Blessed

Justin is doing really well this morning. He looks great and is very alert. I loved walking in the room this morning with him smiling at me. What a relief .....as I wondered how his night was going to play out. The doctors came by and were both very excited about his progress. They are not exactly two of the most bubbly people and their personaility was completely different as we could both sense they were celebrating these good steps...

Back to last night....

I was kicked out of Justin's room last night at 1:00am as another patient was getting ready to get admitted. Needless to say, I was not happy about it! I was tired and cranky so I made a point to make the nurses life difficult as they once again gave away our private room due to someone else being much more difficult. We have been patient and understanding but I guess that really does not take you anywhere these days.

I left around 1, waited for the valet people to find my car for 30 minutes and finally made it home after 2 am. The entire ride home I was having a coversation with myself about how I was going to just raise a stink about the way things went with our room situation. Prior to last night my priority was getting Justin better and through surgery,but after he came back to the room I wanted him to be comfortable and taken care of without having a roomate to deal with. I asked if Justin would lose his spot for a private room because he was headed to surgery and they assured me that he wouldn't....even though we lost our spot for three days straight due to incompetent people who worked on the floor.... Well, by the time we came back from surgery someone else got the private room. Ugh!

I came in this morning ready to bite someone's head off and thankfully I got the extra push that I needed from our old roomates ( remember the 88 year old sweet couple)...The wife was so sweet as she gave me advice that being nice will not get me far. She might have used some pretty shocking words in her speech (which I will not repeat) and I headed to the nurses station. I was firm, straight forward and was not about to back down...

Justin begged me to be nice and I promised I would tone it down a bit. We have now been through three big hospitals and I am just at the end of my rope. We finally had the person in charge of rooms come see us. She was not very understanding and was trying to lecture us about how things work here. Justin and I joined forces as we repated what she was choosing not to hear. She finally decided that we were not giving up. It is funny how when you mention making a formal complaint about stuff things get resolved very fast... She was not the most customer service oriented person at all.

 I told Justin after she left that I was frustrated she was treating us like she works in the retail business and we are trying to buy a shirt...It was a hard conceept for her that a patient after his big surgery needs privacy and rest as opposed to people keeping him up with snoring or nurses doing admission survey until 2 in the morning...UGH! It is just plain scary as many times as I have seen and even heard how "the night crew" is just not the best...GREAT - I will leave my loved one on his/her own and hope you do your job...CRAZINESS!

OKAY - so I got completely sidetracked from the original post as you might wonder why the title is BLESSED ...morning theraphy session is now over....

Now that my mean, judgemental and frustrated side is all done venting ( HA!) I really wanted to document how faithful God has been as I document all the answered prayers so far. I will definitley pray about the mean, judgmental and frustrated Tamara in a minute- don't worry!

 In no particular order- here are our praises:

1. the fact that everything possible was done to confirm that the surgery was the absolute must and best solution for Justin
2. surgery going well
3. first hours of recovery being smooth
4. our babies being taken care of as they are enjoying being loved and spoiled by family - Luka and Mia have both gotten very used to Daddy doing so much and as we have struggled with their behaviors, Luka's night terrors, separation anxeity for the past several weeks- we are thankful that during the past 72 hours they have adapted extremly well to the circumstances of these daily changes.
5. support from everyone through e-mails, texts, visits
6. meals being provided - last night while in the waiting room I had a full dinner waiting on me as I walked in...it was just like I was at home...lasagna, salad, drinks, napkins, cookies ...Thank you to the Watsons and Haley, Anna and Tim...Tim was even crazy enough to run and get me a milk shake as he learned how much I love them....
7. Justin's workplace has been truly amazing as we have been dealing with his health for the past two years. I could go on for days about what they have done for us and how incredible their support has been.
8. My workplace...actually I prefer calling it "my home away from home" as my bosses, my coworkers and my team are my second family...they have been there for me for the past two years in ways that words could never explain. There is not enough blog space to cover the details of their love, support and understanding yet they still continue to blow me away with their generosity and caring.
9. kindess of complete strangers as you will hear about below
10. our 88 year old roomates as they have kept me distracted, motivated and inspired...true love after 60 years is hard to find and was so special to witness this week...

The list goes on and I will continue adding to it...It is truly amazing to see how faithfull God has been!

This morning before heading to the hospital I decided to go turn in my defensive driving stuff to the court from a ticket from few months ago. Don't you feel special now- you are getting to know mean, frustrated, judgemental and now breaks-the-law-Tamara all in one sitting....I did mention the roller coaster of emotions so you have been warned! No, I am not a crazy driver- I just tend to have really bad luck!  I walked up to the counter with my defensive driving course certificate and my driving record but I could not find any of the other things as I have completely lost track of where I put things at home this week. My eyes still puffy from crying, the dark circles from the lack of sleep, and no make up probably gave the lady at the counter an idea of my rough week.

 I explained that I don't have everything I needed=' and she told me that it was okay. She gave me an affidavit to get notarized and I just couldn't believe how nice she was. I just asked her to check to make sure I was not late with turning everything in ( I was pretty sure it was by this Friday)...She looked in the computer and said : "Oh no- it was supposed to be done by Monday"....At this point the tears were making their appreance, I was getting choked up as I have never been in this situation before, and before I could even make it past "My husband is in the hospital"...she nicely told me to get the paper to the notary and come right back....WHAT??? I got my stuff and ran to the post office...I left the post office place in tears because as I tried to pay for the notary services my in-laws friend who owns the place told me that she would like to take care of the fee as a contribution to this week getting better for us...WHAT??? Tears rolling again...I came back to the court house and now I had to explain everything to another lady at the counter...before I could get into the full story the lady from before came up and just told me to take a deep breath, give them everything and just go back to my husband...It literally took 2 seconds....I know I was supposed to pay a fee when I turned everything in but they just smiled and said everything was fine....WHAT???

Talk about God wrapping his arms around me...Blessed? YEP- I think so!

Now we are off to the big countdown...countdown of machines getting turned off, tubes getting taken out, breathing exercises, walking and hopefully eating very soon...

What a night!

I know I should probably go to bed and get some rest but I am too wired and too excited to wait until the morning to update. After a very rough day and horrible pains Justin was rolled into surgery prep around 6:30 this evening. After having a few minor anxiety attacks and pacing around the room all day, I knew that we tried everything in our power to stay away from surgery. I was ready to move forward in this journey.

Our good friend Tim was with me while we stayed with Justin in the pre-op room and I was still trying to hold it together pretty well. I finally broke down as we entered the waiting room. I was overwhelmed to think "here we go again"...I was overwhelemed by how many familiar faces were there with me ready to wait out the worst two hours of this long and exhausting day...I was overwhelemed with the feeling of the unknown...I was scared, nervous and very anxious as I knew very well what the recovery was going to hold for Justin.... I couldn't bare to think what he was going to look like after I saw him in the ICU as the last two surgeries had some pretty traumatic effects on me personally. I had my breaking point and it was just my time to cry. After being by Justin's side for 3 days I did not want to leave him in someone else's hands...I was missing my babies so much as I have only seen them for the total of 3 hours in three days...I was tired from the lack of sleep...I was slowley ready to fall apart right there with everyone to see....

When I left the prep room I asked the nurse to call me when they got started. She called around 7:30 and I was not expecting any news/updates until about 9:30ish. When the doctor walked in around 8:15 I initially freaked out when someone said " Hey isn't that Justin's surgeon?". Yeah - 40 minutes after getting started I was in shock to see Dr. D heading toward me. About a million thoughts went through my head at that split second and  as surgeons are hard to read anyway- I just figured something went really bad...Here was my 'I want to break down moment #3....

Well, as it turned out they did not call me right as they got started and overall surgery took a little less time than expected. Dr. D reported that Justin did very well, there were no complications and everything was looking good. Shortly after that we were told that Justin would be heading back to his room .... I was not expecting that either. He stayed in the ICU for an entire night at Baylor for his past two surgeries so I was just in shock how fast everything was moving along. At this time I had convinced myself that he will probably be in really bad shape when I saw him because it was so soon. I asked Tim to stay with me because I just knew I would freak out when I finally got to see him in pain and with all the machines. To my surprise I welcomed my smiling husband into the room and couldn't stop laughing at his "heavily medicated personality" for the next 45 minutes. He was seriously cracking me up...Tim and I laughed at Justin for a while as it was hard not to- it was some pretty entertaining stuff....he went from asking his nurses for milk shakes to quoting Jerry Maguire to telling me I was not the boss of him to telling me he would pull UFC moves on me if I didn't listen to him...

I don't know what the future hours, days or months hold as far as recovery goes....I have no idea how much pain he will be in once the meds wear off...I don't know anything about God's plans past this very minute...However I do know that all these little blessings are such a gift...and I know how many prayers God has answered over the past 48 hours as we played the waiting game with this surgery. I did not want to wait until the morning to document the feelings of "right now" because I didn't know how the mood might change.

Yes- I am sitting in a room with a very bossy husband who just asked me to change the fan settings three times in 10 seconds...Yes- I am staying in the room with a whole bunch of noisy machines and pumps- but this time they are "good noises" as we they move us one step closer to being home with our sweet little family...Yes - I am probably spending the night in a bed that has been pooped in all day long by another person...the bed that is not even clean at this point ( GROSS I know)...in a room that sort of smells like someone else's poop....but I don't even care! My husband is laying across the room answering his e-mails ( I apologize to whoever will receive the e-mail since I have no idea how "with it" he is or what he is typing.) I am thankful that those big blue eyes are not looking at me in pain at the moment....

I am thankful for all the love and prayers you have sent our way. I cannot even begin to express our gratitude for all the wonderful things so many people have done for us. Once again I am in awe with how many wonderful friends God has blessed us with and how He has provided for our every need.

As we began 2010 Justin and I had many conversations about how great this year would be for us. I also remember specifically telling my dear husband that he better not get sick on me again since I am now very used to being spoiled and relaxed with our lifestyle as he does more than 50% of work in our family. SO - I learned a few things over the past few days:

1. God's plans for 2010 might have been a little different than what I had mapped out
2. men don't listen
3. you take advantage of a husband on morphine and have him sign an agreement

Hon- I know you will be reading this in a few weeks and I just wanted to make you are aware what you agreed to:

• I will not be mad at my wife about the charges from all the text messages from the past 3 days
• I will not complain about the number of times my wife valet parked at the hospital
• I will not complain or question the purchases that have taken place on our debit card due to my wife's high level of stress I have caused- no matter how many trashy magazines have been purchased
• I will reward my wife with lots and lots of shopping as I have completely disrupted her plans for the week

Sweet dreams everyone - as another prayer is being answered (my poopy bed is being washed/scrubbed down by bleach as I type).

Surgery Tonight

Justin's surgery has now been confirmed and the doctors are getting the surgical team together and the OR ready as I type. It will start in 1-2 hours as I was told...It will last 2-3 hours...Please pray for the guidance and wisdom for everyone on the medical team...for everything to go well and the surgery to be smooth...for Justin's strength as he goes through the surgery as well as the first 48 hours of recovery...

THANK YOU-THANK YOU-THANK YOU!!!

Update 1/25 and 1/26

Here is recap of 1/25...

This morning Justin woke up feeling and looking better than I have seen him for the past two days. Justin is a trooper when it comes to working through rough patches. I got my hopes up because he was wanting to walk around, he was moving better and was in good spirits. He had not had his pain meds or nausea meds since about 1 am and was able to get a  little bit of rest. Even with all of this he still had pain but it was different from before. We took all these little steps to be good signs as we waited for his GI doctor to come in and see us.

Dr. P came in for the first time right before 8 am and we updated her on the events that took place for the past 24 hours.  She is Justin's GI specialist who has treated him for the past 13 months and we were excited to see a familar face who was well aware of Justin's medical history. She had the same concerns that the doctor on call had and was able to talk us through all the things going through her head at this point. We were also able to express some concerns regarding feeling pressured into surgery yesterday and she was very understanding.

Here is the short story of all the things going on right now:

• GOOD NEWS: Justin's white blood cell counts have been steady - not getting better or worse; he has also not developed fever - which means that things have not turned for the worst. At this point since he is maintaing his situation the doctors felt comfortable enough to wait another night to see if the NG tube would maybe work through his obstructions

• CONCERNS: if it comes to any changes in the two things I mentioned above or Justin's pain gets worse- then the concern would be that his bowel will not be receiving enough oxygen and possibly the risk of the bowel that is between the obstructed areas dying

• CAUSE: what the docs think caused all this is unrelated to Justin's j-pouch issues from the previous 13 months...j- pouch is basically what they reconstructed in the place of his colon during his second surgery in July of 2008....this weekend's issues were most likely caused by the scar tissue form the first two surgeries...his current bowel is much shorter than a normal person's for obvious reasons...at some point the bowel started getting tangled and this has caused the obstructions...people who have one obstruction can sometimes wait it out and see what happens but since he has two - things are a little more complicated

• SURGERY: many people probably think "why not have surgery to get it all fixed? why wait?"...well, in Justin's case there are many risks involved with this surgery as it is much more major than we originally expected. It is compared to his first surgery when his colon was taken out. The surgery was hard...the recovery was even harder....This time they would go through the large scar from the first surgery - which means they would have to completely open him up again...they would manually need to rearrange and straighten out the bowel...maybe put a protecting film around it to prevent from getting tangled again...they would try to clean up the old scar tissue but at the same time they would be adding much more new scar tissue which could possibly cause something like this again...since Justin already had two major abdominal surgeries it is not an easy decision to put him through another one at this point...especially when this new scar tissue could very well cause this to happen again....

• WHAT IS GOING ON NOW: we are waiting to do a small bowel series in the morning...they will try to see if anything is moving through the obstructed areas while they try to capture it on x-rays...this procedure is basically the last step before they are able to confirm the surgery or decide to wait out some more ( if there are signs that something is able to navigate through his bowel- they might decide to wait and see what happens)...while we wait overnight - we really need the NG tube in his system to slow down on the output. It should be pumping out much less than what it is doing now...

Justin was feeling really weak later in the day today....he thinks he would feel better if he could just have some food in him which of course is not possible at this point. He was in very good spirits this evening though. He was able to joke around which is just the best gift to me personally to see him as  "the goofball Justin" I know and love so much. He is hanging in there and is just ready to know something in the morning. He is at peace with the surgery if that's what needs to happen. We know how far he has come after the first two and we know he will get there again. Everyone has been asking for specific prayer requests so here they go:

1. smooth/comfortable night for Justin
2. obviously for good report in the morning from the new scans and procedure
3. wisdom and guidance for the medical team as they make decisions
4. peace, strength, energy for Justin as we determine future plans and decisions
5. that his J-pouch continues to do well as it is not receiving any of the steroids or antibiotics that he daily takes to maintain the infection he has been dealing with on and off for the past year
6. strength for our families as the roller coaster of emotoins hits us

Once again - we CANNOT thank you enough for your incredible love, support and prayers. We believe in the power of prayer and even though the last 48 hours have been tough and unexpected we have had many prayers already answered ( Luka adjusting to these big changes well, surgery was put off and Justin is still hanging in there, not being nauseus and throwing up, the situation has not gotten worse, both of our workplaces have been nothing but amazing and wonderful about what we are dealing with, everything we need at home has been taken care of, our kids are being loved on and spoiled by family and we are able to focus on what Justin needs right now...not to mention having an army of people ready to do whatever we need at this time). Right now I feel like our specific prayer requests might change from one hour to the next which is exactly my reason for keeping the updates going....We know God is listening and we know He is in control.

Update 1/26

I had to spend the night at home since Justin got another patient in the room with him. I was not too excited that another person took "my" bed and I had to leave. At the same time, it was good to go home and see the babies. We have both missed them so much since we did not get to see them since Saturday. They were both sleeping when I got there but I still enjoyed my snuggles. Luka actually woke up as soon as I tried to move him in his bed so we got to talk and play for a little bit and I made a decision that he could just sleep in our bed with me. He was being just the sweetest little thing asking "Momma, where my Dada?" about 100 times...This morniing he woke up in tears, screaming and crying when he noticed Daddy was not next to him still...Talk about breaking my heart to pieces. He calmed down after about an hour and I headed to see Justin.

I got here a little after 8 this morning and Justin was already gone for his procedure. The nurse said his night was pretty uneventful which is a good thing. His roomate is a very talkative 80 year old man so I am sure they had some good coversations after I left. While I was there last night I  had some good laughs as we talked Facebook/MySpace/texting/twitter with Justin's roomate and his wife...They could not believe that I brought our computer with me to the hospital...We did also cover the Saints game, Brett Favre lossing the game for his team, World War II....The old couple did most of the talking and it was hilarious!

 It is now 9:33 am and I just got a word that they are doing the last set of scans at 9:45 and then he will come back to the room while we wait for the doctor and the surgeon to look at everything.

I will keep you posted.....

Prayers

As many of you know Justin hit a major bump in the road this weekend with his health. He has had a few wonderful months and we were finally able to enjoy our family time and having Daddy feeling better. To answer everyone's question- this was completley unexpected as Justin has been doing great recovering for the past 2-3 months. I have tried to text, answer phone calls and keep as many people as I could updated but I figured this would give you more of a detailed insight in the past 24 hours as well as future plans.

Saturday morning Justin was experiencing some stomach pains. As the pain seemed to settle down we decided to enjoy a nice day outside with the kids while we ate lunch on the patio and kids bounced in their bounce house. At 2 pm Justin went to put Luka down for a nap and his pain returned. This time it was much more severe and he started getting nauseus and threw up quite a few times. We suspected blockage at this time but since he was throwing up we knew something was different than the blockage episodes he has had in the past. For the next 5 hours he tried to deal with it on his own. At 7 pm we headed to Presby Dallas after making a phone call to his GI's doctor's office. All the tests and scans confirmed what Justin originally suspected- he had an obstuction.

 Actually there are two obstructions which of course for someone with his medical history ( for the past 2 years) is very painful, very serious and very hard to keep under control. We were admitted to the hospital at 3:30 am and have been at Presby for the past 24 hours. Justin has been given very heavy pain meds every two hours, nausea meds and also a NB tube in his stomach in hopes to decompress everything (basically allow everything to untangle). He has not had antyhing to eat or drink and has been receving IV fluids ever since we were in the ER. If the NB tube worked well our hope was that Justin would not require surgery.

The night was tough. This morning the doctor on call called in the surgical team and they decided to monitorr for a few hours and then make a decision. At 1 pm the surgeon suggested that surgery takes place at 3 pm as Justin was still expereincing severe pain.  Surgery is something we definitley did not expect to have to talk about or go through but once it was mentioned we of course had many questions about making the right decisions. Justin went through two major surgeries in May and July of 2008 and with all the problems he has had over the past 18 months during his recovery we have become much more careful  about now allowing to be pushed into making huge decisions without considering every detail.

At 3:30 we made the decision to wait and see how things progressed as Justin was able to manage his pain a little better. We had too many questions and too many reasons we chose to wait with the surgery. One thing we did not want is feel rushed into a major, major surgery. If you know about our journey for the past 2 years you know that we have had our share of bumps in the road when it comes to medical professionals. We understand that doctor's answers cannot be black and white but we felt that based on previous experiences we had the right to speak up and do what we felt was right in our hearts OR at least try something before making such huge decisions that carry many risks and "what ifs". The details of the today are not as imporatnt to document as we move forward. Through all the frustration, venting, questioning and waiting today we are now at peace that we have tried everything in our power. That is all we wanetd - to be at peace with the final decision whatever that required. As of 6:00 we have pretty much figured that the surgery would need to happen. Our prayers right now is that Justin is able to manage his pain with pains meds and that he gets some rest overnight as this surgery is a huge step.

Tonight I pray for Justin,  his medical team who will be taking care of him not only during surgery but during the recovery process in months to come; for patience and wisdom; for strength and God's guidance as the recovery begins.... Tonight I am thankful for the amazing love and support, for all the prayers and offers that you have sent our way. Tonight I feel blessed that we have made some amazing family memories for the past few months as Justin was doing so well ....Today I am at peace with God's plans as I know He will once again help us through this tough time. Tonight I am done questioning" why" because.....

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11.

When you want to have a quick phone conversation with your husband.....

So today I headed over to Justin's parents house to pick up Luka after work. I walked in and was quite suprised  at first glance to see the top of a bald little head sitting in Mimi's lap ( I thought it was Mia).  My first thought was "Man I must be really tired because I was sure I dropped Luka off here this morning!".

Well as it turned out Mimi was keeping a precious baby boy by the name of Wiley today. Oh my goodness - can you say SWEETNESS!!! Such an adorable little guy! Watching Luka right next to this tiny little guy made made me realize that our kids are such little grown ups even at the age of 1.5 and 2.5 (compared to this little fellow of course). Luka was being so sweet even though a few times earlier in the day he asked Mimi to "take baby home."

What happened next was a quick case of "baby fever" as I was holding this little person in my arms. Luka was so so sweet with Wiley and I just couldn't help but think how much fun it would be to have another baby.  YES- I am insane!!!

As I was driving home I called Justin and the coversation went a little like this:

ME: Hey Hon! Okay I might be insane but I think I totally want baby #3!"
Justin: ...........CLICK

YEP - you are right...my sweet husband of 6.5 years hung up on me....I started laughing as I knew that he would be calling right back. You just crack me up Justin Michael Bates! After stating that he totally agrees with the first part of my sentence ( the part about being insane) he made several valid points as we laughed about my crazy throughts...one minute later I was back on track of never wanting another kid....Maybe years down the road....maybe.....I could see another bad case of "baby fever"but right now I would like to end the streak of 29 months of sleepless nights!

NOW & THEN

I figured this might be once in a lifetime post so I would go ahead and document it! After visiting Grandma this weekend and eating all the yummy food at her house I came home (not even 24 hours later) with three extra pounds - that I in any way, shape or form wanted! I seriously have NO SELF CONTROL! UGH! Okay- so gaining weight is definitley  not that "once in a lifetime post" so hang in there.....

After being a little depressed and eating some more of her yummy cake/3 cookies I decided at 9:00 tonight to head to the gym. I have been back a few times this week and figured I better try and stick with it while I am in the mood.

Well - I just had to document that for the first time since the good ol' high school soccer days- I managed to run 5 miles on an incline ( time is really not that important) without tripping, falling, wanting to throw up or pass out....Okay so the skinny-six-pack-not-an-ounce-on-my-body-shakes-when-I-run-girl next to me might have been my motivation but still...I was pretty excited..PICTURE HER: she of course walked off the threadmill looking all cute with her perfect hair and 0 sweat while listening to her ipod.....( YES- maybe... tripping her at some point did occur to me)....NOW picture me: face turning all sorts of colors.... my ipod flew off in the middle of my run..... I bearly walked myself down the stairs...went to catch my breath in the locker room for a little while trying to get my hair under control....

........the main difference between THEN ( the high school school days-other than the extra 20 pounds & that lovely post baby jelly belly I had to walk down the stairs) and NOW....

THEN - before the gym I would eat two McD's cheeseburgers and I would run to Braums for a huge banana split after....NOW- I am icing my swollen looking ankles and praying that my knees stop making the clicking sounds...the color in my face is finally returning to normal....Oh how I love getting older!

Thankful.Loved.Blessed

I am THANKFUL for a husband who
1. is willing to sell cookie dough at his work to help my students go to camp;
2. sends sweet e-mails to cheer me up in the middle of a very stressful day
3. makes me laugh on daily basis to help me take the anxiety/stress levels down
4. laughs with me and listens to every silly school story as if it was the most important stuff on the planet 5. fixes my pillows when I don't feel well and can't get comfy
6. is crazy ( lol) enough to without an "if" or a "but"allow his in-laws to move in for a year
7. willing to spend every night studying a 300 page Croatian language study guide when he could be watching sports or just enjoying some down time

I feel LOVED because even as I throw my very own version of temper tantrums  due to the stress of our current living arrengments, discipline battles and stressful spring semester at school - he makes sure I get to vent, I get my space and time for myself....While I enjoyed a wonderful Girls Night  away on Saturday  - he took care of dinner, baths and bedtime...

I feel BLESSED that every night this week he has pretty much taken care of the kiddos without one complaint, with a smile on his face...all the diaper changes, all the crying, all the bedtime stuff...as I laid on our couch tonight unable to move much ( due to a major muscle spasm or maybe pinched nerve in my neck) he did not allow me to lift a finger...he ate his dinner standing up with Luka attached to his hip....on Monday he  was brave enough to dress up both kids and bring them out to see me while I worked at Joe Willy's for a church fundraiser because I did not get much time with them due to a busy day...

THANKFUL...LOVED...BLESSED...Yep, I think that sounds about right!

Justin - I love you and appreciate all you have been doing lately...

"This phase is gonna fly by so baby just hold on....It won't be like this for long"

YES, we are all still alive...and ....NO, we did not sell the kids on Craig's List...

Thankfully the kiddos are slowely getting into the routine of Mommy and Daddy being back at work and things have calmed down quite a bit around the house. Whoever says that kids love routines is 100% right! They might fight it at times but that is what they crave!

Luka has had a really good weekend and we have not had any major meltdowns/temper tantrums since last Thursday. YAY! Mia on the other hand has decided to show us  some true signs of "Terrible Twos" this past week...SO I guess adventures of toddlerhood are not coming to end anytime soon for us. We started time out with her and that has been OH SO FUN!!!!

Since I have no pictures to post this time i figured I would update what the kiddos have learned/what they are doing at 29 months & 16 months....They have both been quite chatty lately. Luka talks ALL.THE.TIME! He is making us laugh every few minutes with stuff that comes out of his mouth...Here are some OF OUR favorites:

"Actually, it's Dada's...."
"Momma  you need to take a picture now" - any time he holds Mia in his lap he assumes I need to snap a pic....
"What's happenin' Momma?" - the way he says it makes me laugh so hard
"Momma- HI!.... whatcha doing?" - if I happen to leave the room and come back....
"Oh, thanks Mom" OR "Oh thanks Dad" - he uses "thank you" and "please" on his own quite often
"Can we be all done now?" - when doing something he does not like
" I want/need my pyuter ( computer) now" - since we have allowed him to play with our old laptop...
"Luka heeeeelp" - when he wants to help with something
" I love you too ( usually followed by a name)" - we love how naturally this comes out now when we say we love him...

He can also tell you his Daddy's name is Justin Bates and Mommy's name is Teemra Bates....sissy's name is Mia Nicole Bates and his name of course always follows those three - Luka Michael Bates.

He has learned to LOVE bathtime and we cannot contain all the splashing that goes on while Luka is in the tub...he is now loving to lay down in the tub and pretend he is swimming; he loves to fall asleep with the radio on ( usually 99.5) and totally recognizes and sings along with popular songs Daddy plays on his guitar; loves to play his own guitar at least 3-4 times a day; loves to play with blocks and build stuff; loves to "pretend drive our cars; loves to ask for "gun" ( he actually means gum); takes one nap usually 1.5 -3 hours depending on the day); wakes up between 7-8; first thing he asks for in the morning are MUFFINS; is usually not a morning person ( he needs his space); hates diaper changes; goes to bed at 8:30 pm; goes potty every night before his bath; loves to drink water, hates milk; freaks out when he actually gets to have juice ( very rare); loves to eat chicken, bread, crackers, cheesesticks, pizza, pbj, grilled cheese sandwich, muffins, pancakes, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES fruit (apples, bananas and mandarin oranges); HATES,HATES,HATES veggies.....if you asked Luka he would probably prefer things such as fries, chips,cookies, ice cream, cake, candy..... sounds a lot like his Momma huh?

Mia on the other hand will try whatever but she still has a prefered list of foods. She loves to steal whaever mommy and Daddy are eating for breakfast and sometimes will eat her food, plus Daddy's food plus Momma's food.... She loves fruit like her brother and will eat vegetables like a good girl for the most part. She has been a little parrot when it comes to talking. She will at least try to repeat everything you say to her. At 16 months she is obsessed with her belly button, hates diaper changes;loves playing with her babies; loves dogs; climbs up on the coffe table in a hurry; loves to shake her booty; hates her carseat most of the time....likes to do whatever brother does!

Her vocabulary at 16 months ( words she uses/not only repeats) now includes:

Mama
Dada
Deda - my Dad
Baba - my Mom
Bubba - what she calls Luka now
Mimi - Justin's mom
Papa - Justin's dad......favorite word by far
Tono - Uncle Tono
Bapple - Aunt April
LaLa - Lacey
Branon - Brandon
dog
moon
banana
apple
bye-bye
night-night
door
draw
cracker
NO - second favorite to Papa
peas -please
Dand u - thanks you
Luv u - love you
nam-nam - hungry
dis - this
bebe - baby
shu - shoe
noos - nose
boo-boo
cheesestick
milk
play
nandy - candy - she usually parks her self next to the cabinet that had Christmas treats and begs
Bob Bob - Sponge Bob
Gabba Gabba - Yo Gabba Gabba
at - hat
ball
more
box - as in I would like to have a boxing match with you ( she even gets her little fists ready)

I think there are probably more words I can't seem to think of right now...She is a little talking machine for sure! I cannot wait for 6 months from now when I start dealing with both of them asking a million "Whys" a day.

These past two months have been quite challenging with the babies, their behavior,discipline and sleeping habits. One of my favorite songs right now is the first song playing on our playlist on this blog by Darius Rucker "It won't be Like This For Long" ( the title of this post comes from the song)...Yes, there are days when I am ready to pull my hair out or have a temper tantrum of my own but I know these are the memmories and these are the moments we will look back on and laugh.

However, I could not imagine doing all this once and then doing it all over again a few years down the road...I am glad we are getting it all out of the way pretty much at the same time. I also admire people who have more than two kiddos close in age and of course parents of multiples! Talk about hard work!!! Parenthood =hardest, yet most rewarding job you can have....

Luka and Mia - We love you more than you'll ever know...thank you for not ganging up on us for a few days!

Dear Temper Tantrum Fairy....

Dear Temper Tantrum Fairy...

Please...pleaseeeee (*on my knees*) visit the kids next door tomorrow OR maybe we can just work out a trade agreement of some sort! Seriously..... I would really appreciate a little break here. Between all of Mia's "No's" and Luka's crying fits lately I would certainly love to enjoy one.....OH just ONE day without being the "discipline Nazi"...Is that really too much to ask?

Also if you happen to run into your good friend "The Sleeping Habits Fairy" tell her we could also use a little bit of her help...even though we have not slept well for the past 29 months ( and 1 day...8 hours...2 minutes- BUT who is counting!!!)...... and even though having our master bedroom rearranged to accomodate a couch and a crib is fun...AND even though rooming with two toddlers (who happen to be 13 months apart) is the perfect way to make sure #3 doesn't happen...this Momma and Dada would be thankful for any sleep that could occur in at least 4-5 hour uninterrupter periods....HECK at this point we will even take 3 hours....

Oh and if you JUST happen to run into your other friend, "How- to- put- Baka- and -Deda- in- time-out Fairy" let her know she has a fax coming from The Bates'...she will definitley need a GRANDE Starbucks coffee for this one....

Surley you and your Fairy Friends do not want to be responsible for having these two adorable little munchkins and their grandparents listed on Craig's List tomorrow...Yeah- I didn't think so!

***Disclaimer: The husband I will keep

Feel free to visit again on Wednesday if you can work all this out for us....Remember - just ONE DAY.....and don't forget to check with the neighbors.... THANKS so much!

"The Discipline Nazi" & Tired Husband

Christmas Break Wrap Up

This Christmas Break has truly been my favorite time of the year...we have been super busy but it was all so much fun! Looking through all of these pictures makes me wonder just how boring our life was before our sweet babies..There is never a dull moment in our household with these two little munchkins! Sure, there are days when I think handling my seventy five 10 and 11 year olds at school is easier than being in charge of two toddlers but I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world...

One of the neatest things about this holiday season has been the fact that Justin is feeling good and able to do SO much with the kids. We are back to doing normal family stuff and I am so thankful for this time together. I love, love, love seeing him in action and have totally been spoiled with how much stuff he does around the house and with the babies. He drops whatever he is doing when one of the kids calls his name- whether it is to get wild and crazy in the new bounce house, clean up their buggers, play a little soccer, get a diaper changed for the10th time of the day or just sit down on the floor of the playroom to play his guitar or shoot some hoops...He has seriously been putting me to shame with his patience, energy and involvment,  Luka and Mia adore their Daddy so much and I am not gonna lie and try to deny that I mind how much easier my life is these days...I can't help but think of this time last year...all the tears, all the stress, all the health issues...we have come so far and I am so thankful for all of these blessings. God is so good!

Here are some more catch up pictures of what we have been up to...Daddy and Luka have been spending a lot of quality time playing their guitars.

Here is a typical wrestling night with the kiddos...Luka is hard core.... you better watch out around this kid...He has some serious UFC/WWF moves.

Daddy setting up the new basketball hoop that Luka got from James, Sara and Emma...I set his old one ( from last Christmas) next to it so you can see just how much Luka can "grow with it". It is pretty stinkin' awesome. We have already played family basketball games...yeah not the safest thing in the house but so much fun! Yes, Justin and I have very much been reliving our childhoos over these past few months...

Luka has been really insisting on "holding sissy"...We find it funny that you can barely see him behind her since they are pretty close in size...

Look making a shot all on his own! YAY!!!

Kids playing their new "fish" game with Dea

Sweet moment while reading one of their books...

Another one of those times Luka wanted to hold  sister

After Luka made another shot...the boys cheer!

Mia was trying to get away from this whole " hold sissy business".... as you can tell it was hard to get away...

Dea spent two days with us and we had a blast. Doesn't Mia look so old sitting here and watching TV..The girls were tired after a day of fun...

Mia wants to lay in her new craddle from Nanny all the time...

Waiting on Max and Miss Stacey at ChickFila

Dea and Mia about to go down the slide - this is the only area of the playground that she will not use by herself...everything else she is becoming a little pro...I have never seen a 16 month old climb up a piece of equipment so fast!

Luka showing off his " I am so not scared of this playground anymore" face

Mia after I blow dried her hair one day...

This one just cracks me up - one day while doing stuff around the house I noticed that I couldn't hear or see Mia anymore. I started looking around and calling her name. When she did not make any kind of response I started panicking a little...Well, well, well...I found this little turkey in the pantry, next to the trash can, buckled in her portable high chair ( did it all by herself)...when I peaked in the pantry I notice her slippers under the shelf but she was still not making any sounds. When I got my camera this is the face I got from her... Such a little ham!

Luka and Sydney at her first birthday party

Movie night with Uncle Tono - watching Finding Nemo

After their bath one night....

Sweetness!

Mia helping me do laundry...if there is a laundry basket you can bet she will get into it....

Kids love their new scrubba-dub-dub toys from PawPaw and Judy

Peek-a-boo!

Still more to come...In the meantime keep scrolling down -there are three new posts below...if you can't see them click on the " Bates Blessings" picture at the top of the blog and it will refresh all the posts for you....

Happy Birthday Sweet Mer!

On Saturday ( 1.2.2009) we celebrated Meredith's 5th birthday at ASI Gymnastics in Garland. We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed all the fun stuff. Luka is so funny as he thinks "we go to the gym to eat cake" due to all the birthday parties at the Little Gym we have had in the past.

As we were getting ready to head out the door Justin was fixing Luka's hair ( which Luka usually hates). This time Luka was very sweet and patient...at one point he said " Dada can you be all done please?". When Justin replied that he was done Luka said  "Oh thanks Dad"...We just laughed.

Mia was ready to get into the "sponge pit" with the rest of the kids as brother just chose to check it out from afar...

Mia flirting with Connor

She was all over the place

Check out Mia's tongue...if you know her Daddy you know when the Bates in our little family concentrate on stuff the tongue has to be hanging out...Luka and Mia both do it when they are playing hard.

Crawling under...

These kids were the first ones sitting -ready for cake and ice cream...

Sweet Mia posing for a shot....

Hmmm...who do you notice with all the big kids? Yes - that would be our independent child! Mia was not scared at all that all the kids were running around her like wild while playing flag football game...

Luka was listening to directions for one of the game very carefully...I wish he gave us that kind of attention when we are talking to him about stuff...

Later at the party Luka called me and said " Mom look at this"...Justin and I mae eye contact and laughed again. Isn't he too young to be calling us Mom and Dad? We for sure expected to go from Mama and Dada to Mommy and Daddy...We had a great time seeing our friends and their families. Thanks Kev, Claudia, Mer and Isabelle for having us!

Park Hoping

Today (Sunday 1.3.2009) was our first official attempt in what we have been talking about for a while...PARK HOPING ( no not BAR HOPING as one of my coworkers overheard as I was telling my teamates about our great idea for the kids few months ago)...Luka and Mia are very active and love being on the playground so much that we were going to try and visit as many different playgrounds as we could in the area. Luka freaks out if we even driveby a playgroiund at this point so we figured this will keep us busy in 2010.

The one we visited today happened to be in Murphy. It was just a small neighborhood playground. After our official review we ( mom and dad) thought that the playground equipment was quite strange. They did not have normal equipment but as you can tell that did not stop us from having fun. Daddy tested every single piece of equipment very carefully. Since it was a very small playground Justin and I were able to sit on a bench towards the end and just watch the kiddos play. We talked about how we normally don't get to do that since we are always running around after the babies. Come on!We have no idea what this one was for...Luka was so brave and made it high up on the climbing net all by himself. The picture below shows the kids faces when we finally sat down..."What the heck...you tow get back here right now?"

 Mia refused to go around the normal way...Mia pretty much copies everything big brother does thse days - all the good and all the bad ideas are always duplicated....

The ride home was a little rough as Luka does not like when we have to leave the playground. Actually he is in a very difficult stage right now and we are having daily battles with him with his behavior. He can be so easy going, sweet and wants to please you and then there is a whole other side to him that totally flips out when he does not get his way. We know" terrible twos" can be rough but I guess there are different levels on the "terrible" scale. Right now we are pretty much at the top. I read that when they turn 3 you can reason with your toddler so I am definitley looking forward to that stage.

For the rest of the day we just relaxed, played, napped and hung out as this marks the very last official day of my Christmas Break. Going back to work will not be easy after having two full weeks with the munchkins and sweet hubby. Maybe we will win the lottery someday and get to all stay home every day....

Happy New Year!

Even though we are not quite done catching up for the month of December I am going to attempt to stay current with every day stuff in between all the catching up....Last night we spent first part of the evening at Mimi and Papa's house. We sort of crashed Mimi and Papa's New Year's plans but of course they were sweet enough to let us stay and hang out for a while. We had wonderful dinner, watched a great movie and just had some family down time. Luka and Mia ran around and played with some of their new toys we left at Mimi and Papa's while we actually managed to watch a movie from beginning to end with two toddlers. After Mia fell asleep and Luka was still really into his new car track set we decided to sneak out and head over to our annual New Year's Eve with our very special group of friends.

For the past five years we have celebrated New Year's Eve in McKinney at James and Sara's but this year we actually got to hang out at Zach and Ang's new house in Rockwall. Since last year Justin and I did not make it to the New Year's celebration (due to Justin's illness and Mia being only a few months old) we were super excited about this year. We always have such a great time and love, love, love spending time with our dear friends.

Zach and AngOne of the most awesome things about this tradition is that James actually started a website a way back on which he posts pictures from every New Year's Eve and of course some really hilarious videos. It is so fun to look back and laugh about what we did in the past. Let's just say "we used to be wild and crazy"....yeah .....okay we really were not that wild and crazy but things have definitley changed since we all had our little ones. We love spending time with James, Sara, Zach, Ang, Josh and Emily. These guys are more than just friends...they are our family and we love them and their kiddos so much. We have been there for each other for many years now and it is incredible to be able to go through life....all the ups and downs, weddings, new babies, illness and everything else life throws our way with such a caring, supportive and incredible group of people!

James and SaraThey are "those" friends who will hire a maid and get laundry service to pick up our 12 loads of laundry when Justin was sick, get it all taken care of and delivered on our back porch all nicely folded the very next day; they are "those" friends who made a very special delivery on New Year's day last year when we were going through one of the hardest months of our lives; they are "those" friends who will stay in the waiting room while you wait on the arrival of your first child; they are "those" friends who even when deployed to Iraq are not too busy to write e-mails back and forth with my students as well as send little gifts for them right before Christmas; they are "those" friends who even the week of their amazing destination wedding (when every bride and groom go nuts with all the planning) - e-mail you to let you know how sad they are that you couldn't be there; they are "those" friends who make you laugh to the point of crying and "those" friends who know some of the most embarassing stories of your life; they are "those" friends who will help you through post partum depression, listen and offer advice regarding parenthood; they are "those" friends who understand the importance of fantasy football and love of sports: they are "those" friends who will sit next to you even when you are throwing up; they are "those" friends who are not afraid to show their love for you ( pictures coming soon)...they are "those" friends you can count on during every season of life.....

We don't get to see each other as a group nearly as much as we would want but we still manage to have "girl" nights, guys do their normal annual fantasty football events and other "guys" stuff...but almost on weekly basis we have these awesome chain e-mails going that many times make me almost pee in my pants....Love,love,love these guys!

Josh and EmilyLittle background: Zach and Justin have known each other since elementary school. They were friends through middle school and high school even though they did not go to the same school...They were roomates at SFA where they met Josh and James ( who were also roomates). Zach met Ang in Nac while he was at SFA...James and Sara were also both at SFA and started dating their freshmen year...in March of 2003 Zach and Ang got married...then Justin and I got married in June of 2003...then James and Sara got married in October of the same year.... YEAH 3 weddings in the same year! Zach and Ang welcomed a precious baby girl Alix in June of 2004 while we were living in AZ...James and Sara welcomed sweet Emma in January of 2007...when these baby girls were born (right after graduation from SFA) Josh was deployed to Iraq twice... He was able to make it home the week Luka was born and was actually our one and only house guest the first week we were home as a family of three....In September of 2008 Miss Mia was born and shortly after that Josh met Emily....Emily moved to Dallas from St. Louis and from the very beginning fit perfectly into our group....they finally got married last month in Mexico...the last part of this story is completed by welcoming another little person into our circle of friends- Zach and Ang just found out they will welcome a baby boy, Braxton, in June of 2010.Another interesting note is that James and Justin have worked together several times since they graduated from college...It is now a joke that they will always follow one another... Needless to say these guys have all been there for us through these past two years with Justin's health...it is special to begin each new year with people who you know would do absolutley anything for one another and our families. We love you guys and feel so blessed to have you in our lives.

Last night was just what we needed...we ate, talked, laughed a lot, hang out, played a fun/embarassing newlyweds game and of course began 2010 with Zach's "tradition" speech. We always look forward to Zach's speech because every year his theme is very fitting for what we have all gone through as a group...This year it was about friendship...At the end of the speech they also revealed the sex of their baby which was such a special way to start another year of memories. The next morning we all picked up the kiddos and had our "friends Christmas" with the kiddos. Emma, Alix, Luka and Mia were very excited about the stuff they got which is always fun to see. Luka and Mia got some awesome new toys which caused us to have to throw out the couch from our playroom out - to accomodate all the new stuff and make more room for the kids to play. Now in our master bedroom we have a crib and a couch...BUT that is a whole other post....



We are excited to end the year off with everyone in the family feeling good and we pray that 2010. will bring even better health. Here's to another year of blogging, another year of sweet memories,  and another year of fun! Have a blessed 2010!