as seen on TV...

i can't even believe i'm gonna talk about this topic. i used to have a real problem with even thinking about it. but i guess once you are married, and then when you have kids, sometimes privacy and things that gross you out are no longer an issue. today, we are gonna talk about troll feet. what are troll feet you may ask? they are the feet that you pray no one gets a glimpse of. they are the ones that might snag your covers because of their raggetiness. and well, since i have lived in alabama all of my life, shoes are optional year round when you are outside (and around your house of course. i'm not so uncouth that i venture into the days of ole when we lived in malvern and i got what i call "grocery store feet.") when at home, i never wear shoes or socks. and when i go check the mail or just run out to the storage building, shoes are not needed. and so, i confess i get the dreaded calloused and cracked heels. i have spent years trying creams, pumices, files...you name it, to get my feet to be soft and smooth. the poor ladies take a second look when they are filing my feet during a pedicure. nothing has worked. until two days ago when i finally gave in and made the purchase that has changed my life.

i am not usually one to buy into anything advertised on TV, (i mean, do we need to talk about the snuggie and all it's rave?) and it has taken me a long time to give into this. but i'm starting to think i trust those folks. i'll put it like this...i no longer have troll feet. they were silky smooth within 5 minutes. and the "mess" was all contained in the little egg. and i didn't have to contort myself in such a way that i nearly broke my neck, all while in the shower. no, friends, this was done just sitting on the floor.
i'll never be without my ped egg. it deserves serious respect. i may even hold a moment of silence. flip flops, for the 2nd summer in a row, you will be my only foot wear. my pregnant feet of last summer wishes they would have known you sooner.

glow little glow worm...

due to having a severely warped sense of humor, i thought that was a very appropriate title for this post (that i have had to write twice!) anyway, today i went to the office to work for a few hours b/c one of their regular nurses had to leave due to a death in her family. (and this is the same doc i worked for for a few years plus have on and off since 2003, plus is the doc for micah and i-or is it me?) anyway, i knew i would get the chance to see my doc and ask her further questions about my thyroid ultrasound. the ultrasound came back that i have at least one solid nodule in each lobe of my thyroid. i asked what else we needed to do and she said we could do the scan (which we have been trying to avoid b/c i have small kids and it involves nuclear medicine) or a biopsy. with the biopsy, all i would find out about is the actual nodule that is being biopsied. with the scan, we can see how many are in there, which ones are functioning (hot-which is usually benign) or which ones are cold (non functioning-more indicative of a malignancy.) and i told her i would work it out, that i wanted the most information i could get so we can get this show on the road. (this issue with doing the scan is that i can't have direct contact with the kids, especially ally claire for 2 days. i will be "radioactive"...hence "glow little glow worm".) we aren't gonna like it one bit, but you gotta do what ya gotta do. if the nodules show up as cold, then we would biopsy those. if they are hot, then that is great and are benign. i'll let you know that i, in no way, present as if i have a malignancy. we are hoping for the best case of this being just an acute presentation of thyroiditis. my labs are already looking better and i've been decreased on my medication from 3xday to 2xday. and that was just with 2 weeks of therapy.

so...what to pray for?? glad you asked! my schedule is:

march 12 & 13-- my thyroid scan (take med on the 12th at 8, get first set of pics at 2 and then again the next morning at 8)

march 25--repeat lab work

march 30--follow up with doc

and now, for keeping it real...an AWESOME picture of a frazzled momma at the end of a loooooong day with no make up. i'm doing you a favor by showing you the end of the day and not the beginning. only those closest to me are allowed to see that. (can yall see the excitement in my eyes, what with having 3 kids, a fouled up thyroid, and showing my house for the FOURTH time this week? again, add that in...if you can remember.)

how on EARTH am i gonna resist this face for 2 days???

you are getting to me (with random pics)

never let it be said that i don't delight in learning from other mothers. cause i absolutely do!! i know several of you serve your families hot breakfasts. and well, unfortunately i didn't grow up that way and as "luck" would have it, i have an extremely picky eater for my first born.

**to clarify, i'm not trying to figure out what to do for him. i gave up on him years ago. he got a stomach virus when he was 15 months and has never eaten the same again. i am just hounding for your faves or new recipes. he doesn't eat meat, actual bread (only crackers), eggs, pancakes, waffles, muffins, whole fruit/veggies....the list keeps on going. when people say "they'll eat"...they never met luke. he will absolutely starve for 3 days and never give in. we had a stand off over 1 bite of chicken nugget for 2 hours one night. he would never chew it. he held it there until it was all gross and slimey and then some.**

so i never got in the habit. he will choose a poptart over anything else any day of the week...hands down. and let me just say, he absolutely prefers the chocolate ones. so you know, health. at least i make him alternate with cereal. however, i have been thinking about it lately. i have already said how i have gotten completely lazy over the last year+ and get up about the time micah is walking out the door and the boys are at the table. but come fall...we will be in big school. KINDERGARTEN!!! i just cannot believe it. and let me just go ahead and say now...I AM COUNTING THE HOURS. the number of fights that i will have to break up will be cut down by half, surely.

ok, all that to say...do you have any make ahead, tried and true recipes? there are biscuits, muffins, pancakes, breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, eggs...do you have anything else to offer? do you make any kind of "bars"? what's your favorite? what freezes well? help a momma out who is trying to do better by her family. i trust you. (this is puppy dog eyes pleading for help.)

also, here is a glimpse of my refrigerator.

i find myself writing verses that i really like (or really need to work on) on index cards, but they wind up in my drawer. so, i bought some magnetic "buttons" at walmart in the craft section and stuck them to the back. and voila...a memory verse collage for momma!

as promised...LEFTOVERS!!

leftover pictures that is! from valentine's day! (speakin' of leftovers, if you live close, come to my house for supper tonight. we have roast, carrots and taters in the crockpot and they will be accompanied by Hungry Jack honey butter biscuits. have you tried these? no? let me just say that if you haven't, you are doing yourself an extreme disservice. if you haven't given up your new year's resolution, you probably will after trying one of these. don't say i didn't warn you!!)

Luke at the V Day Party at MMO--sharing the love

Seth with a super old stethoscope...and as always something on his face

Our V Day ciniminis with pink and white butter cream frosting...oh yes ma'am

did yall eat this much sugar? cause we did.

welcome...AGAIN!!

several of you have changed your blog page address for a little more privacy. and the more i thought about it, the more yall scared me!! so here we are. and it has taken me about 3 days to come up with a name, a header (that i totally stole...sort of. i just mean i didn't create it. i just added the text from delicious design studio!) and to get everything in it's "just so" OCD place. and now...for the meaning of the title.

let's go from the surface and work our way into the meaning.

FIVE. i'm gonna guess that any of you reading this that has read even once gets five. there are 5 of us. next...

MOCKINGBIRDS. around my house, everything is "pete and repeat." if you say it, it will be said back to you or to each other. the good, the bad and the ugly. (cause i'm honest.) and we all know it's called a mockingbird because it is a natural mimic. it mocks things. next, it's also called a "northern nightingale". nightingale...florence nightingale...i'm a nurse. and finally, we are called to imitate (mock/mimic) all things that are good, not things that are evil. We must be imitators of God.

and so, we are the 5 mockingbirds. the big birds are trying to teach the little birds how to grow wings, while being deeply rooted, and make it in this world until we make it to our real home. it isn't easy. and sometimes we have days when we want to push them right out of the nest...again...if i'm honest. we are thankful we have a bigger wing to shelter and guide us and make the landing softer b/c there are a lot of times that we fall while trying to fly.

the longest week

this past week has been the 2nd longest week of my life!! (sorry, the 10 days in the NICU will hold a strong first for a long time to come!) i have been trying to post pictures on here for 3 days!! THREE!!! i can't even tell you how ill this makes me. i have wanted to cuss, throw my computer (even though it's not her fault) and SERIOUSLY thought about breaking up with blogger. all 3 kiddos seem to be getting much better!! i haven't heard the boys cough today at all so far, and sis only had to have her nose sucked out a couple of times yesterday and i let her skip a breathing treatment.

(this is sis in her fish face nebulizer mask)

she has sounded clear as a bell when she has slept at night and yesterday she napped sooooooo much better!!! that just thrills my soul!! giving her breathing treatments and hearing her sound so sick was kind of like an acid flashback, only without the pretty lights. or so i'm told. i also was at court yesterday with my friend for a custody case (another flashback i didn't want to relive) and everything worked out just the way it should and i am sooooo thankful to God for that. and i'm thankful to those of you i asked for prayer. i know it made our day!! (and when i got home, we had a surprise house showing...how fun??) i had to say goodbye to that same friend, one who has been one of my best for 15 years, this morning as she makes her way across the country for the next 4 years. i hate it when you know something is for the best, but it makes your heart so heavy with sadness.

if blogger will ever cooperate, i have promised you a blog filled with pics of our last week cooped up. and i intend to oblige. i got a new camera for valentine's day/my birthday next month/mother's day...etc and i have pics to show!! i haven't figured much out about it yet other than point and shoot, but i'll have it for a long time, so there is room for improvement. micah said "hey, even i can take a decent picture with this!!"

bless 'em...

well, i wish i could say that it was an uneventful visit to the ped...but of course, it wasn't. mom's intuition plus 4 years of education told me it would be what i expected. i made the appointment just for ally claire b/c i was sure the boys would be fine. (and they will be...but it will probably just take a little longer than usual.) so little sis was a tiny bit wheezy (again, not too bad) and super snotty and yucky coughy and one little swab confirmed what mama thought...RSV (x3!!). i hate it. after being a mama for 5 years, we also have our first ear infection and matching antibiotic. yippee!!! so, since we have never had to give an antibiotic, please pray that AC doesn't have any reaction to the medicine.

also...i added a few new folks to my prayer list. so please add them to yours. and little jacob tuley had his second surgery to try to put his liver back in his abdomen and patch the hole in his diaphragm, and i hear it was a success!!! praise God for that!!

my introduction to mommyhood

they are all 3 sick and we are all loading up and going to the doc this morning. lil sis had a little temp this morning with some thick yellow mucus (good morning. isn't that the word you wanted to see first thing?) and poor child WON'T sleep. i seriously drugged her last night for her sake and mine. i'm hoping to be sent home with some symptom relief at least. just pray for this mama (and especially her baby girl!!) i will be lysoling and bleaching and wiping every surface that may have been looked at lately. oh, and the boys are sick, but still rambunctious. fun times. oh...and i have guilt. i'm wondering if III am the carrier monkey that gave this to them. remember why i went to the doc 3-4 weeks ago to begin with? it wasn't for thyroid issues. that was just a bonus.

a day full o' luv

happy valentine's day from the tuckers!

these 3 are sick, but have still managed to have a good time despite the fact that momma got no sleep b/c of middle man coughing a lung up. (notice that brown freckle in his left eye? it's nearly the only thing of micah in him!!)

we have made cinnamon rolls with pink butter cream icing, we have made sugar cookies with icing, sprinkles and M&Ms, heart shaped pizzas and heart wreaths. i haven't downloaded today's pics yet, with all the crud and nose wiping. but surely you'll like a post with nothing but pics, right??

sissy's outfit compliments of my mom. it's a hershey's kisses criss-cross back top with "clown pants". i thought it was super appropriate for yesterday's valentine's party.

ps--please pray sis doesn't get too sick. the boys can handle it, but it could turn into RSV quickly with her.

my little ones

would yall help me out please? my little fella is sick. i mean cruddy, coughing, runny/stuffy nose sick. and i'm PRAYING the other 2 don't get it. i have no idea if it is sinus/allergy flair up from being outside so much, or if it is YET SOMETHING ELSE the little darling brought home from the carrier monkeys kids at MMO/church. but he is a little puny these days. i heard sis cough a few times on the way to the party this morning...and just now while she is napping...and yall know with her rough start, it just freaks me out for her to be sick. all nursing knowledge goes out the window on that one. i'm afraid we may be at the doc in the morning. happy valentine's day!! i'll try to get some party pics up soon!

Happy 8 months Ally Claire!!

Little girl, you are getting way too big, way too fast! I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying!! You now have 4 teeth, sit just fine alone, and are even getting up on your hands and knees and rocking!!

Ally Claire-8 months old



You "track" me no matter where I am and if I pass through the room, you let me know that I somehow "forgot" to pick you up! I love it. With all of the heartache some of our blog friends have been going through, I don't care one little bit that you and I don't want to share each other right now. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Until maybe next month when you learn to crawl and you follow me all day long!! I love you so much. You are THE most precious little angel!

photos courtesy of Target Portrait Studios...and yes, I scanned them!!

(the rest will be courtesy of mama and her new camera that kelley will need to teach her how to use!!)

funny friday

driving home from church wednesday night, in the van, me, luke and seth.

seth:: "momma, (something something something...stutter stutter...don't remember exactly what he was saying)"

from the back of the van

luke:: "spit it out, seth!"

***************************************
same lunch as the other day...

luke:: (looking for something in the pantry, seth at table) "seth, are your eyes blind?"
seth:: "what?"
luke:: (annoyed and louder) "are your eyes blind?"
seth:: "no. and my hair's not blonde either."
luke:: (very annoyed that a 3 year old doesn't understand what he is saying, and louder) "NO!! not blonde, BLIND. you know...like you can't see!!!"
seth:: "oh. no."

mama in background thinking "you may want to ask him if he is hearing impared." but knew immediately seth would say something about not being a pear.

happy weekend ladies. love!!

thankful thursday-a foot in the "Graves"...

maybe that wasn't the best title. some of you may worry. So I went to the doctor today. I already knew what she would say. As a nurse, you tend to know too much to no know enough. Does that make sense to only me and the nurses who read this, or do you get what i'm sayin'? The diagnosis is Graves Disease. (Basically it's autoimmune hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid.) We are completely baffled about it because other than maybe 2 symptoms, I have classic symptoms of hypothyroidism, meaning an underactive thyroid. It was caught really early!! It doesn't seem to be related to postpartum how we thought it might be because my antibodies are way too hight for that. And it doesn't seem to be an acute form (because sometimes a virus can cause the same thing to happen) because a different portion of my blood work wasn't elevated enough to suggest that. So what do I do? Fairly simple. I continue to take the medicine that protects my heart. And I will be started on an antithyroid medication probably at the beginning of next week. I'll have to continue to have my levels monitored because there is no perfect maintenance dosage. The thyroid is a booger like that. I have been through a jillion thyroid medications with my patients enough to know it is trial and error and what works for a while may not always be the case. This medication does have the potential to suppress my bone marrow, so that is another thing that will be closely monitored. This medicine may be taken for 6 months, maybe 2 years. You just don't know. I DO know that if it doesn't go into a euthyroid (normal) or hypothyroid (low) state in 2 years, then we will do something more permanent. That would be to sock the cells with radioactive iodine to kill those cells, which will probably make me be hypothyroid the rest of my life. But that also can be fixed with a pill. There is a certain test she could run to check on the thyroid right now, but i would have to be away from my kids for 2-3 days. And I don't have that kind of time right now. But she said she would give me the same treatment no matter what it said. But next week I will go have an ultrasound done to see if anything like a hot spot shows up. She repeated my bloodwork today just for a confirmation. So, my 30 year old self has to start taking daily medication, multiple times a day.

and so today, since it is thankful thursday, i am thankful that it is a fairly simple diagnosis.
I am thankful that i was sick a few weeks ago and went to the doctor when i normally would have just rode it out.
I am thankful for western medicine. I will always be thankful for that!
I am thankful that I have friends who have prayed for me and will continue to pray for me. (Because i would LOVE it if this can be taken care of with medicine only and without any kind of radioactive treatment!)
I am thankful that I have a doc who errs on the side of being overly cautious.
I am thankful for God's perfect timing (even though I don't always realize that it IS PERFECT.) If I would have had this earlier, I may not have been able to get pregnant with my precious angel girl and also may have had complications with that pregnancy. He knew just what I needed...LIKE ALWAYS!

and that's it!! you are welcome to ask any question that you want. I think we all know I'm an open book.

out of the mouths of babes

At the lunch table:

Luke: "momma, when the days are hot, it's summer time. am i right?"
Me: "that's right bub."
Luke: "seth, am i right?"
Seth: "yep...you're right...and i'm left."

luke:: age 5
seth ::age 3
me:: almost 31

and now luke is in sis's face saying "buhbuhbuhbuhbuhbuh"....traitor.

WFMW:: saving precious breaths

If you are joining me from Rocks In My Dryer...WELCOME!! This is my very first try at "Works For Me Wednesday" and I hope I don't disappoint!! Let me start by saying that for my visitors, I will be using capital letters today. Normally, I don't. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, my friend Dana asked about any helpful mommy tips. I wasn't thinking that I had any, but I DO have two that I thought were pure genius. (And now that I just said that, I'm sure you have done these same things. But I've had a bad couple of days and need a little self-back-patting!)

As moms, especially if you are at home during the day and making every meal, we spend tons of time in the kitchen. And that isn't really a bad thing. But, we plan the meals. We shop for the meals. We cook the meals. And then there is the mommyhood right of passage. We have to BLOW ON THE FOOD! And the more kids you have, the more breaths you are required to give. And I have 3 young kids. That could easily be a good 15 minutes of heavy breathing looking like a blow fish while your own food gets cold "just right". So in the summer when my first child was 2, I had had enough!! I am only given a few precious breaths and I'd like to use them on something other than blowing on pita pizzas where melted cheese never wants to cool off and a million tiny pieces of cut up hot dog. And I bought THIS...

i can't tell you how many years i have added on to my life by saving my breaths and letting this little invention do the work. Now we can all eat at the same time!!

Number two came from the need to get nutritious food into my CHILD and not clean it off of the FLOOR! My second little fella was a notorious spoon-turner-overer. He couldn't seem to get his applesauce into his mouth from the spoon. And after tiring of so much being wasted, I started taking a straw and cutting it in half. I stuck the spoon into the applesauce and he was able to slurp to his hearts content. No more wasting and no more messes. Instant sanity!!

I hope some of these tips work for you and save you some breaths and sanity along the way!!

and it continues

3:45 am:: bladder wakes me up
4:20 am:: hear seth's acquarium in the monitor; i'm still awake
4:45 am:: hear seth's acquarium stop; i'm still awake
5:15 am:: hear foot steps coming down the hall and through the living room and for the first time ever, luke is out of his bed. seth must have woken him up; i'm still awake
5:16 am:: luke is disoriented and wants to know where daddy is...(right here beside me) why are you up? my hands are asleep. seth, why are you up? i had a bad dream. micah, take luke back to bed. seth, crawl in a second.
5:30 am:: seth, you have to go to your bed. stop in the living room to dry it up in case luke is asleep.
5:31 am:: luke isn't asleep.
5:55 am:: i hear talking in the monitor. i get up to turn it off. i am ill as a hornet.
6:10 am:: make luke get on the couch.
6:20 am:: i fall asleep...HARD.
7:25 am:: don't hear a sound until micah is walking out the door. holler at kids in living room to be quiet.
8:17 am:: finally haul it out of bed. seriously couldn't get my eyes to open, although the constant bickering kept me mentally awake.
12:15 pm:: finally down for a nap (boys)
12:55 pm:: still not asleep. they will stay there until bed time if they don't nap. they need seperate rooms.
2:05 pm:: after a couple of warnings and 2 spankings, i'm too tired to try anymore, i seperated them for the jillionth day. please, somebody buy my house. we desperately need 4 bedrooms. it's no longer what i would consider a luxury item. i am debating taking in a roommate in AC just to seperate the boys. seriously.
2:10 pm:: i think i want to quit. can i do that? can you quit your stay at home job? i didn't think so. that is mama needing a nap talking. new medicine is wearing me out.
2:39 pm:: all kids asleep. looking up valentines day ideas for the kiddos. (cause i really do love them. i'm just seriously tired. that reason is 2 fold.) wind about to blow my house down. will escape when micah gets home for sanity.
3:00 pm:: micah gets off in 2 hours, will be home in about 3. i can do it.

my monday

we've been fighting. about most everything. we can't seem to get along. we have a problem with back talking (STILL!!), with saying words over and over that we aren't supposed to say, with getting into things we aren't supposed to get in to, with tattle-taling, with screaming and whining (the younger one), with not taking naps (the older one), with constant fighting, with crumb dropping, with pig-like eating, with general rowdiness...i am worn out. (i feel guilty for these thoughts because of my "friends" who have sick babies. i'm sure they would love to have their dust-buster glued to one hand and a whistle in the other.)

and i have a condition with one of 3 names. i'm not sure which one yet. may hear tomorrow. maybe not until i go thursday. that condition doesn't help my attitude in the least. neither does the title "referee". however, i bet those vertical black and white stripes are slimming!!

i wish i had funny and entertaining things to tell you today. however, i am on the brink of having a "visitor" and i have become madame crankypants in the last 8 months when she is getting ready to rear her ugly head. caffeine and chinese call my name. both things really aren't good for my probable condition.



and my little ray of sunshine is in her bed crying it out b/c she doesn't want to settle down for her nap. i am not impressed. i'm not a fan of monday. but i just saw that the circus is coming to town. wonder if they are accepting new acts?

COVETOUS OF OUR PRAYERS...PLEASE JOIN ME!

please join me in praying for these families. if you have anyone who needs prayers, they don't have to have a website, please just drop me a line on this blog or to my email: btuckerrn@att.net. nothing would thrill me more!!

http://glovertimes.blogspot.com/ ::mom broke hip/recovering from surgery/in nursing home (this is the mom of "my NICU nurse")

http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/ ::lost infant to neuroblastoma

http://www.maxeyweb.com/ ::2nd child diagnosed with cancer (lost first)

http://thetuleys.blogspot.com/ :: newborn with hole in diaphragm, facing surgeries

http://treverjennaeva.blogspot.com/ :: quads born @ 25 weeks

http://jan-thesimplerlife.blogspot.com/ :: child with epilepsy

http://byrnebabies.blogspot.com/ :: triplets born premature

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahgraceharrison :: young child battling after brain tumor removal