Life....

The Barker Zoo has been busy; sort of.. Not in the way we had hoped but busy anyway. We had such big plans this summer. The kids and I were going to sleep in everyday, lay around in the pool, and do a whole lot of nothin'. Unfortunately, life kind of does what it wants eh?

I ended up having surgery last week to have a nephrostomy tube placed in my left side. I fought it until the end, but wish now I wouldn't have! The procedure itself was painful but it didn't last long. The recovery has been uncomfortable, just trying to get in a position that allows me to sleep some is the biggest challenge. But the excruciating pain from the blockage and the "sick" feeling I had was completely gone. That is until, the left kidney started backing up on Sunday... I go in tomorrow for another renal test to see how the kidney is doing. If it is blocked, then we have to do another procedure, another tube for that kidney. Not terribly excited to say the least but I feel so sick right now again that I honestly would welcome the relief. The plan is to keep the tube in until after the baby is born. Then they will do testing to determine why I have a blockage and we will go from there.

School starts in 2 weeks and if I need a tube in the other kidney I hope we can get it done by the end of this week or early next so I can feel decent before the first day of school.

Thankfully, the baby has tolerated all of this wonderfully! He is kicking away and growing like a champ. I actually gained 2 lbs this week. My mom and Josh keep fixing all this food and I finally have an appetite. The surgeon was able to do the procedure with minimal radiation and he felt confident the baby would be fine. You have to be on your belly for the surgery and honestly that was the worst part for the baby. He was punching the table like "get off me woman"! I have to have a new tube placed every 8 weeks or so. I can't imagine how much fun when I am 9 months pg laying on my belly for an hour will be!

The kids and I have been playing board games, watching movies and reading. I am not allowed to swim with the tube, so that reallllly stinks! But when Josh gets home he takes them swimming, on walks, to the park and they count the hours, minutes, literally until he gets home everday! Josh got the flu over the weekend and was fevering and chilling. He is getting better, but for a few days there he was pretty sick. Thankfully, no one else caught it.

Josh is loving his job and this Friday is his last class for the summer. He will be glad to get his weekends back :-)

Kloe is getting so big. She is going thru this stage of constantly asking "am I the baby?". She is a little worried this baby will take her baby princess status :-) Josiah will be starting preschool at home this fall and can't be more excited. He is growing so much. He was such a rambunctous toddler, always into everything, never wanted to obey. Now, he is 4.5 years old and so calm and can play alone. He listens very well. Noah and Kelly start middle school. How depressing is that? Noah is excited as this year we are adding some higher level Science classes. We are still waiting from a call from Kelly's surgeon for a surgery date. She is getting anxious to get the process started.

We hope to talk to all of you soon and thanks for all the calls and emails and prayers!

Andra