Excuse me while I...

PHOTO DUMP!

I got really sick, like in the hospital sick and then shingles after that kinda sick and I let my weekly updates go - so that I could focus on me and getting better.  It was the hardest thing and the most confusing thing I have ever been through.  I had to change my life completely, something I fought for a long time, because change is hard y'all!  But I did it and I feel better than ever!  First change was to change my diet to Gluten Free.  That happened and all of a sudden I had so much more energy and kicked my almost two month long headache good bye!  I have started excersizing again too!  I began couch to 5k over a month ago and I am finally considering myself a runner! 

So here is the thing with these photos, I tried to get them in order the best I could, but some may be out of whack...sorry!

The last time I left you, grandpa and grandma were on their way back home to Nebraska, but not without a picture with the babies!

Kyan finished off football season.

Pink Mouse Inc, in the house!!!  Lola loved her new t-shirt!

First big Boys Scouts meeting!  Contest for cupcake/cake decorating.  No mommies were allowed to help, but they didn't say anything about no daddies helping!  So Chad got on it and helped Kyan hook up his cupcake!!!

Lola went to Kindergarten Roundup!  She loved everything about the room we were in!

 And so began my journey of migraine answers (they I never really seemed to get)...

Betsy continued to grow, her ears look so funny here!

We took a family trip to the World Wildlife Zoo!

Her first ride way up high!  I made Chad go with her, just in case she freaked out! 

Baseball season began, we took Kyan's best bud to practice with us most of the time!

Finally was able to see a neurologist, who I ended up hating.  He recommended that I be admitted into the hospital, told me I was taking migraine meds for far too long, and I was, but with the advice of my general doctor.  Said I needed a drug called DHE (like a detox) to break my migraine.  I was torn...it was two days from Spring Break.  Could I hold on? 

The answer was no. I needed to take care of me.  Period.

Problem was the DHE didn't like me too much, made my blood pressure drop to 69/55 (I have high blood pressure controlled with medication, so this was very strange) and my heart rate went as high as 139, just laying in a hospital bed.  Scary.

Having my babies come visit me was amazing, but so very hard.  I think Lola did better than Kyan, he understood what was happening to me and was scared.

The neurologist at the hospital wouldn't show up until 10-11pm, you know, when I was completely out of it.  I was very drugged up and had a hard time comprehending anything.  Chad was able to spend the night with me one night to see if he could figure out what was going on.  Of course the neuro never showed that night.  He slept with his feet propped up on a chair, they said they had nothing for him to sleep on, no cot, no recliner.  Nothing.  It was very disappointing.

I realized that I can't do it all.  I have never felt so powerless, seems like this quote said it all.

I left the hospital on more drugs than when I initially walked in the door.  I had a hard time with balance and fell on my daughter the first morning I was home (she sometimes sleeps on the floor next to my side of the bed, she was okay, but I wasn't).  I cried and felt so stupid, but I lost control of my body.

I repeated myself over and over and over again and couldn't remember anything.  I was on so many pills, I had to write them down and when I was supposed to take them and when my doctors appointments were.  I took that piece of paper everywhere (until a friend of mine sent me a pretty journal to keep in my purse)!

 My mom came to help me out with myself and the kids and with Chad (he went back to work).  If you talked to me I was out of it and cried at the drop of a hat over anything.  She was amazing and I am so grateful that she has a job that is so willing to be flexible with her.  I am also thankful to my dad who made sure she came down immediately. 

Kyan got his braces off!

I wasn't working the entire time I was sick, so part of my recovery was watching my babies swim or play or hear their laughter when they did get home!

When my mom came to help, she cleaned the shizz outta my house, including my closet.  She doesn't mess around.  I love this about her.  I let go of a lot of clothes that I may "one day" fit into.  She said it was time, that if I got myself in shape she would buy me new clothes.  It helped a ton to have less choices hanging in my closet (and sock drawer and underwear drawer and everything in between)!

Made it out to Mabel Night at the Spring Training Ball Park with the family.  I actually felt pretty good this night (I had occipital injections into the back of my head the day before, made it numb for about 24 hours, but that is about all it did, relieved nothing).

Sprinkler running and lots of laughing.  I got to sit outside and enjoy them.

And then, on the final day that my mom was here to help, I got Shingles.  I was heartbroken and felt disgusting.  My headaches were under control (with the help of medicine - -which turned out I wasn't supposed to be on) and then that happened.  

I could only snuggle with my kids head to head.  We are a snugglin' family, but they did good understanding that this is how it had to be for a little while.

Betsy was the best company I could have asked for.  She never left my side, especially when I was eating (I sneak her little bites)!

I love their faces.  The water at this point was way too cold.

Her ears started to stand up!

I finally felt well enough to walk my kids to school.  It was a little thing that was BIG!  Previously, my friend was picking them up every day and bringing them home.

Such a big boy!  After the first few days, I taught him the route to walk home to.  He loved every second of it and begged to let him stay home alone.  He asked for his own key and said he could handle it.

Spring School Pictures!

Lola was so excited when she would get homework!  She is a lefty all the way!

Betsy's favorite way to snuggle.

She discovered dirt one day.  It was hilarious!

Finally got around to building all of Kyan's World of Warcrat lego/mega block sets he got for Christmas.  But before daddy agreed to help, the kids and I had to separate the pieces by color (the knuckleheads decided that it would be awesome to put all of the pieces together).

More baseball practice, this season the kids pitched and Kyan was loving it!

While at yet another Spring Training Game, this time for Little League day at the park, Kyan caught a fly ball!  

Silly girls.

Nerd Alert.

Betsy loves to snuggle as much as she does.

A glimpse into what our summer already looks like...even though this was taken in the spring.

While spending time at home, instead of at work, I finally felt a little bit better and was able to do a little bit of crafting and put together 10 emergency clutches (you can find the DIY in my tutorials section).

 Betsy didn't really like her leash at first, but we often went out to meet Kyan on his walk home from school.

Lola was the first to crack her iPad, but it was just a tiny one, so we let it be.

I needed a house key (so did some friends and family, I usually lend out my extra garage door opener, but that was getting old).  Saw this key and fell in love.  So what if it cost $5 more than the regular ones.

Betsy and I had our routines.  I usually couldn't function until about 10am, I still woke up at the exact same time, as if I was working, walked the kids to school, but it was work.  I came home and crashed until that time.  By then, my headache lifted enough to play fetch!  We usually stayed outside for 30 minutes or so and then came back in to snuggle!

My favorite present to give to new couples getting married.  The tree has their first dance song lyrics printed on it, and the hanging hearts are their initials, hung from baker's twine in the colors of their wedding party.  WE had a wedding coming up and I wanted to give them something special.

I love that this was my daughter's superpower: to shoot LOVE out!  If only that could really happen.

Kyan's reading superpower helps him to learn about history!  Love the hand print for a cape!

So remember when I said I hated my neurologist?  Well, my general doctor was able to get me into a very good clinic across town.  She explained that taking so much migraine medicine was going to cause me to stoke out or have a heart attack.  Scary.  I cried when she told me that I was going to have to quit the migraine medicine cold turkey.  What?  I finally had this headache business under control with it and now I was gonna have to completely stop.  I don't know if you know what it is like to have a migraine, but it sucks.  Every time I haven't taken meds, I wind up in the hospital.  I didn't want to do this, I just wanted things to stay how they were, I had a grip on life.  She explained that I was doing major damage and that she wanted me to come in for an infusion to try and break the headache without using narcotics.  I would do anything to make it go away and did the infusion.  I left feeling heartbroken once again, as it didn't really seem to help.  We had a wedding to go to that weekend and I was worried that I was going to be stuck in bed feeling like death because I couldn't take anything to help the pain.  Turns out, I was right.  While my husband celebrated with the wedding party, I was stuck in bed, hating life.  I insisted that he go be with his friends, as I knew I needed to just rest.  Maybe that would help.  I slept, I cried, I slept so more.

All that rest worked.  I woke up the next day and had a lighter head.  The nurses told me that the infusion might not work until several hours (or a day) later.  I didn't believe them, but they were right.  I was able to join my husband at the wedding!

We returned home from the weekend away to our babies who were dressed up from Easter Church Services with Chad's parents.

In the fourth quarter of school, every Monday became a dress theme, this happened to be Orange Day for one of the pillars of character (just can't remember which one it represents).

 More baseball practice!

I am a quote girl, they often speak to me at just the right time.  I was starting to feel better, very slowly.  I still didn't fully understand why this all happened to me and why it was taking so long to fix.

I found a picture of my husband and I on the beach.  We used this picture on our wedding invitations.  It was this picture that made me decide it was time to go back to blonde hair.  If you know my mother, she has been begging for me to do this every time I go to the salon.  Let's just say, she was very happy when she heard the news.

 

Swimming babies.  One of them in their undies!  Sometimes it is just too much work to but on trunks.

Betsy loves laying on the towels while the kids swim!

She has 6-7 swimsuits this season, this one is my favorite.

 I have been wanting to do my own gel nails, like get the dryer for it and everything.  Then I discovered a way to do it using all the colors of polish I already had!  See the tutorial below if you would like to try it too!  I promise if you follow the steps, you won't be disappointed.

Heading to Kyan's opening ceremony, on top of the world (because a daddy's shoulders are just that)!

 She got eye "pink" to match her brothers!

 Still off of work, but continued my walks after I school drop off.  I just kept going.  More progress.

 

Lola rode her bike with me when I walked at night on occasion.

Golf buddies came to town and we were sad that we couldn't cook our big meal for them, like we usually do.  I just couldn't do it.  We did however, make them cookies to take home and enjoy!

Lola loves to paint, she would do it every day if I let her.  But as you can see below, there is a reason why she isn't allowed to, crazy thing.

And then her iPad cracked even more.  Lots of tears were cried.

Just when I thought it was about time for me to head back to work, Lola got pink eye.  

I put the final touches on the emergency clutches.

Her eyes continued to get worse.

 

Took the expensive stuff to finally kick kit to the curb.

 

I made Kool-Aid flavored vasoline, using a tutorial that I had pinned many moons ago.

Another quote that I adore, along with the show, One Tree Hill.  Life lessons were learned watching it.  I was so sad when this show ended, but man, how true is this one.

I love smoothies.

Mama, Lola, and Betsy snuggles!!!

My little catcher.  He is sooooooo cute.

Prepping AIMS testing treats for my kids.  I was determined to make it back for testing week at school!

Secret messages from my boy and his invisible ink pen from the school book fair.

Almost better...almost.

 We like to work on our tans.  We are in competition you know...who can have the darkest tan by the end of summer.  She beats me every time!

Heard a little makeup sale tip from a IG friend.  Headed out the door to catch it on the last day!

Flip-Flop ears, one forward, one back.

Planning for a gluten free diet change, the only way I know how.  This round of meal time took double what I normally take.

The start of couch to 5k.

Family trip to Lowe's to get tools to pull up our ever growing weed population we had going on in the backyard.  At the self-checkout they have a camera, I think she thought she was a movie star! 

They loved pulling weeds...weirdos!

Just skateboarding her lunch to the pool area.  No. Big. Deal

Oh this smell, so yummy and leaves your skin soooooooooo soft.

If I want to make sure I eat all of my fruits and veggies, this is what I have to do, prep in Ziploc baggies and have them ready to go for the entire week.

Pinewood Derby for Scouts was happening and we had to bring a potluck treat, first time making Snickers Salad.

Posing for the derby.

Gone in under 3 minutes, no joke.  Make this.

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

*mix the two together then add then whip in the rest of the ingredients below

4-5 (sliced small) green apples

5 frozen snickers, smashed into small pieces

12(ish) oz of Cool Whip, I always add more

*chill for an hour before serving.  This is not something you can make ahead, it become too runny the longer it sits, but you need to let it chill a little bit before you serve.  Trust me, you make this and it won't last long.

His first derby and he made it to the finals.  He also won for most original design.

Wacky Wednesday, she wishes every day was wacky.

Self portrait.

Tried sneaking some greens into his smoothie!  It worked.

Back to work and feeling better.  Eating gluten free is what finally made my headache fully disappear.  I fought it for so long, but glad I have friends that gave me the gentle push to just try it.

So into his book, "Knights of the Lunch Table".  Lola just wanted to be by him and then crashed out.

School Spirit Day

Practicing for the school talent show.  Two new members join their group.

Pretty much my favorite way to spend an afternoon.  On the kindle you ask?  "Eleanor and Park", read it.

Supper Club Love

More veggie prep.  How I typically spend Sundays.

When I run on the treadmill I watch shows on the iPad.  Makes it go so much faster.  

Jump!

Lemon Pepper Grilled Shrimp and Cilartro Garlic Grilled Corn.  The best way to eat both foods.

The school library didn't have the rest of the books that Kyan wanted to finish off his trilogy, so we headed to the book store.  They didn't have him either.  He was bummed, but decided on a different book until the other ones came in from Amazon.

Crazy after run face.

I have always been a strawberry smoothie kinda gal.  Not any more.  I have added more to it to make it even better:

Fresh and frozen strawberries

Frozen raspberries

Half an orange

Half a green apple

2 large handfuls of spinach (I was skeptical at first, but you can hardly taste it, in fact I love it)

Chai seeds

A splash of Kefir probiotic strawberry smoothie drink

*blend it all together and enjoy 

Best friend, best room mama ever.  She is the closest thing to a personal assistant I will ever have.

An unexpected, but very sweet, surprise in the mail from my Aunt Heidi.  Her daughter has been gluten free her whole life.  She was diagnosed celiac, back when no one really knew about it.  This is where I will be pulling our last supper club menu from (speaking of supper club, this summer will be our last.  I don't want to make the other members eat this way all the time.  Sad, as I learned to love so much food over the past three years).

I am obsessed with workout clothes.  Under Armor and Nike are my weakness.

Back to being the blonde everyone missed.

Lola's reaction when she saw my hair for the first time.  She was so excited that we were twins again.

Lucky to have a treadmill at my house.

My mom begged for a picture of my not so dark anymore hair.  This is what she got.

Books came in.  He read out front so that his sister could play with the neighbors, something that he usually does too, but he could not put them down!

How my grocery cart looks these days.

Finding new ways to still eat some of my favorite foods.  Chicken salad on gluten free crackers.  It was just as delicious as being on regular ones or even bread.

Boys went out to a movie, girls stayed in and painted our toes!  Love this julep color, sent by a sweet friend.

Pulling (more) weeds and painting mason jars for teacher appreciation.  Multi-tasking at its finest.

Taught him how to text his bestie.  Their conversations are hilarious.

After run glow (while laying on the treadmill after I finished).

Teacher appreciation day one, sunflowers in mason jars.  Lola's piggy tails are out of control.

Flowers are always prettier in painted mason jars.

Spoiled by my students too during Teacher Appreciation week.

He went on a run with me.

Day Two teacher appreciation.  This was a hit last year with their teachers, so we did it again this year.

Practice at the batting cages.

Mini Hulks in my classroom!  Just kidding, prepping for Mother's Day gifts.

Lola loves to drag Betsy to her brother's baseball games.  Betsy can only take so much of her running shenanigans,  good thing grandma goes to the games and will hold Betsy to give her a break from Lola.

He loves chillaxin' in the bath tub.

Last day of teacher appreciation week, the one that his teacher was dying for and hinting at!  Made her an emergency clutch!

Being off of work for two months, not good.  Means one late night at work to catch up before report cards are due.

Love my littles.

Spent the night at a resort with a few girlfriends.  Laughed a lot, a lot a lot.  Stayed up way too late!  I can't sleep in like the girls that I went with, so I went for a peaceful run in the neighborhood!

Hanging by the pool with three beautiful woman.  We had so much fun!

From one pool party to the next, this one at my Mother-in-Laws!  Getting all of the grandkids in one shot is difficult, this is the best I could do.

Trying to be sneaky and work on a little something for me for Mother's Day.  They forgot to shut the door so I quickly snapped a picture of them from across the way.    They were so focused.

When given the choice of where I wanted to go for lunch on Mother's Day, I chose AhSo of course!  Kyan got to flip the food into Chad's mouth!

Jumping off the waterfall together.

Betsy loves to play fetch.

BFF walk/run time.

2013 Spring Baseball Season Picture.

The toilet overflowed in the kids' bathroom.  I didn't notice until like 15 minutes after it started.  Before work.  It was bad.  The first time I have ever filed a claim with our Homeowners Insurance.

I tried and tried to get the toilet to unclog.  No dice.  Had to call in a pro.

A turning point in my running career.

Well checks for both of them.  They are very healthy (and very silly).

I fought to not go on another pill.  I begged to see what my thyroid blood test were before agreeing to just go on one.  My endocrinologist is wonderful and was willing to wait.  Turns out they came back normal, so back I go in another three months for an ultrasound to see what is happening with the nodules in my thyroid.  For now, I will take the normal tests!

The damage.

Pei Wei has a gluten free menu, this one wasn't too bad that I tried.  Different, but doable.

My husband finally hung my fork and spoon!   He felt bad that I was so sad about my collage wall coming down, so he surprised me by doing this. 

I beg for pictures with him.  He refuses most times.  He finally let me win one.

Kyan had a great game pitching.

My mother-in-law is incredible.  She loves to be surrounded by family, and despite a lot of drama surrounding this event, we had the reunion at our home!

Always a crowd favorite at the reunions, the pinata!

By the time it was over, we were down to one working toilet (out of 4).  Very frustrating and realized our problems were bigger than we expected.

Signs of an good day.

Working on a little something for a very special graduate.

 Field trip with the boy to the YMCA.

 

More of the gift.  She had covered a canvas way back when with newspaper, but never finished it, so I did for her.  I used my silhouette and cut out a quote that I thought fit her.  Painted over the top, then peeled off the vinyl when it was dry to reveal the newsprint underneath.  Added a washi border for a little bit of color.

Graduation with my girl!!!  I love her.

 Seems like it was just yesterday that this girl was sitting in my 8th grade classroom, not doing her homework, and now, she has graduated high school!  So proud of you Celeste and so happy to be such a big part of your life.

When I got home from graduation, this is how I found them.  Melt my heart.

They made into into the school show!  This year they had everyone screaming with their rendition of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend".

My end of the year party had a theme to it, one that required tents.  But not just any tent, only a tent that is 3/4 the size of my classroom, according to my room dad!  The kids loved it!!!!

But before we could have a classroom party, I had to go to Lola's classroom and watch her graduate preschool.  The kids were adorable and danced their way into the class!

End of the year gift to my kids.  Did the school year really end already?  Seemed like it just started.

Not sure why I am so smiley after running, but it seems like I always am!

Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not how they probably planned spending their first afternoon of summer vacation, but mama needed her hair did.

For sale.  After years of it just sitting in our 3rd car garage, we decided it is time to let it go.  Now if I could just get into the safe to get the title...

Strawberry blonde. Not a fan.  Just part of the process.

When my parents are in town it means alone time with Chad!  The kids don't even know who we are when they are here.

Sunday mornin' church and breakfast!

A much needed pedi.

 Daddy's girl.  We spent Memorial Day at my parents place and the waterpark.

 The great part about having a treadmill in my house is that I can roll out of bed and run, not worrying about my crazy bed head!

Outlet mall with my parents.  I love tennis shoes.

 Run in the morning, walk at night with my mama.  Added a little over 6 miles that day.  And yes, it was hot, but I dumped the rest of my water bottle (that was warm and tasted nasty) on myself right before we got home.

We have wanted to redo our wood floors since we moved in.  The water damage done to them means that the entire floor has to be pulled up.  It is what we wanted, but I am having a hard time letting go of them, the color is just so pretty.  The good news is that they are very high end (according to the restorer, I would have no clue, we bought the house with them in) so we should be able to something equally as nice.

 My profile on IG is so boring, just my name and my blog.  I asked for a little help and boy do I love what it looks like now.

Took a 30 minute drive to Trader Joe's, but don't think I will be making it again any time soon.  Next stop to finding gluten free foods in one spot is Whole Foods.

These girls have been begging me to join them in their kickboxing ways for forever.  I always tell them no way!  Until the other day.  I hate kickboxing, I don't feel like I am strong enough for it, but turns out, I am wrong.  I did it after I ran about 2.75 miles and didn't die.  I felt like I might, but able to walk!

 Cashed in on my Mother's Day gift and spent two and a half hours on that bed.  Massage, body scrub, and body wrap!  Cha-ching!

Baseball Party, another trophy to add to the shelf.

Yes, I eat healthy most of the time, but dang it, sometimes I just want a donut!  Turns out these gluten free ones are delicious!  I only eat one and it was my reward for getting all of my veggies cut up today!

Them ears.  Love this dog (and the boy too)!

And that is a wrap.  Not sure if I am going to continue to blog InstaUpdates here anymore.  It takes so much time, so if you would like to know what our family is up to, follow along on Instagram.  My username is jenni_roseland.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!