UGGHHH......

I am so disappointed and frustrated. As some of you know, I have had several surgeries on my neck and back due to a work related injury (neck) and degenerative disc disease in my back. I thought my troubles were over with my neck until late summer this year. I started to have some troubling all too familiar symptoms such as tingling sensations into my fingers, electric pains in my right arm into my fingers etc. I had an MRI a week ago last Friday and finally got the results last Thursday. Not good, seems I have another full herniation of a disc at the C4-C5 level in my neck. So, now what do I do? Well for starters I have an appointment for steroid injections in my neck on December 9th. I will need a series of 3 each 2 weeks apart. If they don't work to calm the injured nerves down, I will need to see my neurosurgeon to find out what options I have. I know what that will mean, more surgery, but I am going to avoid that as long as I can safely. Yikes! I cannot even begin to tell you how devastated I am by this news. I am now wondering if I will be able to participate in the 2010 BJP. I am taking it one day at a time hoping the injections will give me some relief and that I can avoid yet another surgery. I feel I have missed out on so much of my life recovering from these surgeries. The thought of another 6 months in a neck brace is so depressing. I want to be able to be there for little bun and the rest of my family too. Speaking of Bun, hes still with his mommy. His actual due date is tomorrow the 24th. I think he wants to skip Thanksgiving and make his debut after that. Wish Jess luck for a safe and quick delivery. Wish me luck on these injections too! Hugs!

Many Updates!

Hi! Thanks for checking in with me. Once again on the prompting from my daughter Jess, I am updating my blog. Still no progress with my Bead Journals, seems bead work is just too frustrating to try to do with a little one around. Shes just too into whatever grandma is doing to resist "helping" me with everything I do! Don't get me wrong, I love all the attention, but it does get in the way of creativity!

I am so happy and surprised to tell you that Baby Bun has yet to make his appearance into the world. Jessica's Dr said hes just plain too cozy in there to come out, looks like hes gonna stay put for awhile yet. That's such great news since things were so scary in the beginning. Lets hope hes here by Thanksgiving. I think Jess is hoping so!

Here is a picture of Kileigh along with her beautiful mommy Courtney on Halloween this year. She was such a cute little ladybug. She had a blast trick-or-treating. She said her own version of trick-or-treat, said thank you and even blew kisses to some of the people handing out candy! I think she melted a few hearts because she got as many as 4 treats at many of the houses she went too! Such a little sweetheart!

Maddux is continuing to do remarkably well. he is now 10 months fever free! Yippee!

I am still wondering what shape and size piece I want to do for next years BJP. I just cant seem to come up with just the right idea yet. Stay tuned.....

Hello Strangers!

Hi everyone! I hope you have missed me, because I have missed you. We have all been sick here one way or another. 3 weeks ago my hubby Chuck hurt his back. Seems as though he is taking after me and has several bad disc in his lower back. He actually tore some ligaments in his low back and has been basically laid up in bed for all this time. He is finally starting to feel human again and is having some steroid injections in about a week. Hopefully he will be able to get back to work soon. We will see!

Jess is continuing to do well. She is now 35 weeks and off of bed rest. All your prayers for her and Bun seem to have worked! His kidneys still don't look normal on ultrasound, but we will know more about that when hes here. He will be having some tests in his first week of life to determine what needs to be done if anything. Wish us luck!

No beading has been done with everything going on here lately. BUT! I do have a picture of the quilt Jess and I made for little Bun. The walls of the nursery are the same blue as in the quilt. We also made a matching valance for the window with the cream fabric and a thin blue stripe and a wider brown stripe too. The room is adorable! Cant wait to see a little boy in the crib!

Time Flies!

My Daughter Jess sent me a text today that said "Mom, you really need to update your blog" and she was right! Courtney and Kileigh are still staying with us, my Mom has been in and out of the hospital, and I am finding less time for tending to my blog. I have been busy planning for Jessica's baby shower and worrying about her too! The shower went well last Sunday. We had such a nice turn-out. People were very generous to Jess, Mike and Bun. So far, Jess is 32 weeks and still on bed rest. Looks like every ones prayers are working and Bun is staying put like a good boy! His kidneys still don't look normal, but we will deal with that after he is born.

I just sat down and submitted my 8 finished Bead Journal Pages to be posted on the 2008 BJP Members Gallery Page. I still plan to finish the other 4 pages over the next few months. I am excited to tell you that there will be a 2010 Bead Journal project! Registration starts tomorrow go here if you are interested. I know I am going to give it another go! This years BJP doesn't start until January 2010, so please consider joining us! You will get far more out of it that you can believe! I know I sure did.

Life is hectic!

I have no pictures to show today, just a brief update. I am happy to tell you that Jess has reached the 30 week mark without delivering Bun! She is still on bed rest, but her contractions have slowed. If this continues, Bun may make it closer to his due date. All of our fingers are crossed for that. We would really like him to stay put until the 34 week mark for his start in life to be the best possible one.
I have had the unexpected pleasure of having my daughter Courtney and little Kileigh staying with us for the last 2 weeks. It is so sweet having a little one around again. It really makes me miss being the Mother of little ones, but its a close second to that. She is my little buddy and likes to help with everything from cooking to taking care of the dogs. So fun! I am so blessed to have the family I have. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Tomorrow Jess and I are working on Buns quilt. We are making him a Peter Rabbit quilt to match his nursery. I will post a picture when its done. We aren't the most experienced quilters, but it is turning out cute and such a bonding experience for Jess and I. Not that we aren't bonded already, but its so fun to be making the quilt in anticipation of the arrival of Grandchild #2, my first little grandson! Hugs to everyone! I have started my 9th BJP and will post a picture when I get a little further along.

February BJP Finished!!

I am so excited to finally have this one completed. I had a few glitches, mostly in my own mind. I am still not thrilled with the end result, I tried to get too creative on this one and it backfired on me. I had originally wanted to do much more with it, but I am satisfied for now. One thing i am really unhappy about is the back of the "doors" I had planned on covering them somehow with fabric, which I may end up doing yet. I tried several different ways of doing it, and none seemed to work for me. That's why you can still see the outline of letters on the backs of the doors. For now this is how its going to be!

Here is the latest 3-D Ultrasound of baby Bun. Isnt it amazing? Nothing much is different with Jess and her baby. She is still on bed rest. She went to a specialist last week and they are optimistic. Seems as though the little "Bun" has some kidney issues they are watching as well as being in a hurry to meet all of us. Jess is 27 1/2 weeks now and the Dr's hope she waits to deliver until 32 weeks or more. That would be the best thing for Bun. Meanwhile, poor Jess is getting restless just laying around with all of us family bugging her! We all are taking turns cooking, cleaning and helping Jess keep her sanity while Mike is at work. Keep your fingers crossed for them!

May BJP is DONE!!

Well! After a month (or more) of teasing you about my May BJP, I can finally show the end result! I wanted to do this page about my beautiful daughter Jessica and her pregnancy. This pregnancy so far, has been a difficult one with many trials and tribulations. I know in the end, it will all be worthwhile, but its been tough on Jess and Mike and the extended family as well! I don't want to go into too many details here, but Jess is at the 26 week mark and on bed rest. Little baby Bun thinks he needs to come into this world to early, and we want him to stay put for another 6 weeks or so! We are all doing our parts with keeping Jess company while Mike is at work, doing housework and cooking too. That's what families do when the going gets rough right?

So now about the page for May! I wanted to test myself a bit on this one. I wanted to learn how to set a cab in beads, so I set both a "Bun" cab face as well as one to represent Jess. Then the problem was how to sew it onto my page. I also wanted to use a color I don't normally use a lot of - purple! Jess has always had the nickname "J of the B" since she was a little girl. When she asked what the "B" stood for, either her dad or I said "butterflies" so I wanted to represent this in her page as well. I looked through my stash of beads and found these really pretty butterflies in purple and the color palette was born! I wanted the background to be soft and unobtrusive, so I picked this palest of gray color and for drama, selected the dark oily purple tones in the leaves and flowers. I used a dark grape for the vines, and some swarovski crystal flowers for some sparkle. The only time I strayed from this color palette, was when I used the baby blue around the bun cab (because hes a boy after all) and to represent Jess's beautiful auburn hair. The quote at the bottom reads "Mothers and daughters are closest, when daughters become mothers" Very fitting, dont you think?