What DOES the Gall Bladder do?

After almost a week of recovery from my surgery, I have to wonder what the gall bladder really does? I mean, why are there things in the body that we don't "really" need? The only thing I have noticed is that I can't eat as much as I used too but I can attribute that to beign sore from them digging around in my abdomen. Of course, eating LESS sure isn't going to be hurting me. Anyway, I am feeling pretty good. I am still sore but not taking pain pills anymore. I can walk around, cook, do basic stuff without being too uncomfortable. The only real issue I have is bending over and getting up and down off of the floor. I am mostly sore at the incision near my belly button, so bending gets complicated. I can tell I am going to have to get back into shape AGAIN once I am really well. Going up and down stairs gets me a little winded but I keep telling myself that they DID take out an organ! It's going to take some time to be 100%. You know I like to GO, so I am just impatient. Jeff has to go back to work tomorrow so I will be taking the kids to the gym while I go to my follow-up appointment. Lucky for me, they offered to watch the kids anytime so I'll just drop in and leave them for an hour or so. Then Jeff has the four day weekend and I should be pretty much back to normal by the time he heads back to work. Dad and Terrie will be here next Wednesday so we are looking forward to that too! We are headed to Tom and Janean's (our Army fam) for Thanksgiving so I won't have to do any cooking at all. That will be kind of nice!

Surgery

For those that don't know, I am having my gall bladder removed tomorrow (Wednesday). It's a long story but I had an attack from the cursed body part that has left me with pain and nausea so they are going to remove it. I think it will be better this way though I don't like the idea that I may never eat french fries again. Not that I even NEED them but hey, who wants to be told you CAN'T? Anyway, I'll be out of the loop for a while but will get new pictures up as soon as I am recovered.

Milestones

I know this is a moment only another mom would appreciate, but Jack had a breakthrough in potty issues this week. Usually I just watch him for signs of having to go and take him regularly but while I was drying my hair the other day he came and found me. He was holding his butt going "mommy hurry" (it was pretty cute). So, I get his pants down and am standing him on the stool when he says "no, poop!" Aha I think....he's finally got it!! So I sat him down and sure enough he went. I was so excited. Obviously, since I'm sharing it in my blog but it really was a big moment for us. Hope that didn't gross anyone out. Molly is also walking a lot more. She kind of quit after she did her first steps but now she's walking more and more every day. It's funny because she walks the same way she crawls. She leads with one leg the entire time. She gets so excited when she's doing it too that you just have to laugh. My milestone is in clothes. I have to admit, I rarely buy clothes for myself because I don't like the size I have to buy. Having said that, I guess I'm still in denial that I have actually lost some weight because I bought a pair of large workout pants off the clearance rack without trying them on and they are too big!! Can you believe that? So, I got out some jeans my aunt Holly had given me back before Jack was born. They are a size ten and I thought NO WAY but yes, they fit me! I was in total shock. I am now wearing three pairs of jeans that are size 10 and I can't believe it. I can also wear a Large shirt instead of XL. I never thought that would be possible. Anyway, this is big for me because now I have given myself the OK to buy some clothes.....Just in time for my trip to NY! We've got the details worked out finally and I am taking two friends with me. We have our hotel (in Times Square) and our Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular tickets reserved. I am so giddy it is ridiculous! I just wish all the women I love could join me! Let's just hope we don't get injured ice skating in Rockefellar Center!!

Our own ER

We had quite an ER experience on Friday with Molly. I took her in because it seemed like she was having trouble breathing and she had a temp of 103. They got us in quickly but we ended up there for almost seven hours. After the exam, an IV (traumatizing for mom and baby), xrays, and a cat-scan (doubly traumatizing for mom), the diagnosis was a double ear-infection and strider (severe croup). Yikes, what a day. I will never, ever consent to an IV again unless absolutely necessary. I'm glad we were on the safe side, but whoa, what an ordeal for such a small diagnosis. Anyway, they gave her steroids to help with the strider and antibiotics for her ears. She should be doing better soon. Jack still has a little cough but seems to be doing just fine. Daddy has been under the weather for a few days and I woke up with a sore throat today. Just GREAT! Ahh, you gotta love cold and flu season! It's my favorite time of year. :) We got brave and took the kids to see "Chicken Little" today. Jack had fun but I spent 90% of it in the hall with Molly. I figured the popcorn would keep her still but she was more interested in crawling up the lit stairway. Jeff said the movie was stupid but it looked cute to me and Jack seemed to like it. I guess we just learned to leave mom and Molly home for outings like that. My bad...We've had gorgeous weather here the past few days--strange really. It's been in the upper seventies. It's given us a chance to get outside before winter really hits. Molly likes to spite us. We were so excited about her walking that she decided to stop. What a turkey. I guess we'll just have to act like it's no big deal. The holidays are coming up fast and I've started my shopping. It is getting harder and harder to shop for the nieces and nephews. AND our kids too. We have no idea what to get them. They don't NEED anything and are too young to ask so I think Santa is keeping it minimal this year. We're talking 2-3 presents each and maybe a joing gift like a playhouse or something. We might as well save some money for when they are begging for the "IT" toy of the season.....