Lots of Stuff, Not Necessarily in Order!

I can't believe that I let two weeks pass without posting. I HATE it when I do that. Our giant snow storm prompted me to finally post a few days ago, but I am just not happy about the big gap. There are several reasons for my disappearing act, the main being that Colin does not take naps anymore. I always posted during Colin's naps...even if I could not get a post finished, I could at least get it well underway. Then when I put Colin to bed at night, I could quickly tie up the loose ends of the post and get it up. I don't have a moment to myself during the day anymore, which means that when Colin goes to bed, I have loads of things to do. If I sit back on the computer and post, I don't get any time with Jer. Therefore, I have not been posting. I have to re-organize my time during the day and work on posts in little intervals when I have a free moment rather than wait for a large chunk of time to devote to writing. I started my cooking blog and have made no less than 50 meals that have gone unposted. I just have to prioritize and spending some precious time with Jer comes before writing about my dinner escapades. All of this made me think about Pioneer Woman...how on God's green earth does that woman work a ranch, home school four children, keep up two giantly famous blogs, and cook all of that food???? She is obviously a supermom and there are moments when I look down at the sweatpants that I have been wearing for 3 days straight and wonder if I am doing a good job. I think that all mothers worry about this, so I know that I am not alone. Plus, winter gives me the blah's. So that is part of my problem, too. :-)

In other absolutely not fun news, I am currently undergoing all kinds of tests to figure out what is causing a big pain in my side...literally! I started hurting on Sunday evening and it has not let up at all, although it has not gotten worse. I just have a really annoying pain on my right side, sort of right in the middle of my side. I had a CAT scan yesterday that included drinking large amounts of something called "barium", which was not fun. So far they have found gallstones, which makes me feel old. :-) I had an ultrasound this afternoon to get a better look at my gallbladder and hope to have more answers soon. It is hard to chase a two year old around when your side constantly hurts, but I feel very lucky that it seems to be nothing serious at all. I was worried it was my appendix or kidney stones and I am VERY glad that neither of those are the problem!!

Jer's step-brother Andy and his family are in town at the moment and we shared dinner with them last night at my in-laws house. It was a WONDERFUL night, even with the pain in my side! Andy and his wife Sue are the sweetest people and their sons, Jake and Noah, are the most precious boys. They are so amazingly well-behaved and they were incredibly sweet to Colin. In fact, Colin has been talking about them all day long. They were so patient with Colin and showered him with attention, which made the night so lovely. Colin was taken with everyone and during his "goodnights" last night, he added Andy, Sue, Jake and Noah in without my prompting. It was absolutely precious! Another family friend was also in attendance and she had her four year old daughter Katie there as well. Watching Colin play with all the kids reminded me how much fun I can look forward to when Colin has a sibling. He does not need my constant attention when he plays with other children and he seems so happy. I am looking forward to the day that we have another little one around here!

Oh, and I can't forget to add that I attended a surprise 30th birthday party for my very good friend Kimberly last Saturday! A big group of us showed up at Kim's parents house right as they finished up their "Valentine's" dinner and I think we got her good!! :-) Jer had to stay home with Colin, but I still had the best night celebrating with Kim. I absolutely adore my precious friends! Here we are being giant dorks, which is EXACTLY why I love these girls. It makes my heart happy! :-) We have big plans coming up in March to attend Phantom of the Opera in Dallas, complete with dress up clothes and dinner! I literally cannot wait!!