I'm BAAAAAAACCCCCKKKK

It's been 4 years since I last wrote a blog post here.  I didn't stop because I didn't like writing anymore.  Or because I had suddenly become too busy to find the time.  I stopped because everyone else did.  Randomly, I came across this old blog a couple nights ago and it FILLED me.  I am 35 and haven't even started the career that I've imagined and dreamed of for myself.  I struggle with that from time to time, but I also believe in what I am doing by staying home with my kids.  It did me so much good to go back in time and see and hear myself through these different blog entries.  It is so fun watching this family change, grow, progress, and learn.  And so, I will begin to blog again for the reason I should've had the first time----for ME and for US- the Gordens.  I'm looking forward to it!

Gorden Family Update

Hello!  Surprised to see me? I'm surprised to see myself, honestly.  But here I am. Woke up this Saturday morning with an urge to blog!  Crazy, I know!  I spent a little bit looking at friend's blogs that actually keep them up- and it was very inspiring!

 

So, since it has been so long, here is an update on all of us.

 

Audrey is now almost 16 months.  She almost has all her teeth.  She loves to talk (she knows: Mom, Dada, Baba (bottle), eat, more, all done, Go, Baby, Bye Bye, Hello, Thank You, Diaper, Dog, etc) (the basics)  She has a sweet, fun, and happy personality.  She's always smiling and saying "Cheese" for the camera. 

 

 

 

 

Suzy (3 1/2) and I have really bonded over the last few months.  Noah going to Kindergarten was the best thing for Suz and I's relationship!  She is coming out of her shy shell and gaining confidence.  Starting her in dance was a great decision.  Dance has become her little life.  She walks around the house like a ballerina and likes to be addressed as "Ballerina" or "Princess" depending on the day.  She dresses herself and chooses a dress, skirt, or tutu EVERY day.  The girl will not put jeans on.  And pants must be called leggings and have a skirt over them.  Suz is so easy going and happy.  Shy and sweet, but spunky and crazy if you she feels comfortable around you.  Lately, we've discovered that she LOVES shopping and I am soooo happy to have a shopping buddy because I love shopping too!!!

 

 

 

 

Noah (5 1/2) is a 12 year old trapped in a 3 year old body.  He is way more mature than necessary, loves order, following rules, making rules, being creative, going to school, trying to read, draw, paint, write, do art, and play with this sisters.  He's the best!

 

 

 

As for Jared, He left General Mills back in December and went back with his old boss.  He is LOVING it. And I'm loving his flexibility and his new paycheck!  Jared's still plugging away at school and will graduate in May!!!  I'm soooo excited! He's been in school as long as I've known him.  I know he will be so happy to put that behind him and I will be so happy to have more time with him.

 

Here we are on a date. Jared made a goal this year to take me out on 40 dates this year and I am LOVING it!

 

 

My update is:  I can't wait for SPRING!  I daydream about it all the time.  Winter puts me into a funk.  It makes me feel trapped.  I can handle it until about half way through January and then I am just over it.  We are definitely going on a sunny cruise next February!

I've been working out a lot!  Signed up for my 2nd marathon in October!  I'm very excited!  I signed up with some girlfriends this time- can't wait to get outside and start running again! (I don't run in the freezing cold- I just can't do it.)

I'm teaching the mission prep class at church. It's only once a month, but I love it. It helps me feel like a missionary again.  I'm also the ward organist.  I will likely always have a piano calling at church, but that's OK because I love playing the piano!

Speaking of piano, I have scaled back a ton on my teaching. I went from 14 to 7.  I only teach 4 after school students and then I have 3 adults that I teach during the day.  14 was too much for me at this phase of life with 3 little kids.  So, I now feel the perfect balance.

 

I really do love my life and my sweet family.

 
 
 

 



My LASIK Experience

I wanted to write down all about my LASIK procedure before I forgot any of the details.  First off, I am 3 days Post Op and I see PERFECT.  I am so happy with the results and so glad that I did it!  So worth every penny and the fear associated with the unknown.  Thinking about the surgery made me want to cringe, but actually going through the surgery with a Valium and numbing drops was not that bad!

So, to start out:  I've been wearing glasses since 3rd grade and contacts since 8th.  I have wanted LASIK since college, but never thought about it as a realistic option.  We finally had accrued a significant amount in our HSA this year so Jared asked me if I wanted to do it this year.  Well, he didn't have to ask me twice---I had 3 LASIK consultation appointments that week!

I initially was sold on going to one place and made a surgery appointment because they were offering it for such a good price, but the procedure they did was called Advanced Surface Ablation (ASA) or Epi-Lasek or Lasek (lots of different names for the same thing).  Essentially what they do is put alcohol on your eye, which removes the outer layer (epithelium) and then laser in your prescription, give you a contact bandage while your epithelium heals, and you lie in pain for 5 days while your eyes get better.  Most people do this method only if their corneas are too thin for regular Lasik.  Regular LASIK is where they take a blade or laser and cut a flap in your eye, peel it back, then laser your prescription, then put the flap back in place.  I knew I was a candidate for regular LASIK so thinking about doing ASA was keeping me up at night.  I talked to two friends who had done that method and they said the recovery was horrible- but they were happy with their results later.  I knew that even if I had to pay a little more, I'd rather do LASIK.

So, I chose to do my LASIK at McDonald Eye Associates in Fayetteville.  What a great decision!!! It was an amazing experience all the way through.  We did a lot of back and forth, but they actually almost matched the ASA price.  What a blessing!

I had a couple of pre-op appointments. They wanted to make sure that my prescription didn't change each time I came in.  Everything looked good and I scheduled the surgery for August 15th.  In preparation for that, I had to wear my glasses for 3 weeks.  That was NO FUN at all.  Since I was in 8th grade, the only time I've ever worn glasses was right before bed or early in the morning, so I felt like I was never really ready for the day.  I also couldn't run with my glasses on, so had to do 12 and 14 mile runs essentially blind.  The waterpark was also super fun with glasses (NOT!)  Needless to say, I was thrilled for August 15th to roll around so I could get rid of those things!

 

(Suz and I at a pre-op appointment.  Awesome lighting. I'm a pro.)

The morning of the surgery, I was a NERVOUS WRECK.  The worst form of torture that I can think of would be someone prying my eyes open and poking them.  But when I arrived at the clinic, my optometrist, LASIK consultant, and the surgeon all sat and talked me through everything and calmed me.  My little Valium pill also helped take the edge off, although I was expecting it to make me loopy and not care at all about what was going to happen.  Didn't work that way.  Just took the edge off.  I was VERY AWARE of what was happening during the surgery.

For the surgery, they had me lay down and gave me a blanket so I felt super comfy. They gave me numbing eye drops. I looked up at a blinking red light.  They worked on one eye at a time, so they taped down my right eye with scotch tape (fancy!) and then started in on my left eye.  The first thing they had to do was tape my eye lashes back and then insert something under my eye lids to hold my eyes open.  NOT COMFY, but not painful.  Once that was in, they basically suction cupped my eye.  That part made me lose my vision. I was most afraid of this part before the surgery started, but it wasn't bad.  I kind of liked losing my vision at that part because that is right when they did the incision to cut my flap.  Didn't mind not seeing that.  Once the flap was created, they used an instrument to pull back my epithelium.  Once that happened, my vision went a little blurry.  But all I was ever looking at was at a blinking red dot, so I didn't mind.  Then for my favorite part.  No, seriously, I thought it was cool.  THE LASERS.  It didn't really look like anything. I just felt like I was looking at a red stoplight up close.  It made a buzzing sound and it smelt like I burned my hair in a curling iron.  It lasted about 10 seconds.  And then it was done!  The surgeon kept saying, "You're doing great, almost there." and it made me laugh because I wasn't doing anything!!! I was just laying there looking at a red dot!

After the lasers, they put my epithelium back in place and sealed it. And that was that!  They switched eyes.  It was over 5 minutes later.  When I sat up after, everything looked a little foggy.  But I could see. I read the time on the clock across the room.  It was a TRUE MIRACLE.

(This is me immediately after surgery at home- not happy)

Once I got home, my eyes burned for about 20 minutes and it was no fun.  Noah was having his Kindergarten Meet the Teacher night at his elementary school and I really wanted to go and so I did--- 2 hours post op.  And it distracted my eyes from burning and by the time I got home, I was fine. I fell asleep at 8 pm that night and by the next morning, I felt great. I had a post op appointment at 7:45 am (drove myself there) and was seeing 20/20.

I am absolutely THRILLED with the results.  I would do it all again tomorrow.  It is amazing being able to see and have eyes that work perfectly!  It blows my mind that the technology exists.  I am so grateful that I was able to do it.  Waking up in the middle of the night or in the morning and being able to see is amazing. I keep feeling like I need to take my contacts out and then I remember that I don't actually have any!  Best feeling ever.

I'm excited to wake up early tomorrow and hit the ground running (literally- going running) without having to put contacts into burning eyes that are rejecting having anything go in so early.  With that in mind, I gotta go to bed!!!  Goodnight! :)

(Here I am 36 hours post op.  My right eye has a bruise (popped blood vessels) from the suction cup, but no big deal!)

On My Mind

A lot has happened since the last time I posted anything.  Jared has been working some insane hours.  Like 90 hours a couple weeks ago.  60 hours for 6 weeks before that.  On top of that, he has been doing his MBA, which he just completed his first year (hooray).  One year left.  That will be such a happy day!!! 

Suzy has successfully potty trained again for the third time.  The UTI's earlier this year threw us for a huge loop and we had to put it off for a while because she was terrified to go potty in the toilet.  She associated the toilet with her UTI.  But luckily, about 3 weeks ago, her too small for her diaper that she was wearing, gave her an owie (sp?) and I ran with that! ("Suz, your diapers are giving you owies now! Your body is telling you it wants to wear big girl underwear and go potty in the toilet!")  It worked! Yay!  She's still probably only at 80% success so there are still accidents to clean up, but I'm proud of her and glad we don't have to buy so many diapers!

This week I'm getting LASIK!!! I'm so excited to never have to wear glasses or contacts again.  Tomorrow is my Pre-Op appointment and then on Thursday, it's the surgery.  I've had to wear glasses for almost 3 weeks now to let my corneas go back to their natural/normal state.  HUGE PAIN IN THE BOOTY!  But only a few days left.  I'll have to do a follow up post to talk about the actual surgery and the results in case anyone is interested!

Noah starts Kindergarten next week!  We are so excited (we being me and Noah!) There is no sad mama here. Of course, I'll miss having the little guy around, but he is so ready. He has been talking about Kindergarten since he was 2 years old!  I think he's going to do great.  A lot of parents I think have questioned us for putting him in school (trend is definitely to hold your kid back) with his smaller size and because his birthday is July 27 and the cut off is Aug 1- but I think anyone who really knows Noah knows that he is 100000% ready for school.  Yes, he's wearing size 2T and 3T clothes, but mentally, socially, emotionally, and every other way- he is prepared and ready! 

For the Love of Running

I have been doing a lot of running lately.

I just finished my 8th Half Marathon.  I ran it with my friend, Katie, who helped me run much faster than I would have if I were by myself. 

 

Jared and I are running a Marathon in Baltimore in October.  I'm excited/feel crazy for doing it. But we LOVE running together. We frequently pay a babysitter to come watch our kids so we can go on long runs.  Best date ever.  Amazing quality time.

 

Here's Katie and I after the Bentonville Half 2013.

 

My fan club/support group/future runners.

 

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 10K.  I got a PR.  Finished 6.2 miles in 57 min. 

My love and I. 

 



Suzy's Potty Training Rollercoaster Ride

It feels good to be back blogging again.  Let's hope I can keep it up.

Today's Topic:  Potty Training.

About three weeks ago, Suzy decided that she was going to be a big girl and wear underwear.  So, just like that, she started going potty in the toilet.  After a week, there were no more accidents.  It was amazing and a dream!  No more money spent on diapers!  I was so proud of Suz. 

(Here's her ice cream celebration for being a Big Girl)

 

Notice all of that last paragraph was in past tense.

She's now back in diapers.

But it's not exactly her fault, per se.

The poor girl got a Urinary Tract Infection. 

 

It started about two weeks after Day One of potty training.  She started to have a ton of accidents.  Like 12 per day!  I was going crazy doing wash and getting super frustrated.  Everytime she would wet her pants, she would cross her legs and scream and cry.  I just thought she hated being all wet.  One time, I caught her before she had an accident and we ran to the bathroom.  I sat her on her little potty seat and when she peed, she started screaming bloody murder and bawling.  So, it wasn't that she hated being wet.  I called the doctor immediately and I was impressed, they got me in within 20 minutes!

 

She did a urine sample at the clinic (I was impressed that Suzy did this- I just said, "Icecream Suz?" and she peed in a cup).  It came back that she had E-coli and she started antibiotics right away.

 

After she's done with the antibiotics, I think we'll try underwear again.  But the AWFUL part is that she now associates wearing big girl underwear and going potty with PAIN. :( :( :(

 

Moral of the story: Don't let a two year old be in charge of wiping themselves.

Did you Bring the Kindergardner?

Anyone who knows my little Noah knows that he's- well, little.  He was born at 4 lbs 9 oz, not because he was early, but because he had IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction) where he basically stopped growing after 34 weeks gestation.  He's always been smaller than other kids his age, but as he's getting closer to turning 5 (in July) and starting Kindergarten this year, we decided we'd better check and see if we needed to start growth hormones or do any other special measures. 

Noah stats: 28 lbs.  36 inches.  4 years 8 months old.  0.3 %

Dr. S decides to do an X-ray to determine his bone age.  If his bone age is 4 years 8 months or older, it would mean that he is always going to be extremely small.  If his bones are aged younger, then he just has stunted growth and he will catch up.

So, how old are them bones?! 

2 years 8 months!  Hooray!

If you plug his measurements into the 2 1/2 year old chart, then he is 25%.  Still 3 out of 4 two year olds are going to be bigger than him, but we are still excited that he is going to catch up sometime. 

So, yes I'm sending my sweet boy that looks like he is 2 1/2 to kindergarten this year.  After counseling with his preschool teachers and talking it over with Jared, we all feel like he is socially, mentally, and emotionally ready to start. 

When we went to Kindergarten registration last week, I handed a lady our paperwork and she looked at me and then Noah and asked me, "Did you bring the Kindergardner?"  It was awesome.

 (so you can get an idea, Suzy is like 15% for 2 1/2 year olds)

 

 

I sure LOVE my little, smart, sweet man!