Tuesday, August 23, 2011
John Boy is Going to Work!!!
Let me just say God is Good! It has been 14 months since Johnny has been working a regular shift with the fire department. It has been 13 months since Johnny had brain surgery. It has also been 13 months since Johnny's last seizure! Needless to say stress has been high at the Cox house for quite some time. But finally, today, he was completely released by his neurologist! We are beyond excited! As soon as we got on the elevator leaving the Dr.'s office we both took a huge sigh of relief. Sometimes I think you really don't know how stressed you were until it's over. We both knew since the beginning God would take care of us and provide and He Totally Has!!!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
New Experiences
I am once again going to try and update my blog more often. Maybe since I am unemployed I will have more time to do this. I really do enjoy writing. When I was in the 7th grade I had a teacher that really encouraged writing. She taught us how to write a research paper, which amazingly I still remember how to do! All of that said, I think that is where I pinpoint learning to really enjoy writing. I really wish I could find Mrs. Ridgeway and beg her to start teaching at Bagley so the girls could be in her English class. Oh and I would also beg her husband to also teach history. He was by far the best history teacher I ever had!
Now...about my title.
Yesterday was filled with new experiences for our family. My niece Payton had a birthday party. She turned 6! Her party was at the Trussville bowling alley. This was the first time the either of the girls had ever been bowling. They loved it! Bailey, of course, went right in and started playing. She would give me score updates every few minutes. Callie on the other hand was a touch timid her first few times to play. After that...she was a pro! All of the kids played with the bumpers up which helped alot. Also Callie played with a ramp so she could push the ball down the ramp and SCORE!!!
I also had a new experience yesterday. The Sayre Speedway! I have lived in the Bagley/Dora/Sumiton/Sayre area for 9 years now. I have NEVER, I repeat NEVER felt the need to attend a race. I was asked by the PTO with Bailey's school to come and help sell tickets to raise money for the school. We sold tickets for $1 each or 6 for $5 (everybody wants a bargain right?) At the end of the night the money raised was split 50/50. Half went to Bagley School and then a name was drawn out of the bucket for the winner of the other half. I will say it as not quite as bad as I thought it would be. There were lots of people there that easily fall into the Redneck category. All ages attended the race, from babies and up. Overall, the night was a success. We raised a total of $820 so the school got half and some lucky winner got the other half!
Now...about my title.
Yesterday was filled with new experiences for our family. My niece Payton had a birthday party. She turned 6! Her party was at the Trussville bowling alley. This was the first time the either of the girls had ever been bowling. They loved it! Bailey, of course, went right in and started playing. She would give me score updates every few minutes. Callie on the other hand was a touch timid her first few times to play. After that...she was a pro! All of the kids played with the bumpers up which helped alot. Also Callie played with a ramp so she could push the ball down the ramp and SCORE!!!
I also had a new experience yesterday. The Sayre Speedway! I have lived in the Bagley/Dora/Sumiton/Sayre area for 9 years now. I have NEVER, I repeat NEVER felt the need to attend a race. I was asked by the PTO with Bailey's school to come and help sell tickets to raise money for the school. We sold tickets for $1 each or 6 for $5 (everybody wants a bargain right?) At the end of the night the money raised was split 50/50. Half went to Bagley School and then a name was drawn out of the bucket for the winner of the other half. I will say it as not quite as bad as I thought it would be. There were lots of people there that easily fall into the Redneck category. All ages attended the race, from babies and up. Overall, the night was a success. We raised a total of $820 so the school got half and some lucky winner got the other half!
1st Day of School
Well it has been year since I posted last. I decided I would give everyone an update on how the 1st day of school went. Today Bailey started 2nd grade and Callie started K4. As a whole, the day was a success.
The morning started off great! Both girls got out of bed excited and ready for the day. They both had new clothes so they were anxious to put them on and check themselves out in the mirror (for as long as possible). Callie decided she would like to pack her breakfast and eat at school. Bailey however, does not have that as an option so she ate a bowl of banana pudding. I figured that was healthy enough right???? Fruit, Dairy, & Bread...sounds healthy to me! Lunch boxes are now packed, clothes are on, all money envelopes are ready - Lets Go To School!!!
I picked Callie up @ 11:30. I asked for a report of her day and I got the typical kid answer...It was good! So then I had to dig. She had a corn dog for lunch. They gave her other things like corn and some other stuff that she couldn't remember but she didn't really like that other stuff. She did let me know that she took little bites because the wienie was really big. I asked what she did today and she said they just played but, tomorrow they are going to start doing paperwork. Then she proceeds to tell me that she really doesn't think she needs to go back tomorrow, "Mommy I had fun today but I don't want to go tomorrow because I really don't want to do any real work!" We talked more and I let her know she had to go and it really wasn't an option and she seemed OK with that. I am afraid it's going to be a LONG 14 years!!!
I picked Bailey up @ 3:00. I asked for a report from her and didn't have to ask any questions. She said she had a really good day. She really likes her teacher Mrs. Fewell...she is really nice. The did some math work but it wasn't hard at all. They started a really pretty art project that they are going to work on more tomorrow. She is not going to have any homework this week BUT Mrs. Fewell did send home next weeks spelling words. They did more worksheets but they were easy too. There is a new coach because Coach Tate retired. His name is Coach Kyle Hayes. But, she really doesn't know what to call him. Because Payton Rouse calls him Coach Kyle and some people call him Coach Hayes. I asked what he wants be called, which is Coach Hayes, so that is what she should call him. But one thing she really doesn't understand about him is that he said that when he blows his whistle 3 times you should get down on on knee, look at him, and not say a word. She really doesn't understand why they have to do that and besides it kinda hurts her knees! There is a new girl and her name is Amanda. There are 2 boys in her class that have the toe shoes - she says the shoes are really ugly and she told those boys they are frog finger shoes! Lastly, she said when she comes home everyday she is going to write in a journal all about her day. And that friends is the day of an over-achiever!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Boohoo or Yahoo???
This morning I was invited the Boohoo Yahoo breakfast at Bailey's school. This breakfast is provided by the PTO for the parents of kindergarten and 1st graders. The idea is after you drop your child off for the first day of school you go to mix and mingle with the other parents. Some are literally boohooing and some are saying YAHOO!!! I don't really think I was doing either one. I was definitely not boohooing but I can't say I was saying yahoo either (at least not where anyone could hear me). In the past I have been accused of being heartless. That is really not the case. I really do get that this is your baby and they are growing up but I also am of the opinion that this is part of life. This is what happens. You knew it would. You have prepared your child for the past 5 to 6 years for this very moment. So...be proud, be excited, and send them on their way so soak up as much as they possibly can.
That was my soapbox and I will now stop. Anyway - Bailey had her first day of 1st grade today. She was super excited before she left and she was equally excited when she got home. She brought home several papers that she had completed during the day today. They will have their first test on Friday. This is a list of probably 20 sight words that she should be able to recognize immediately. The note from the teacher says she has 3 seconds per word. Let's just say she has got that test covered, no worries there!!!
Callie Rae started back school today also. She has not been in several weeks since everything has been kind of crazy. She has a new teacher who was not able to be there today but hopefully will be back on Friday. Callie is going 2 days per week. We are starting to see lots of signs that she is actually learning while she is there so we are very excited about that. Her favorite thing to do is try to figure out what sound different words start with. Example: C-C-Callie Momma that starts with a C right? Yep! B-B-Bailey that starts with a B right? Yep! What about B-B-Television?? No baby sorry Television says T-T-Television T! See? So - needless to say this is a work in progress but, she tries!!!
Johnny is doing much better. He is slowly but surely getting better every day. Right now he is on an antibiotic for an ear infection that is causing most of his pain. He will start back to work light duty next Wednesday.
Me? Well I got a job! Yippee!!!!! I will start work on 8/16/10 working for Orthopedic Specialist of Alabama. I will be one of their workers compensation specialists. I am really excited about this. It has come at the perfect time and really it is the perfect job for me. The only drawback is that they want me to wear closed toe shoes and that is sort of a problem for me seeing as I don't own any! But, I will be shopping Friday for new work shoes that will go with the work clothes I already have. So I figure if that is the only drawback then I am really doing good!
Well, I think I have given you an update on all four of us. It appears that we are getting back to our new normal which I am very happy about. Its time for bed since we will have to get an early start in the morning. Good Night!
That was my soapbox and I will now stop. Anyway - Bailey had her first day of 1st grade today. She was super excited before she left and she was equally excited when she got home. She brought home several papers that she had completed during the day today. They will have their first test on Friday. This is a list of probably 20 sight words that she should be able to recognize immediately. The note from the teacher says she has 3 seconds per word. Let's just say she has got that test covered, no worries there!!!
Callie Rae started back school today also. She has not been in several weeks since everything has been kind of crazy. She has a new teacher who was not able to be there today but hopefully will be back on Friday. Callie is going 2 days per week. We are starting to see lots of signs that she is actually learning while she is there so we are very excited about that. Her favorite thing to do is try to figure out what sound different words start with. Example: C-C-Callie Momma that starts with a C right? Yep! B-B-Bailey that starts with a B right? Yep! What about B-B-Television?? No baby sorry Television says T-T-Television T! See? So - needless to say this is a work in progress but, she tries!!!
Johnny is doing much better. He is slowly but surely getting better every day. Right now he is on an antibiotic for an ear infection that is causing most of his pain. He will start back to work light duty next Wednesday.
Me? Well I got a job! Yippee!!!!! I will start work on 8/16/10 working for Orthopedic Specialist of Alabama. I will be one of their workers compensation specialists. I am really excited about this. It has come at the perfect time and really it is the perfect job for me. The only drawback is that they want me to wear closed toe shoes and that is sort of a problem for me seeing as I don't own any! But, I will be shopping Friday for new work shoes that will go with the work clothes I already have. So I figure if that is the only drawback then I am really doing good!
Well, I think I have given you an update on all four of us. It appears that we are getting back to our new normal which I am very happy about. Its time for bed since we will have to get an early start in the morning. Good Night!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
No words to describe...
It is 4:00 a.m. and I am blogging. Why? Well, because I had a dream and now I am wide awake. I know you are thinking I must have had a really horrible nightmare. But...I didn't. I had a dream that made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to cry. I woke Johnny and Bailey up in my hysteria. I have always heard that your dreams have meaning. I have no idea if that is true or not but, I seriously hope that this one doesn't mean anything. So, if you have an interpretation for me please keep it to yourself! I think I would be scared to know!
Let me explain.
I was working for the police. I was in some type of dance club or something. It was my job to dance with this certain guy so that the police could catch him. The police had the plan that when the song "Footloose" came on that would be my cue to start dancing. In real life I cannot dance at all. I look retarted when I even try. So you know how far from the truth this actually is. Anyway, in my dream I was good...I was really good. The criminal was not a very good dancer but I was so good I made him look good. It was like a scene from a movie. I was dancing my heart out - spinning, twisting, turning, and sliding. Toward the end of the song we had planned that I would spin out and so would the guy and when he spun out the police would grab him! All of this plan worked perfectly.
After the dance I went over to talk to my friend Debbie A. The room was kind of dark and smokey (like the movies). While I was talking to Debbie I all of the sudden felt something on my leg. It was Debbie's dog! It would not let go of my leg. He was not a very big dog so when he was standing on his back legs his head came to my knee. Let's just say he really really loved my leg. I kept shaking my leg trying to get the dog off of me and he would not budge so finally I kicked my leg really hard to get him off of me - and that's when I woke up...and Johnny woke up...and Bailey woke up. Apparently, I really did kick my leg (pretty hard) and made some weird noise. Johnny freaked out wanting to know what was wrong. He really thought something had crawled up in the bed with us and must have really hurt me. He kept asking me what was wrong, all I could do was laugh. For some reason it struck me as hilarious! I probably laughed for at least 20 minutes and in the mean time woke Bailey up. She said she couldn't figure out if I was laughing or crying!
So that is the end of my story. I was hoping by sitting up and typing it would make me sleepy again but so far it hasn't worked. I am sure that all of you are not nearly as amused by this dream as I was but maybe it made you feel a little better about your night. So, once again, no interpretations please...just keep those to yourself.
Let me explain.
I was working for the police. I was in some type of dance club or something. It was my job to dance with this certain guy so that the police could catch him. The police had the plan that when the song "Footloose" came on that would be my cue to start dancing. In real life I cannot dance at all. I look retarted when I even try. So you know how far from the truth this actually is. Anyway, in my dream I was good...I was really good. The criminal was not a very good dancer but I was so good I made him look good. It was like a scene from a movie. I was dancing my heart out - spinning, twisting, turning, and sliding. Toward the end of the song we had planned that I would spin out and so would the guy and when he spun out the police would grab him! All of this plan worked perfectly.
After the dance I went over to talk to my friend Debbie A. The room was kind of dark and smokey (like the movies). While I was talking to Debbie I all of the sudden felt something on my leg. It was Debbie's dog! It would not let go of my leg. He was not a very big dog so when he was standing on his back legs his head came to my knee. Let's just say he really really loved my leg. I kept shaking my leg trying to get the dog off of me and he would not budge so finally I kicked my leg really hard to get him off of me - and that's when I woke up...and Johnny woke up...and Bailey woke up. Apparently, I really did kick my leg (pretty hard) and made some weird noise. Johnny freaked out wanting to know what was wrong. He really thought something had crawled up in the bed with us and must have really hurt me. He kept asking me what was wrong, all I could do was laugh. For some reason it struck me as hilarious! I probably laughed for at least 20 minutes and in the mean time woke Bailey up. She said she couldn't figure out if I was laughing or crying!
So that is the end of my story. I was hoping by sitting up and typing it would make me sleepy again but so far it hasn't worked. I am sure that all of you are not nearly as amused by this dream as I was but maybe it made you feel a little better about your night. So, once again, no interpretations please...just keep those to yourself.
Monday, August 2, 2010
A week ago today
One week ago today I was sitting in the surgery waiting room at St. Vincent's hospital anxiously waiting for Johnny's surgery to be completed. The day was extremely long. He was instructed to arrive at the hospital at 5:00 a.m. which we did. They quickly took him to a room and started the paperwork process of getting him ready. Around 5:50 they wheeled him back to the official prep area where they would start all of his IVs and he would then wait for surgery. Also at this time we said goodbye. This was totally unexpected since in the past for any surgery we have known about they would keep you in your room with your family until time for surgery. We had talked to all of the rest of our family and told them that they should wait until around 6 to arrive at the hospital and that would give everyone time to get settled. Well...since it was so different his parents were not able to see him before surgery. As you can imagine this was quite upsetting to them.
Finally around 8:30 I received a call that surgery had begun and everything was going well. So, let the official waiting begin. I have later found out that before they could start surgery they had to map out everything on and in his head. The Friday prior to surgery the nurse had glued dots to Johnny's head to serve as guide points for the surgeon. After surgery we found out that there was around a 45 minute delay in starting surgery because these markers had moved over the weekend so, everything had to be lined back up.
About 11:30 we were sent to a conference room to meet with the doctor. He came in and let us know that the surgery was a success! They were able to remove the entire cavernoma, which had by the way gotten larger. The Dr. cleaned up all around where the spot had been and completely took care of it!
Johnny has done amazingly well. He was released from ICU and in a regular room by early Tuesday morning. Then by 10:00 Wednesday morning he was released to go home. Since he has been home his has really done well. He has been in quite a bit of pain but, that is totally expected. He is on several different medications which all seem to help. One of the major problems his is having is that he is not able to sleep very well. They have him on steroids which wire him up. Also, the other problem is where they cut through his jaw muscle. This is what is causing the majority of his pain and problems. He has a hard time lying down and getting comfortable. But in the grand scheme of things these complaints are really nothing. He managed to go through a major surgery successfully with just minor complaints afterwards.
God has truly had a plan for us. He continues to show us everyday that he is still in control. Last night at church the preacher talked about life interruptions. Sometimes those interruptions are really God trying to get your attention. I truly believe that everything that has gone on with us recently is God - he wanted Johnny and I back. He wants to use our family in a great way so we are waiting patiently to find out what that is. I'm not going to say it has been easy or that it will be in the future but, we do know there is a plan. Please continue to pray for us on this journey that we will seek the Lord and follow his plan and not our own.
Now. During the past week it has been just a touch crazy to say the least. When I was not pulling my hair out I tried to make all of this craziness fun for the girls. I did not accomplish this perfectly but here are a few things they did this week. Most of the things they did I stole the idea from McMama but the girls had fun!
Finally around 8:30 I received a call that surgery had begun and everything was going well. So, let the official waiting begin. I have later found out that before they could start surgery they had to map out everything on and in his head. The Friday prior to surgery the nurse had glued dots to Johnny's head to serve as guide points for the surgeon. After surgery we found out that there was around a 45 minute delay in starting surgery because these markers had moved over the weekend so, everything had to be lined back up.
About 11:30 we were sent to a conference room to meet with the doctor. He came in and let us know that the surgery was a success! They were able to remove the entire cavernoma, which had by the way gotten larger. The Dr. cleaned up all around where the spot had been and completely took care of it!
Johnny has done amazingly well. He was released from ICU and in a regular room by early Tuesday morning. Then by 10:00 Wednesday morning he was released to go home. Since he has been home his has really done well. He has been in quite a bit of pain but, that is totally expected. He is on several different medications which all seem to help. One of the major problems his is having is that he is not able to sleep very well. They have him on steroids which wire him up. Also, the other problem is where they cut through his jaw muscle. This is what is causing the majority of his pain and problems. He has a hard time lying down and getting comfortable. But in the grand scheme of things these complaints are really nothing. He managed to go through a major surgery successfully with just minor complaints afterwards.
God has truly had a plan for us. He continues to show us everyday that he is still in control. Last night at church the preacher talked about life interruptions. Sometimes those interruptions are really God trying to get your attention. I truly believe that everything that has gone on with us recently is God - he wanted Johnny and I back. He wants to use our family in a great way so we are waiting patiently to find out what that is. I'm not going to say it has been easy or that it will be in the future but, we do know there is a plan. Please continue to pray for us on this journey that we will seek the Lord and follow his plan and not our own.
Now. During the past week it has been just a touch crazy to say the least. When I was not pulling my hair out I tried to make all of this craziness fun for the girls. I did not accomplish this perfectly but here are a few things they did this week. Most of the things they did I stole the idea from McMama but the girls had fun!
Dried Beans and Trucks
Finger Painting - They really had a lot of fun doing this. We are going to hang it in their bedroom!
Watercolor paint in the tub. Callie couldn't soak in the tub because of her hiney so we improvised!
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