Thanksgiving and such

Where to begin!

• We ended up switching Jayna back to her mixed formula and she has been GREAT! She sleeps from 10-7 almost every night! We are truly blessed in this regard!
• I finally got to a pain-free state a little over a week ago, which was blissful. I went to my gallbladder Dr. on the 20th and he cleared me for full-on exercise and I was all excited to go on a major walk on Thanksgiving day... That was until that night :p  Can you believe that the very day I got cleared to exercise I ended up in the ER again?!?! I know, I couldn't believe it either. In fact, I refused to go back to the ER and was in the worst pain of my life (I know I say that every time, but this time it just happened to be worse than the gallbladder pain and birth pain) from 11:30pm to 3:00am. At 3:00, after my 3rd ridiculously hot shower/bath, 3rd time throwing up, and not being able to lay, sit, stand or walk I asked Scott for a blessing. In the blessing it said something about knowing what I needed to do to give myself relief. Almost immediately after the blessing, I was humbled, yet again and knew that I HAD to go to the ER. I was almost immediately put on Morphine and had to have a CAT-scan (I have no idea how to spell that). They found kidney stones :(!!! One still in my kidney and the other stuck in my ureter (that's the painful part). They gave me some heavy pain pills and some Flomax to help the stone move through easier. The stone has now moved into my bladder, but refuses to pass. I'm constantly amazed that just as I feel everything is good, yet another thing has to happen to me. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to learn from all of this... I really am trying to take care of myself! I've done everything my doctors have told me to do and am trying to work on getting my weight back off, but am running into bump after bump. I'm praying this is the end! I don't think my psyche or my wallet can handle anymore, let alone my husband and baby. I do have to say that Thanksgiving dinner on pain pills is a whole new experience! If you ever get the chance to experience it, you should. Haha!
• Scott and I have decided that we want to start some Christmas traditions of our own. The first one we got excited about is going to the grocery store and paying for the groceries of the person behind us in line. However, since we've had so many unexpected bills lately, we'll have to wait until next year for this one. I am pleased to say, however, that my amazing sister Stephanie fulfilled it for us this year. She was in line at the grocery store and the man in front of her didn't have enough money for the Thanksgiving meal he was trying to purchase. Though money has been tight for them this year as well, she generously offered to pay for the remainder of this man's groceries. She said it made her realize how much they truly had, because they had never been without. I HAVE SUCH AN INCREDIBLE FAMILY!!!
• I am so incredibly grateful to have such an amazing husband who has been nothing but supportive through everything we've had to go through and I'm grateful that we've been able to grow closer through all of our trials rather than farther apart. I'm grateful for a beautiful daughter who makes me smile and laugh every single day. I'm grateful for my family who constantly sets a great example for what I want to become. I'm grateful for loving and giving in-laws that live so close by. Most of all, I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who watches over us. Even when we feel abandoned, we look back and see that he truly has a hand in everything. Though we've had a lot of trials, we've been blessed even more.
• Here are the many smiles of Jayna that keep me entertained every day :) Thanks to my sis-in-law, Becky, for capturing them on camera... I'm not so good at that part. Haha!

Ramblings

So I feel the need to write, even though I really have nothing important to say. I'm amazed at how my pregnancy emotions have seemed to return since my gall bladder surgery. It's hilarious (or not) that I felt totally normal the week after having Jayna, but have been an emotional mess for the last couple of weeks. I hit my limit last Friday night and had a huge breakdown. I feel that overall, I've been very positive about everything Scott and I have had to endure in the last year and a half. However, after bed rest, c-section recovery, gall bladder attacks, and gall bladder surgery (and recovery) I was excited to be through everything. But no, I have now had a sore throat for 1 1/2 weeks, which is SO not ideal for teaching voice, and then last Friday night I threw my back out picking Jayna up... That's when I lost it! I threw a 2-yr-old tantrum and bawled for hours.

The next morning I couldn't even get my excitement up for my first "Join Our Journey" meeting, which I had been so excited about for 1 1/2 weeks. Luckily, Rebecca, Clarissa, and I were the only ones there. Normally, I would have been disappointed in such a small turn-out, but given my mood I was really grateful it was just the three of us. I am hoping to get more people to join us at the meetings (we have some out of town followers on the blog, which I'm grateful for), but figure that will start to happen after the holidays. I am really glad Rebecca and Clarissa are doing it with me, though! I think we have the perfect blend of personalities to help motivate one another.

My back is now feeling better, my sore throat is starting to heal, and I'm almost better from gall bladder surgery, so I'm praying for the best. Now I just have to figure out Jayna's tummy! She was doing so well for a few weeks, but has now returned to her super fussy ways. I'm hoping it will pass soon, as well. She has hit a major growth spurt, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. She is sleeping for 7-hour stints through the night, which is sooooo wonderful!

Scott has a job interview today that I'm really hoping will pan out! If it does pan out, I think it will be something he will be good at and he will enjoy. Sadly, the whole PSR job he currently has, has not been a good experience, though he has gained some new skills and resume build from it. We'll keep fasting and praying for a good job in this economy. Sadly, Scott graduated at just the wrong time. The economy is starting to look up, but they're also trying to hire new grads. When Scott graduated, was when the economy was at it's worst... Needless to say, it's been a journey. :)

Sorry for all the negativity in this post! Just trying to get some things off my chest in hopes that I can get my positive attitude back. :)

Jayna's 10-week stats

Jayna had her "2 month" appointment last Friday, even though she was 10 weeks. These are her stats:

• Head Circumference - 37 cm (10th percentile)
• Weight - 8 lb 12 oz (not on the chart)
• Height - 21 inches (not on the chart)

So there ya have it... we still have a small baby (just now at my birth weight), but her head is too big for her body (just by a bit). Guess we'll have a smart one ;)