I Can't Think of a Title

Spencer has turned into quite the climber lately. He'll climb the stairs if you let him. He even has his own style of coming down the stairs. We have two stairs that go from the kitchen into the family room and it's funny to watch as he comes down. He'll get both hands down of the first step and then scoot his body forward a little bit. Sometimes he'll get sideways, and that works too. But then he'll get his hands down of the floor and continue to scoot down. Then he just slides the rest of the way down. He's a funny little boy! He's getting fast with crawling as well. He's loves being chased. When Tanner comes after him, Spencer quickly turns around and takes off all while squealing. So cute!

Tanner no longer looks like a toddler to me. He looks much, much older than he really is. He's into giving kisses lately. I've been waiting his whole life for this moment. Yesterday he gave kisses to GG, grandma, papa, and me. Multiple kisses, mind you!

My recovery is going okay. The doctor told me that my knee cap was knocked out of place about an inch and a half when I hit my knee in my car accident. The muscles are sore as I am able to put more and more weight on that leg. I'm hoping I won't be hobbling around much longer. It's been inconvenient to say the least. Thankfully my mom has been around to help me take care of the boys. I love her for that!

Nick and I are struggling to find a place to live. We can't find much in our price range because it's so expensive to live in this part of the country. I very much dislike it! We've been so frustrated at times and we've taken that frustration out on each other a few times. It's just hard when you work so hard for something and you can't even reap the rewards for that hard work. We'll get through this, though. Something will come up I'm sure!

What a Year

So to round out the last year, I thought that knee surgery sounded about right. So let's go back and see what some of those things have been shall we:

1. Tanner got really sick after Christmas '07, but the doctors didn't know what from. Fevers up to 104. Sick for a week when he got a heavy duty shot of antibiotics.

2. Tanner got really sick again in March '08. The same sickness, I think, as three months previous. This time, fevers up to 105 for a week. Ear infection this time. Again, a heavy duty shot of antibiotics.

3. I got into a bad car accident in April '08 while 7 1/2 months pregnant with Spencer. Baby okay. I suffer a pretty bad banged up knee and a bad gash on my left forearm.

4. I spend 4 weeks going to physical therapy 3 times a week to fix my knee. Doctors think it's just a bad bruise.

5. Spencer arrived 1 week late. He's a June baby instead of a May baby. He's happy and healthy - or so we thought. While being circumcised, the doctors find a deformity and had to stop the circumcision. In the process, they couldn't get his bleeding to stop. Finally got it under control and send us home, only to have the bleeding start again and have to go back to the hospital for the night to make sure everything is okay. Everything was good.

6. Tanner gets sick again with ear infections (two this time). Also his fevers start again. This time up to 106. He reacts to the antibiotics this time with red welts all over his body that actually move from place to place. This time I rush him to the childrens hospital. Thankfully it was nothing too serious. He's now allergic to amoxicillan and augmentin.

7. I go back for 4 more weeks of physical therapy. No change. Doctors still think it's bruised.

8. Both boys get really bad colds. But this time they both get healthy without doctors.

9. The doctor sends me back for 4 more weeks of physical therapy again to see if anything more happens. It doesn't. No change. They inject corizone into my knee. Makes the pain worse. By now it's November '08.

10. I find out I'm pregnant with baby #3. A week later I miscarried.

11. Spencer goes to have surgery to fix his deformity from birth. He goes through that like a champ. Wouldn't even have known he had surgery. He's my hero!

11. Spencer gets a cold before Christmas that he shared with me. I got really sick before Christmas as well.

12. My grandma died the week before Christmas. We went to her funeral in Ohio the day after Christmas.

13. The knee doctor says I need surgery to possibly fix some torn cartilage.

14. I get the full-fledged flu. I'm sick for a week.

15. The next week, the boys, Nick, and I get the stomach virus floating around, and we're sick for another week.

16. And most recent, I went in last week to have surgery done on my right knee. It was an outpatient surgery, so I got to come home the same day. The doctor found that my knee cap was tracking side to side instead of up and down. He fixed that and smoothed out some rough spots underneath. I'm on crutches for a week at the least. We'll see what happens after I'm completely healed. I hope this fixes everything. If not, I'm premanently damaged. That's no fun, but at least I'll be done with the run around I've been getting for the past 10 months. I'm ready to have this behind me and over with.

Sickness

You know, I never thought that I would be so thrilled that one of my sons would have a "normal" poopy diaper. After the week we've had here in the Surdukowski home, poopy diapers are finally under control. At least I think.

So, Monday night I heard Spencer fussing. He soaked through his diaper. That's when I discovered that Tanner had gotten sick in his bed. So we got both boys cleaned up and back to bed. Tanner got sick once more that night, but since he's had some really nasty diapers. Up until today, he's been pretty sick. Fortunately he's been acting fairly well, so I wasn't too worried. Yesterday, however, I noticed that he wasn't having wet diapers. That worried me a little bit so we started to really push the water and pedialyte. Thankfully today he had some good wet diapers. His poor bum is just raw from all the sick poop, so we're now treating that. But he finally had a semi-normal diaper this evening, and to be honest, I couldn't have been more thrilled. He's finally getting better and I'm grateful for that.

Spencer got sick Wednesday night. He, unfortunately, got sick a few more times than Tanner. But thankfully, both he and Tanner only were physically sick just for one night. However, he too got the sick poopy diapers as well yesterday, and a little today, but I think he's on the mend now too.

Nick and I both started feeling bad yesterday afternoon. Thankfully I only felt sick yesterday and a little today. But I never did get physically sick. Nick stayed home from work today because he's had an upset stomach pretty bad since yesterday. My poor guys! I'm grateful that I got the better end of the deal than what Nick, Tanner, and Spencer had. But, like I said, we're on the mend I'm pretty sure.

I'll tell ya, this has not been a nice week for me. If you know much about me, I seriously think I have a phobia about throwing up - me or anyone else around me. My dad calls me a sympathy puker. If I see someone do it, I'm right there with them. So I've had to face my demons this week. It's been hard, but we've made it through. I just hope that we haven't passed it on to anyone else. I keep telling myself that tomorrow will be better, and the day after that will be even better, and so forth. I'm exhausted.

Completely Frustrated!

The past week has not gone exactly as I thought they would. After finding out that Nick didn't get into the school he wanted, we've been house hunting. Unfortunately, here where we live, we can't afford anything more than a trailer. That was a huge let down for me. We decided that it wasn't in our best interest to buy a home right now because Nick doesn't want to stay where he is forever. So we looked into what we could afford to rent. We can't afford much more than a 1 bedroom apartment. And seeing that we have two boys, a one room apartment won't cut it. It's been exhausting and disappointing as we've searched. I've cried a few times, and poor Nick, he's doing all the he can with the money that he makes. It just is so hard to live on one income these days. So I don't know. I guess we just need to move some place where we can afford to live.

I had another blow come today. It's been nine months since my car accident and my knee is still not any better. I went to the knee doctor today for another check up. I was afraid that he was going to tell me that it's still bruised and that we just need to wait and see. I was not going to be happy with that answer. It's been 9 whole months since the car accident - you cannot sit there and tell me that my knee is still bruised. Thankfully he didn't tell me that. Unfortunately, he thinks there is some cartilage damage and he wants to go in and check it out. So they scheduled me for outpatient knee surgery to do a scope of my knee. If there is damage, he will repair it and I'll be on crutches for 3 weeks. If there is no damage, then I'll be on crutches for a day, but that means that I have permanent damage to my knee. That's stinky! So we'll see what happens here after February 6. I'm a little scared to have this done, but I know that it will be for the best in the end, I guess...

Moving On

With great anticipation, Nick applied for the Medical Dosimetry program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA back in October. We were told that he would find out after December 15, 2008 if he'd been accepted. So we waited. Then we got a letter from the school saying that they wouldn't send out acceptance letters until after January 15, 2009. So we waited some more. Finally, the week of the 15th came. I checked the mail religiously every day just to see if the letter would come. It came exactly on January 15th. I immediately called Nick at work so that I could open it with him. Of course he didn't answer. He called back and I opened that little piece of paper. With "regret" Nick was not selected for the program. He was pretty disappointed. But, he said that he's ready to move on with things.

Moving on with things means that we will be searching for a place of our own. My parents, ever so graciously, have been letting us live with them for the past two years while Nick finished school. Now that he's not going to go to anymore school outside of the state, we've decided it's time to move out on our own and start making our way in life. We're both nervous and scared, but we look forward with hope and faith. We've decided to rent a place for now because we're not entirely sure where our path will lead us. That and the houses we can afford to buy here are not exactly liveable.

My mom and dad will be completely disappointed when we leave because it's become part of life for them to have all four of us here at their house. My dad will miss having his grandkids in the house all the time. But, we're not going far. Just a car ride away - a short one mind you.

So we look forward to the events that will be taking place with us these coming months. I also told Nick that I'm ready to have another baby. I absolutely love being pregnant, and I'm ready to have another one! Spencer is crawling and climbing steps now, and has been for about a month. So he's pretty independent now. I'm ready to have another little one to hold and love on. I love my kids!

This is going to be a fantastic year!

Heritage Makers

So I got into digital scrapbooking a little over a year ago. It's pretty fun. I'm not all that creative, and having to cut out, trim, paste, and a whole mess of other time consuming things with regular paper scrapbooking just wasn't all that appealing to me. But doing it online is way better and in some cases, a whole lot cheaper. I use a company called Heritage Makers. It's really pretty cool how much stuff they have. I've published three books so far, and I'm about to publish a fourth book, as well as a canvas poster with a few of our latest family photos. The link is for the scrapbook I've been working on for Tanner. It's a baby book. Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.heritagemakers.com/?event=projectBrowse&projectId=091ec8b3-3048-6168-a434-681682121774&productId=11&projectSponsor=250748

What Happened to December?

Before I knew it January has come, and I look back and ask myself, "What happened to December?"


Spencer's recovery from his minor surgery was phenomenal! Not once did he fuss or even act like he had work done. I never even had to give him any pain medicine because he didn't cry or anything. He amazes me. Tanner uses him as a step, or a punching bag when we're not looking, and Spencer just laughs or moves out of the way. Such a smiley, happy-go-lucky little boy. Love him!

My grandma Smith took a fall the first part of December and decided that she was ready to have her last Christmas wish fulfilled - to be reunited with my grandpa after 4 years of being alone. The Friday before Christmas, she died at her home in Ohio. My mom, dad, sister and I left early in the morning the day after Christmas to go to the funeral. It was a lovely service. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have that we will be able to live again one day with my grandma and grandpa when we leave this world. I'm grateful for the opportunity they'll have to learn about the gospel and when we see them again, we'll be together forever. I know my family is forever, and it really puts the love I have for all my family, immediate and extended, at the forefront of everything I do.

Christmas was so much fun this year. Tanner was old enough to realize that ripping off wrapping paper was tons of fun, and getting, literally, tons of toys was the best ever! Spencer had a great time eating wrapping paper. Being close to both sets of grandparents, Christmas is very busy for us. We spent the early morning with Nick's family opening presents. Then, after a nap for Spencer, we opened presents with my family. We had a mid-afternoon dinner with my family, then took off back to Nick's. All his family was home for Christmas and we decided it was a good time to take a family photo. We stayed and played at Nick's parents for a while, then came back home to my parents to unwind after our busy day. I've never seen Tanner so wound up and excited before. He had so much fun! It's great being a parent and watch the excitement from your kids.

During my 3-day trip to Ohio for grandma's funeral, Nick had the boys with him all weekend. A lot of Nick's aunts and uncles came down for the annual Surdukowski after-Christmas get together. They had fun at the park and opening more Christmas presents. I was disappointed I couldn't be there, but I'm glad that they stayed home with daddy and had a good time. Nick said Tanner loved the swings and couldn't get enough of the slide. He's such a boy, loves to always be moving!

Spencer decided he had enough of scooting around on the floor and got himself up to start crawling. He's getting so big and developing a lot faster than Tanner did. It's been fun to watch him. He's good at crawling now, and chases after Tanner sometimes. He always has to be in the middle of what's going on. He's even starting to pull himself up to the bottom step in the family room (there are two coming from the kitchen into the family room). He crawled ontop of a box yesterday and fell off. Both my boys, they're quite the climbers and nothing scares them.

We had a good New Year's Eve party here at my parent's. My aunt and uncle and one of my cousins were here. Kevin and Patty came down. We had a good night of lots of fabulous food and playing the Nintendo Wii that Nick got for Christmas.

Now that the new year has come, I've made a few goals for both me and my family. I plan to attend the Temple at least once this year, but plan to go more often. I plan to do more outside with the boys. I plan to do more things with my husband that involves more than just sitting around the house after he gets home from work. And a whole host of other things. This is going to be a fabulous year.