It's been awhile!

Well folks, I know it's been awhile. There has been much chaos in the Holliway household...

After being released by my orthopedic surgeon, I lasted exactly 5 days without my boot...then made a poor footwear choice and proceeded to slip, fall, and sprain my ankle! So back to the boot for three weeks it was. Now, I am once again free! As long as I can keep my feet underneath me and firmly planted on the ground I will not have to go back to the ortho until June...let take a moment of silent prayer for that one!

And we're back! On Tuesday, before Thanksgiving, I picked Jax up at the baby sitter only to notice that not only was he still suffering from cold-like symptoms, but he also had a few curious spots...hmmmm...I was glad that I had already called the doctor and scheduled him appointment for the following morning. When we left the doctor she had given us the unfortunate multiple diagnosis...a cold in his eyes (not pink-eye!), an ear infection in the left & beginning in the right ear, AND CHICKEN POX!!! OMG! Poor baby, no wonder he wasn't sleeping or eating well the previous couple of days. Happy first Turkey day, Buddy!

Jessalynn is just as busy as ever, dance, book club, Musical Mules. She really knows how to keep me on my toes! She is beginning work on her competition routines for dance and really hitting hard the stuff for the Holiday Show (which, by the way is Dec. 14 @ the YWCA, if anyone's interested, let me know). She sang at Watkins Mill on Saturday afternoon with the Musical Mules for the first time for their "Christmas on the Farm" complete with a Victorian era "Father Christmas." The kids did a great job and Jessie really had fun. Now, if we can only get her to hold her music down so we can hear her voice and see her face!!!

Jimmy has been working hard to get the house ready for Christmas and we have been shopping like crazy. We hit the Black Friday sale at WalMart hard & have been trying to pick up other little things along the way. Jimmy got his Christmas present a little early. He figured out how we could afford a new 50" plasma tv & Blue-Ray/DVD combo! Christmas came early to our house this year!

I spent the entire day today baking & doing homework. I will be glad when this grad class is over and I can focus less energy on it, and more on my family.

I will try to spend some time tomorrow to post about my new recipes. I don't want to go into too much detail in case they flop. Hopefully everyone at the three places I will be taking cookies & brownies tomorrow enjoy them!

Boot Scootin'

Well, it appears that I can't catch a break...or maybe the real answer is that I may have caught two. To make a long story short, I was given a clean bill of health by my orthopedic surgeon last Thursday...no more crutches, no more power chair, no more boot! Good news, right? Maybe...After spending about 2 hours on the phone dealing with Sprint & my very stupid cell phone ( another story for another day) we met Jimmy's sister for dinner at 54th street. When we got inside I realized that Jessie & Jimmy had gotten Jaxon's food, but not his diaper bag, so I didn't have a spoon to feed him with. I proceeded to return to the car to get the bag. On the way I realized that cowboy boots on a slick asphalt parking lot less than a week after being released from the doctor may now have been the best idea. In the words of my boss, "Boot scootin' should not be in my vocabulary!" Back to the ortho tomorrow to find out if I reinjured the same ankle, or if it just hurts like the dickens for no reason. Here's hoping for good news & no more boot scootin'!

Sickness strikes the Holliway house

So surgery is done & life is moving on towards normal (whatever that is!)

Last Friday Jessie stayed home from school. She complained in the morning that her stomach was really hurting & she whined & moaned the whole time she was in the shower. When she got out, she made it as far as the kitchen sink...needless to say, Jessie won't be getting perfect attendance this year!

Then Jimmy got sick Sunday night & was sick all day Monday. H e felt bad enough that he asked our 17 year old niece to drive me to the orthopedic surgeon for a check up. He said he was worried about me having to walk so far from the parking lot at the hospital & at Wal-Mart. I think he was worried about me driving his truck that far on the highway with my left foot!

So Monday night I slept on the couch because I didn't want whatever he had! So, when Jax woke up at about 3:45 am, I hobbled in on my crutches to try to console him without picking him up. While standing beside his crib (thinking that I really needed more sleep after 2 nights of very little) I remembered that his music was pretty loud and I should turn it down because it had been keeping me awake. I started to move to turn it down and my crutches fell, Jax started crying, and I realized I was very hot & sweating. I realized I wasn't feeling very well and that's all I remember before Jessie came walking in. I passed out for the first time in my life. It was very weird! Long story short, I think I was fine & it hasn't happened again.

Then we roll around to Wednesday evening. Jimmy picked Jax up at the babysitter's & we met them at home. It was time for Jax to eat & I realized that he felt warm. I took his temperature and it was 102.8!!! He was sleepy & cranky, so I decided to let him take a little nap. He slept in my arms fitfully & was crabby & restless. When he kind of woke up & I started checking him out, I saw that he had spots all over him...HE HAS CHICKEN POX!!!! AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Well, the best I can say is that there is never a dull moment around here!

What a busy life

Well, broken ankle, or no, life goes on.

Jessie has such a busy schedule that we are constantly on the go. I missed my grad class last night because I was feeling lousy from the pain meds they prescribed, and my leg was hurting pretty bad. But Jessie has dance tonight so it's back to our busy life. After school we will pick her up and head to St. Joe where she has dance class for 3 hours. Wednesday night she has book club after school for an hour, Fridays after school it's Musical Mules (an after school choir for upper elementary kiddos). She certainly knows how to keep me on my toes.

As for my little man...Jax is growing and changing as rapidly as ever! He is crawling around, cutting teeth, and trying to talk a mile a minute! He says "mama" (sort of) and is working on "dada". He has two teeth on the bottom & is still chewing & drooling all the time, so I think he's working on more.

They are growing up too fast for my tastes, but I know that it will happen no matter what I want. They love each other, their mommy & daddy, and their big brother, Braxton. I must remember to take each day one minute at a time, and love each and every one!

Surgery, screws & drugs, Oh my!

So surgery Friday...not a fun day. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight, then wait until 3pm for surgery. The lack of food didn't bother me (and was probably good for my waistline, maybe I should do that more often!) but not being allowed to drink anything until after 5 o'clock at night?! That sucked!

The doc had told me in his office on Thursday that the bones in my ankle had shifted enough that he needed to fix it. So I asked if he would be putting in a pin or what. He answered, "A plate and a couple of screws." A couple? How many does that mean to you? 2, maybe 3? NOPE! 5!!! I now have a plate & 5 screws in my leg!


The nurses did tell me that the drugs they would give me before surgery act not only as a sleeping pill, and pain pill, but also as a memory eraser. They were right. The last thing I remember is the nurse telling my dad it was time for "la-la juice" and he needed to leave. Then, apparently about an hour later, I was waking up with my dad & a male nurse standing next to my bed talking. I did have some sort of a reaction to the anesthesia, because after I came to, all could do was scratch. I itched so bad all over & the nurse kept telling me to quit, I was leaving marks all over myself. At that point I didn't even care!



Now, two days later...still in pain & pain meds aren't making much difference. They told my dad at the surgery center that my doc would call on Monday, but they don't have the best track record with returning my calls, so I think I'll be calling them first thing tomorrow morning. Before Surgery, but after finding out the ankle was broken, my doc prescribed Vicodin. It made me a little sleepy, but didn't do a lot to take the pain away. After surgery they sent me home with a prescription for Percocet, which we filled on the way home. It makes me loopy and very sleepy but only dulls the pain when I take TWO pills! I can't go back to work on Tuesday still taking pecocet two at a time! Hopefully when I talk to the doctor's office tomorrow they will have good news for me. Maybe I can get into a removable boot cast, and they can give me some meds that will work better without knocking me out...wish me luck all my friends out there in blog world!

What a crazy (& painful) life!!!

Well, lots of changes since the last post. I went rushing to the orthopedic surgeon's office Monday because I called & told them my toes were turning purple when I was upright for any period of time. So they asked me to come in so they coud cut a slit in my cast. Long story short? It didn't make any difference!

So I called them back yesterday and told them my toes are still purple & the pain has gotten worse instead of better...they decided they needed to see me. "When can you come in?" "Well, I'm at work. I need to find a sub, call someone to come pick me up, & then make the hour drive to your office." Their response? "How about you come in tomorrow?" So when I went in they cut the cast the rest of the way off, then took more x-rays. The doctor came in and said "It has moved enough that we need to fix it!" So I have surgery scheduled for tomorrow...happy homecoming Lathrop Mules! I guess I won't be attending the pep rally to see my color guard girls perform for the first time this season... Oh, well...I guess it's better to get it fixed now. So at 3pm tomorrow I will be having a metal plate & screws attached to my ankle. Hope it helps!

Again, all I have to say is, "Why couldn't I have broken my left ankle? Then I could still drive AND they wouldn't have to cut through my tattoo!"

Pink IS my color!!! (and black & blue, too!)

So the story of the day is...NO SURGERY!!!

After 3 more x-rays & about an hour waiting in the office, I ended up with a pink cast from the knee down! Still can't put weight on it for at least 2 weeks, but at least I am officially on the mend!

So the funny story from Tuesday...I went to my dr., the ortho, radiology, Wal-Mart (where I rode the obnoxious electric chair!) to pick up a prescription & came home exhausted. I spent the evening laying around on the couch & then took a hot bath (after consuming a pain pill) & went to bed. The pain pill wore off around 2 am & it hurt enough to wake me up. I hobbled on my crutches in to use the bathroom, then sat on the couch to adjust my ace bandages. After taking another pain pill and sitting on the couch for awhile, I got back on the crutches to head to bed. In the process of squeezing between my bed & the aquarium I lost my balance. I was afraid to fall on the broken ankle and panicked as I wobbled on my crutches...in the process I kicked the crutch with the middle toe of my right foot. I was tired & just wanted to go back to sleep. Wednesday morning I was in a hurry to get to work, so I got dressed, put on A shoe, & headed out. Off & on thru the day I thought, "That toe really hurts, I must have bruised it pretty bad." When I came home and took my shoe off...the toe was black & blue clear down into my foot! I am pretty sure I broke my toe! What a mess I am! Good grief!

No news has not been good news!

So I am very obliviously NOT good at this whole blogging thing. I guess I'm just not all that interesting...or maybe too interesting to take the time to write it down. Since my last post I have been very busy...vacations, back to work, back to grad classes & all the changes of a busy growing family!

The most recent news is that I currently have a broken ankle! On Labor day I had taken some pictures of a neighbor's adorable 9 month old baby boy. After a storm had popped up, I decided to hand deliver her images on cd. When she didn't answer her back door, I went around to the front where there is a doorbell. After giving her the pictures I looked down at the wooden ramp that leads to & from their front porch. The thought crossed my mind that it could be slightly slick. Wearing flip-flops after the rain was probably NOT the best idea. To make a long story short, I fell down the ramp & landed on the wet muddy grass, where I lay crying for a few minutes. I decided, pain or no pain, I was going to have to make it back to my car. I hobbled over, crying the whole way, of course. (I am a pretty big baby when it comes to pain!) and climbed in. I was able to apply enough pressure to the brake pedal to get the car in reverse but could press hard enough on the gas so I coasted backwards out of their driveway, out the car in drive, and coasted back over to my in-laws, where my hubby & kids were. By some freak miracle, my niece's boyfriend was standing at the open front door so I yelled for him to get Jimmy. Who knows how long I would have sat there if wasn't where he could hear me. I ended up at my dr. on Tuesday morning when I still couldn't put any weight on my right foot. She took x-rays & told me it was broken before referring me o an orthopedic surgeon for him to decide if I needed a pin, plate, or just a cast.

At this point, I THINK I am going in tomorrow to get a cast put on. I'm praying that is what will happen when I actually get to the office.

There are a couple of other funny stories that play into the last couple of days, but I will post more later! Stay tuned for some good laughs!

Dance, heat, & more!

Well, it was quite a week around the Holliway house. We finished up the fireworks stands on the 6th, then got new carpet installed on the 7th. That was a chore in itself! But I also repainted the living room and added some detail painting to the kids rooms. All of that happened before Mom, Jessie, Jax, and I left Friday morning for Branson. Jessie had to dance Cuban Pete (her acro number) at Talent on Parade National Competition that night. They didn't do awards that night so we had to wait until Miss Sarah and the team were back on Sunday to find out their results. (They took a top 1st, btw! That's right in the middle) Saturday morning we got up early and drove back home, because Jimmy's big shindig - the fireworks party - was happening that night. Unfortunately Jessie had to dance again Sunday night, so after a late night it was another 4 hour car trip for the family, this time including Daddy! Jessie's jazz dance, Do Your Thing, and the other two Dancing In Grace competition dances all took Elite Top 1st Awards on Sunday. The funniest part was when they announced the Top 10 in all combined divisions age 13 through 18. They announced that there was a tie for 8th place...Do Your Thing, and Baby It's Rock and Roll, then the 7th place was announced - More! All three DIG dances! The girls looked great and had a fun time! I am so proud of all of our DIG Stars! Those of you not returning to the competition team will be missed! Thanks for a great year...Jessie has loved working with you!

My first post

Well, world...this is my first attempt at a blog. I am not sure there is anyone out there interested in the daily goings on of the Holliway clan, but I thought I would give it a shot.
First, a little about me and my family...My name is Erin, I am a 33 year old married mother of two (and a half). My husband James runs fireworks stands and so is currently VERY busy. I have a daughter, Jessalynn Maxine. She is 8 (going on 18), going to be in 4th grade, and is a competitive dancer. My son Jaxon Paul was born on Februaury 4th of this year. At this point he is growing & changing like crazy. I am sure there will be much more information about his amazing accomplishments as this blog goes on. The half is Braxton Andrew. He is my husband's step-son from a previous marriage. After Jimmy's first wife (and one of my childhood best friends) passed away, Braxton moved to live with his dad in Chicago. We miss him very much and wish we could spend much more time with him than we get to. His sister asks about him all the time and tells everyone about her "Bubby"!
Although, I'm not sure anyone is interested, I will tell you a little more about me...I grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, where I lived with my mother and two younger sisters, Elicia & Emilee. My father re-married and had another daughter, Rachel (although according to facebook, she is now spelling it Raychel). I have a "brother" who came into our family late in life. He was one of my mother's former campers from church camp and they reconnected when he was in college. The dorms were closing for the summer and he needed a place to stay, so I inherited a "big brother". I have also lived in Overland Park & Olathe, Kansas with my dad, Stanberry, Missouri with my mom. I went to college at Northwest Missouri State University, and later spent a couple of years in the South Bend, Indiana area.
When I finished college at the age of 29, I had a 4 year old daughter and was planning my wedding. James & I got married & moved to Lathrop, Missouri where I currently teach preschool at the local elementary school. I am also working towards a master's degree through Park University (which I would not necessarily recommend).
Well, if anyone has read this, I am sure I have bored you enough. I will close for today by quoting the scripture that was addressed at my church this morning...
Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Galatians 6:7