing right on top of another. I will get through it though. Keeping my head up and trying to keep my eyes open.

Summer so far...

Summer fun!

WOW! These are completely out of order! So I will just give a description of our last month.

I had a hysterectomy on the 21st of June. On the 23rd of June i was re-admitted into the hospital with pneumonia. They quickly treated the pneumonia but it set back my healing from the hysterectomy. To be quite honest, recovery is going great. I expected so much pain and really I haven't had much. For the first week or two I was exhausted and not able to stay awake during the day. Now I am able to get around but not do too much. And usually the next day I am so tired that I really don't move much.

This is so much better than what we thought it would be.

We have made a few trips to North Platte. The fourth of July we went up and took Jasmyn's friend Cassidy with us. Jasmyn got her ears pierced, we ate at Applebees, went to Cody park, then watched fireworks (also known as "Sprinkles!" by Hannah). We tried going to the mall but it had closed. Jasmyn tried going to Shopko and she was right back out of the store within 30 seconds...they yelled at her to tell her the store was closed, yet the doors were unlocked. At Cody park we only got to enjoy the rides for 15 minutes before they closed them down.

So we fed the animals. The deer were eating out of their hands.

This bunny was at a farm store we ventured to the next trip to North Platte. Hannah must have stayed there looking at the bunny for half of an hour.

The next trip to North Platte we managed to start some school shopping. Hard to imagine that both my girls are going to be in school now. Another trip to Cody park proved to be a nice FREE afternoon. The rides were all free that day! Hannah had such a wonderful time!

Hannah made a new friend while there. His name was Alex. They talked and danced around.

Life has been uncomplicated lately and I am thankful for that. Everyone has been doing wonderfully and staying healthy.

Hannah has been accepting and patient with me during recovery.

Jasmyn has been helping around the house and not complaining about it.

Dolan has been a great nurse and "mom". He has been making up for all that I couldn't and even what I still can't manage.

God has blessed me with a great family and wonderful friends!

nervous:

Definition:

anxious, fearful afraid, agitated, annoyed, apprehensive, basketcase, bothered, concerned, distressed,disturbed, edgy, excitable, fidgety, fitful,flustered, hesitant, high-strung,hysterical, irritable, jittery, jumpy, nervy, neurotic,on edge, overwrought, querulous, restive, ruffled, sensitive, shaky*, shrinking, shy, skittish, snappish, solicitous, spooked, taut,tense, timid, timorous, troubled, twitchy, uneasy,unrestful, unstrung, upset, uptight, volatile,weak, wired, worried All of the above can be used to describe me and even more so will my nerves continue to get worse within the next two weeks. I have had a lot that has occurred recently, but it is getting taken care of. I am scheduled for surgery on June 21, 2010. Let me back up to the beginning and I will try to make a long story stay somewhat short... About 4 months ago I found a lump on my right breast. Ignored it. Figured it would go away, shrink, just disappear. That did not happen. Dolan kept saying that I needed to go to the doctor, but like the little child hiding their head beneath the covers, I had my way of protecting myself...I lifted up the covers and knew (pretended) that as long as I don't see the monster, the monster can't see or hurt me. Also, yes, I am really bad, I had avoided going to the (girl) doctor since my 6 week check up after having Hannah. Again, knew there was problems there and hid under my covers. Well, I finally broke down and pulled down those covers. Just popped my head up for a breath of fresh air (it gets stuffy under the covers). And in the next brief instant I found myself on the phone with my doctors office. They got me in the following Monday. Made it to the doctors and gave them the low down...pretty hard to do when you still want to crawl back in bed and hide from all the monsters. Family history updated. Questions that the doctor asked were answered. Exam done. Not too bad. Now I am informed that I am to go over to the imaging center for a mammogram and also an ultrasound on my uterus. Hmm. Oh, and an appointment was made to meet with the surgeon to do a biopsy on the lump in my breast. Covers! Where did you go? Oh, how I want to hide now more then ever! Made it to the imaging center and had 2 rounds of mammograms and a total of 3 ultrasounds done. Not too bad. Now heading home. While picking up Hannah in Hayes Center from her Grandmother's house my cell phone rings. Who could it be you ask? Why, it is the doctor's office. Actually, it is the doctor's nurse calling asking if I could come back to the doctors office for an endometrial biopsy. I ask when and they say right away. So the next morning I head back to the doctor and this time have my husband in tow. Biopsy is quick. Doctor then explains to us that we are looking at a full and total hysterectomy. The biopsy was just the next step into getting us closer to that end result. The results from the mammogram was not back as of that time. Off to lunch at Perkins Dolan and I went. While eating our yummy meal my phone starts it's harmonious chirping. The number flashes across the screen. It is the doctor's office on the line. When I answer I am surprised to find that it is the doctor himself. He just received the results from the mammograms. My left breast is clear however, my right is showing two masses. The original lump was not even showing up, but it is there. Not only did I feel it, Dolan felt it, and the doctor felt it as well. So I was told to keep the appointment with the surgeon. Oh, how I want my covers back. Results from the endometrial biopsy came back two days later. We, Dolan and I, were then scheduled for a consultation appointment with the doctor. The results came back clean. So now we move on the the hysterectomy and what that entails for not just me but for us (Dolan, kids, and I). Because I am young for a total hysterectomy I will be needing hormone replacement therapy. It could take up to six months to find the right dosage and combination benefit and work for me. This is also a little tricky for two more reasons... 1: I have P.C.O.S. (poly-cystic ovary syndrome) My hormones have not worked, been produced, as they should be for numerous years. So, finding the proper levels may prove to be difficult. 2: Breast cancer runs in the family and HRT may increase the chance of breast cancer. Mood swings, hot flashes, irritability, night sweats, etc...just till we find the right dosage of hrt. Hmm...Sounds like me now. For six weeks I will not be able to lift anything over 10 pounds...including Hannah. No stairs for a minimum of two weeks. No driving. Just a few of the restrictions during recovery. Hannah is going to be the most difficult. She is tiny, only 28 pounds but I still will not be able to lift her. Dolan is using his vacation time for all these appointments and will be using his last week of vacation time to stay home and take care of Hannah and me during the first week. I will have Jasmyn for a little of the time but she has work and will be spending a week in Denver at her Uncle's and Aunt's. Back to the story...On the 25th of May, off to the surgeon we went. He went over the results in more detail on the mammograms and then wanted to feel the lump in question (which again, did not show up on the mammograms). yep. There is a lump. Now time for a biopsy.....OUCH!!!! Large needles, large vials, all hooked up to a vacuum. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! He did numb the area first and I didn't feel the first one. However, the second and third went further then the numbness. OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! Then about half way home the local wore off and OUCH!!! OUCH!!! OUCH!!! A few days later the results came back and my phone, it was a ringing. The nurse from the surgeons office revealed the results, "We have the results from the biopsy. It is a tumor." Speechless am I!!! COVERS!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!! After what felt like an eternity of silence but was maybe only a second, " It is benign. A non-cancerous fatty tumor." I think then I had a bout of high pitched giggles set in. WOW! I think for future reference they need to start off with the "non-cancerous" part first. So now my time is winding down to the big day. Two weeks until the surgery. My nerves are getting away from me. I thought I was doing better, but that was because I had my covers pulled up. Now it is time for reality! Good-bye safety and comfort of living in the land of imagination!

Cody Park...

We took some time out and went to Cody park in North Platte. They have rides for little children there. Hannah LOVED! each and every one. The pictures are all out of order and I cannot seem to put them in the proper order.

Hannah. Our little clown. What this picture fails to show is the moment before Hannah made the face is her father telling her to.

Waving to Mommy and "Thith-ter".

This picture just makes me laugh! It is one of those moments that you miss while holding the camera and you don't get to experience yet laugh looking back on. Hannah looks as if she is getting a little sick and trying to hold it in, but what is really going on is a squealing laughter that she was trying to control.

We passed the ferris wheel by the first time...you have to be this-short to ride and we were a little "iffy" on having Hannah up in the air all by herself. Jasmyn couldn't ride any with Hannah because all the rides (except the carousel) had height limits. Jasmyn is now taller then both of us.

This was Hannah's favorite ride. It went super fast compared to all the others. There is a video of her on it at the bottom of this post. She did not mess around on this one. We didn't even get a wave from her this time.

Jasmyn and her new haircut. Snapped this one before we left.

While in North Platte we went to Shopko. Hannah found these patriotic fire-works.

This is the true Hannah. This is the Hannah that we have 90% of the time. What a little clown!

On the carousel. Big smiles and lots of giggles mixed with " Ged-up! Housey!"

The train. Very mellow and slow, but she still loved it!

Happy Hannah!