Wonders of the Ear

Today Bella had a check up for the tubes in her ears. We've been putting in drops once a month to help them come out. Those little guys were still in there today and our doctor wanted to get some of the wax out to help them come out.

Bella was leery of this because of the little scissor like tool Bridgette was going to use. She did amazing for the first ear, it was the ear that had the bleeding problem before. I was holding Bella's hand and Bridgette was working on it, Bridgette said "oh my, just wait until you see what I pull out of here." She pulled out what looked like a plug the size of a big pill, it was seriously huge!!! Totally gross, she had to break it up to find the tube inside of it all. Bella was a little freaked but did amazing, it took some coaxing to get her to let Bridgette do the left ear but in the end we did it and got the second tube out.

Now Bella is tube free and it was our last appointment with Bridgette, we will miss her, she is so wonderful!! Bella can now hear properly, seriously I feel like such a bad mom. She has probably been unable to hear out of her right ear well for a while now. It just occurred to me that she always sat with one ear cocked towards the tv when she watches it, now I know why. At least her hearing will be great now :)

So proud of my big girl, she got TWO stickers for being such a champ :)

Snow Angels

My Dad

I am so blessed to have the most caring, giving, loving, supportive dad. I don't know what I would do without him. He is my protector, my supporter, my guidance, my spirit lifter. We've gone through so much this year, he has been amazing through it all and stayed the man I've always known he was.

Dad you truly are a gift and I wish I could wash all your worries away. Just always know you have been nothing but the most amazing dad a girl could wish for and no matter what I will forever be your little girl.

I love you dad.

Bella and Her Christmas Tree

Kyle Update

Kyle had his check up on Wednesday and it went really well, I was MIA (more on that to follow) so drugged up Kyle had to go alone. Dr. Seegal said everything is coming along perfectly, the immense pain Kyle is experiencing is normal and so is the swelling. Hopefully Kyle will be getting some sort of steroid shot in his right side to help numb up the pain from the surgery for a couple of months so he can get back to work.

No work for him this week and just a couple of hours a day next week. I must selfishly admit that I LOVE having him home like this, just wish it could be without the constant pain. His drugs are great though and he's kind of funny this drugged up ;) The best news is that he will have no limits once he's healed, we've got big plans like starting running together and of course getting heavily into my weight training. He is just beyond excited now and I can't wait for our lifestyle to finally be much more active again. I may even try taking up golf, don't tell him I said that though. My last experience consisted of me throwing my club at a tree and walking off the course. It's a frustrating sport to me, but maybe with the right teacher I can start to enjoy it ;)

As for my absence from Kyle's appointment I had a bad syncope spell. It started at work and my mom had to come pick me up since I couldn't drive, take Kyle to his appointment and the two of them plotted against me for my mom to take me to the ER while Kyle was at his appointment. I so did not want to go, but my mom was too worried. They couldn't do much for me, so now my mom knows that for real doctors can't really get me through a spell, good for her to know now :) So my amazing parents picked up our princess and had her for the night so Kyle and I could rest. It was so sad that the two of us were down for the count for the night, Tybalt was very concerned and a great doggie doctor for us :)

I'm feeling better thankfully and now know that severe stomach cramps are a sign of a bad spell coming on (my cardiologist never shared that with me). I'd had them for a few days before it happened, time to take better care of myself and make sure I'm drinking enough water. I've just gotten so caught up the past few months with constant issues surrounding me but hopefully things are truly turning around now and we can move forward positively!

Bella Chats

Bella: Mommy what are those? (She is pointing at my boob.)

Mommy: They are boobs Bella.

Bella: Boys don't have boobs mommy.

Mommy: Boys have boobs Bells, they are just smaller than girls'.

Bella giggles.

Mommy: Bella we don't point at boobs or try to touch them, they are private for girls.

Bella: But I like boobs!

I couldn't contain my laughter at that one :)

This moment she is taking a bath.

Bella: I see two mommy's! (While she is just looking at me from the tub.)

Mommy: WHAT??

Bella: When I look at my nose with my eyes like this (she crosses her eyes) I see two mommy's!

Mommy: (Trying to hold in my laughter.) Bella its not good to do that with your eyes.

Bella: My mommy's are pretty.

She just melts me and makes me laugh :)

Etsy Shop

I've added some new items to my shop, these little hats are super cute and I'm loving making them :)

Finally Home

Kyle finally got to go home yesterday, he has TONS of pain meds to help him relax :) We are so happy because the constant back pain is gone and his legs aren't falling asleep with him laying on his left side constantly. It seems that the surgery really did work, his surgeon was thrilled with the results. He said once they got in there he found more than just the herniated disc and got everything cleaned up, Kyle should be good to go :)

It was a tough time in the hospital, due to Kyle's high tolerance for pain meds it took them nearly 24 hours to get him below level 10 with his pain. I hated seeing him go through that, but I know it will be well worth it.

Bella is a little nervous still and scared for her daddy, but she knows he will get better. Tybalt is just plain happy to have everyone home again, he was so worried. When I would go home to visit him he would just lay by me and cry, it was so sad :(

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks and Kyle having a great recovery.

Halloween Fun :)

Basketcase...

That's me...

So anxious for Kyle's surgery on Friday, especially after our appointment today and discussing it. 3 1/2 hours for the surgery, surgeon comes out to talk to me afterwards of course, I'm sure I'll be crying or freaking out. I wish I could say I'll do well but I've fallen apart at the seams in the past couple of months. Thankfully my mom can be there with me, I'm so sad Kyle's mom can't make it, I need my Oregon mom right now :( Damn the high cost of flying between Portland, OR and Cedar Rapids, IA!!!!

Last night with my Edge tonight too, not even close to the same level as Kyle's surgery, but I'm not gonna lie I'm so sad to have to give it up at this point. Oh well, things will go our way in the future, I just know it. I get to take a drive with David tonight, my other hubby for those who aren't sure whom I'm talking about, no worries though he's gay and no threat to Kyle, plus Kyle is ok with our relationship ;) We get the Impala back from him, with the cracked windshield, non working automatic door locks and all. I'm so crazy emotional right now I'll probably cry at the Ford dealership when I give them my "Buttercup" back, I really should stop naming my cars it's easier to give them up then, right? ;)

Pray for my Kyle that he has a good surgery with no complications, please send happy thoughts our way on Friday!

The Final Step..

Kyle will be having back surgery on November 5th, this has been a long time coming and we're very anxious for it. Not holding our breath for it to be the big "fix", but we are truly hoping it is. He's got a 50/50 chance of this working and taking away some pain.

They will do the surgery at 7:30 am and he will be in the hospital for two days. The surgery will be to remove his herniated disc (which continues to get worse) and fuse his back, this is all happening in his middle back and is extremely rare. Kyle is a one in a million case, too bad we can't have that kind of luck with the lottery!

Just please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as the 5th approaches and for a speedy recovery. He will only be off work for about a week, crazy to me that that's all the time he needs but also thankful for that!

Bathroom Makeover!!

I LOVE it, such a pain in my butt to do, but it was so worth it :)

My "Little Star"

Bella Jean is 4!!!

Happy birthday to the little princess I am so honored to call my daughter. Isabella Jean Griffin has brought more joy to my life than I ever could have imagined.


She has grown into quite the little lady, her sentences are fully understandable, along with her silly songs :) She is now doing tap and ballet and LOVES it. She definitely has her mothers' temper and stubborn attitude, but her sweet smile and goofiness are our own undoing. It's so unfair to have so much cuteness squeezed into one little body and have that to use against her parents ;)


No more horrible skin issues, she is up to 29 pounds and thriving. Preschool is going so well for her, I can't believe how smart she is some days.


We are so blessed and I've never known love like Bella has shown me. I feel I can get through anything in life, and believe me I've been tested like I never would have believed in the past six months. As long as I can see her smiling face, feel her tight little hugs and sweet little kisses, I can get through anything :)

Teamsters Women's Conference

I was lucky to be able to attend the Teamsters Women's Conference this year, it was so amazing! Being with over 800 hard working women was amazing and hearing all of the stories of struggle and triumph was so motivating and uplifting.

The best part was marching through Minneapolis on Friday, I've never felt so proud or experienced such an awesome event. Being in a city that is union strong was helpful, we had so many supporters along the streets as we all marched together. Also seeing an International rep sing "Play that Funky Music" was pretty awesome, along with some Bon Jovi and Elvis. We found out later that he actually used to sing in a band, no wonder he was totally ok with singing like that when we had karaoke :)

I am so fortunate to have three co-workers that truly are great friends. Our trip together was just wonderful and we had so much fun together. Hopefully we'll all be hitting New York next year for the conference again!!!

Stay strong my Teamster sisters!!!

Bella Knits - My Etsy Shop

I LOVE to knit baby blankets, I always have and always will. I've decided to take my little hobby and turn it into something "productive" :)

Etsy.com is an amazing site to find TONS of homemade products, there really is so much cool stuff from jewelry to purses to clothes, almost anything you can think of. My sister-in-law Nora, who is the crafting queen, has a shop on this site and it kind of inspired me to start up my own.

Please check it out and pass on the word if you know of anyone looking for unique, handmade baby blankets.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stephiegriffin

Amazing

Thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law Nora for taking such amazing photos while we were in Oregon. It's too hard to choose, they are all my favorites, here are just a few of what will be in frames soon :)

Bella Story Time

Bella likes to tell us her own stories now, seriously I think in the past two weeks this little lady has grown up a lot. All of her songs make sense now too, I'm going to have to get some video of her storytime and new songs :)

Here is the story she told mommy last night:

"Once upon ago you were a princess waiting in your castle for a shiny prince. The shiny prince came and you got married. The end."

So cute :)

First Pitch

Saturday we went to a Cedar Rapids Kernels game, we had tickets through Enterprise and Kyle's employee Ian still has connections with the Kernels so he got Bella signed up to throw out a first pitch. She was super excited about it.

We didn't realize that she would have to go out on the field without Kyle or I, she was a champ! She didn't mind at all and did awesome, she marched right out there and threw the ball :) For some reason I'm not being able to upload the video on here but I do have some pictures that Ian took for us. I'm so glad Bella was able to do this, such a great experience for her :)

My Beautiful Bella

Vacation was a BLAST!!!!

We had so much fun on our adventure to Oregon. Bella did AMAZING in the car, she is just the best three year old ever ;) A couple melt downs, but that's not too bad for a 27 hour stretch. We did great on the drive, it was beautiful and neat to see the country that way.

Our days were jam packed so of course the vacation just flew by. We had a family picnic, went to VooDoo Donuts, had some delicious prime rib, headed to Multnomah Falls, the Portland Rose Gardens, the Portland Zoo , a Portland Timbers game and just enjoyed the amazing scenery of Oregon. I cherished the time we had with our Griffin family, I love them all like crazy and miss them just as much.

Our mini vacation with the just the three of us was so much fun in South Dakota, just way too much to do there!! We definitely want to go back and spend a week there to do more. Bella LOVED the Reptile Gardens, she did so well and really liked the giant tortoises.

I have way too many pictures to share so I've picked a few favorites. I'm awaiting a thumb drive from my wonderful sister-in-law who snapped some amazing photos of Bella, I can't wait to share those too :)