Surgery

Well, everything went as well as could be expected yesterday. We got up around 7:00 and I showered, cleaned that bathrooms, did some laundry and cleaned the kitchen. Jarod went to the store for a few things we needed to get us through the weekend. We planned to leave the house around 11 to take Allie to Carmen's. Unfortunately are plans changed b/c we had to take Allie to the doctor. She has been fighting a cold for almost 2 weeks and she kept messing with her left year. I was very worried that she had an ear infection and I knew it would complicate things more if we waited until after I had surgery. Our doctor's office was wonderful and worked us right in. They were running behind and I told them I had to be at the hospital by 12:30, so the doctor skipped other patients to come see us first. Allie ended up with an double ear infection. I sure am glad we went!

We got to the hospital by 12:15 and met my parents there and got the paperwork started. I was supposed to be taken back for surgery by 1:30, but it was about 20 min. later than that. I don't even remember being taken back. Gotta love drugs! I came out of surgery pretty well. I was really out of it and complained I couldn't breathe even though I could.

My parents went and got Allie. I have no idea what time we headed home. I was still pretty out of it and very nauseated. When I got home I used a crutch for support and Allie seemed a little confused as to what was going on. I fell asleep a lot on the couch and finally went to bed around 9. I was able to walk up the stairs which totally amazed me. I couldn't believe I didn't have to use crutches or scoot up the stairs. I woke up a few times a night to go the bathroom and Jarod was great to help get out of bed. I was still hooked up this nifty ice machine and in order to get up he had to unhook me.

I was still pretty sick this morning and my mom had to take me to the doctor by 8 so they could take the tube out of my knee. On the way there I got sick in the car. When we finally got there, I was able to walk on my own. The doctors said my knee looked great. It was barely swollen and they were impressed that I was already able to walk on my own. They said that my knee had no torn cartilage and all they had to do was shave bone behind my patella and tighten my knee cap to the correct spot.

Once I get passed feeling sick, I will be doing pretty well. Tonight I was able to eat rice and some crackers and I'm starting to feel a lot better. I'm even thinking I may be able to make it to church on Sunday, but I don't won't to jump the gun too soon.

I could not have gotten through the last couple of days without Jarod and my parents. Jarod is so helpful and so supportive. He's been a great nurse! My mom really helped out a lot today with Jarod being at a conference and Allie loved hanging with my dad. I'm so blessed to have so many people who love and care for me.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers.

Let it Snow!!!

WOW! Only in Texas can it be 70 one day and have snow and sleet the next. This is the 2nd snow we've had this week. The first one wasn't as much and didn't stay around. This afternoon around 2:00 we started seeing huge flakes fall just in time for dismissal at school. It was absolutely beautiful. Of course I didn't have my camera with me at work so I took pictures when I got home. The one above is of our little back yard. I couldn't believe how much snow had fallen. I wanted to take Allie outside and play but she has a horrible cold and I knew if we got out there she would not want to come back in. She loves being outside no matter how cold it is. I have been afraid that they would cancel school tomorrow, but luckily we have a 2 hour delay. Yea!

This is a picture of our street.

Our shrubs took a beating!

This is our neighbor's house across the street. I couldn't leave Allie in the house by herself to go across the street and take a picture of our house with the snow.

My Little Diva

Well, obviously it has been a long time since I posted so I thought I'd share some recent pictures of Allie. She is really into dressing up these days. I don't think these are the cutest pictures of my child, but they are definitely some of the funniest! The tiara she has on is from a teacher I work with and I bought her the sunglasses at Valentines. I think the yellow visor came home with Jarod one day from something or another.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!!

What a cutie!!!

Where is my boat?

I guess I will write a quick update on the happenings of the Varner family. February was a very busy month for us. We had lots of birthdays to celebrate and I feel like we've had something going on every weekend. This weekend I'm looking forward to staying home and Jarod and I will be cleaning and putting stuff away (notice I said Jarod and I; he's a fabulous help) before I have surgery next week. I can't believe I'm having surgery in 8 days. I've been working really hard the last month and my knee has gotten worse. Just another sign that I'm making the right decision with having surgery. Work is still as busy as ever and I'm getting ready for Open House at school next week. Needless to say next week will be my busiest ever. I have my pre-op on the same night as Open House and I have to get everything in order before I'm out.

Jarod has also been busy at work. A week ago we went to UNT and Allie got to see her first college basketball game. She enjoyed the cheerleaders and the band the most. He is up for a promotion, so cross your fingers that the board approves it. He does not think it will go in affect until October.

Allie will be 2 in April and I honestly can't believe how quickly time is passing by. She has changed so much in 2 years. Currently she is talking all of the time (full sentences), she is very observant of everything around her and has a great memory, she sings almost every song she has ever been taught (her current favorite being head, shoulders, knees and toes), she can sing the ABC's all the way through J and mumble to get to P, when she sees letters she knows they are letters and calls most of them A or B, she currently thinks that every car is either blue (my car) or red (Jarod's car), she still loves to dance and we have dance parties in the kitchen together, she enjoys reading, playing with her dolls and acting like a mommy (she will be a good big sister one day!), she can also have quite the attitude and be a little bossy (I wonder where she gets that from?). And even though she can be quite the prissy girl, she still loves playing with her cars and playing outside.

I hope everyone has a good week.

MRI and Things You Didn't Know About Me

Well, in the past week I've spent time at the doctor's office. I went last Wednesday to the orthopedic and we discussed the pain I was still having in my knee and he said the next step was to have an MRI. I quickly got an appt. set up on Friday b/c I wanted to figure out what was going on with my knee. I went back to the doctor today and found out that I need to have surgery. I expected him to say that. I've been preparing myself and Jarod for it. I don't want to have surgery, but I am tired of not really being able to "live" my life. With Allie getting older and being more active I have not been able to chase her and play with her the way that I want to without being in a lot of pain. So, I am having surgery March 13th. It is 2 days before my spring break starts and I will have about 12 days to get back on my feet and hopefully start feeling back to normal! It's an out patient surgery and I'm very thankful for that.

Well now on to the 2nd part of my post. I was tagged by my friend Kim:
Rules: Answer each question about yourself, then tag 5 people by posting their names and leaving them a comment on their blog.

10 Years Ago: I was Junior in high school, probably playing softball, going to baseball games and Jarod and I started dating that May.

Things On My To Do List Tomorrow: teach 7 year olds, put up books in the Guided Reading Library, play with Allie and give her a bath, grade papers(seriously I have a lot to do, but I'll stop there!)

Snacks I enjoy: fruit, 100 calorie snacks, and my favorite is chips! (Actually I just like to munch and crunch)

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire? pay off student loans, quit my job and stay home with Allie, pay off my brother's student loans, pay off family debt, set up college scholarships for kids, travel, and build the house of my dreams.

3 Of My Bad Habits: I have a nervous habit of picking at my eye brows (weird I know), leaving clean clothes in the laundry basket, and leaving sonic straw wrappers in my car.

5 places I have lived: Omaha, NE; Quinlan, TX; Searcy, AR; Garland, TX, Lewisville, TX

Jobs that I have had: Camp counselor, baby sitter, tutor, referee, 1st and 2nd grade teacher.

Things people don’t know about me: Once I won a burping contest at a youth rally (my brother Scott taught me how to burp like a guy), I lettered in 3 sports in high school, I can't stand tapping noises (kids tapping on the desk), I wish that I would have been in musicals in high school.

I tag anyone who reads my blog and hasn't already done this.

The Quads

Many of you know the Steece's (Suzanne and the quads) either from Harding or through other people's blogs. Suzanne and Joe attend the church where my parents and my brother and his family attend. In February my parents will be going over the their house on Sunday mornings to help watch the quads so Suzanne and Joe can go to church. Anyway, since they are now volunteers, they are receiving emails on things that can be done to help. My mom sent me the following email:

The second way (to help) is to visit the blog daily:

http://thelifeofsuz.blogspot.com/

If you click on the ads that are displayed on the website, they get money!!! The site can track how many times one computer hits on the ads...so, if someone just clicks on the ads 20 times, it can tell what you are doing and they will not get as much money -

If everyone would check the site once or twice a day and tell your friends to do the same - this would be a GREAT way to help - the money they earn from the adds will help pay for the 4 helmets -the "cranial bands" - the babies will be getting today.
Suzanne told me they made $30.00 within a couple of hours the first day the add ran. If we all check the blog - which we do anyway - just check it now more often and click on the ads - what a great and easy way to help them earn money for their babies.

Maybe some of y'all already knew about this, but I didn't. So everytime I check her blog, I click on the ads by Google. What an easy and fast way to help!

Tee Tee in the Potty!!!

Well it was suggested to us in October that we should buy Allie a potty and start introducing it to her. Well, of course I waited until after Christmas to buy her one. I researched potty chairs on Babies R Us and Target and the potty in the picture got the best reviews. It's really basic, but everyone that wrote a review (about 30 on each site) loved this one. Allie's is hot pink and she loved it from the moment I brought it in. She likes to sit on it when I go to the bathroom and for the last week we've put her on it before she takes a bath. Well tonight I was getting her ready for her bath and I told her that she was going to sit on the potty before she got in the bath. She said, "tee tee in potty" and I said yes. She ran to the bathroom and I put her on the potty and next thing we knew she went tee tee. Jarod and I were both so excited and amazed at the same time. As soon as she was finished she got up and was ready to get in the bath. We kept telling her how proud we were of her and she smiled and looked at us like we were crazy!

This may have been a fluke thing, but we were very excited. It was just another example of how big our little girl is getting. Hopefully she will start to get the hang of it. I wasn't planning on potty training her officially until this summer when I'm out of school. Who knows, she may need it earlier.

The Biggest Loser

I think the title of this blog is perfect. I have been the biggest loser with this blog. I can't believe I haven't posted in a month. Shame on me! I promise I will do better.

Life in the Varner household has been pretty busy. During the whole month of December we were going non stop. Between work, physical therapy for my knees, and getting ready for Christmas (we had my family at my house), we had little time for play. Jarod took off a week around Christmas and it was nice having the 3 of us together. We just hung out and played with Allie. She and I had a few play dates with her friends Gabby and Cade (I'm friends with their mom's and the kids were all born within a month of each other). Jarod, Allie and I took a trip up to Memphis to see our good friend Keith graduate from college. We got to hang out with him and Courtney (his wife and my best friend) for a few days. It was a great trip. I miss them so much and I wished we lived closer together, but we are really good about taking turns seeing each other. Christmas at Varner house hold went very well. I was a little stressed, but I think everyone had a great time and it was good to be with my family.

Since school started back I've been as busy as ever. I think by far I have worked harder this year than I did my first year of teaching (4 years ago). Our district and the state have put so much pressure on us this year. It has gotten so bad that we had a teacher retire mid year (granted she was 70 years old; no I'm not kidding and she should have retired several years ago), but she just couldn't handle it anymore. No one blames her. She is two times my age and I'm having a hard time with all of the new expectations. I have honestly never been more ready for a school year to be over with.

I will find out later this month or early February if I will need knee surgery. For those of you who do not know, I have runners knee in both of my knees (which is pretty funny b/c I don't run). I was in therapy for a month and unfortunately, my right knee (which is the worst of the 2) does not feel any better. My knees flamed up when we went to New York last June and I have been battling them ever since. I go back to the doctor at the end of the month and we will discuss what we are going to do. I know that I will have an MRI done to determine how bad my knee is and then we will go from there.

Jarod is still keeping busy with work and running. I can't believe how much he runs these days and right now it is freezing outside. I'm so proud of him. He is looking into running another 1/2 marathon sometime soon.

Allie is now 21 months old. I can't believe that she will be 2 in a couple of months. She is getting big so fast. She has changed so much in the last couple of months. Her speech development is improving daily and she is getting very good at saying 2 and 3 word phrases and she has thrown in a sentence here and there. She still loves to sing and dance. Her favorite songs right now are Baa, Baa Black Sheep and Old MacDonald. She will pick up a block that looks like a cylinder and use it as her microphone. She is now attached to her Mimi and Poppy (my parents). She cries whenever she has to leave them. It's the saddest and sweetest thing to see. She is still very independent and very stubborn. She tests our parenting skills daily! Our church is about to start a parenting class one Sunday a month and Jarod and I are going to check it out. It can't hurt and we will take any advice people would love to give us. It's based on Love and Logic and I've heard very good things about it. Jarod and I enjoy spending as much time with her as we can. She makes us laugh all the time and is such a joy to be around.