Just a quick note...

I know, I know, I have GOT to update my blog. I'm so far behind I can't decide whether to just start from now and go forward or to try to go back and update everyone. Hopefully, I will have enough time and patience to update over the next week or so. I have so much I want to post about! I don't think I can go forward without going back.

I also wanted to let everyone know that Wendy has joined the blogging world. Check out her blog and all the pictures of little Madison! I've added her to my friends list, but here is a link just in case:

www.thebuckelews.blogspot.com

Michelle will be so proud!

Well...I did it! I have been reading all of Michelle's blogs about her new couponing hobby and I finally took the plunge and tried it myself. Last night, Matt and I went to CVS to pick up a prescription for Gracie. Michelle had already given me the info I needed to get 6-12 packs of Coke for a great deal, so I decided to try it. They were out of the soap I was supposed to buy to get an extra $4 off of my cokes, but I actually already had a $3 ECB from a previous purchase so I used that instead. After using my $3 ECB, plus getting $10 ECB back on my Coke purchase, I paid about $1.50 each for 6-12 packs of Cokes. I think I got a great deal!

Matt was with me and he is totally on board now. I even overheard him on the phone last night telling his Dad what a great deal we got and what great deals Michelle has already gotten. I am all about saving money, and I look forward to saving more!

Thanks Michelle!!!

Just a quick update on Matt...

Matt seems to be doing very well. He continues to get around fairly well and refuses to stay on the couch. He even cooked dinner for us last night! He started physical therapy this week and has to go three times a week. His appointments are at 8:00 in the morning, so I take him and a dear friend of mine who is a stay at home mom has graciously volunteered to pick him up and take him back home so that I can go ahead and get to work. Thank you Heather!!

Yesterday was my first full day back at work. I think Matt was fine being at home by himself, besides just being bored. He is definitely not a stay in the house kind of guy. My parents left on Monday, but were a HUGE help while they were here. As of right now, everyone in the family is healthy (although Katherine had a note from daycare yesterday that she had been exposed to strep and pneumonia), and as soon as Matt is comfortable enough not to have to take any pain medicine he can drive.

Keep us in your prayers. Please pray specifically for his speedy recovery and for my work schedule. I haven't exactly worked out how I am going to get through tax season without his help. I'm hoping that he'll be able to drive and take care of the girls without too much difficulty in the next couple of weeks.

Surgery Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that Matt's surgery went well yesterday. It was a long day, but we made it through. We had to be there at 7:30 in the morning and didn't make it home until about 3:30. He is actually doing a lot better than I expected him to be. I thought he would probably be pretty immobile for the first week or so, but he has been moving around on his crutches ever since we got home. He even went up the stairs last night so he could sleep in the bed. He's been complaining with pain a little more today than yesterday, but I told him that I thought the day after surgery was always the worst.

It has been a crazy last several days. Matt, Gracie and I all had a stomach virus over the weekend. I kept Gracie home from school on Monday, but took Katherine to daycare. The surgery was yesterday. About 4:00 yesterday afternoon, daycare called and said Katherine had a fever, so I had to go pick her up. So I have Katherine home today and Gracie at school. Nothing ever seems to work out exactly how we plan it, but I guess we do the best we can. My parents are coming in tonight, so I am thankful that they will be here the rest of the week and weekend to help out with the girls. Neither of the girls even care about me or Matt when Granny & PawPaw are around, so it will be a good distraction for them.

Keep us in your prayers and I will try to keep the blog updated!

He's not a kid anymore...

Lori brought up Matt being hurt in a comment she made, so I just thought I would post about it so that everyone would know.

Over Christmas, we had a social gathering with my mother's side of the family. My mother has 7 brothers and sisters, so needless to say, it was a large gathering. There are also a lot of kids ranging from birth on up to their teens. Matt was outside playing football with all of the kids and he got tackled (even though I thought there was no tackling in touch football!) and slipped on the wet grass (it had been raining) and fell wrong on his leg. We actually thought he might have broken it, but most of his pain was in his knee. So...after about 5 hours in Andalusia hospital emergency room, we were reassured it was not broken but that he had probably pulled a ligament in his knee and he should follow up here in Knoxville when we returned home.

He could barely walk for 2 or 3 days, but it seemed to get better each day. He did go ahead and follow up here at an orthopedic clinic. They did an MRI and he found out he had actually torn his ACL. Apparently it doesn't grow back on its own, so he has to have surgery. They are going to move a ligament from the front of his knee to the side of his knee. We have scheduled his surgery for next Tuesday, January 27th.

He is expected to be in A LOT of pain the first 2 weeks. The nurse practitioner we spoke with said the first week is pretty much hell and the 2nd week isn't much better, but that if we can make it through those 2 weeks, he should be okay. Very reassuring, right?!?!

He will be on crutches for 6-8 weeks, then on a walking brace. The surgeon said he would not be fully recovered from this for 6 months!!!! We are praying that after 3-4 weeks, he will be able to go back to work and at least perform "light duty" tasks. The surgeon said we would work through this as we go.

Please pray for us. Specifically to guide the surgeon's hands and for fast healing. I am starting my busy season in the next couple of weeks and he is usually left with most of the child rearing in the tax season months. These are the times when I wished we were closer to home!

Tagged

I have been tagged by Shonna to answer the hubby questions going around, so here goes!

1. What is his name? Joel Matthew Burgess

2. Who eats more? In volume, I would say Matt, but we probably eat about the same percentage of our body weight.

3. Who said, "I love you" first? This is sad, but I'm not sure. That was so long ago! We've been together over 15 years.

4. Who is taller? Matt, but it doesn't take much:)

5. Who is more sensitive? Me

6. Who does the laundry? Me, unless I haven't washed something he needs, then he does it.

7. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I'm not sure if you are talking about while we are laying down or if I'm looking at the bed. If it's laying down, that's me.

8. Who pays the bills? We both work, but I do the online bill paying - Shonna, checks are so last century:)

9. Who cooks more? Matt, and he's better at it! He usually has dinner waiting for us when me and the girls get home. It's great!

10. Who is more stubborn? We both are!

11. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Hmmm...neither one of us is ever wrong:)

12. Who has more siblings? Me. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. He has 1 brother and 1 sister.

13. Who wears the pants in the relationship? We share the pants. Neither one of us is the "boss". We try to compromise and make decisions together.

14. What do you like to do together? The normal things.

15. Who eats more sweets? Probably Matt. He's a snacker. I just like to eat a lot of "real" food, although I do like cookies a lot!

16. Guilty pleasures? I'm like Shonna, I'm not sure of a "guilty" pleasure, but Matt likes to fish and I love to go to the movies and to go shopping.

17. How did you meet? A group of girls went to the movies to meet a group of guys (we were around 13). He asked me to sit by him. He hasn't been able to stay away from me ever since:)

18. Who asked whom out first? Matt did.

19. Who kissed who first? Matt did. I actually refused him the first time he asked:)

20. Who proposed? Matt did.

21. His best features and qualities? Hard working, caring, great father, loving, handsome, loyal.

22. Tag, you're it. Who do you tag? Michelle & Leslie (Sorry if you've already been tagged)

By the way Shonna, you skipped number 5. on your list. It actually confused me for a second:)

Santa Pictures

I have decided that I have become a sporadic poster. I go a while without posting and then I do five in one day. Sorry!

I am FINALLY posting Santa pictures. As I've mentioned before, Gracie has been terribly scared of most anything and especially characters. For instance, she loves to go to Chuck E. Cheese, but will claw you to death trying to climb up into your arms if he even dares get within 20 feet of her. The last two years, I have had to be in the Santa picture with her to keep her from crying. I decided this year to actually book a session with Santa, so she would have time to talk to him and be around him a little before she was forced into his lap. My plan worked!! We first took pictures with Santa behind the girls' chair. They had NO CLUE he was even there. It was great! Then, he came out from behind the tree and began to talk to Gracie. He was such a nice guy. He called her by name, complimented her dress, joked with her. She ended up VERY comfortable with him as you can see in the pictures. It was a great success! Even Katherine did okay as long as I didn't make her sit in his lap, which I did, and I even forced the poor photographer to take the picture. Oh well, that's what memories are made of, right?