Gotta love the lovies....

...except when you can't find them that is. If you were a blankie, where would you be? That has been the question of the evening. We have been looking for Camron's blankie for close to 2 hours with no such luck finding it! He is snoozing happily luckily...Mommy and Daddy-O are just having a hard time giving up the search. I think I will give up until tomorrow. If it is possible to look for something too hard, we are WAY past that! We can only pray he doesn't wake up in the middle of the night frantic over his missing blankie...and if he does that we can borrow Caden's without him noticing! Good Night All!

It's been a while!

So much has gone on since my last post. The boys have thankfully been healthy. I have spent a few days in the hospital due to high liver levels. We had a wonderful week at Outrigger Island. Lots of fun stuff! So, let's see if I can update you without boring you too badly!
Jaxon, Camron and Caden are enjoying the summer. They love the pool, although they are unsure of themselves most of the time! Jaxon is having his first swimming lesson this Wednesday so hopefully he will become more comfortable with the water soon! Camron and Caden are literally two peas in a pod! They are more and more attached each day doing things for each other and sharing toys...it's just too cute!
I spent a few nights in the hospital at the beginning of the month b/c my liver levels sky-rocketed to dangerous levels and they were trying to figure out why. They still aren't sure but they had me stop taking Imuran which I was on for my polymyositis. So, it has been almost a month that I have only been on 10mg of prednisone which is resulting in my CK levels rising! I go for more blood work next Tuesday so maybe I will have some answers after I get those results....we shall see!
Last week we spent each day on Outrigger Island....at Life Community Church that is! It was VBS and we had a great time! We got to do lots of fun things and the boys did great to have such long days! We are going to spend a few days at Grandma and Papa's pool in a few weeks which will hopefully tide us over until our one and only beach trip of the year in September!
I am now gearing up to plan the boys birthday party for this year. Jaxon wants a "Discovery" Party.....hmmm, where will I go with that one? I have a few things up my sleeve!
Today is a happy day for our family as well! Chris and I have been married for 6 years today! We went to dinner last night while the boys stayed with Nana and Poppi. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
WELL....I think that about sums it up! I hope this long awaited post finds you all well. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to figure out what is going on with my levels and look for a treatment plan that will work for my body! I PROMISE to try and be better about updating! I will post a few pictures soon!

Scary Scary Day

Wednesday started off GREAT! The boys were getting along. Jaxon went off to school in good spirits. Camron and Caden and I played and they let me clean a little. Our Wednesday morning prayer/play group was cancelled so C and C and I ran a few errands before picking up Jaxon then we met some friends at good ole' "chickalay" for lunch. The boys had a great time playing after they ate. Caden fell in the play area and Jaxon came running to me screaming "emergency, emergency" which was cute. Caden was okay, just a bloody nose. Blood always makes it seem worse! We cleaned him up and played a little more, they ate their ice cream then off we went. Out to load the car then home for a nice quiet afternoon....NOT SO MUCH. This is where the drama begins.......
The boys have been climbing in and out of the car since Mommy's surgery. I strap Caden and Jaxon in then go around to strap Camron in b/c he is on my side. WEEEELL, Camron took a nose dive out of his car seat onto the CONCRETE in the "chickalay" parking lot. {Can I just say, something had to of helped my child to NOT fall so hard as to crack his skull.} Thank GOD, my friend, Holly, was still there. I ran around and got him but was too afraid to look at his head. Holly came running (literally...and she is 6 weeks away from having a baby) and watched the other 2 while I went and got ice. I was crying, Camron was screaming, the "chickalay" lady was crying with me. There were EMS there eating so they came and checked him out and told me he should probably be seen by the pediatrician or taken to the ER. (so much for that quiet afternoon, huh?!). So, Holly, being the great friend she is took her 2 boys and Jaxon home with her. I took Caden to my Mom to take a nap and Camron and I went off to the Dr. It was very hard to keep him awake all the way there but we made it (both of us crying the entire way) and the Dr. said he was just fine! Good thing he has such a hard head I guess! He has awful road rash ALL the way down the side of his head and I don't know how it couldn't have hurt like the dickens but he seemed more concerned with the cut on his finger!
SOOO, that was the Wednesday drama for the Duke's......I think I will have to come up with a nice "soap opera" name for these stories one of these days!
Oh, and by the way...I have lifted the restriction on not picking up my kids. I would much rather hurt myself than have another one of them act like super man only to go crashing into the pavement again!
THANK YOU HOLLY for saving me yesterday! I really don't know what I would have done had you not been there to help me think...or to think for me better yet! And thank you Mom for taking Caden when you had "other" things going on!

Go Go Gadget HAND...

I don't know how many of you remember the show Inspector Gadget but I would be very appreciative if I had a go go gadget hand. You know, a spare hand that would pop out any time I needed it. Wouldn't that just be GRAND. That way I would have one for each child and any time we were crossing the street or a parking lot, I could safely hold on to each of them! No such luck! I usually end up holding 2 little hands with one of mine which undoubtedly causes someone to step on the back of someone elses shoes or accidentally trip someone which results in someone screaming! Just thought I would share this thought. I wish I had a picture of this to post! I am sure we are a sight! It is fun though, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Oh where, Oh where has my little BLOG gone?

Or better yet, Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the SLACKEST of them all???
It has been a while since I have posted....lets see if I can update without typing TOO much! Camron and Caden are now successfully sleeping in their "big boy bed". They still play more than they should before going to sleep but that's okay in my book! Jaxon is almost finished with preschool which is exciting around here! He is getting a pet frog if all goes well this summer. One of his buddies has one and he just thinks it's the coolest....and so does Mommy! We are also planning on getting some caterpillars and watching their "LIFE" change as well! All of the boys are getting so big and growing SO much that it is amazing! They are such smart little boogers and very caring for each other! Now don't get me wrong...they fight like the best of them and can hurt each other too but they get along more than they argue which is a good thing.
Mommy and Daddy-O are good. My CK levels are on their way back to normal. I have a Dr.'s appt. next Thursday to have them checked again so I am praying they will be normal then. We shall see! I am still recovering from the gallbladder surgery but things are well. I am still trying to keep my diet pretty limited. More so for my own well being! I am still not supposed to lift over 10 lbs but I have here and there...that's a hard thing to ask of a Mommy, ya know! Sometimes you just can't turn down those big puppy dog eyes when they say "pick me up Mommy"!
Anyway~
As for our MARCH FOR BABIES update..the walk was GREAT! We had over 20 walkers (including kids) just on our team alone! I was very excited about that! We exceeded our goal AND we still have money coming in! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all that supported us in EVERY way! We are SO grateful to you! This cause is SO very near and dear to our hearts and any of you that see Camron and Caden regularly know how truly amazing little boys they are and how far they have come in the past 2 1/2 years!
I am going to attempt to post a new picture of the boys that my Mom had done as a surprise for me for Mother's Day. It's such a good picture!
I hope you are all well and I will try to do better with my blogging!

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!