10.27.2014

Life Lately

It's been awhile since I've written a life/ health update and a lot has happened since the last time I wrote!

Mental health wise things are still up and down- though mostly down. I ended up switching medications from Prozac to Wellbutrin and it's taken awhile for most of the strange side effects I got from the Prozac to leave me. I'm not doing terribly well and I think it's finally time to admit that my OCD really has the best of me and that I need to try cognitive behavioral therapy. Finding a therapist has been really difficult and I don't really have a lot of time during the week to actually go to therapy. I know I need to make it a priority but uggh.

I've been in physical therapy for my jaw and pelvic floor for over a month now and I'm really happy with it. I absolutely adore my therapist and I wish I could go to her everyday! She's been massaging me (my face/ head/ neck) and doing "dry needling" which isn't very fun but helps a lot. She recommended I go to a special dentist who does botox treatments for TMJD and so I had that done last week. The dentist botoxed my temporalis (head) and masseter (jaw) muscles and he said it can take up to a week to kick in so I'm really hoping it helps relax those muscles. They actually didn't have enough botox for my treatment in the office during my appointment, so I'm going back this Wednesday to finish it. Since botox isn't FDA approved for treatment of these muscles (not because it's dangerous but because getting FDA approval costs a bajillion dollars) my insurance wouldn't pay a dime. I had to put it on my credit card which I was *so close* to paying off but if this helps me then every penny will be worth it. Knock on wood!

My stomach has been giving me ups and downs but I'm still doing much better than I was before my surgery. My reflux is still horrible and uncontrollable but I'm going to wait to address that for awhile.

More interestingly, my general practitioner believes that a lot of the things I suffer from might stem from an autonomic nervous system disorder. She said she'd refer me to a neurologist (a specialist I've never seen before!) so we'll see what happens there. From what I've read there aren't really any treatments except symptom management for these types of disorders, but I'd feel a lot better if I knew my issues stemmed from a single cause instead of having a bunch of random conditions. My thyroid levels are decent and apparently I'm allergic to sesame seeds?

My GP also did a rheumatoid (blood) panel to see if my hand pain stems from arthritis. Depending on the results I might have to see a rheumatologist (another specialist I've never seen before!) and while I really want my results to be fine, I also want to know what the source of my pain is.

I have so many doctors appointments that between them and R's school and dance schedule I really haven't had a lot of time for much! Especially with how horrible my fatigue has been. I have good days and bad days- a lot of bad days- but I'm trying to get by. Thankfully N is the best, most supportive husband in the world and he helps with everything. I'd be in big trouble without him.

Speaking of N, he went to a spine specialist for his back and it turns out that two of his lower back disks are compressed/ damaged and have arthritis. He got a cortisone shot and has been going to physical therapy as well. He learned in PT that he has very weak abdominal/ core muscles (the muscles that support your lower back) and that he needs to strengthen them. He hasn't been playing hockey anymore which has been good for his back but sad for him. When his abdominal muscles strengthen I think he will be able to return but I'm not sure he wants to risk it anymore. Either way it's  a bummer for sure but nowhere near as bad as we thought- thank goodness!

R is still loving preschool and dance class- and has loved her new tap class. I've volunteered at her preschool a few times and will be helping out with their Halloween party this week. After volunteering all I can say is thank goodness for preschool teachers. They are saints! I could never do that job in a million years! Here is how her school picture turned out...


If any of you remember my major mental meltdown/ overreaction regarding her dance pictures you'll know that these pictures went better than my wildest dreams. I needed to do a follow up to that post actually. You see I got her group pictures back and not only was she in both of them, she was also not the only little girl crying, and the vast majority of the girls had funny looks on their faces. Oh and if you're curious here's the video of how her dance recital turned out. We were so proud!

Till next time!

10.21.2014

Countdown to Halloween Week 3: Costume Ideas/ Zombie Crawl Pictures

The Chronicles of We

Well I had hoped that this week I'd be able to show you some of my progress on R's Halloween costume, but there really hasn't been much progress to document. So instead I'll show you some of the inspiration for what I'm going for, and we'll see how it all turns out in the end, haha!

For R's first Halloween she was a marshmallow Peep. It was one of the cutest costumes I had ever seen! This was before I had my DSLR camera so these pics were taken with a disposable. I wish I had better ones!


Luckily the costume was a little big so I was able to use them for the best Easter photo ever the following spring:


The next Halloween I had hopes of being crafty but turned to Etsy instead. I don't know where I saw the idea for this costume in order to search for it, but it was love at first sight (of the listing, haha.) She was cookies and milk!


Last year I didn't get any pictures for some reason, but during a decoration shopping stop at a Halloween store R found a Buzz Lightyear costume and HAD to have it. I could think of worse things she could be so I got it for her- along with a very cute Buzz Lightyear headband to add just a touch of girly flair. Of course we still got a lot of "your son is so cute!" but that doesn't bother me.

This year I asked R what she wanted to be and her response was "A GHOST LIKE oOoOoOohhh!" I don't know where she got that from but hey, I'll take it. So I immediately went to Pinterest (duh) and was inspired by the following:


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I bought 20 yards of white tulle from fabric.com and have started to assemble a "tutu" dress similar to the first picture. However I'm not going to do the ghost face on the actual dress, I'm going to do R's makeup similar to the child in the bottom picture. It'll be cold here so she'll have on a white long sleeve shirt and pants and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to do the top of the costume. I really like the cape idea, but I also love the bow idea. I am not good with fabric unless it means cutting tulle into tutus so we'll see how my vision plays out in reality.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Also, here are a couple pictures I snapped of R, my brother, and I at the Zombie Crawl this weekend. I couldn't find my camera so these are all phone shots, and I didn't get as many as I wanted because R was being shy but we still had a blast. Even if it made my cold 10x worse! (I've cut them since they're a bit *fake* gory!)

10.15.2014

Fall Swag Swap!


Another year another awesome fall swag swap headed by Candra, Desiree, Shelli, and Erin!

This year I was partnered with Jenny from The Chronicles of We and our being matched up was destiny- she used to live only a few miles from me (actually in the area I grew up in) in suburban Colorado. Talk about a weird coincidence. I had an awesome time getting to know her and was amazed with some of the things we had in common! I can't wait to keep following her journey (she's building a lake house- hello, could that be any cooler?) and she did an AWESOME job picking my swag!

10.14.2014

Countdown to Halloween Week 2: Our Indoor Decor

The Chronicles of We

I've got one of those wonderful fall colds but I didn't want to miss out on this week's linkup so I'll show you the pictures I took a few days ago and leave the commentary for another time. Of course if you have any questions just ask! :)

10.07.2014

We painted R's big girl room! FINALLY!


It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The Chronicles of We

Well I've had my indoor decorations set up since the middle of September (no shame!) but as soon as October 1st hit I decided it was time to do the outdoors as well. I don't have as many outdoor decorations because they just don't last in our October weather, but I'm really happy with what I do have. However I have some pretty grand plans for the future...

 

In the years that we haven't had any flowers in our garden at this time I've transformed it into a mini graveyard. However our flowers are still going strong this year and I have no desire to till the garden until next spring so for now I'm accessorizing with my awesome skeleton flamingos. I bought these last year and used them as well, and I asked N if we could keep them up all year round (and I tried!) but he gave that the big "no way."

 

In the window I taped up a skeleton that I got at the Dollar Store last year and added the Beware of Dog sign that I bought after our garage was broken into. I don't think anybody truly needs to "beware" of Hank, who is scared of mice, but hopefully it will make a thief pause to think. On the other side of the window that isn't show in this pic is an arched black cat that I found at Goodwill last year.

 

My favorite decoration of all is our giant spider web and my beloved Shelob. Ok so she's a small excuse for the actual Shelob but for now I'm making due. I bought her at Target a few years back and I believe they still sell similar ones. I don't remember where I got the web but for being made out of plastic it's held up nicely for a few years now. I use a staple gun to attach it to the sides of the house and then tie it to the storm door as well. Because the storm door opens out it doesn't disturb the web when it's opened/ closed. I've also had that skeleton for awhile now and one day I'd like to get a full size one but this year this guy is just going to hang out on the hook at the top of our porch. I need to get a longer rope for him so it looks like he's more trapped in the web.

 

Although the flowers in my garden are going crazy my potted petunias weren't looking so hot. I decided it was time to clear them out and my empty pots seemed to grow some interesting new plants... ;) I got these fake severed parts at the Dollar Store a few years ago and we've used them as props at the Zombie Crawl. Reagan was 1 1/2 and teething at her first crawl so she walked around chewing on one of the hands. It was perfect.

(Yes she is wearing underwear in this picture.)

New this year is my Zombie Crossing sign! You can't tell from the pictures but it's sparkly which brings it up to 11. I got it at Michael's this year and let me say, their Halloween collection this year has been ON POINT whereas I'm a little disappointed with Target. I am avoiding Micahel's at all costs right now because we're on a budget and I told myself no more Halloween decorations but hopefully I can convince my mom to go there with me... ;) (You can also sort of see in this picture that there are purple lights wrapped around our bannister.)

In the future (where hopefully we have more time and money!) I want to do a full on Nightmare Before Christmas yard. I have some great pins on Pinterest right now just waiting for the day when my bank account- and N- gives me the go ahead.


A girl can dream right?! ONE DAY I PROMISE!!!