Life full of chaos!

C-H-A-O-S!!!! That best explains our life lately! Eric is now back at work full time, but he is having to work nights. He works 6pm to 6am and I leave with the girls at 7 so that 30 minutes or so in the morning is all we see him during the week. He has two off days during the week so we have time with him then as well! It is definitely tough because I feel like a single mom at times.

We picked up Savannah on July 1 so now it's two kiddos to take care of and everything! We have had a hard time getting used to all of these changes, but we are managing!

Makennah is trying to pull up on everything all the time. She is almost there (she has been successful several times) and we are working on it everyday. Her physical strength continues to increase everyday and we are getting so anxious for her to do things. Her vocabulary has continued to grow as well. She is saying 40+ words and will repeat just about anything so we have really been careful. My sister called my brother butthead the other day and what did Makennah say?!?! "Butthead Butthead!"

Well I am off to bed to get my MUCH NEEDED rest after working all weekend to return to work again in the morning.....ugghhhh!!!!

MANIC Monday with M&M

The things that describes today are.....wow......shocked......crazy.......disappointed!

Makennah and I went for her MRI this morning and then were supposed to go to the neurologist and neurosurgeon. When we got there they said that her ventricle in her brain looked larger so they sent us back down to radiology to have a shunt series xray done. After that we went back up to the office and got the news that Makennah's shunt is partially clogged and we need to have it surgically fixed within the next 3 weeks. I opted to have it done as soon as possible so she wouldn't be in pain that long and wouldn't get really sick like the past and end up in ICU. So now we are going in for shunt surgery Thursday @ 7am. I just hate this for her! This will be surgery number 6 in her 17 months of life......this stinks for her!!! I am just so sad and I know that this will be an ongoing thing for the rest of her life, but I'm ready for her to go several years without needing a shunt revision done! She deserves a break!

It seems like the older she gets the harder it is to see her under anesthesia.....today was tough for me and I was very emotional so I can only imagine the surgery on Thursday!

Please pray for Miss Prisse and her Mommy & Daddy! We hope for a quick recovery for her!

Love,
Candi

My precious little miracle with so much spunk and fight for life!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I have been wanting and needing to get on here and blog, but I don't think my life has stopped in a while - it has been hectic!

Workers comp took sooooo long to release Eric that he lost the job he had at the post office on Monday morning, well we got released on Monday afternoon - pitiful! He has had to find a completely different profession because he can't do what he used to because of his back. We are having such a hard time financially that we just fight fight fight. We have tried not to, but money seriously is EVIL!! I not only feel like our life is falling apart, but our marriage too. We are really struggling right now too!

I'm going to cut this short, because I am so tired of "thinking," "chatting," and "crying." Please just keep us in your prayers!

It's Been Soooo Long!

Our life has just seemed so chaotic lately! I got sick this week. I had been fighting a super bad yeast infection for the last week or so an had finally called my OB and she called in some prescription strength medicine for that. Well things kept getting worse and worse. I started feeling pretty crappy so I did a urinalysis at work on Tuesday and it showed I had a super nasty urinary tract infection. I called my OB back with the results and she called me in the strong stuff....Levaquin....on Wednesday afternoon. I didn't miss any work and by the time I left work on Wednesday I had the chills sooo bad and when I got home I was running 103.4 and I felt absolutely HORRIBLE!! I went straight to bed - I didn't say hi to anybody - just my pillow. HaHa! Thursday I got to work and was feeling ok, but my throat was killing me.....well I swabbed my throat and tada.....positive for strep throat. This week has not been fun for me! I have felt horrible, but my antibiotic is working an tonight was my last night and boy do I feel so much better! Makennah is still well, but Eric came up sick today, but he has an upper respiratory infection. So not fun!!

Anyways....just an update on our madness in the Talley household.

I have a few things that are weighing super heavy on my heart that I want to share!

1. You all know that Savannah lives with her mom and her mother's "girlfriend," yes I said girlfriend. Well Angie, the girlfriend, just had a baby. Savannah seems excited, but so confused at the same time. It seems to be tough for her and she doesn't really know what to call her or how to answer questions her little friends ask about "the lady who lives with her Mommy." This is very difficult for Eric and I to even attempt to explain to Savannah. We don't want to bad mouth anybody, but we want her to know that this lifestyle is NOT normal and is NOT right! We are trying really had to be there for her, but we just don't know what to say. Angie is super sick and is in ICU. The baby is doing great, but Angie hemmorrhaged REALLY bad during labor and lost most of her blood volume. She now has a lot of fluid on her lungs and congestive heart failure. It is not looking good for her. You can tell Savannah is worried about her, but it's hard to care. I know that sounds so harsh, but it's hard to care about two women who put a sweet little girl in situations that are so confusing and so hard to understand at any age, much less the age of 5. This is sooooo tough! Please pray for her and pray that God will put her in the right house for her. We would love for her to come live with us, but with our court systems the way they are it is so hard to get a child away from their mother, no matter the circumstances!

2. I feel like Eric and I are going in slow motion and are in a de ja vu mode. We are kind of burned out on our Bible class on Sunday morning, burned out on teaching class.......just kind of burned out. I taught so many quarters in a row when I was pregnant and before that that I just haven't signed up to do it again since I had Makennah. (The last time I actually taught class was the nursery class on Wednesday when I was pregnant. I went into labor that night after church.) I feel like I need something different for a change. I usually miss most of the sermons on Sunday morning because I'm either fighting Makennah in church or taking her out of church. I don't like taking her to the nursery because there are several kids in there just playing and I think that the nursery is not for play time. I firmly believe in teaching them to sit in church while they're young. I am also worried about leaving Makennah in the middle of all of them playing because she can't even crawl yet and I don't want her to get hurt.

It's hard to explain all of this. We haven't really done a whole lot with our young couples in a long time either. Everybody is so busy with kids and it makes it so tough to do things together. We have talked several times of finding a different church to have a change, but I just can't. I have been at Alvarado forever and it just seems weird to even think about change. We are starting off this weekend by going to visit my old college friends and the church I went to while I was in college in Stephenville. We are really excited and looking forward to doing something different. I feel like we are stuck in the same motion every Sunday.

Anyways.....I better quit because I am just rambling and not making any sense. I hope everybody has a great Valentine's and a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Candi

Full of A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!

My precious cute sweet loving baby girl has learned something new. We went to the neurosurgeon yesterday for Makennah's initial visit and she was being sooooo loud! I finally told her, "Sshhhh, Makennah, you need to use your inside voice." (Like she understood that - or so I thought). Then she looked at me with those big blue eyes with a ornry grin on her face and said, "ssshhhhhh!" I tried to hard not to laught, but at that point I realized that we were in for it with her! Later in the night she was throwing a fit on her changing table so I swatted her leg and said, "No ma'am." Makennah responded with a sweet, "no no no." Wow - she is going to be my problem child with the BIG ATTITUDE!! Look at how sweet she looked though - sitting on the bench with her Daddy waiting on my to check out at the doctor's office!



Her appointment went pretty well with Dr. Marks, the neurologist. He said that he was really impressed with how well she looked, especially for what all she had been through. He diagnosed her with mild mild mild cerebral palsy, which I was kind of suspecting. She has tight muscle tone in her left side, well tighter than the right side. He said that it may effect her and it may not. It's a waiting game and we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Isn't it fun being a mom? I love watching her do new things everyday. It makes you feel so warm and fuzzy inside! I wish I could keep her like this forever!!! I love her cuddling and saying "aahhh" and giving me sugars! Wow!


Afterwards I took Makennah up to the Progressive side of the NICU to visit. Two of her primary nurses were actually there and we were able to surprise them. It was as if Makennah remembered them. She went right to them, smiled & talked to them, gave them sugars, etc. It was so sweet! Here is a picture of her favorite nurse, Lisa Bell!


I hope that each of you are enjoying your kiddos and counting your blessings EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Photo Tag

1. Go to the 4th folder where you store your pictures.
2. Pick the 4th picture (NO MATTER WHAT)!
3. Describe this picture.
4. Tag 4 friends to do the same!

This was at my bridal shower with Eric's family. The first time I met half of his family was at this shower & Eric had to work so I was by myself. From left to right: Eric's Aunt, Lonna; Uncle Garth; Uncle Tony; Ryo (Tony's significant other); Uncle Clay; Aunt Becky......CRAZY FAMILY!!!

So Much Love

The last few days seem like they have been a blur......so much going on! It seems like so much has happened and I can't even remember what days what happened. It is crazy!

Things seems to be going ok though.......although......my poor baby has ANOTHER ear infection. I pulled her account up in the computer at work today and she has had 6 ear infections in 8 months. Poor girl! We have her checkup scheduled for February so I'm sure we will be discussing making a visit to the ENT to discuss tubes. As much as I hate to even mention surgery I am all for getting those sweet little ears fixed!

Eric is already getting on my nerves. He calls me at work and says....."what do you need me to do?" I feel like his mother who needs to leave him a list everyday so he will know what chores to do. HaHa! Men!! He had an interview, but he is going to have a really hard time because nobody wants to hire an injured guy. Know what I mean?!?

I am really getting anxious about Makennah's appointment on Wednesday with the neurosurgeon. I want to see what he says about her developmental delays. I will keep you updated!

Well I can't even type anymore because I am sooooo tired.......long day at work today! Before you go to bed check out this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkcE6Vy-e6c

This little girl is absolutely AMAZING!!!!