Jerod and Dr. Carter...

OK, so a little update on our life. Thursday March 16th Jerod met with a neurosurgeon in Madison to talk about back surgery options. "No doubt about it," says Dr. Carter, "you are in alot of pain. (no surprise, there) I don't tell anyone that they have to have surgery, but here are your options: Have the procedure done or continue living this way." Well, DUH! Whaddya think we are going to choose? So he shows us Jerod's MRI films and my goodness!-even an untrained eye like mine could see the huge rupture on his L-5 disc. It made MY back just looking at it. The rupture was 80% as big as the disc itself. Not good. So, Dr. Carter (BTW-Nothing like Dr. Noah Carter from ER fame-more like Uncle Pat Rock with hair) says he is not sure what his schedule looks like, but we are probably looking at surgery the 6th of April. UGH-3 more weeks in pain. I could see in Jerod's face that he wasn't thrilled with that prospect, but we had mentally prepared for it. What surgeon has openings in his schedule a day or two out? Well, as it turns out-He did! When his nurse came in to go over paperwork and such, she mentioned that the Dr. had a cancellation the next day. If he gave the go-ahead, then Jerod would be under the knife and done by this time tomorrow. WOW! There are miracles to be had! We were thrilled, and to make a long story short-Jerod had a microdiscectomy done Friday, March 16th and was home the next day. His leg feels a million times better, he can walk upright and he has actually smiled a bit in the last week! It will be several weeks before we know if the nerve will heal itself 100%, but in the meantime, he can feel his toes again.

The kicker is this: Will he be able to go back to construction? My gut says probably not. If not, then what? It makes my head hurt to think about it. We are just trying to take it one day at a time and do what we can to keep afloat.

One major good thing we learned from Dr. Carter: We have a good case to sue Worker's Comp. He said that he's been involved in hundreds of lawsuits and has never lost one yet. So, we have a profession endorsement to boost our case. It is exciting! However, like everything in the judicial system, it will take a long time. Perhaps a year or two. So, we have to exercise patience, but we will prevail! Now to find a good lawyer.....not something I am looking forward to doing.

There was a road under here somwhere!

Here's the family-less Gench's

Yep, not an ugly one in the bunch!

By the time we got this picture done a full force blizzard was raging outside. The gathering broke up rather quickly after that.

Some reception photos

My handsome trio of men!
Joyce, Andrea and Patty Kelley
I love this one of Andrea and Kieran-I'm going to have to frame it.
Not sure how to read the expressions, but, boy can you tell they are Dad and son, huh?
These girls really shone that night. Brit, Tiffany and Val. They definetly aren't the girls climbing up the trees in our front yard anymore.

The best dancing partner (& the cutest)

Kieran was such a gentleman! He insisted on dancing with his mom. It melted my heart. Every so often, he does something so sweet that it makes my heart ache.

What beautiful people!

Jerod was way under the weather, so he didn't dance at all. So no cute couple shots of us..Although Kieran was a great dance partner.

We wish Eric and Melyssa the very best!

What a cute couple!

The day of the Blizzard...I mean wedding!

I'm having problems posting pictures to my blog, but thought I'd put this out there to let you know that I am trying . I have some great shots of some of you slow dancing with your favorite snuggle partner! I promise I will get those on here ASAP. Also, for those of you who might be having problems remembering what a Wisconsin winter/blizzard is like (you know who you are, Panamanians!), I'll put some shots of the weather from that day. Yes, we did get 15 inches or so of snow. But-main thing is-no one got hurt, everyone had a good time and Eric and Melyssa are now officially hitched!

Yummy-It's Baking Day!!!!

Last Saturday we gathered at James' to whip out a bunch of desserts for my niece Melyssa's reception for this Saturday. It went pretty well. The boys played with Micah and we got alot of desserts made. Sorry for the twisted picture-just turn your head and you will see Melony hard at work on her first of four cheesecakes that she made that day.

Micah was hilarious! He is obsessed with vacuum machines. He actually refused his dad's offer of going to the model train show that day in favor of going to Aunt Misty's cuz "She has a Hoover and a Filter Kleen (queen) vacuum, and I am going to vacuum her whole house." He asked about vacuuming non-stop until Tiff finally pulled out the filter queen for him to use. I was amazed. What a funny fetish for a 3 1/2 year old.

Well anyways-I've put in a picture of some of the finished bars. Yummy-can't wait for Saturday! Although we are in for a major winter storm this weekend-6-10" snow and sleet and freezing ice. Lovely. We got a room at the hotel where the reception is being held so we don't have to fret about driving home Sat. night. Sunday doesn't sound any better, so it should be interesting....

The Phantom Blogger has returned!

This was my lame attempt at taking my own picture in a mirror with my cell phone. Well, after many attempts, this was the most acceptable pix. Kinda lets you know what the other failures were like, huh? Just thought I'd put a pix of me on here since there are none. So, hello to you all in cyberspace!!!

Update on the fam: Jerod is continuing his decompression treatments for his back. His back has been in such horrible shape for so many years, that the therapist told him that he's gonna be worse b/4 he gets any relief. And boy, have we seen that! I've had to help him out of bed, get dressed, dry off after showering, picking stuff off the floor. Those of you who haven't seen him in a while, would be shocked at his condition. Just watching him walk is painful to see as much as it pains him to walk. I can't even begin to describe how he looks, just imagine a crooked twig with two legs hobbling along, slowly. His right leg locks up on him and he just about falls to the floor. I guess we are to the point, that even if Shaw calls him back to work, I can't see how he would be able to do his job, he can't even put on his socks, for crying out loud! In addition to the decompression treatments, he is also trying massage therapy and acupunture to help with the pain.

So I met with a Social worker a couple weeks ago and got us some help through the state for medical bills. It is something, seeing how Cayden manages to get sick every 4-5 weeks and needs some sort of medication. She also suggested that Jerod look into vocational rehabilitation through SWTC in Fennimore-you know-training him in something less physical but productive.
We'll see what that entails.

Sorry, I know that is really depressing to read. We are actually hanging in there, staying busy helps me from worrying too much. I'm helping to organize a scrap night once a month here in Dodgeville, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm so behind on my scrapping, that I need to get motivated. Melyssa's wedding is a little more than a week away, and we're excited to go. I have to admit that I think I'm more excited to go to her personal shower this Sunday. An all girls' day. I really need that right now. Hope this stupid cold I have goes away by then.

I do have to conceed that this has been probably the longest winter sofar for us. I am hoping for an early spring-longer days-being outdoors. Hopefully Jerod will be up to snuff so we can go camping a couple of times. The boys have already been asking about that. If nothing else, a few afternoons spent at the Lake will be nice to do.

Hope this blog finds all of you in good health and with happy hearts! We think of you often!
-Shannon

Kieran's name

I know I've been talking about putting a picture of Kieran's signature on here, well, now I finally have gotten around to it. For some reason, he feels the "a" comes at the end of his name, but he'll learn, right?

I'm very proud of him....

What a handsome boy-even with the bed head!

This was taken on our way to our Circuit Assembly last November. I know it's old, but I really haven't taken too many pictures lately. In fact, yesterday was the first time I even bought film in 2 months. So a little story about this picture. By noon that same day, Kieran had puked all over himself and Daddy, so the white shirt you see here in the picture wasn't so white after that. (didn't smell too great, either) Thank goodness he didn't get any on his precious blankie-it would've been meltdown time after that!
We are going sledding this weekend at Palacios', so hopefully I'll get some good action shots of that, now that I finally have film. The boys are stoked and I got them new, waterproof Lands End boots so we are equipped to enjoy a day in the snow.

More pictures from our Goodbye party for Genschaws!

Hey Aunt Cindy...This one is for you! We miss you!

Ahhh, young love!

Here are the young, madly in love couple. T minus 1 month and counting!

Congrats to Melyssa and Eric, we look forward to your wedding celebration...

Yeah, I know it's been a while...

Well winter is here in southwest Wisconsin. Our yard has about 7 inches of snow from 2 storms and the boys are in heaven! I don't think there is a square foot of untrampled snow in our yard-LOL!

We've been healthy for about 2 weeks now. A small victory since the flu is running rampant here. The boys are back into the routine of school/daycare every day with no whining about staying home. Thank goodness; it's next to impossible to get ready for work all the while having 2 whiny butt-boys crying about not wanting to go. And I'm not a morning person at all. I have been hitting my snooze button at least twice each morning just to eek out a few more minutes of peace and warmth in my bed. Sunday the meeting was cancelled due to the snow and Jerod took care of the boys so I could sleep. I didn't get out of bed until 9! Can't remember when I did that last.....It was great!

I've been tanning at Courtney Chitwood's tanning salon-Endless Sun. They opened up Jan 2. I haven't been this tan in years. It's like therapy for me. Somehow, tan fat doesn't look as bad as pasty white fat, ya know?

Kieran has started drawing still life objects-in a very surreal aspect, of course. But last Friday he sat at the dining room table and drew one of the stools at our kitchen counter. After he started describing what the drawing was of, I could make it out. Funny kid! He really is into writing words and then asking me what they say. Last Sunday he copied the years' text on the wall in the Kingdom Hall during the meeting. I was very impressed. Is it normal for an almost 4 year old to be writing this much? I can't remember Cayden being into letters this early.

Cayden's love right now is Monster Trucks. Monster Mutt, GraveDigger, Maximum Destruction are among his favorites. I've had to educate myself in this completely different genre. Not an easy task. He also likes to watch racing and car shows on TV. That's my boy-all boy!

Jerod is starting a new treatment on Monday. He is going forward with the Spinal Decompression procedure. The first 3 weeks he will go 4 times, then 3 times for 2 weeks and then 2 times the last week. We just decided to bite the bullet and pay for it however we can. I need to have my hubby back. He's to the point where he needs help getting his socks on and off, shoes, too. He can't pick things off the floor unless he drops to his knees to get it. And I know he is in alot more pain than he lets on. So something needs to be done. I pray that he will get relief with this treatment.

My mom, Jessica and Carrie and I got together last Friday and had a day of stamping and scrapping. I made several cards, and the other girls worked on their scrapbooks. Meanwhile the kids all played well together. I really like stamping, and can see myself doing lots of cards if I have time.

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I wish I had a digital camera, I know that I'd post more if I had pictures to include. Someday...someday...

Tonight it's back to work at Arthurs for lobster night. Hope to make some decent $$. Boy I know I'll be dragging tomorrow a.m. Ugh...
Everybody out there, take care! - Shannon

Welcome to the work week!

Good Monday to you all! We had a great Saturday. Jerod and I got to go to Madison with Eric and Melyssa to "oversee" them while they registered for their wedding at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. We had a fun time with them. It was great to get to spend time with Eric and get to know him better. He's going to be a good addition to the crazy Silvers' clan.

Sunday wasn't so great. From the get-go we were all on each other's nerves, the boys whining about everything and Jerod and I taking our frustrations out on each other. Ugh! I hate days like that. So I am glad to be at work today.

One purchase I made on Sat. was a Calvin & Hobbes book. All of the collections were on sale for $10!!! I should've bought another one, but I got 1. I was reading it before bed, enjoying the step back in time and laughing. I have a whole new perspective when I read it now that I am the mom to two "calvin-like" boys. Wow, so far, my boys haven't done anything even close to the crazy things Calvin does, but I can see that it will definitely be a possibility in the next 2 years. Hopefully I can just smile and shake my head when I have to deal with it.

Cayden has become a fan of Star Wars and wants to be Darth Vader all the time. A little disturbing, but I'm hopeful once he watches the older Star Wars movies, he'll turn to liking Luke and Han Solo better. Kieran has mastered (i mean this in the most lenient form) writing his name. I will take a picture of him doing it and post it here for you to see. I'm very proud of him, writing his name before he turns 4 I think is pretty amazing. He's pretty hooked on trying to write all sorts of words and letters. In fact last week he was writing stuff like B=N; X=P, N=O. Not sure where he learned these algebraic-like phrases, but he even knew that "=" means equals. Must've picked it up from daycare. Maybe I am getting my money's worth there after all.

Take care all of you! - Shan

When is it too old to roller skate?

Last Monday, Wes fell and broke his lower leg in two places at a congregation roller skating party. We had just been at their house that day for an awesome fried turkey dinner with the friends we went camping with. We had been joking that day about not breaking a leg. Well, guess nobody's laughing now, huh? Poor guy will be laid up for 8-12 weeks. Hope he (and his wife) survives that. He had to have surgery to insert a rod in his leg to help it set. Yuckky!

So if you can, drop him a line or an email. Address is deliverancer@charter.net

Welcome to 2007!

It is true that every year you grow older, the faster time goes. It was just yesterday (or so it seems) that we moved to Dodgeville. In reality it has been 1 year and 2 months. Crazy....

We had a great winter break. The boys spent 2 days at Nana's house. They were thrilled to be able to go to the new playland at the McD's in Richland Center. Then, Wed night their friend David came over for a couple hours to play. I was called in to work at Arthurs that night, so I missed out on that. By that time I hadn't seen the boys for a couple of days and boy did I miss them! Thursday we didn't do much except hang out at home. Friday we had an awesome day.

After Dad finished working at Misty & Todd's house we headed into Madison to see "Night at the Museum" at the IMAX. Valerie and Brittney went with us too. The boys loved the movie, actually, all of us did. Very entertaining! After the movie, we treated the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. We had never been there before and decided it was time. Got to be honest, it wasn't exactly what I imagined. It is definitely geared for the 8 and under crowd. So the boys were in HEAVEN! They even got to hug Chuck E. Cheese himself! Cayden took to Skee-ball very well and Kieran got hooked on Whack a Mole. By the end, we had over 300 tickets which got us, 2 rubber spiders, one spider ring, two tiny toy airplanes, two plastic "bling-bling" rings for mommy, and two tiny hand clappers. The boys were thrilled and now that is all we hear.."Can we go to Chuck E. Cheese, PLEEEEEEEASE?" Wow-I think we created two monsters..

The next morning we all had tummy issues and I think we ate something questionable the night before. But it was only a little bug, so by the afternoon we were fine. I had Stampin Up party and made a couple neat cards and ordered some stamping supplies in order to do more projects. I'm excited to get my stuff and get to work.

Yesterday we were at Shane and Jess's for a football party. Jess's sister, Sara, was there with her family. Keegan is only a couple days older than Cayden, so you can well imagine how much fun the boys had. We brought Legos and Hot Wheel cars and they were loving life to say the least. I got to rock Sara's little boy, Quinn, to sleep. He's 9 months and just a cutie. I haven't held a baby in forever, so I cherished it. Then I got to hold Micah and Kasey's little girl. she's only 9 weeks and did she ever smell lovely. I'm not sure what Kasey uses in her wash, but whatever it is smells heavenly!

Sorry I don't have pictures, I have been slacking off lately. Bad Mommy!

Well, there is our update. I'll post again if I missed any important details!

My digital camera is my phone, so the quality of the picture isn't so hot, but Cayden had a cute look on his face. School was delayed a couple hours this morning due to fog, so we had some extra time to enjoy each other's company.

We are heading to Janesville tomorrow to the Circuit Assembly that we missed a month ago due to being sick. We almost would've missed this one since Cayden is just getting over a combo of bronchitis (again) and strep throat. But he's doing better, so off we go tomorrow. Hopefully we don't get any frozen precipitation tonight to hinder our travels tomorrow.

Tis the season...

TO BE SICK!

Ugh, this week has been especially trying with the boys not feeling well. Starting out with a possible case of pink-eye with Cayden, we've moved to a chest/barking cough thing combined with runny noses. Then, last night Cayden started puking. Poor guy! He's such a trooper. Apparently he coughed so hard that he ended up puking all over his bed. I can't believe that I didn't wake up with all of that. He actually came into my room to wake me and inform me that he threw up in his bed. (Sorry, Star for all of this talk of vomit and such. You can stop reading if you need too.) After cleaning up his bed, he fell back to sleep, but was up 25 mins later running to the bathroom. Poor little guy had nothing left in his stomach and we all know how pleasant that feels. He never cried or complained. He just got through each episode and went back to sleep. So he is home today. Kieran is too, since he woke up hacking last night with a fever. My night was spent being nurse back and forth between bedrooms. At least it wasn't tag-team puking, we've been through that before and if I never have to deal with that again, it will be too soon.
Ok, so now everyone is up to date on the health of my family. Lovely story, isn't it? Hope that Daddy doesn't get waylaid with this stomach thing. I need him to get me through this week.
Hope that my next post finds us all feeling much better.....