Update

So, why exactly did we take Camron and Caden out of cribs? Oh yeah, because they are like little climbing orangutans. They have been in their "big boy bed" for 1 1/2 hours know and are yet to go to sleep. They aren't getting out of the bed...just playing!
ANYWAY.......Our March for Babies walk is this weekend! We are not too far from our goal so we are SUPER excited about that! Hopefully the weather will be nice!
As for what is new in the Duke household....Daddy-O just got home from a fishing trip in the Outer Banks. He had a good time and he and Poppi caught a few fish to cook and eat......yum! Mommy just got back from our Women's retreat in Lake Junuluska. It was very refreshing and we had a great time! Nana kept the boys and they stayed busy here! I am recovering well from the surgery! I got my staples out last Friday so that was nice. I am just a little sore. Especially when Caden accidentally kicks me in the tummy today! I will survive! It stinks not being able to pick the boys up but it isn't forever so that's a good thing! It's making me eat better which is a good thing!
That's about all! I hope you are all well!

Edward Scissorhands

So I look like I am married to Edward Scissorhands. I have 4 nice incisions from my gallbladder removal. Yep, it was laporoscopic but for some reason, I got 8 staples! Probably b/c I tend to do things the hard way...apparently even when I am under anesthesia! Oh well, I have decided that scars make for good stories in the future. If I EVER end up in a bikini again, I will now have a scar from my appendectomy, my c-section, my muscle biopsy, and 4 from the gallbladder removal! All on my right side!
On a positive note (dare I even say it....) the boys are all healthy...or semi-healthy at least. Jaxon and Caden are a bit snotty but if snot is the biggest worry I have, then I am okay with that! Daddy-O is having allergy issues but I am sending him to the Dr. to get a prescription for that! C and C are taking Singulair for their allergies and it seems to be taking care of most of their symptoms. They take their pills like little champs. It's really cute!
Grandma is here helping out this week since I can only lift 1/2 a kid at a time! Thank goodness for Grandma! She wasn't here this morning so Jaxon helped me get the babies out of their cribs! He is the best big brother in the world!
I ordered our MARCH for BABIES shirts today! I am SUPER excited about the walk. We are definitely going to have the biggest team since we started this year. I thank you all SO much for your support! We appreciate it more than you know!
Take care and I will update again soon!

Just wanted to let you all know that I am going in today to have my gallbladder taken out! The surgery is at 11:30. Hopefully this will take away SOME of my problems! I will let you know how it goes! Say a prayer for me!
Thanks!

Team T-Shirts

Hello All~
Just wanted to let you know that I will post a picture of our team shirts as soon as I have one available. If you would like a DARLING DUKES team shirt, please let me know. They are $8. If you choose to pay $10, the other $2 will be donated to the March for Babies!
I hope you are all well! Our house has gotten over the FUN stomach bug. Camron never got it but he did however get pneumonia. We spent our morning at the hospital having his little chest x-rayed. He had a hard day but was feeling much better by this evening, thank the Lord! He was SO pitiful today! Hopefully the Duke's will ALL have a clean bill of health soon! I think we have definitely had our fair share of illnesses this year!

no such luck!

Shortly after the last post, Mommy went off to slumber land. Around 3am I woke up with severe stomach pains. I got the FUN bug too! All I could think was "my poor children having to deal with such pains!!". Mine lasted for most of the day yesterday. We thought that would be the end of it but unfortunately Daddy-O got it too. His hit a little before 3am this morning and lasted most of the day today. Now EVERYTHING has been washed AGAIN. I am getting ready to go spray ALL the toys with Clorox Anywhere spray...I love that stuff.
I REALLY hope your families don't have to worry about this bug this year. I don't think I have ever felt so bad!
Toodles!

My poor sick boys!

Friday started out normal enough. Ok, so not really. I was awakened at 5:30 to Chris telling me he was out of the shower and I could get up...he knew I wasn't getting up at 5:30. He also told me his throat hurt and would I please look at it with a flashlight. Yep, he had white spots on his throat, a sure sign if strep. So, I sent him back to bed with direct orders to go to urgent care before work. So he did and it was confirmed after a few tests that he had some sort of infection so the doc would treat it as strep. Case closed!
HAHA...like any story ever ends that easily! We were looking forward to a birthday party Friday evening. It was at a campground and sure to be LOTS of fun. We had an exciting morning at the park. All had gone well. Daddy-O even felt good enough to join us at the park! We came home, the little ones went down for their nap, Jaxon went to work with Nana for a bit and Mommy and Daddy took naps. Camron woke up first in a great mood. Caden woke up last and was acting a little funny. The party started at 5. Caden was sitting on my lap and at 4:00 he started throwing up. He seemed okay but we thought we would leave him behind just to be safe while we went to the party. (We left him with Nana, not just "behind"!) We had a blast at the party. Caden was fine, he threw up a few more times that night. Once we got them all home and in the bed, he woke up at 11 throwing up all over the bed. We stripped his bed and he got to sleep with Mommy that night. All was fine on Saturday. Everyone seemed great. We took Jaxon to a movie and everyone went for ice cream that night. The drama was over.......until 4am that is when Jaxon woke up throwing up! That lasted until about 6. So, last night Jaxon got to sleep with Mommy, if you want to call it sleeping when you are running to the bathroom every 10 minutes! This morning, Camron woke up with a fever which he has kept for the biggest part of the day. He hasn't thrown up yet (knock on wood) but has not eaten much at all. I think he wants his turn in Mommy's bed tonight! Hopefully Mommy and Daddy-O will keep from getting this FUN stomach bug. I think almost every article of clothing and sheet has been washed today.
I hope all of you have had a much less eventful weekend than we have! We are praying for HEALTHIER days to come

I have been slack about posting lately!!
Happy Easter! The boys had an EXTREMELY fun weekend! They had a BIG Easter Egg Hunt at Nana and Poppi's Saturday. I definitely think it was the biggest one yet! Almost ALL of their friends were there! Yesterday they had a great morning seeing what the Easter Bunny brought. They all got Veggie Tales toys....3 different ones....what was that Easter Bunny thinking when he got Camron and Caden different toys?! Anyway, they loved them and just can't get enough. They had lots of fun at church yesterday and made some REALLY cute crafts! Their teachers ROCK!
I also decided this year that I was going to celebrate the boys "half" birthday's. Nothing big, just a 1/2 of a cake (Grandma so generously made them for me this time). We sing and they get something small. Yesterday was Jaxon's 1/2 birthday so we gave him a Ninja Turtle movie and today Camron and Caden got Diego "big boy" cups. We will do their 1/2 cake and singing tonight! It's fun and they like it so I think we will keep this tradition going!
SOOO, I had a wonderful Dr.'s appointment last week. They Dr. told me how great I was doing and how my muscle strength looked SO good and he was really impressed. He told me as long as my bloodwork came back okay, I could lower my prednisone to 9mg the following day, then within the next 4 weeks I could lower to 8mg before I came back to see him. Needless to say, I left there very excited although I have to admit that I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach....(me and those weird feelings I get!). So that afternoon his nurse calls me (and I have to say I LOVE his nurses) and tells me that shockingly, my CK level (muscle enzymes) have shot back up over 3,000 and my liver levels are elevated as well. So what does this mean??? It means that I have to go BACK to taking 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening. I also have to go in today to have a blood test done to determine if I can take a drug called Imuran. For those of you who know what that is...I am NOT sure that I will take this unless it is absolutely necessary b/c of the side effects it can cause. He is also referring me to a Dr. at Duke for a second opinion. I will go back this Thursday to have my CK checked again to make sure it doesn't continue to rise. The good thing is that I feel good. I have been tired lately but I have been busy and doing a lot more than I am used to. Please pray that my levels will go back down without having to increase my meds too much! I hope this update fills you all in on everything. Oh, Chris....can't forget about Daddy-O. He is doing well. He has been complaining of a sore throat and it does look swollen but he's been a trooper...for a man anyway!
I hope this post finds you all well! I look forward to hearing from you all soon! I will post an Easter picture soon!