Ma and Pa Barker

Bumbo

2011-02-11T08:56:00.000-08:00

I think Bumbo's are wonderful. Grayson had his first experience with one today.

Here is a picture of my little baby that is starting to look like a little boy!

I Gave It My Best Shot!!

2011-02-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

You know how in your head you plan for things to go a certain way, but when it finally comes time for those things to happen, they don't happen the way that you planned?
Grayson never was able to latch on properly in order to be fed directly from the breast. Even the lactation consultants had some difficulty with helping me out because Grayson wasn't going to have it. I would try and try and try, and Grayson would just scream and scream and scream...(ask my mom. She witnessed this.)
Well, since I was producing milk, and it was important to me that this be what Grayson got, I pumped. For the last 12 weeks, I have pumped for many, many hours. At the beginning, it was great. I was producing so much milk, I felt like I had a little baby food storage going on. I also thought that I would never run out of breast milk.
Well, for the last couple of weeks, my milk supply has been dwindling. So, I tried increasing my fluid intake, that didn't work. I tried massaging my breasts, that didn't work. So then I started pumping every 2-3 hours for several days, that didn't work. Then I combined the following...increasing fluid intake, pumping every 2-3 hours, massaging and Fenugreek. For those of you who don't know, Fenugreek is an herb that has been known to help some women increase their milk supply.
Well, last night at 9pm, I pumped for the last time. In a 24 hour period for the last few days I haven't been able to pump enough for even one feeding.
This isn't what I had "planned" on happening. The decision was a struggle for me to make. Many tears were shed. I do feel confident however that I have made the right decision for my situation. It was probably one of the hardest decisions I have had to make.
I have been reassured by many that I am not a bad person because of my decision. I gave it my best shot. I could have made this decision a long time ago when Grayson wanted nothing to do with breastfeeding. But I didn't. I pumped, then I fed him, then I cleaned the pump then I slept for 1-2 hours, then I did it all over again. Guess what? That was hard.
Grayson still has several days of breast milk left. I will make sure most of the breast milk is used up BEFORE introducing him to formula...I don't want him to end up liking formula more before most of the breast milk is gone.
I appreciate the encouragement from the people that I have talked to, and also for Tom who reassured me that it isn't my fault and that he would support whatever decision that I made.

Grayson is the Teacher

2011-01-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

Things I have learned as a parent so far… I am sure I have learned much more than this, but this is what I can recall at the moment.
1. It is very hard to raise a baby so far away from family support. The only reason I know this is because I was fortunate enough to have my mom come and stay for two weeks. The extra support (especially right at the beginning) was greatly appreciated. We are learning that even though we don't have family in the area, we have several friends who have stepped up and offered to help us out with child care since Tom and I are both back to work/school. They are even letting us pay them with dinners. For this we are extremely grateful.
2. Don’t jump to tend the babies needs at the first sound they make. My mom taught me this. Due to learning this lesson, Tom and I have enjoyed several more hours of sleep. (Example: Grayson started fussing at 4:00 am one morning. Tom got up to check on him, decided to use the restroom first, came back and Grayson was fast asleep. He slept until almost 7 am. What a great sleeper he is =).
3. It is extremely difficult to see your child in pain. The cry that lets you know there is pain is unbearable. There have been a couple of times where I have cried right along with Grayson because I just didn’t know what to do. It kind of made me feel like a bad parent because I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I’m trying to get over that feeling, and just trying to reassure myself that I am doing the best that I can with what I have…including an aunt that lives many miles away from me, but she has been able to talk me through a couple of situations.
4. Being a parent is kind of hard. Totally worth it, but very hard. Tom went to Boston for a few days for a conference, which left me with Grayson by myself. I don't know how single parents do it, but it is an extremely difficult thing to do. I am grateful for the team effort that Tom and I have. It make things a lot easier.
5. It is important for me to not feel overwhelmed with housework and my things to do list. To help solve this problem I have come up with a plan that includes doing laundry three days a week, cleaning the kitchen one day, cleaning the bedrooms another day etc...It is taking me a little while to get used to doing things this way, and I have been at it for about three weeks. I haven't been able to stick to doing everything as planned, but I feel that I have been able to stay on top of things better. It is just kind of amazing how priorities change.
6. I never thought I would be able to love someone else so much. Grayson is really a sweetheart. My heart just melts when he smiles and coo’s, laughs in his sleep, and makes all of the sweet noises. I just love him.
Last but not least, I am grateful that things don't happen when I think they should happen. I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who knows far more what I need and when they need to happen. Grayson came 3 weeks early. By him coming three weeks early, I have been able to get an extra 18 days home with him. This includes the 3 days we had off for Thanksgiving week, ten days for Christmas vacation, 3 days at the beginning of January when Tom went to a conference, 2 snow days, and Martin Luther King day. I have also been able to ease back in to a five day work week. My first week back I worked 2 days, this is when Tom went to his conference in Boston. My second week back I worked 3 days. We had 2 snow days. My 3rd week back which is this week, I will work 4 days, and next week, I will do five days. I don't think I could have planned it any better.
To end this post, I will leave you with a picture of my sweet 8 week old son...He isn't very happy in this picture, but he sure is darn cute still...

Grayson Catch Up...11/21/2010 - 1/10/2011

2011-01-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

OK. This post will mostly be pictures. Just warning you.
Grayson was born 11/21/2010 @ 10:13 am. He weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Proud Mama
Proud Daddy

Four days later was Thanksgiving. We went to Jeff and Susan Draper's home for a wondrous feast. I didn't get any pictures of the food or the company, but by golly, I sure got a few pictures of Grayson...
On the car ride to Olathe

Sun bathing to help with jaundice

December 12th brought a happy Nana to Kansas on the train. Nana and Grayson meet...

Brian and Suzanne arrived in Kansas on the 19th. I didn't get a picture of them upon their arrival, but they will be pictured soon.
Pappy came on the 21st of December. Pappy and Grayson meet.

Tom and Becky, Paul and James came on the 22nd of December for Grayson's Baby Blessing

We held this on a Wednesday evening rather than a Sunday so that my dad and Brian could participate. Here is a picture of the participants.

Baby Grayson

Mommy and Grayson

Daddy and Grayson

On December 23rd, we had Christmas morning with Brian and Suzanne. They had to fly back to Arizona because Brian had to get back to work.

December 24th, we just kind of relaxed. December 25, 2010 was Grayson's 1st Christmas...

Grayson was so ready for a nap. He received many great gifts.
A tired Erin & Tom

Ryan and Chelsea came over for Christmas Linner (Lunch/Dinner). Tom made Ryan a PS3 Special Edition for Christmas.

Chelsea made some amazing desserts. I really wish I would have taken a picture of them. They were truly amazing.
The saddest part about Christmas Day/Night was having to say goodbye to my parents. That was really hard for me, especially since my mom had been a tremendous help for two weeks. I was scared to death thinking about having to move on with my life with her in California and not in Kansas with us.
Then came New Year's Eve. We gathered at the Institute with several friends, played games, and made it to midnight. Here is a family picture that was taken at about 1 am.

Grayson was beyond ready for bed.
Well, that pretty much catches us up to now. Here are a few more pics of our cute little baby.

1/10/2011 Snow Day

2011-01-10T14:02:00.001-08:00

Because it is doing this outside today:

I made these delicious cookies that my SIL Suzanne made while she and my brother were visiting.

And because I didn't feel like baking all of the cookies at one time, I formed the cookies, put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet in my freezer, then packaged them up in a zip lock bag. Now I can bake a few and have them for awhile!!

Grayson James Barker

2011-01-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

I don't remember much that has happened since I last posted in July, but I am going to highlight Grayson's birth story.

On Saturday, November 20th, I told Tom that I was just going to lay down and take a nap on the couch for an hour, and then get ready to go to Stake Conference. I laid down at about 12:45. At 1:15 I rolled over on to my left side. I felt pressure for a minute, and then what felt like being kicked in the bladder by Grayson. Next thing you know, I started laughing and told Tom that I think I just wet my pants. I got up off of the couch and went to the bathroom, where fluid continually leaked out of me.

I called the doctor on call, and she called me back and told me that if it still feels like I am leaking in about 10 minutes, that I should probably head on over to the Labor and Delivery Unit to be checked out. Sure enough, ten minutes later…leaking fluid. House is a disaster, hospital back isn’t packed, and I am just laughing. Not believing that this is happening.

We threw some items together, and went to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. We went up to the Labor and Delivery Center. I checked in and told them that I think that my water just broke. They took me into a room, had me change, and then did some kind of test to check to see if my water had truly broken. Sure enough, it had.

Tom and I kind of looked at each other, We couldn’t believe this was happening. I get admitted to the hospital, They put me on a Pitocin drip and at 4:30, the cramping started. By 9:45, I am in an extreme amount of pain thanks to the pitocin. The anesthesiologist is called in, and arrives 20 minutes later. By 10:45 pm, I am feeling pretty good. The exams don’t hurt anymore, and I am feeling nothing. At this point in time, I think that surely by 2 or 3 am, baby Grayson will be hanging out in my arms. That is definitely how it DID NOT happen.

By about 4:30 am, the anesthesiologist is called back again because the epidural has begun to wear off, but only in a certain place. After he is done, I am feeling mighty fine once again. At 5:45 am, the nurse comes in and tells me that the on call doctor has called in sick, so they called another doctor in, which just so happened to be MY DOCTOR! I was so excited. I love my doctor.

At 6 am, I begin to push…and push…and push. At 7 am, my doctor says to stop pushing so that I can rest for a while. At 8:15 am, pushing resumes…It resumes until 9:50 am. All this time, Grayson comes down with every contraction, but as soon as the contraction is over and I stop pushing, Grayson stops cooperating. By this time, my doctor is becoming concerned because Grayson isn’t coming out, and he is too far up to use forceps or the vacuum. She said that we might have to end up doing a c-section because we have been going at this for way too long. I said a quick prayer saying that I didn't want to have a C-Section and that I was willing to do whatever needed to be done in order to avoid a C-Section. At this point, I tell Tom I need a barf bag because I am going to be sick. So, I throw up. Three times. My doctor then says, “I know that you probably don’t want to hear this right now, but you throwing up is making me happy. You throwing up has made the baby come down into the correct position.”

At 10:13 am on Sunday, November 21, 2010, Grayson James Barker was born.

They told us that there was a possibility that he would have to be taken to the nursery for observation since he was born at 37 weeks, and they wanted to make sure that his lungs were functioning correctly. By this point in time, all I really wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired. I was able to hold Grayson before they took him to the nursery. Tom accompanied him, while they took care of the finishing touches on me.

We were transferred from the delivery room to the recovery room. Where we stayed from Sunday-Tuesday.

At this point in time, we had to feed Grayson with formula because he had a high level and was at high risk for jaundice. We took him back to the hospital the day after we were released for some more lab work to double check his levels. We continued to supplement with formula until my milk came in. The day after Thanksgiving he had a follow up appointment with his pediatrician to follow up with the Jaundice and for a check up. He had lost another ounce despite our best feeding efforts. We were asked to come back on Tuesday, November 30th where we were pleased to find out that he had gained all of his birth weight back plus some.

Grayson is such a good baby. He eats and sleeps. He doesn’t cry unless we undress him to change his diapers. He doesn’t like to be cold or naked. He sure is precious though. We are really enjoying him. He makes the funniest noises.

Tom has been a tremendous help. He has changed so many diapers and has handled so many feedings so that I can just rest. I am trying to sleep when the baby sleeps. Right now being the exception, because I want to write this.

We are excited for the adventures that lay ahead.

Upcoming posts will include many pictures, and Grayson's first Christmas.

It's Been Awhile...

2010-07-18T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I just have to face the facts...I am not good at blogging. Hopefully, I can get better, but I guess I had better not hold my breath!

Well, quite a bit has happened since I wrote about Brian & Suzanne's wedding. Fast forward to Sunday, April 4th. I was expecting my monthly gift, but hadn't had any signs that it was coming. So on Saturday, April 3rd, I decided to buy some more pregnancy tests. I had planned on testing the next week if nothing happened. On Sunday, April 4th at about 4 am, I had to go to the bathroom really bad. I got up, decided I am just going to take a test, and hoped that the results wouldn't ruin my Easter Sunday.
The test came back with a very faint positive. My heart started racing, wondering if this was for real. I went into the bedroom and woke Tom up. He was kind of out of it, but said to not try to get my hopes up incase it was a false test. I agreed with him and tried to go back to bed, but I just couldn't.

That night we had some friends over for an Easter feast:

YUMMY FOOD

Well, the next morning, I decided to use the other pregnancy test that came in the package, and I got another positive, only this time the positive line wasn't as faint as it was on Sunday.

I called my doctors office, explained what was going on. They scheduled an appointment for Wednesday, April 21st. A few days before my appointment, I was experiencing cramps in my lower back. At the April 21st appointment they did a sonogram just to make sure things were o.k. This is the first picture of Baby B that we saw!!

Baby B - 6 1/2 weeks along.
At my next appointment on May 12th, the doctor ordered another sonogram because she wasn't able to pick up the heartbeat on the doppler. She said that she was sure everything was fine, but she wanted to show me that everything was fine. I went in for my second sonogram.
Baby B - 9 1/2 weeks along.
I have had a really easy pregnancy. I really can't complain. There was a two week period of time that I was on some antibiotics for a Urinary Tract Infection. The antibiotics made me pretty sick, but when they were finished, I haven't really felt ill at all. I have had a few run-ins with foods that don't agree with me, but other than that, just tired.
Here are some pictures of my ever growing belly & some sonogram pictures:
Me at 15 weeks.

They think it's a boy!!

Baby B's face!

Me at 19 weeks.
I will have another sonogram on August 2nd. I am dealing with something called marginal previa. Basically the placenta is really low in my uterus at this point, not quite touching my cervix. The doctor said that most cases correct themselves as you get further along in pregnancy. Hopefully, this will correct itself. I don't really want to think about what happens when it doesn't correct itself.

From the span of March - July, we have made two trips to Oklahoma to see Tom and Becky. We went over Memorial Day Weekend, and then again July 9-11th. July 9th - 11th, Emilee and Kelvin were able to drive up from Texas with their cute little daughter Lydia. Also while we were there, we found out that Tom and Becky had been chosen to be adoptive parents of a little boy due in October...Exciting times!! I had my camera with me, but I didn't take any pictures...go figure!

One of the summer projects that Tom and I wanted to do was to re-finish the cabinets in the kitchen. I don't think they had been touched since the place was built in the 1960's, 1970's. We are very pleased with the outcome!

Cabinets BEFORE

Cabinets DURING

Cabinets AFTER
We are very proud of ourselves, because quite honestly we had no idea what we were doing, we just did, and were totally happy with the results!
Tom celebrated his 32nd birthday on the 4th of July!! We had a BBQ at the Draper house in Gardner, and then went to this Brazilian Restaurant on the Plaza in Kansas City called FoGo de Chao! It was really good!
And now, you are caught up!

The Wedding...

2010-03-08T16:31:00.001-08:00

We just got back from Phoenix and had an absolutely WONDERFUL time! I will mostly post in pictures, because I am feeling kind of lazy about writing tonight.

Tom and Erin Leaving Kansas and heading for Phoenix.

Thursday Night - Texas Roadhouse for dinner with Mom and Dad, Dan & Lisa (Suzanne's Parent's) and Brian and Suzanne.

Friday - Wedding Prep

Jeremy, Scotty and Wyatt - Poolside

Stringing Lights over the pool!

Friday night we had a karaoke party, my pictures didn't turn out real well from that...it was fun none the less.

Saturday morning - WEDDING DAY
Tom straightening Uncle Gary up!

Erin and Tom waiting for Brian and Suzanne

Jeremy and Ditte waiting for Brian and Suzanne

Brian and Suzanne right after being married!

Brian's Family, Suzanne's Family & Wedding Party

Saturday afternoon - LUNCHEON
Tom and Wyatt entertaining themselves

Folks @ the Luncheon

Scotty @ the Luncheon

Cozette, Scotty, Wyatt and Atalie @ the luncheon

Brian and Suzanne @ the Luncheon

Centerpieces for the wedding were items for Brian and Suzanne's Pantry...sugar, flour, spices, etc...

The girls were fairies at the reception and loved every minute of it!

Tom and Erin @ the Reception

Suzanne & Brian getting ready to cut their cake....Cake cutting was put on hold due to a centerpiece going up in flames... actually, two centerpieces ended up catching fire by the end of the night!

The Burnt Centerpiece

Brian and Suzanne's first dance as man and wife!

The decorated car

Brian and Suzanne opening up gifts!

Are you fans of "The Office?"

2010-02-23T14:51:00.000-08:00

I made this for my little brother Brian (who gets a kick out of "The Office") and his soon to be wife Suzanne. Should I market them? (hahaha/hohoho)

The Week of 2/15-2/21

2010-02-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

On Monday, some of our friends had their baby. I went to the hospital on Tuesday evening for a brief visit. I got to hold their baby, and the funniest thing happened. He was totally flipping the room off. I was laughing so hard. After laughing I tried to rearrange his hand so that he wasn't doing that, and he wouldn't move his fingers any other way.

Before I went to visit them, I was in somewhat of a baking mood and so I made these and took them some...

Wednesday was pretty uneventful. Thursday evening we took some dinner over to our friends, and Tom was able to meet the baby for the first time.

I think that Tom will make a great dad. We can't wait until it is our time to have kids.
On Friday morning, we woke up and it was FREEZING in our house. Our heater had stopped working, so we had to get someone in to come and fix it. We are so grateful that it was something really minor and that our heat once again works.
On Saturday we went to Olathe to have our taxes done. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would and it was way fun to hang out in the Draper's home and chat. After taxes were done, we were all VERY hungry and we went to this place called J. Alexander's. It was a very delicious restaurant. It was very pricy, but I don't think that anyone was disappointed with their meal.
We then carried on to Costco. Costco is always fun. I am proud to report that I got out of Costco under $100.00, but, just barely.
Then this morning I tried out a recipe that I had come across online. This is a Coconut - Key Lime Cupcake with candied Key Limes on top. They are SOOO good.

Church was cancelled this morning due to inclement weather that is supposed to get worse as the day goes on. We are supposed to go over to our friends the Alexander's for a potluck this afternoon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

December Part II thru February 14th...

2010-02-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

Well, Tom and I were lucky enough to be able to fly to California for Christmas 2009. We enjoyed a picnic in the backyard with the kids....

We had Christmas Eve over at Tom's Uncle Paul and Aunt Sharon's house.

Christmas Day at my parent's house.

Got to meet Brian's fiance Suzanne for the first time.
Tom and Erin excited to meet Suzanne

Suzanne chillin' on the couch while Brian plays with Wyatt.

Went to the beach with Brian and Suzanne to see if we could get any good shots for their wedding invitation.

Wedding Planning Meeting @ In-N-Out

Celebrated my mom's 60th birthday.

Had to transition from this kind of weather....

to this kind of weather....

We kind of kept New Year's Eve low key this year. We had a few people over, watched a movie and ate good food. People left at around 12:30, and I went to bed.

JANUARY
We had quite of bit of snow in the beginning of January. More snow than Tom and I have seen since we moved to Kansas.
Fun Weather:

Icicles:
During the month of January, I was able to come up with the dress that I will wear to Brian and Suzanne's wedding. I already had it in my closet.

FEBRUARY

On Tuesday, February 9th at 10pm, I got a rather scary phone call. I had already been asleep for about an hour so when I answered I wasn't totally coherent. I answered the phone and it was Tom telling me that I needed to come and get him in Kansas City. He then relayed to me that he had been in a car accident, both air-bags deployed and the car wouldn't start. At the KU Edwards Campus (where he was) you have to go through a round about to exit the campus. Tom was going about 15 to 20 miles an hour when our 1997 Honda Accord hit some black ice. This in turn caused the car to lose traction from the street and bump in to a parked car that was parked in the round about. Well, he bounced off of that car and proceeded to hit a second car. Our friend David Anderson drove me to the Edwards Campus which is about 30 to 35 minutes away. On the way to the Edwards Campus I called a tow truck company (thanks Amber Anderson for looking that information up for me) and got that all lined up. Dave and I got to the accident scene and hadn't even been there for about 5 minutes when a 2010 Camaro came around the same bend that Tom came around, hit the black ice and then ran into the back of our already dead Honda. That poor car. Here are some pictures of that mess:

Well, needless to say we were back down to one car. We ended up getting quite a bit of money from our insurance company and were able to put a nice down payment on this car:
2008 Dodge Caliber

I really do appreciate all of the advice that was given to us about what we should buy. Tom and I talked a lot about what to get and this seemed right for us for several different reasons. One of those reasons is that since we own a duplex and need something that we can get larger purchases back here with, this car actually has some cargo room that we can work with. We feel very comfortable with our decisions and truly value the opinions that were offered to us.

That leads us to today....Valentine's Day. Tom got me some pajama pants and a wireless mouse for my laptop. I got him some chocolate and gave him some money to put towards some running shoes that he wants. Well, I guess he doesn't want those shoes anymore, so he will spend it on whatever he wants now....
Our weather today was:

Tom and I enjoyed the day nice and warm in our home with our fish Walter while there were two 30 car pile-ups on I-70 which shut it down about 20 minutes east of us for many hours:

I made this dinner (we don't usually eat like this):

We had this for dessert:

It was a great day.

You are all caught up on the last 6 months of our lives...Thanks for reading. I really hope to blog more frequently.

I'm Going For The Record....Finally A Post After 6 Months...

2010-02-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well, this will be a long post. I am only 6 months behind. It will mostly be pictures. Not a ton of reading. =) Here we go...
AUGUST
In August we decided it was time to become a two car family. We needed two cars so that both of us could perform our jobs effectively. We added a 2003 Nissan Altima to our family.

2003 Nissan Altima
SEPTEMBER
In September my cousin Tom and his wife Becky and their son Paul came to Lawrence to visit us. While they were here, we experienced chocolate covered bacon...not my favorite thing, Worlds of Fun and some church history sites.
Tom and Paul and Becky on the carousel.

Erin and Tom on the train taking cover from an afternoon rainstorm.

Tom and Paul on a ride.

OCTOBER
In October, Tom and I traveled to St. Louis with our good friends the Baker's. We went to our church's temple, visited the arch and ate at a really good place called Pappy's Smokehouse. We did have to buy my dad a shirt while we were there because the grandkids call him Pappy!
St. Louis Temple

The Arch

Tom and Erin at The Arch

At Pappy's Smoke House. The food was mighty delicious. This place was on that show...Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Tom and I celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary by going to the Cheesecake Factory on the Plaza. For dessert we ordered Stephanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake. Thank goodness we only got one and shared it. It was mighty rich and delicious.

NOVEMBER
For Thanksgiving, Tom and I drove to Jenks, Oklahoma to spend the holiday with Tom and Becky and Paul. We are so glad that we have some family in the area that we can spend time with. It takes about four hours to get there, and it is worth every minute of travel time to hang out with them. We had Thanksgiving at their home with some people from Tom's work. They were a couple from South Africa who had a really cute little girl. They had never tasted root beer before, and I SO wish I would have had a camera to take a picture of the first sip...it was priceless. Other items on the menu for our Thanksgiving feast included:
Sour Cream Rolls

Brownie Pecan Pie

Turkey & Pumpkin Pie

and many more glorious dishes that were so good.
We also visited the Tulsa Aquarium while we were there.
My cousin Tom feeding the stingrays:

My husband Tom behaving in his usual manner:

WE ARE ALMOST ALL CAUGHT UP!
DECEMBER
Tom and I got to experience our first ever KU Basketball Game in the Allen Field House. It was so worth the experience. I think if the opportunity presented itself again and the price was right...again, we would probably go... again.
Tom and I in the car on our way to the game.

Baby Jay

KU B-Ball Players

Final Score of the KU vs. Alcorn State Game

I have just decided that Christmas time - February 15th will be in the next post.

Finally...An Update! It's only been about 3 1/2 months...

2009-08-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well, April 28th was the last entry. We aren’t very good at this blog thing.
Near the middle of April, I flew home to California so my mom could help me make modifications to a dress that I needed to wear in a wedding. Not only did we make the dress modest for me, but we played around and it was so much fun! I got to hang out with my family.

After our Segway adventures, we had to go here:

Mom is a HUGE fan of the Crocs store. If you ever need to get her something and you don't know quite what to get, a Crocs gift card will make her happy as a clam.
I also got to hang out with my nieces and nephews. They are SO precious!
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Atalie, Wyatt, Me, Cozette and Scottie
May was a really busy month at work for me. It generally is as you wind down a school year. I was busy trying to wrap up my old job while I was training for my new one. I was also in my friend Twyla's wedding, but I don't have any pictures of me yet. I am hoping to get a couple from her. I was fortunate enough to have a five week break from June 8th – July 12th. Tom was teaching up at the University of Kansas during this time. While I admit the break was nice, I will also admit that I spent quite a bit of time at my place of employment trying to get things set up so that when I started back to work for real it wouldn’t seem so overwhelming.
Tom did have to delay the receipt of his Master’s degree due to a small little item that a certain individual in the history department forgot to mention. Tom signed a contract in January to teach during the summer. At the end of February, beginning of March he set up his MA exams with the same lady that he signed the contract with. After the completion of his MA exams, which he passed with honors, this lady e-mailed him (on a Friday afternoon at about 4:55pm) to let him know that since he received his Master’s degree and was no longer part of the history department that he wasn’t eligible to teach the summer class. Long story short, Tom accepted an incomplete grade in a class that he finished in February. He wrote a paper for this class which won an award and everything. The incomplete was on his transcript until after he started teaching the class, then his advisor changed the grade back to the “A” that it was all along!
Due to overlapping work schedules, we weren’t able to really go anywhere this summer. We did buy plane tickets to California for Christmas though. We are looking forward to that.
In church news, I am no longer the Relief Society President. Tom was also released from the Activities Committee Chairperson. His new calling is Ward Clerk, and mine is the Temple Trip Coordinator for our ward. I think that we are both enjoying the change of pace.
I think this year will prove to be extremely busy for both Tom and I. All of Tom’s classes are in the evening from like 4-7, or 7-10pm. He will also be supervising student teachers here and there and everywhere. I will be busy working my normal 8 hours a day on top of all of the extra duty things I have signed up for, this includes supervision at sporting events (football, basketball, wrestling, volleyball) school dances, concerts etc….as well as being the person who goes to certain meetings to take notes.
We recently bought a car. It is a 2003 Nissan Altima. It is black and it is very nice looking! We have been a 1 car family for the past 4 years, and have LOVED not having a car payment, but between both of our hectic schedules, it wasn’t really possible for us to be a one car family anymore. I think we did really well in selecting a car that fits our budget. We don’t feel as if we are going to break the bank.

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Well, I think that we are all caught up for now. Hopefully it won’t be another 4 months before we write again!

Tom and Erin go to the bar!!!

2009-04-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

One of the things that Erin and I really like about Lawrence is that we have all these different restaurants with great food. Our favorites are Bigg’s BBQ, Set’em up Jacks, and Jason’s Deli. We recently started eating at Dempsey’s Irish Pub, after it was highly recommended to us. The burgers there are RADICAL! Erin usually gets a regular classic burger and I get one that is Kobe beef, however, last week they had one made from lamb, which was interesting, but really good. Also, we normally get these truffle fried that are great. Erin and I normally just sit at the bar watch TV and maybe chat with people, while we keep pounding down our Pepsi ad Diet Pepsi. Thank you for free refills. Occasionally, we like to joke around that we are going to go hang out at the bar. But, in reality this bar with the adoption of a grill starting in February has become more of a restaurant; as most people are coming there now for the food.

With the semester is coming to an end, I have a lot of grading that I need to get done, lectures I need to write for the summer course I am teaching, and I need to finish writing my section for this primary source book that is due in July that is suppose to be published at the end of this year. Plus, any day now I should be getting back to articles I submitted with the reviewers feedback. Erin is also busy getting ready for Twyla’s wedding and her new job. Erin and I are planning on going camping sometime in the future at Clinton Lake. But, I think we rather go to Bass Lake.

Where is our luck coming from?

2009-04-22T15:27:00.001-07:00

So the last couple of weeks have been rather exciting for us. First, the administrative assistant at Erin’s school retired and Erin applied for the position; which she got! Erin will now be an 11-month employee instead of 9month. Plus, she gets a nice little raise. Erin is really excited, but I think a littler nervous because of some of the new responsibilities. As Erin has posted below, I took my MA exams and passed with honors, which was a real surprise. The exam was not as bad as I thought it would be. But, I have to postpone my graduation till the summers so I can teach a course at KU for the summer . . . don’t ask.

Other then that Erin and I are doing well. I have start my annual assault on our yard to get grass going. I have gotten to the point were I just throw seed and fertilizer out, water daily, and pray for divine intervention. We will see how it goes this year.

HE DID IT!!!

2009-04-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

Tom took his MA exams today and he passed.......with honors!!!

YAY!

Spring Break Pics Finally!!!!

2009-04-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Okay so I took a while to pu tup these pics, hope you enjoy.

Us in line for our food at Casa Bonita (Erin, Becky, Paul and Tom . . . whose last name I can't recall)

Eating in the cave as Casa Bonita

We went to the park for "Paul to play," but it was the oposite.

We are looking forward to Tom, Becky and Paual visiting us soon.

SPRING BREAK!!!!

2009-03-30T16:31:00.001-07:00

So for Spring Break Erin and I went to Jenks, OK (right outside of Tulsa) for the weekend to visit Erin’s cousin Tom and Becky. However, I am surprised that Tom even knew that Erin was her cousin since he did not know our last name. The drive to Tom and Becky’s house is pretty easy. We drive about a mile West from our house get on a road going south and then stay on that same road for 4 hours till we get to Tulsa. It is a no brainer.

The highlight for me was going to this little “hole in the wall” restaurant that made homemade root beer. That stuff was so good! Erin and I for like a week after were craving root beer. But, by far the coolest thing ever was going to Casa Bonita! Imagine a Blue Bayou (the restaurant in Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland) like Mexican restaurant that allows you eat in a cave with ehhhhh quality microwave assembly-line food that has a magic show! Plus I did not see a Hispanic person in the whole restaurant. The place is just cheesy, but totally radical at the same time! They have another restaurant in Denver that has divers and other crazy things . . . definitely on one of my places to visit before I die. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Bonita

Sunday night we all had fondue, which was really delicious. Tom and Becky’s son Paul is also really cute. That kid is so smart . . . I am amazed. Plus he makes sure Tom drives the speed limit.

On the way back to Lawrence, Erin and I stopped at a lot of antique shops in all these small little towns on the way home. Erin bought some stuff she liked, and I found a couple more cola bottles to add to my collection. It was fun, plus we got to drink a lot of root beer on the way home.

I have to say I thought this Spring Break was way better then the one we spent in Troy, Ohio. Next Year, Erin and I will either go to Dodge, KS or New Ulm, MN (it’s the Polka capital of the U.S.).

30 and Spoiled

2009-03-01T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well, Friday, February 27th, I turned 30. I had a great day. It started on Thursday evening when I got home from work. I came home and this was on my kitchen table. It is from our tenant and friend Virginia.

Then, Tom said he was going to go and get me something for my birthday. He then said, "What do you want." I was of no help. Why? Because I didn't know what I wanted. Finally I came up with the idea of a Yankee Candle because mine had just burnt out a few days before. Tom comes back from shopping with a Bed Bath & Beyond bag, and sure enough inside of that bag was a yankee candle. Then he started acting a little weird and said he had actually bought me something else but he needed me to help him carry it in. We went out to the car and came back into the house with this:

and this:

Fast forward to Friday morning. I am getting ready to leave for work. I opened the front door and found this:

and this:

These items are from my friends Chelsea and Amber.
Friday at work I got some flowers from my friend and boss Lisa:

Twyla got me these items: earrings and this wax thing that you actually rub on your hands and it is lotion!

Friday night, Dave and Amber, Ryan and Chelsea came over and brought me this:

Saturday night we went to dinner with some friends. Our friends Jen and Jason got me this:

Also, Mom and Dad and Papa, thanks for the money! I appreciate it. I have great people that surround me!

Basketball, exams, and IOUs

2009-02-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

So basketball season is about to end . . . well at Erin’s jr. high school it is. Since we went back to school in, January I have started to walk down to Erin’s school to watch the jr. high school kids play. Erin has to be at the games because of the cheerleaders, as she is the assistant cheer coach. Its nice to go down there and watch the games with her and step away from the writing, reading, or whatever work I have hanging over my head.

The games are fun and its good to see them play. I also get to see other jr high school students there and how they act. Some are better then others . . . I try to remind myself that they are kids and not college students. However, I still firmly hold to the belief that I wish stupidity hurt. Maybe some would learn faster!

Well I have my MA exams in April, so I am preparing the last article need for that. I hope to have the first rough draft submitted by next week for revisions. I am also waiting for my acceptance letter into the PhD program in curriculum and teaching . . . I have already been told that I got in unofficially, but I am waiting to heat what kind of funding I got. I pray it's a fellowship.

So Kansas is broke . . . like California. We also get an IOU from the state. NO wonder our governor accepted a position today in Obama’s cabinet. I would probably cut and run as well.

No place like boring home!

2009-02-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

Well Erin and I are pretty boring people. In the past month or so I have started making a Japanese dish that Erin seems to like called, katsu curry. Basically, it a fired piece of pork that's been breaded placed on top of rice and then covered with Japanese curry. The curry is really mild compared to Indian curry, which is why I think people like it. We also eat a lot of edamae . . .which I really like.

Speaking of food . . . Erin has been buying this generic Dillon’s brand of Crystal Light and I tell you what that stuff is so good. I cannot seem to get enough of it. I woke up in the middle of the night craving it.

It also seems like we are having a heat wave the last week or so. But, Kansas weather is weird we have a week or so of nice weather, then all of a sudden it is -10.

Okay well I’m going back to watching the Jayhawks play . . .

It's Been Awhile...

2009-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

We are still alive. I guess neither one of us has really been in the blogging mood.

A quick update:

We are credit card debt free! That feels so good. Erin has lost 4.4 pounds this month. Tom has a job teaching summer school at KU. If we get any sort of vacation, it will be to St. Louis or something.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Hopefully better and more interesting posts will come soon.

2008-12-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Tom and I have been under some pretty intense stress over the last month or two. We tried to put on happy faces and pretend that nothing was wrong, but it finally hit a point where we thought the situation wouldn't work itself out. We were beginning to prepare for the worst and although we had a Plan B in mind, we still weren't settled. Guess what? The situation worked itself out. It didn't happen in our time frame, but it happened.

I am a very firm believer that Heavenly Father knows each of us individually. He knows our thoughts, and he knows what we stand in need of. Things most likely won't work themselves out in our time frame, or the way we want it to work out, but everything happens for a reason. We may not know what the reasons are, but if we put our faith and trust in him, we don't necessarily need to know.

Also, as some of you may have seen on my facebook page, I tend to over-extend myself. I honestly love doing things for other people. I feel very satisfied knowing that I have made a difference to someone else. I don't delegate much at all, and pretty much I feel that no matter what, I can do it all. I have learned that isn't necessarily the best mentality to have. Infact, I am pretty proud of myself for having said no to one thing this week. Although it isn't a big thing, and in the long run doesn't have any bearing on my salvation, it is one less thing that I have to worry about. I do need to learn to say no to the things that don't really matter. I am very grateful for the strength and energy that I have been granted to make it through the periods of over-extension.

I am looking forward to a new year. A new year with new resolutions and new adventures. I can't wait.

Weekend Recap

2008-11-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

Erin's Friday - Up at 3:30 for Black Friday. Decorated for Christmas. Cleaned the house.

Erin's Saturday -
First snow of this winter season. Nothing to write home about, but first snow none the less.

Grocery Shopping.

Nap.

Afternoon crafting.

More afternoon crafting.

Out to dinner with friends.

Erin's Sunday -
Church.
Home Teachers.
Hot Chocolate.
Hallmark movies.

Monday - Back to work. Not really sure how I feel about that.

Tom's Friday -
Up at 3:30 for Black Friday.
Went back to bed from 9 to noon.
Worked on paper.

Tom's Saturday -
Slept until 7:30
Worked on paper.

Out to dinner with friends.

Tom's Sunday -
Church.
Home Teachers.
Hot Chocolate.
and...
you got it!
Worked on paper.

Catch Up Time!!!

2008-11-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

Middle of October - End of November

October 14th proved to be a really bad day at work. I can't remember what exactly happened that upset me so, but can you imagine the joy that I felt when I came home and found these:

Aren't they beautiful?

October 16th -18th - Adam-ondi-Ahman and Nauvoo
We actually didn't take very many pictures on our trip. We stayed at a place called Camp Nauvoo. The cabins weren't bad. They did have heat in them. It was a fun trip. It is interesting to learn how the pioneers did things back in the day. It makes me very grateful for all of the modern conveniences that we have now. I don't know that I could have survived back then. Here are some pictures from it.

Adam-ondi-Ahman

Tom @ Adam-ondi-Ahman

Erin @ Adam-ondi-Ahman

Camp Nauvoo Cabins

View of the Mississippi River from Camp Nauvoo
October 25th was something called Super Saturday. This is where several members of the church got together and did some craft items. This is one item that I made.

A Candy Jar
October 27, 2008 marked 7 years of marriage for Tom and I. We didn't do the whole go out to a nice restuarant thing. This year for our anniversary, we decided to start really getting serious about food storage and emergency preparedness. We went to Home Depot and got a sturdy shelf and have since been loading food on to that shelf. We also went to this place to eat. It is called "Five Guys." The food is alright, but it just reminds me a wanna be "In-N-Out." It doesn't compare in my book, especially when it comes to price comparison.
October 31st - Tom and I aren't real big halloween fans. (Sorry Ditte!) I don't even remember what we did for halloween. I do know that our next door neighbor only had two trick-or-treaters though! Too bad it was the same visit. I don't know if trick-or-treating is a big thing here in Lawrence. It sure doesn't seem like it.
November 1st - We went to a park here in Lawrence with our friend Amber. She took some pictures of Tom and I. Tom and I haven't had our picture taken together professionally since our wedding. I thought that it was about time that we had one taken. Here are a couple of shots from that session.

Bear with me. We are almost all caught up!
The month of November wasn't too exciting. Around the 8th or so, I started feeling the Pleurisy pains again. I put myself on bed rest and just took it easy. That stuff is nasty and it sure does pretty much suck the life out of you. November 14th we had a ward activity. Everyone was asked to bring their favorite dish and recipe. The recipes were collected, we had judges to pick out their favorite main course and dessert. Had Tom not been the activities chair person, his dessert would have been the winner. I made chicken enchiladas and Tom made (really he did) Taffy Apple Pizza - the pampered chef recipe.

November 27th was Thanksgiving. We went over to some friends house in Gardner, KS. I made the turkey, rolls and brownie pecan pie. My friend Jen made mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn and a fruit salad. It just never ceases to amaze me how much time and effort is put in to a meal like that, and it is really sad when 30 minutes later everyone is stuffed and there is so much left over food!!

That leads us up to today!! Black Friday. Tom had found some items(mostly tools) that would be on sale for Black Friday. I had mentioned that I wanted to get some sweaters/long sleeve shirts because it is starting to get cold. The alarm went off at 3:30 this morning. We got up and away to Kohl's we went. We stood in line outside for 20 minutes or so and were let into the door at 4:02 am. The line was formed from south to the north and there were people who stood across the street to the west. As soon as the doors opened, the people who were not standing in the line tried to rush in where all of these people had been waiting patiently. Well, some people are just flat out rude. It was an interesting experience. Especially when we got to Home Depot. The woman standing in front of us had an ad. Tom asked her if he could look at it. The woman turned around and said, No! Tom and I kind of both looked at each other in shock as the lady started laughing and said, "yeah, you can look at it." We went to Kohl's, Old Navy, Home Depot and Walmart. The only place that was absolutely horrible was Kohls. The check out line was about an hour long. Oh well, I got 4 new tops that are normally about $30 each for $8.00 a piece. Would I do it again next year????? Maybe. It depends upon if I am fighting a sinus infection like I am this year.
We got home at around 9:00 this morning and went back to bed. When we woke up from that, we decorated for Christmas. Here is a picture of our tree, and a picture of Tom, doing what he is always doing....writing a paper!

We hope that you had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. Now we start counting down the days until we fly to California for Christmas. 25 Days!!

Wow!! Two Updates in One Month!!!!!

2008-10-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, not a whole lot has happened since the General Conference Weekend of Rest & Relaxation! We managed to survive another very busy week. This past Friday night we went to a Corn Maze in Gardner, KS. That is about 35 minutes or so away from our house. This is what the maze map looked like.

Our friend Tiffanie is moving back to Utah, so for a fun hoorah before she left we went out to dinner and to this corn maze. This is the group that we went with.

Back Row left to right: Jonathan Player, Erin Barker, Tom Barker, Steve Tingey, Matt Baker
Front Row left to right: Cassie Player, Tiffanie Player, Ali Baker

After we did the corn maze we parted ways and went to Jen and Jason's house. They live in Gardner. We hardly ever go see them because it seems that whenever we do, something happens to our car. =) Well, we are proud to report that we have been there two weekends in a row with no car incidents!

On Sunday, we went to some friends house for Spain Night Dinner. I made Gazpacho. It was really good if I do say so myself. Tiffanie made tortilla, chicken paella, and this tomato and onion salad. It was a really good dinner. Thanks again for a fun evening.

It is nice to have friends to go and do stuff with. In the mean time, Tom remains busy with school/work. He is in the process of putting together a course proposal for a summer class, writing articles, grading papers and TA-ing.

I on the other hand have been working at my job as a secretary, helping out in the capacity of Assistant Cheer Coach at the Junior High I work at and most recently finished my last week cleaning the church.

We are getting ready to leave for Nauvoo, Illinois on Thursday and are excited to kind of just get away from it all for a while. There will definately be an update after Nauvoo!

When We Do The Things We Should...

2008-10-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

So all week long I have been thinking about how much I have been neglecting things that needed to be done around the house. Mounds of laundry, dirty kitchen, piles of stuff all around the living room. I don't like things to add up like that but Tom and I are both so busy that we tend to put that kind of stuff off. I was thinking I will just do it this weekend. Then I remembered that it was conference weekend and was trying to decide which sessions of conference I should watch. I watched Saturday mornings session and was absolutely thrilled when a temple for the greater Kansas City area was announced. =) There were lots of great talks during that session that I felt were directly written for me and for the things that I am going through and facing at this point. After the first session I began attacking the kitchen. Once that was done, Tom yelled from the other room that the 2nd Saturday session was starting. I was on a roll with cleaning and didn't want to stop. I finally decided watching conference was more important and that I needed to hear what was being said. Sure enough many more talks that I felt were written just for me.

During the Sunday sessions, I kind of felt the same way. I have a lot of things to do blah...blah...blah. Needless to say I set aside time for myself to watch all four sessions of conference AND in between times have gotten everything accomplished that I wanted to get accomplished. It is amazing to me to that by doing the things that I should have done (ie...watching conference) I was able to get everything done that I needed to. I was supplied with "extra" time.

I enjoyed L. Tom Perry's talk about not letting the stresses and strains of life get to us. Remain positive. I also enjoyed his quote, "The best is yet to be." This is definitely something I need to work on. I need to remember that I need to take things one step at a time and as long as I am going in the right direction I will be o.k.

I also loved Elder Wirthlin's talk. "Come what may and love it." I loved his saying, "Learn to laugh." He explained that adversity can be a blessing in our lives depending upon how we deal with it. All stuff I really need to work on.

I enjoyed conference a lot. I am excited for April when we get to do it all again.

Long Time......

2008-09-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can't believe that our blog hasn't been updated in almost two months. Well, o.k. I can believe it. Things are just kind of crazy and out of control here.
Tom is currently working as a GTA, and also working at the drop in writing center. He also helps me clean the church. I work as a secretary for a junior high here in Lawrence, I am the assistant cheer coach and I clean the church. Let me just say, we are tired.
Tom and I just had a discussion the other day about how busy we are. We really don't get to see each other all that often. It is kind of sad, but we are trying to better our situation by paying off some debt. We don't like the feelings we have regarding debt and we currently doing our best to do what we can to help give us peace of mind. This will probably include not being able to go home for Christmas. Luckily we have lots of friends around here we can do stuff with.
We enjoyed our vacation to California and will have to post pictures of that soon. Tom's cast is now off. The knuckle is still very broken, but he has great movement and it isn't bothering him. Surgery isn't necessary at this time. We are truly grateful for that because that would be a HUGE expense that we would rather not incur at this point.
Anyway, not an exciting blog entry, but just enough to let you know that we are still alive. Hopefully a more interesting post will come soon.

When It Rains It Pours...

2008-07-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

So...Saturday night when we went to see our friends in Gardner, KS, our car kind of broke down. The shop that we took it to called me on Monday and told me that we would have to have a new radiator put in. That repair was quite a few big bucks. We drove back to Gardner yesterday to pick our car up. We came back to Lawrence and everything seemed to be just find. I woke up this morning, went to work, came home, things were great. Tom and I decided to go for a bite to eat downtown. We are driving on the main street "Massachusetts, aka Mass" the car starts to run funny. We have an automatic and the gears aren't shifting. Tom and I look at each other and just kind of shake our heads. We get to nearby where we are going. I go to step on the gas and the car doesn't move. I put the car into neutral and kind of coast into a parking spot. I put the car in park, then put it into reverse...nothing. The car stays still. I put the car into drive...nothing. The car stays still. We were both so annoyed we didn't really want to eat anymore. The car was too hot at this point to open the hood right away, so we decided to go in and eat anyway. When we came out we opened the hood and there was fluid that seemed to have exploded under the hood. There was quite a bit of fluid underneath our car as well. RIDICULOUS. We were so mad.
We called the place that had fixed our car and asked if they had touched our transmission when they replaced the radiator. Sure enough they had. We called the same repair shop here in Lawrence and talked to the owner. They sent out a tow truck. We arrived at the shop with our car and the owner said it would be a couple of hours for the repair to be done and he personally drove myself and Tom home. He called us later this afternoon and told us that the car was done and that he would be bringing it to our house. Basically what happened is that the hose that connects between the transmission and the radiator was old. When they undid the hoses while replacing the radiator, the hose cracked. So this place replaced the hose. We were charged for nothing. It surely was a blessing in disguise.
They say that bad things happen in three's. We have either beaten that and set a new record with five, OR we have another bad thing coming. We prefer that we have set a new record.
1)Tom's hand, no insurance.
2)Air conditioner in tenants side of the duplex quit working on a very hot day.
3)Our car broke down in Gardner, KS - Expensive Repair
4)A check that was written TO US bounced
5)Transmission Issue - A wrong made right.
We really hope that we can go on vacation and return relaxed without having to overcome any more big obstacles.
I guess it is all part of life.

Today...Good and Bad

2008-07-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

So this morning Tom and I went out to a couple of garage sales. We found these really cool retro chairs that Tom really wanted so that we can set up a little "play" area in the basement for video games. We found some chairs, brand new floor mats and a Thanksgivingish table cloth. It was a great morning.
Our cool "RETRO CHAIRS"
The new happy owner!
We have both been getting up pretty early so today we took a nap for about 2 1/2 hours. That was really nice.
This evening we went to Gardner, KS which is about 30 to 40 minutes away from our house to see our friends Jen and Jason. At one point we looked outside and noticed a bunch of fluid on their driveway from our car. I went out and looked more closely and realized that it had a greenish tint to it. I think the anti-freeze that was in our car ended up all over their driveway. We drove our car to a place in Gardner and dropped it off to be looked at. Unfortunately this all happened at about 6:45pm and the place closed at 6:30. They aren't open on Sunday so our car won't be looked at untill Monday. Jen and Jason were gracious enough to let us borrow their car to get home for the time being, and also to allow me to get to work since our one and only car is in Gardner. I hope that it isn't an expensive fix. They are such great friends.
Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on here. We are just looking forward to Thursday when we will be leaving on a jet plane.

Tom's Boxing Career is Down For the Count...Think before You Punch.

2008-07-11T04:18:00.000-07:00

We were hoping for a reduction to be done on Tom's hand so that we could bypass the surgery option since he doesn't have medical insurance at the moment. We waited to see a doctor at the orthopedic surgeons office and pretty much the first words out of his mouth were, "A reduction isn't going to work on that." Mine and Tom's silent thoughts, "CRAP." He did say that we had two options. We could splint the hand, let it heal for about 20 more days and see where the healing process was or...Tom could have surgery to correct the injury. The doctor said that the pinky which has the broken knuckle is a very forgiving finger. He was pretty sure that the finger would heel (not perfectly) but to the point of being able to be used normally, with a possible slight deformity meaning that the pinky knuckle on his right hand would look slightly different from the pinky knuckle on his left hand. Just out of curiosity we asked how much a surgery would cost. He said, "Well...you have to pay for the room, the anesthesiologist, blah, blah, blah." Basically we would be looking at upwards of about $5,000.00 for the surgery. Tom is willing to wait it out and see what the hand does on its own. Of course we would pay (somehow) to have the surgery done if that is the corrective action that needs to be taken. We do know that if he has to have surgery the break will have to be re-broken. All I have to say is OUCH.
Tom and his casted hand.
Since they knew that we were going on vacation, they had some sample water-proof casting material that they said we could "test" for them. Better yet, since it was a sample, they didn't charge us for that part of the visit. AWESOME!
On a happier note, we had a really good dinner last night. It included Cheese and Roasted Garlic Tortellini with a Pesto with Basil Sauce, Garlic Bread and salmon. It was actually pretty good. And yes to all who are thinking it, Erin ate salmon.
Yummy Dinner!

The Big 3-0!

2008-07-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

On July 4th, Tom turned the big 3-0! We stayed the night in Kansas City at a place called Chateau Avalon. We went to Ted's Montana Grill. Tom and I split a Bison Burger. We watched fireworks from the parking lot. We came home on Saturday and I did about 7 or 8 loads of laundry. We went to church on Sunday and surprised several people who weren't expecting Tom to be home. Later that evening we had a surprise party for Tom, but the surprise was on some friends who lived out of town who didn't know that Tom was home. Here are some pictures from that fun evening.

Yummy Snacks included homemade guacamole (thanks for the tips Ditte it turned out great)

Tom and John

Suzy, Jess, Amy and Kevin

Nathan, Jason, Josh and Jen

Tom being sung to

Yummy Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes with Chocolate frosting and sprinkles!

Back Together Again...

2008-07-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

After a 10 month separation, Tom and Erin are back together again. Tom came home a little earlier than expected and is extremely happy to be home with his wife and our housemate, Amy (for 21 more days. Tom and I will be in California for 11 of those 21 days.) We are headed out to the Yosemite and Bass Lake area with the Griggs side of the family, and also our friend Squatting Squirrel (aka Twyla).

Tom brought home a swollen right hand. We went to the Watkins Health Center and found out that Tom's right hand pinky knuckle is broken (boxer's fracture). Even better, Tom is between insurances. We get to go and see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to find out if a reduction can be performed on his hand, or if he will need to have surgery. We are both hoping for a reduction. It sounds cheaper.

Tom's right hand.

We have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow at 2:15. We will let you know what happens.