An Ode To Oklahoma

(Sung to the song "OKLAHOMA" Keep in mind I am not a song writer.)

OOOOO-klahoma where the snow falls at the end of March. And the waving wheat would sure smell sweet if it wasn't covered with frost. OOOOOO-klahoma every night my honey, kids and I, plan a trip to the park then change the mark because we're frozen in until JULY!

We know we belong to the land (yes sir), and the land we belong to is fickle and then we say, "YOOOW, I yip I owe EEE BRRRRR." We're only saying you're doin fine Oklahoma, Oklahoma. OK, honey will you thaw out my car?!

Now where's my chai latte? It's cold out here!!

It's a Sign

Yes, my friends, Coop has finally decided to take a step, not a physical step, but a language step. He finally journied into....*drum roll* sign language world.

He is more reluctant to sign than Chloe Joy was. She still signs to this day. It's funny. I'll say, "Say please." She'll say, "Peeeez." while rubbing her heart. Very sweet.

Now Coop, I'll tell him, "Say milk." while I sign it. He'll say, "Daddaddad, aaaahhhhh, *squeal in frustration, reach for his milk* grrrrrr" Until we had a breakthrough. A moment.

A few days ago, I thought I'd try try again. So I signed milk while giving it to him. I wasn't even looking. I wasn't expecting a response other than the previous response.

I glance up at him and he is signing like crazy, milking the cow with his little hand. It was so funny.

Now, he has it figured out.



Matt changes Coop before he heads off to work. That's around 6:00am. Matt told me that this morning when he leaned over Cooper's crib, he was signing away. "milk, milk, milk, milk"

Yeah, I do not rise at 6:00am. Coop went back to sleep and got milk later.

Boy In Disguise

Cooper is a boy of many disguises....

A flower with sparkles on its petals...

and a bunny without a tail.

Don't tell his Dad I took these pictures.

The Fog Has Lifted

So things are getting back to 'normal.' The clouds have lifted from around my heart, Doctor says, I am better. He gave me a good outlook and predicted a happy life, full of laughter and cheer.

I did get my MRI report. Well, I went to the hospital and got it myself b/c my doctor is out of town until sometime in April. It says, "There are tiny C4-5 and C5-6 central disk bulges. There is abnormal linear signal within the cervical cord consistent with a spinal cord cyst/syringohydromyelia. This extends from approx. C5-6 to C7-T1. It measures 1.2mm in max. diameter."

That was for my neck. Now the cyst has been there at least since 2005. I believe it is the cause of some of my hand tingling stuff.

For the lumbar, "L4-5 demonstrates desiccation of the disk space and central disk protrusion causing mild anterior effacement of the thecal sac. No neural foraminal narrowing is present."

From what I understand, there is no fluid in the disk space.

(I read you the stuff that was wrong and left out the stuff they said is ok.)

Sooo, that's good news, I think. I'm pretty sure it means it is not MS. My legs have not been bothering me for the past few days. I think I've been making a conscious effort to NOT bend over and to just take it easy. It's not easy with both kids weighing over 20lbs, but I make due.

I'm trying to rejoice in this news, but am still letting myself think the worst is yet to come. I guess I am worried it could still be MS b/c they didn't specifically test for it. BUT I am trying to tell myself "what the MRI says explains everything."

The fog may have lifted and my tulips may have bloomed, but Cooper's diaper is definitely causing the house to smell like a dead animal... Yumm.

Cloudy Day, Cloudy Heart

I feel like I'm in a funk. The weather outside is frightful and the wind is not so delightful. And I just want to lie in bed all day and sleep, sleep, sleep. Who am I kidding, I could do that ANY day, but today is one of those days you feel ugly inside-cloudy is the word I am choosing. Now I know others suffer from those days as well, b/c we have spoken, but other than that person and I; do any of you suffer from 'cloudy heart' days?

The friend who is suffering from this same disease claimed hers to be the cause of 'not reading the Word as often as needed.' I agreed as my disease is cause of the same. She read a few verses out of James 1. That helped lift some of the clouds from around the important valves needed to supply blood.

I had read today's devotion last night, b/c I have a habit of reading ahead, I always got in trouble for that in school, but I had to! I needed to know what was coming so if I were called on to read I could pronounce the words and sound as good as the other kids in my class. Anyways, the devotion had two quotes from people I had never heard of but their words have stuck with me- since last night. They said, "God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty." -Peter Marshall

The other quote reads, "When God tests you, it is good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary." -A.B. Simpson

So clouds go away, there isn't room for you and God.

Eagle Cam.

I'm in love with birds. A few years ago, I discovered a website that puts a camera in the nest of bald eagles. I could see animal carcasses like turtle shells, bones of something tasty and of course baby bald eagles.

I thought I'd share the website so you can see the little momma and pappa eagles. When you click on the link you have to scroll down to the two black boxes that are side by side. Give it about 30-45 seconds to load. click here to see eagles

While I was typing this I kept clicking back to check on them b/c I had read there are three eggs in the nest due to hatch any day... WELL while I was watching, one of the eagles stood up and a baby was underneath her!! The mom and dad began feeding it!! SOOO CUTE!! So if you watch long enough or check back during the day you may get to see the babies hatch or catch a glimpse of the baby eagle number one.

It's like a gripping movie, you just can't change the channel!!

Pampers Diapers Packaging Scheme

I know I already posted today, but I had to put this out there.

Those of you who buy Pampers in Size 4, have you noticed that they eliminated 6 diapers from the box and kept the price the same?!!

I bought diapers last weekend. When I got home I noticed the box was smaller than it used to be. Upon opening the box, I realized they had packaged the diapers differently. "Hmmm," I thought. I had a bag of diapers from the 'original style' box and counted them. There were 44. I then counted a bag from the 'new style' box. There were 41. Which means the new box has 82 diapers and the old boxes had 88!! The price? Oh it's the same as when I paid for 88 diapers.

Berry Berry Sneaky. (Mr. Deed's quote)

Hmmm, guess people aren't buying diapers like before eh? Parents must be using paper towels and tape or people are reverting to predominately cloth diapers? I don't know.

"Pampers, you didn't fool me!! I caught your attempted packaging trick you tried to play on me! You can't slip a packaging scheme by me, Mr. Diaper Packaging Man/Woman Boss person. I see the little optical illusion you are attempting. Well, it didn't work! Now what am I going to do about it? NOTHING b/c I have to have diapers and I'm too lazy to go to cloth, PLUS our dryer is in the shed and I don't like going out there for fear of spiders-black widows to be exact. So keep sticking it to me. I'll just try to rush potty training. Oh and have a nice day. I hope your kids poop on you and you don't have a diaper b/c you chose to eliminate 6 from a box of size 4's."