{ Stent Removed more Tests }

Well, the stent was removed this morning. Since I'm still having pain, the urologist wants to go ahead with some more testing. The problem is that my insurance changes on Friday, the first of the year. So, instead of requesting testing now, waiting for approval that won't come before Friday and then going through the entire thing again, I'm going back to see the urologist next Tuesday. He'll check up on my pain level and order the tests then. He wants to do a study on how the kidney is draining to see if there's anything abnormal there that might be causing my problems.

I'm still in need of prayers. I'm hoping I'm not starting some kind of chronic pain that will affect my lifestyle. I miss going out and playing with the kids. I miss riding bikes and just going to school and volunteering. I miss going to bible study on Thursdays. This has got to end so I can get my life back.

*** I had no idea what I was in for today. Apparently, removing the stent caused inflamation, and more severe pain. Of the worse than childbirth variety. I have my heating pad and DH is going to get me the anti-inflamatory patch to see if that helps. I can't take ibuprofin, so that makes it complicated. I can look forward to more pain and fever tonight. ***

{ Update the Day Before }

Well, I think the bleeding has finally stopped. I'm feeling so sick to my stomach, still. I took a pain killer today mainly for that. Yesterday I couldn't even take communion at church. I sat down and stayed that way until mass was over and I walked to the car. Why am I not feeling better yet? Tomorrow, the stent comes out. I'm sure that will cause more pain and bleeding. Hopefully we'll be over with that sooner. Now for the left side.

{ Look Mom, I Lost Another Tooth }

The tooth pillow is loaded and ready to go. That is, after the tooth was retrieved from the bathroom sink drain. He was rinsing it off and had a slight catastrophe which was quickly fixed by his hero, daddy. All's well that end's well.

{ Old Town Ice Skating }

{ Our Merry Christmas }

I'm feeling better today. The pain is much more dull and not killing me. The bleeding had stopped when I woke up, but now it's back, darn.

We ate tamale dinner on Christmas Eve night and then headed to the 6:00 mass. It was a beautiful mass, and the choir sang so beautifully. We will never again try for the 4:00 mass which you have to get to literally two hours early if you want a seat. Never again. When we got back we had dessert including fruit pizza, some friends stopped by for a bit, and then the kids opened some of their presents.


She really wanted to know what was in this one!


Aha!

We read a little story on Christmas Eve night, the Christmas Eve chapter of On the Banks of Plum Creek - which the kids saved especially for this night, and the kids closed their eyes and didn't open them until morning. Even when I took cough medicine for my daughter. I had to beg her to take the medicine. My son pretended to be asleep the entire time. They were so faking!

Christmas morning came, and the kids ran down stairs. It was early in the morning, about 6:30. DS got a bunch of Star Wars toys.

Chasing DS's new Air Hog up the wall.

And DS got Star Wars Legos.

Mario Cart Racing for the Wii was a big hit. Even my aunt got in on that fun. They also got Mario Galaxy and Toy Story Mania for the Wii.

DD got Josefina.

DS's Legos.

What a mess.

{ Christmas Cuties }

I took this picture on Monday. Aren't these kids just the cutest! Grandma took them to my daughter's piano workshop/mini recital where she got to show off her Christmas songs, eat lots of Christmas goodies and play a game. My son went along, mainly for the treats. When they got home, I was sitting on the sofa with the fire going because I tend to get cold a lot these days. The kids thought it was great fun to sit together in front of the fire.


I'm still feeling really drugged up and sore in the kidney area. I'm really hoping I'll get some relief soon.

{ Surgery is Over }

So, my surgery is over. The doctor said the kidney stone was gone, but there were stone fragments in the kidney which he cleaned out. My ureter has a kink in it, which is not normal, it should be straight. So he placed a stent in the ureter to straighten it out. I will have that removed next week, although if that's what was causing me so much pain, I'll have to see if I can get a permanent one. The doctor was wondering if that's where all the pain was coming from.

I slept all day today as the anesthesia was wearing off. My kidney area is sore, but not having the awful knife pain. Hopefully that won't come back. We'll see. The doctor said that it will take a few days for the soreness to go away. He thought my kidney looked really good, otherwise.

{ Surgery Tomorrow }

I have surgery tomorrow at 7:30 am. I have to be there at 6:00 am. Please say a prayer for me that it goes well and the doctor is able to remove the stones as well as the pain. Today has just dragged for me because of high pain and nausea. So glad I'm scheduled for first thing in the morning.

{ Del Mar Racetrack Holiday of Lights }

Drive through adventures suit me just fine this year.

{ Gingerbread House }

Here's our masterpiece!

{ Catching Up }

Guess who lost his first tooth today?

Yesterday, we tackled the gingerbread house. When making a gingerbread house, if you want peppermint snow, you have two choices. One, go to Williams-Sonoma and spend $10 bucks on a small jar of it, or, two, get a $1 box of candycanes, put in a bag, give the kids a rubber mallet and watch while they make snow in 5 minutes flat! This was my son's favorite part of the process. He disappeared after making peppermint snow until the very end and helped us put gum drops around the bottom of the house.

Thank goodness for Grandma. This wouldn't have gotten done without her. Did I mention that putting together a gingerbread house is a lot of work?

But look at that gorgeous roof. I want to bite off a chunk right now just looking at it. I'll post a picture of the finished product just as soon as I take a picture of it. It took us all day, but we finished it yesterday. I was smart this year and placed a bowl of gum drops next to the house so DS has not taken one thing off of the house... yet.

Here's DD last weekend baking biscochitos. This girl bakes a delicious cookie. Who needs mom anyway? Ok, dad helped a little!