CPAP Machine

Ok, here is an update.

I went last week to get "fitted" for my CPAP thingy.

It was quite interesting. Took about an hour. The lady asked me straight off if I "mouth breathe". I told her I had no idea. I don't pay attention to what I am doing when I am asleep. Pretty much impossible, in my mind. She said that I would know if I did, because I would wake up with a very dry mouth and be very thirsty. I said then I guess I don't because that doesn't usually happen. It has happened here and there over the years, but it is not the norm. Ok, she said then you need just a nasal mask, not a full facial mask. Fine.

So she went and got four various types of those. We spent a lot of time trying them on and fiddling with the machine. It was very odd to get used to all this air blowing up my nose! I had to keep my mouth closed all the time, if I opened it...I don't know how to describe it! I guess the best way would be to say it was like there was a cyclone or something IN MY FACE. Like, inside my head really. Felt like my cheeks were flapping in the wind caused by it and I couldn't get a breath. She said always keep the mouth closed and it is no problem. She was right! Sitting there awake and keeping my mouth closed, really helped.

You know how you sometimes have one of those thoughts way in the back of your mind but it can't seem to make it to the "surface" and be voiced out loud?? It doesn't get to the part where the vocal part of the brain says "VOCALIZE THIS". It was just a little tickle or something that just didn't come all the way really even to the conscious thought area.

Well, that happened. It wasn't really until I got home and was playing around with the machine, filling it with distilled water, showing it to the kids, that the thought of mine FINALLY surfaced. What if my mouth falls open when I am asleep?? What will happen then?? I told myself that I would wake up and shut my mouth, because I would not like the feeling of what it does wearing this mask with the mouth open.

Not so, apparently.

I woke suddenly at 2 AM. I don't even know how to describe what I felt in my entire mouth, throat, & on my tongue. If you took sand and rubbed it all over those places and then dried it with a blow dryer and left it that way for about ten years...that would be close!

I was in agony and my mouth was SO DRIED OUT that I could hardly move my jaw to close my mouth and gather up a pittance of saliva to attempt to moisten things. It felt like everything in there was made of paper and was going to rip and tear, but that paper was also on fire and burning! It was SO PAINFUL to finally gather up spit and close my mouth and try and swallow. I went and got a drink and then brushed my teeth and drank some more! I shut the machine off, needless to say.

I left that morning to watch my friends' little 16-month-old. I have been doing that once a week or so all summer. That is another story, though. I went to spend the morning with my wee friend and while he was napping, I called the sleep disorder place.

I told them that I think I need a full facial mask, not just the one that goes in the nose. I can't find a picture of my mask on-line, but it is something like this but not really! Mine is just a softer smaller looking thing with two separate things for each nostril. Clear like that, but something goes into each nostril.



I am hoping to get something like this


So I have an appointment tomorrow at one PM to get that taken care of! OH! People are so silly. When I was talking to the guy on the phone and explaining what happened and how I think we need to switch to a full face mask, he put me on hold to talk to someone. He came back and said, "Yeah, it sounds like you are going to have to switch to a full face mask". NO! YA THINK!?!? WOW! I wish *I* had thought of that!

Is that a guy thing?? My husband does that to the kids and I ALL THE TIME. We say something and then he repeats the exact same thing we have said, but in a way like HE thought of it. Anyone else experience this?? It has honestly never happened to me with females before. It is only guys who ever do that, in my experience.


Alright, off to feed the homeless at the Gospel Mission. I need to find a place that lets the kids do it too. The place we went to a few years ago is too far away...

If you take the time to read that, please remember that L=Cryptic, B=Jock, R=Clown and
Bee=Princess. This was before I thought of their "nicknames" and I just used their first initials. Obviously, Jock and Princess have the same ones, so my friends and I started using "Bee" for Princess when she was born. When we e-mail each other about our kids, we just use initials instead of typing out their entire name all the time. Mothers need anything to save time, you know:)

Anyway, the place I am going today will only allow Cryptic and I. Well, I mean Stud could come too but you have to be 16. Cryptic won't be 16 until November, but they are making an exception:) teehee. But yes, I want to find somewhere closer that we can all go to regularly. Another thing that bothers me about the place I am going today is that it is only once every two months!?!? Sorry, but I want to help more often than that, ya know??

Hope everyone has had a lovely weekend!

It's that time of year again...

Princess and I went shopping for her new dance items. She needs new shoes every year obviously. Since she grows and all that weird stuff kids do.

This year she is not only doing ballet, but is now old enough to start hip hop! OH MY! Could there be anything better?? She is SO EXCITED!

Behold my baby in her new (expensive! *cough*) garb...





Her stinkin' hip hop shoes alone were FIFTY BUCKS!?!? Ballet was never this expensive!

Of course we had to get this amazing shirt...she is SO tickled and in love with the fact that it is off the shoulder and has those straps...










She just had to go and check it out in the mirror...









She also chose a new tutu. When she was in Saskatchewan I found this pink Leotard at Toys R Us for $7.








She is now at a size/age where the ballet slippers come like that we need to adjust them. I will sew the straps where they need to be. I want her teacher to have a look first and see where they are supposed to go, I know nothing about this stuff!

So we are set with that. She starts next week and cannot wait! I ordered her a beautiful dance bag from here that has her name on it. Isn't that stuff pretty?? She got it in the mail on Monday and was SO SURPRISED! She LOVES that it has her name embroidered on it:) It is even better quality than you can tell from the photos on the site. I am so impressed and will buy more things from there. The service was amazing as well!


We got the kids a trampoline while they were in the Great White North! What a great surprise to come home to. Guess what paid for it?? THIS!

That's right. The insurance company wanted to shut me up so they paid me a little bit for my "injury". It was the exact amount of the trampoline I have been wanting to get the kids for about four years. So now they have it. We had to pay extra for the enclosure of course. Safety first! Photos will follow.

I need to go fill my face with my favourite chip dip that Stud brought me from Canada when he went to pick the kids up from my brother. He forgot my chips, so I need to use American ones. It's ok though. Don't worry about me. The man tried his best and no one is perfect, you know?? The American ones are better than nothing, at least I have my dip...aaahhhh... the best EVER.

Guess what else I get?? One of my FAVOURITE Chocolate bars:)


I'll worry about losing weight (an on-going battle for the past SIX YEARS! that you all are sick of me whining about, I am sure) next week:) When the Canadian goodies are gone:)


Oh yeah, life is good...

Sleep much??

Well I found out some interesting information this morning.

I don't recall if I blogged about it or not. I went and had a sleep study done about a month ago. That experience in itself should have a post devoted to it. I don't have time, though! LOL

I have been wondering why I am so tired, need to nap most days, don't feel rested when I rise and have worse "brain fog" than ever! Everything was made clear to me today when I went to meet with the Dr. and have my results explained to me.

Apparently, at least the night I had the study done, I woke about 95 times in five hours! I stopped breathing most of those times and my blood oxygen level went as low as 82%. They said that I actually turned blue once and was not breathing for almost 18 seconds, when I guess I started again. It took me 54 minutes to get to sleep in the first place (I usually have issues with falling asleep and there it was much worse!) and I guess I woke up an average of 16.5 times an hour! NO BLOODY WONDER I don't feel rested.

I was there for 11 hours and actually "slept" for almost five. The rest of the time I was fully awake. I only remember waking up three times, and many nights here at home I wake up as many as ten times. Of course these are times that I am aware of. Clearly I am waking many more times than that! The interesting thing was after the study when she woke me up and was asking questions, I said that I felt like I slept for five hours, but that I did not get five hours of restful sleep. I had no idea how accurate I would be! I thought it would end up being 7 or 8 hours.

So I obviously need a CPAP. This will be hard to get used to, but I am SO EXCITED at the idea of actually sleeping soundly and getting restful sleep. I can't imagine! WOW! Another plus will be remembering things better:) I am hoping to lose some weight also. The main reason I even checked into this in the first place was because of an article I read about people who used to be slender and then gained weight with no explanation. That is me! My thyroid is still unbalanced and I know that, plus my age and metabolism slowing certainly add to it. I am wondering if getting a great sleep will increase my energy and therefore my activity level. I find it odd that I had more energy and was still slim just five or six years ago when I had small kids and toddler and was up in the night nursing babies. You would think that THEN I would be tired and have more brain fog.

So there it is. Pretty weird to think that I stop breathing at all, let alone for that long! I will try and update on my machine when I get it and be better about updating in general.

My kids all came back on Sunday night and I am just thrilled:) More on that soon!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Real men wear kilts

So Stud borrowed a friends kilt the other night when they went to a party.

Is it just me, or is this AWESOME!?!?!? This one is too short since the person who owns it is about six inches shorter than Stud. You get the idea, though.


He is looking into getting a few of his own. LOVE IT!

That is all.

Creepy...

I just saw this on a friend's blog and it creeps me out how accurate something this silly can be!!

You can go here to do it if you want:)




What Your Feet Say About You:
You are not very expressive. You tend to keep your emotions to yourself.

You are a somewhat passionate person. A few things get you very fired up, but you're usually pretty laid back.

You are an assertive person at times. You'll pull out all the stops to get what you want, if it's worth it.

You take a while to fall in love, but once you do, you stay pretty attached to your partner.

You are not afraid of anything. You are brave and courageous, even when most people would be terrified.

You are intellectual and philosophical. You are more concerned with thoughts than action.

You are an amazingly hard worker. You aren't spoiled and you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

You are easily influenced by other people. You're quite impressionable, so you should only be around people who are a good influence.


The only statement that is not really true is the fifth one. All the others are extremely close to fact. Although I have been told that # 1 is true, that is changing as I age. I am becoming much more clear about my feelings and emotions and if you were to ask Stud I am certain he would say that I am more open than I used to be.

Cool, eh??

Phone call from Clown

Well, I have been a negligent mother:(

Yesterday afternoon the phone rang and it was my parents' # on the caller ID. I picked it up and there were some snuffling sounds. A tiny voice ventured..."Who...*sniffle*...who is this??"

I said, "It's your mother!". For a moment I thought it was Princess. I realised it was my wee little Clown. He still has his darling little boy voice so sometimes even at home here, it is hard to tell who is who if they are not within sight. In fact we have some issues with that sometimes. I hear one of them in a hallway or something and they ask for a snack or what have you. I am trying to train them to either come to where I can see them or say who they are! LOL Clown forgets (I think he is mad that I can't tell him from his SISTER, so he will just show me by not lowering himself to tell me who he is!) most of the time, but Princess is getting it. She usually says, "It's me, Princess!" We think it is fun because her name actually rhymes with "ME" so it is like a little song when she sings it out all cute!

So Clown began truly sobbing outright and I eventually gathered that he was saying he was SO HOMESICK. Poor little man! I had not been calling because I assumed they would be busy and visiting people and doing many things. I did not want to bother them and told them I would wait until THEY called. I had talked it over a bit with Princess before they left and like a goof, I don't even know if Clown and I discussed it. Princess doesn't get very home sick and welcomes a break. Clown is so very different and it was pretty miraculous that he went at all. It is the first time in his life that he has been gone from Stud and I for more than a few days, and that is always local, when he spends a weekend at a friend's house or something. I should have known better:(

I talked with him for about 45 minutes. He filled me in on what all they are doing there. Apparently he has been eaten up by mosquitoes. We don't have any here (I know! COOL HUH??) and he is not used to them. I forgot that every time we go to the prairies, they have a blast with him. Something about him they just LOVE! The thing is, he swells up a lot from them:( I looked for a photo to show, but I don't have any digital ones. If they get him near his eyes, they swell shut. So he was telling me how my nephew has some plant at his house and you just take a leaf and rub it on you and the little buggers don't bother you as much! I told him to remember to do that a lot of else get Granny to put bug spray on him.

Most of the family had gone to the EX, but obviously he opted not to go. WAY too many people! He would have...I dunno what he would have done. He just can't handle things like that. I hate it for him, he would love the rides, food, sights, etc. If only he could go when there is hardly anyone there.

He is SO CUTE! He was saying how he wishes he was seven or eight again. Those are the best ages to be, he informed me. He doesn't want to grow up and get older. He said, "Like...I wish I could be seven or eight again...but still like...you know...increase my vocabulary and learn all the fun stuff with you when you are teaching us stuff, but just not grow...you know?? Like if it could be much more gradual that would be the best!"

He asked if we were working on moving the bedrooms around. The plan, while they are gone, is to move Stud's office into the "schoolroom" (which is an extra kitchen in the basement) and then move Jock into the office (the 5th bedroom has always been used for Stud's computer and guitars). Then Clown will move out of the biggest bedroom that he and Cryptic share, into Jock's old room. We can't just move Clown into the office and leave Jock where he is because of how the window is in there. The house is built into a hill and that window on that end of the house is one where you need to crawl into a recess in the ground and then pop off a plexi-glass cover that is set on the ground above it. Since Jock is 13 and Clown is only 9, we would prefer Jock deal with that in case of a fire or something and allow Clown to have a room with a "normal" window. This way, everyone will FINALLY have their own rooms.

Also, we are re-doing the boys' bathroom down there AND hopefully getting all the new school books and everything organised in some fashion so as to make daily school work flow a lot more smoothly. So he was asking all about that, he is excited to come home to his own room and choose the paint colours and get it arranged how he wants it:)

At one point Jock spoke with him while I prepared a snack for him. He is so funny, he is loving his holiday. He sits in the office on his computer and then calls me with his cell phone asking for snacks! He is loving the attention, normally I am much more focused on the younger two. So when I went to give him his cheese and crackers, he said "I love you, buddy" to Clown. HOW SWEET IS THAT!?? They seldom say things like that, but I could tell from Clown's voice that he was thrilled to pieces that his big brother actually misses him! So he feels a lot better and said that if he can talk to us every day, he will be fine. Stud was out getting a hair cut and called Clown when he got back. They had a nice talk as well, so I think things will be OK now:)

So, I am off to call my little Clown and hopefully speak to Princess a bit?? She hasn't had time for her old Mum yet, but hopefully today she will see fit to grace me with some news. I did speak to Cryptic yesterday for about 5 minutes and he filled me in on some new happenings on the web site that he is the co-administrator of. He has been grounded from the computer, but we lifted that for while he is on holiday. Makes things easier on everyone up there. So he was tickled to be able to catch up on some things on there.

I will update you all on my wee Clown. MAN I LOVE THIS KID!! He is SO PRECIOUS!

Here, you need to see a photo of my little man:) You may not THINK that you do, but yes...you DO. teehee. HOW SWEET IS THIS KID!?




Here he is doing his "kitchen chores". That week it was to clean off the counter tops and wipe them down...










Here he is making a smoothie...see the mouth?? That is typical Clown. That could mean a few things: Either he is self conscious...he is worried he may do something wrong, or he is concentrating. I think it was a combo in this instance!










Here?? He is just being handsome! Now I miss him more:( *sniff* I better go get busy cleaning some more. I just called to talk to the kids and my Mum said they are all out doing various things. Clown is out for lunch with my brother and his wife.

Summer time...

...is almost over.

THANK GOD. Me no likey.

So anyway, I guess I should post something. I have not even felt like publishing any of my comments that you lovely folks have left. Just don't seem to have the energy. Weird. Maybe I can make some time to do that soon.

So yes, my boys went to the movie and had a great time. I certainly hope they make a habit of this!

Cryptic, Clown and Princess are at my parents in Saskatchewan. It seems odd. Feels VERY weird. SO QUIET around here!! Jock is LOVING being the only child for a short time. I am trying to get a lot of cleaning and organising done around here.

On Friday I drove to Abbotsford and met my brother who drove them to his place about three hours away in BC. Then the next morning he got them up at 5 and they drove to our other brother's in Calgary. On Sunday, they made it to our parents in Saskatoon. I guess they got there in time for Princess to attend a family reunion on my Dad's side. I am anxious to hear about that!

We were not sure if Clown would be able to go. We are starting to wonder if he may have some autism tendencies. I have been doing some research and he has some of the symptoms of some types, but also is not anywhere close to many of the more common symptoms. So I am not sure. I need to remember to ask his Doc when he gets back. She has already had him see a doc who is teaching him relaxation techniques. He went once and then needs to be seen when he gets back from Granny and Grandad's. So I can ask about it then.

He just gets himself SO UPSET about things and cannot handle any type of change or any crowds. It gets hard to plan around his needs in that way. I have to remember to prepare him for certain things, yet sometimes if I prepare too long ahead of time, he panics and it is worse. I can't decide which is worse; telling him we are going somewhere or just springing it on him to avoid him stressing himself about all the whys and what ifs that he seems to worry about. It seems to depend on his mood AND the situation.

So, we got him packed up JUST IN CASE. I suspected once he saw his uncle again that he would want to go. My kids all ADORE this man and he is a real card. They have a blast with him and tell all their friends all about him.

As mother often knows best, when he was sitting in Tim Horton's with his Uncle Sean, he decided he couldn't pass up this awesome opportunity. He was excited to see his cousins and everyone as well, but wasn't sure how his tummy would deal with the driving. Since he got sick in February and has had all these sinus issues, his tummy is incredibly sensitive. I have since spoke to him and he said his tummy was fine. He said he did not even need the gravol that Uncle Sean bought for him.

So we plan to get a lot done around here while the kids are on holiday. Jock would have gone but he has try outs starting soon for the AAA Bantam team and there was not room in Uncle Sean's car.


Oh, before I forget! Check out Jock's blog. He and I were rear ended a few weeks ago:( He tells the story better than I could. Except that the "tap" felt just as hard to me as the original BANG! I thought the guy was doing it on purpose. Was SO WEIRD! To be hit twice, I was thinking, "WHAT!!?? WHAT DO YOU WANT!??! WHAT DID I DO TO YOU!?!?" LOL


I will close with photos of Princess making the "fairy hats" and "fairy punch" a few days before she left for Canada.





















Pretty fancy stuff, eh??