30 more minutes...

And then I'm leaving to meet the girls at Cheeseburger in Paradise!! Yea!!

Kinda Sucks But Getting Over It....

So some of you know that on Wed I got a phone call from my disability company in the late afternoon and after a few additional phone calls, I found out around 5pm that my short term disability was over and I had to go back to work yesterday morning! I had originally been told (by my doc office) I would be OOTO at least until my follow up appt on March 11th...but that is not the case, so it was quite a shock. I'm not sure why there was a change and I can't seem to get anybody to give me a straight answer at the doc office. Unfortunately the injection they gave me on Monday that was supposed to help the pain has actually made it worse, and because it is a steroid, I have been having major trouble sleeping (and due to increased pain). Apparently, my work will be getting me some kind of a sit/stand desk station because my doc orders are to sit for 15 min and stand for 5 min...

So this just sucks! But I'm trying to make the best of it...even though (did I mention?) it sucks!!!!

This weekend is also Myrtle Beach Retreat weekend - a whole bunch of us women (around 80) get together and scrapbook at a hotel in Myrtle Beach for the weekend - my upline organizes it. Today is the day...I'm excited to go, but I'm bummed because it starts at 10am this a.m. and I have to work til 5 :-( and then drive down there. Diana and our friend Rebecca are already on their way and so is another friend from work. So it sucks (notice a theme? haha) but I'm trying to get over it and just look forward to the time I'll have when I get there tonight and all day tomorrow.

Here's a pic of where we're going this year and a pic of the tables etc last year...



Then on Sunday is the Backyard Carnival Bday Party - Anthony will be 5...so I'll have plenty of pics to share next week!

That's it...back to work...

Whah Whah Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

This is my sad face this afternoon.....I am in so much freakin frackin pain....the drugs aren't helping and I'm having some kind of a reaction to the steroids (my face isn't usually so freakin red!!) I called the doc office...they said to hang in there and call back tomorrow if it's still bad...for now I am just supposed to take advil along w/my regular pain drugs...but they're not working....so here's my virtual whah whah cry....

Ok I feel better now (not really..lol)...

Update on Brian....he's still super nauseous...but at least he's taking it easy today and playing video games...

Update on Anthony..he started his new preschool today and did really well when we dropped him off....I called around 1pm and they said he was doing good..yea :)

My turn...

Well today was my turn with the doctor...I had an epidural injection in my lower back. They injected cortisone to help with the inflamation of the nerve that is causing a lot of my problems/pain. Some people experience relief immediately...for some people it takes 7-10 days for relief..and some lucky people experience increased pain...guess which one I got? Yup....the increased pain! This has been a rough afternoon/evening...when mom and dad came over to get us for dinner (since neither of us could drive today) I was white as a sheet.....now I'm heading to bed and maybe I'll wake up in the a.m. and a miracle will have taken place..maybe?!? I go back to the doc on March 11th and then they will determine if I need another injection..they'll also determine my possible go back to work date at that time.

Brian is doing well...he's being very very very stubborn and isn't listening to the doc orders and he's overdoing it...as I thought he would..I really hope that he will stop. He's upset about not being able to go to work too....does the man not know how to relax for a few days??!?

Anthony starts his new preschool tomorrow. I think some of you know that last week, his school shut down w/out any real notice to the parents...apparently the IRS shut them down (nice huh?) So he will be starting at Edwin's school tomorrow and will continue to just go on tuesdays and thursdays.

Ok time to go to bed...thanks for all of the thoughts & prayers....we'll get back to good health one day around here (i Hope)

Home Sweet Home...

This update will be short and sweet cuz we're all exhausted...
Brian was discharged a little after 1pm today....we arrived home safely at about 5:30....(we had to go to the grocery store, get his pain meds filled etc). I went and picked up takeout and now we're just hanging out on the couch w/our laptops...ahh..life is good. Brian still has pain in his chest, but nothing too severe..they said it may last a couple of weeks. Basically the sac around his heart was irritated from the procedure. They kept him just to be on the safe side (and we're glad they did).

Now it's my turn...I was put on short term disability again last week because of my back and leg....tomorrow Mom will be taking me to my appointment to get an epidural injection in my back. Hopefully I'll be feeling some pain relief soon.

Thanks everyone for all of your prayers...they were definitely felt!

Love, Katie, Brian & Anthony

Hi Ho Hi Ho ...It's off to Wilmington We go (I HOPE)

Hopefully I'm not jinxing us by posting this, but most likely I won't get a chance to get on the computer again until we get back to Wilmington. Brian called me around 9am...he said he had seen the doctor and they were going to check his bloodwork, but he will probably be discharged between 10 and 11am today! This is great news!! I'll post again once we actually get home...and then Brian is stuck at home for a week...he's not happy about it...but he'll get over it. His boss even told me to turn off and hide his pager - I love her!! :)

Alright..time for a shower and packing up our stuff at the hotel and then off to the hospital.....pray we have a safe trip home :)

Yet another update...

Whew..almost 10pm...another long day. Apparently people are actually checking my blog (although only my blog stalkers are commenting..haha)...so I thought I'd post another update. It looks like Brian will go home tomorrow. They pretty much just kept him for observation tonight. Jimmy, Judy and I went to the hospital around 10am this a.m.....we spent the a.m. with him and then a little after 1, Jimmy & Judy went back to the hotel to rest for a while...I stayed and surfed the internet...chatted with Brian and read a magazine...it was nice to just chill out and Brian lucked out and got a nice room (who knew there were nice(r) rooms in a hospital?!?) Around 3pm Brian got quite a surprise....(I had known since 10 this a.m..) Anthony & my Mom made the trip up here to see Brian. I hadn't told Brian or J&J. It definitely made the rest of the day go by quickly since Anthony is such great entertainment. We were all happy to see him and of course I was thrilled to have my mommy there. J&J came back to the hospital around 5ish and found ANthony & Mom there....we got dinner and then left Brian for the evening to rest (he was definitely ready for it). We ran to Kohls and got some swim trunks for Jimmy & Anthony and came back to the hotel for a dip...and now we're settling down. I'm beat...and I'm rambling....so I'm going to bed....I'll post more tomorrow...but for tonight, just know that the prayers have been answered and Brian is doing well and is not in too much pain.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers...
Luv, Katie

Another update from Duke...

Well, we're sitting in the hospital room with Brian again...they are actually doing an echocardiogram on him as I type this. They have decided to keep him another night for observation. He's in less pain, but they are still a bit concerned about some possible fluid around the heart. He's in a pretty good mood today and looks a lot better. He especially perked up when I brought in his favorite juice (Nantucket Nectar apple juice) and 2 krispe kreme donuts from the cafeteria (they have good food here!) So now we sit and wait....at least the room is comfy...we're just watching tv and hanging out...

I'll post more when I know more...

Oh and obviously I didn't take these pictures...my camera is at home...

Latest update from Duke...

Well, it's been quite a day. It's a little after 7pm here and Jimmy, Judy and I are sitting in Brian's hospital room. Brian is doped up on a bunch of morphine but unfortunately is still suffering from chest pain. The good news is, the tests they have done on his heart are showing that everythign is fine. The bad news is, he's still in pain and is miserable. It's so hard to see him hurting. About an hour ago, they did a chest xray. We are waiting to hear on the results from that. We guess he will go home tomorrow, but only time will tell.

Please keep Brian in your prayers....I'll post more when I know more....

Waiting...and waiting...and waiting....

So we're sitting at Duke....Brian's in surgery...so far so good....he got rolled off to surgery around 7:45am...we got a call from the nurse around 11am and things were going well...they said they have found the problem (yea!)

They said they'd call us in a few more hours...so that's all I know for now. Obviously, the hospital has internet access (Yippee) so I'll update more when I know more....

Thanks for the prayers...

Clownin' Around

Tonight we took some pics at mom and dad's house for Anthony's birthday invitation. We are having a backyard carnival next weekend - I'm so excited...we rented one of those big huge blow up slides....we'll have a fish pond, face painting and a few other games/booths.....Binky the clown will be making an appearance and we'll even have a ticket booth....I'll have plenty of pics to share!

Here's a pic of Mr Edwin trying on the big party hat...cute huh?? Check out Diana's blog sometime tomorrow for some new about what else l'il Edwin did tonight..it was very exciting!!

Music & Pics

So, I'm editing a ton of sessions today and was getting a little bored...not with the pictures, but just because I was bored with my music. I got some new speakers the other day for my computer, which I loooooove (the other ones have been dead for a few months and I love to work while listening to music)....

So spur of the moment...I just bought these 2 albums on I-Tunes..Madonna and Michael Jacson...does that make me a dork? haha


I'm pretty sure I bought this Madonna album about 15+ years ago, but I think Diana ended up with it..lol


And this one is People Magazines fault...they had an article in there about Thriller's 25th anniversary CD....so I looked to see what was on it and I wasn't thrilled about all of the songs, but then found this album...it's got every awesome MJ song on it....

Diana & Edwin and Mom & I took a short trip downtown yesterday to take some fun pics...unfortunately the weather was not cooperating..it was cold and VEEERRRY windy, but we still managed to get a few. I had been wanting some for my website and Diana just wanted to book me because I'm getting so darn popular :) I can't wait to take a saturday afternoon and go out w/just my sis and find some cool new locations....soooooon I hope!!!

Here's one of my favorite pics from our short little session...Diana says it doesn't look like her without her glasses but I think it is GORGEOUS!! Hot mama!

Here's my other favorite because it looks like she's just hangin out and of course, wearing her glasses :)


Ok...here's a couple of me....Diana did a great job...I'm working on training her to be my assistant photographer....so that eventually we can do this full time (wouldn't that be awesome??) She is really good at posing people and she's catching on quick to the technical stuff too....I'm definitely much more comfortable behind the camera, but these don't look half bad :) Oh and notice the colors on my jacket? Do they remind you of anything....like.......my logo colors?!? Smart eh?

And finally...one pic of Edwin and Diana (sort of)....it was way too cold for him so we only took him out of the stroller this one time...


I'll let Diana share some of the other pics....

Now I'm off to proof some more sessions before Edwin gets here....Diana and Ed are going on a date tonight and we get to keep little man over night...fun!

ETA: Ok I am a definitely a dork...I was looking to see if anybody had commented (thank you Jenny :)) and realized I hadn't posted the 2nd picture of me...I thought I uploaded it but maybe I didn't...so here ya go...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey...this is Diana. I'm posting for Katie because she and Brian had to go to Duke for Brian's pre-op testing. I just talked to her and everything went just fine. Here's the Valentine we made together of our boys. So cute!! Check out my blog (TheBosoFamily) to see some more adorable pictures.

It's almost heart day...

My dear sister in law Jenny asked me to update my blog before Brian and I leave for Duke today.

For those of you that don't know...next friday, my hubby has to have a procedure done on his heart at Duke (kind of like the "Mayo Clinic" of the South). It's a long story and I don't quite know how to explain it but in April before I broke my leg, Brian was hospitalized for his heart (rythym problems)...they tried to do a procedure to fix the problem, but when they went in to do it, they realized he high risk (one of very few people that have this "extra problem") so they treated it w/meds for the last 2 years instead of fixing it (cuz it was too risky - if they nick the thing that is too close to the thing they have to fix, he'll have to get a pace maker). Unfortunately it started acting up again (racing heart beat, slow heart beat...very tiring), so we will go to Duke for them to do the procedure again and the director of this specialty will do it. Today we will drive up there (2.5 hrs away) and then tomorrow we have pre-op doc appointments etc. Then next friday is the big day...6:30am on Feb 22nd...so keep Brian in your prayers...he's a little worried, but I'm sure things will be fine.

So in honor of Brian's heart and valentine's day tomorrow...here's a few more pics from our little photo shoot w/the boys from this weekend...enjoy and leave comments...i love comments :)

Cooperation

Just thought I'd make a post on this blog to let you know we're still alive....I hope you've all been checking out my photography (business) blog because I've been updating that fairly regularly. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to create just one blog and post family and photography stuff on there ...most of the photographer's blogs I read do that too...and it will be much easier to keep up with...

Now on to some fun stuff... Yesterday, Diana and I decided to do a little valentine's photo shoot with the boys...we bought the coordinating outfits....the weather was gorgeous....we had a few cute props....we were good to go. All we needed was some cooperation from the boys. Well Edwin did great.....but my son needed some serious bribing and he still was being a bit of a pain....but we still ended up getting some greaaaaaat pictures....so here's a sneak peek.....from my child, the photographer's son (can you tell?!?)