Bucket List

So I decided to start a bucket list.  This will be a living and breath, ever changing list of things I want to see, do, or accomplish before I die.  These will not be in any particle order just a long list.

So off we go:

1. Hear Riley say "I love you Mommy"
2. See Riley take her first steps
3. Go to Ireland
4. See the pyramids
5. Go see Jeff Dunham
6. Go see Aziz Ansari
7. 
   

Update of Project New Me

So i have being doing the Medifast plan since September and to say it works would be a understatement.  I have dropped 30 lbs.  Not onyl that but I went off teh plan for the month of December and I was able to keep all that weight off.  I would like to drop about 13 lbs more lbs and I would be completely happy.  Right now I weigh less then I did was I was in college.  I am very proud of myself.

My Measurements at the start of Medifast:
Upper Arms: 14.0 in
Chest: 35.0 in
Waist: 37.0 in
Hips: 45.0 in
Thighs: 27.0 in

My Current Measurements:
Upper Arms: 12.0 in
Chest: 33.0 in
Waist: 33.0 in
Hips: 39.0 in
Thighs: 22.0 in

Starting weight on Project New Me: 185 lbs
Current weight: 145 lbs
Goal weight: 135 lbs (this has been updated)

So here are my goals:
1. Drop 5 lbs 
2. Drop 10 lbs 
3. Drop 15 lbs 
4. Drop 20 lbs 
5. Drop 25 lbs
6. Drop 30 lbs
7. Drop 35 lbs
8. Drop 40 lbs
9. Drop 45 lbs
10. Drop 50 lbs

Until next time.

Days of Thankfulness

So one year ago when I started these Thankfulness posts I had the best of intentions of posting something for all 365 days, but I only made it to 212. So I thought that I would put together the Top 10 Things that I am thankful this year.

10. I am thankful that Kyle and I were able to drop an amazing amount of weight to get ourselves healthier. 

9. I am thankful that I was able to cut my work hours this year in order to spend more time at home.

8. I am grateful for the large support network that we have. It is amazing to me how many people support who aren't related to us

7. I am thankful for my wonderful husband

6. I am thankful for our Godson. And I am doubly thankful that he is as healthy a he can be right now.

5. I am grateful for my wonderful friends

4. I am grateful for each new thing that Riley learns

3. I am thankful for how happy Riley is as soon as I walk in the door. It does not matter how bad my day was she always has a smile and a big hug waiting for me when I come in.

2. For my mom, without her we would not be able to do everything that we are able to do.

1. That we still have Riley. She was one very sick little girl this summer and I am grateful that we had good doctors and a huge pray network that prayed for her nonstop.

Update on Project New Me

I know that I have not posted anything for quite awhile and it has been even longer since I did a "Project New Me" update. While Project New Me has still been in effect even though I have not updated in a while.

About two weeks ago I actually started a phase (ie diet). My husband has been doing Medifast for the 2 months or so and I finally decided to try it out too. Day 1 of Medifast was on 9/2/13. And I weighed in at 175lbs. I also took my body measurements (which are listed down below). I will be trying to take this every month to track my process so I will not do this again until 10/2.

My Measurements at the start of Medifast:
Upper Arms: 14.0 in
Chest: 35.0 in
Waist: 37.0 in
Hips: 45.0 in
Thighs: 27.0 in

After 2 weeks of being on plan I have drop 10 LBS!!!!! And I feel great about it. I have actually started to have people tell me that they can see a difference!!!! I am so excited about getting myself into a healthier body. The package food from Medifast is actually not all the bad. I was not sure that I was really going to like any of it and there have been things that I will not order again. Some of favorites are the French Vanilla Shakes, the S'more Crunch bar and the Caramel Crunch bar. This plan has also forced me to start cooking dinner every night. Which I am actually finding that I enjoy more then I thought I would. We would cook dinner sometime but mostly it consisted of throwing something on the grill or order in. My husband and I have tried out several different recipes and I think I am going to start putting some of our favorites on a page here on the blog.

Starting weight on Project New Me: 185 lbs
Current weight: 165 lbs
Goal weight: 135 lbs (this has been updated)

So here are my goals:
1. Drop 5 lbs 
2. Work out every day even if it only for 10 minutes {I am not allowed to work out yet on this new plan}
3. Drop 10 lbs 
4. Follow my diet
5. Drop 15 lbs 
6. Don't cheat, ie no candy
7. Drop 20 lbs 
8. Drop 25 lbs
9. Drop 30 lbs
10. Drop 35 lbs
11. Drop 40 lbs
12. Drop 45 lbs
13. Drop 50 lbs

Until next time.

Days 213-254 of 365 Days of Thankfulness

8/8: I am thankful for my sister-in-law Julie who is celebrating her birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!!

8/9: TGIF!!!

8/10: I am thankful for getting to spend the whole day with Riley, just the two of us.

8/11: I am grateful for lazy Sundays.

8/12: I am grateful that Riley is so well behaved in the doctor's office.

8/13: I am grateful for my mom who is able to take Riley to appointments and takes such great care of her.

8/14: I am thankful to have Netflix on my phone.

8/15: I am thankful that my friends from high school and I still make an effort to get together on a regular basis. 

8/16: I am grateful for the large support network that we have. It is amazing to me how many people support who aren't related to us 

8/17: I am grateful for wonderful friend that we got I have dinner with today. 

8/18:  I am grateful I my mom who allowed me to come to her house at 630 in their bing after Riley's sleep study so that I could take. Nap

8/19: I am grateful for a wonderful friend Becky whose birthday is today. She and I have been friends since 4th grade. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!

8/20: I am so grateful that Riley is finally starting to feel more like herself.

8/21: I am grateful for a wonderful night out with a great friend tonight. 

8/22:  I am thankful to my Uncle Chris who let me use his football tickets tonight

8/23: I am grateful for the pretty rainbow that I saw today.

8/24:  I am grateful for a fun day of family time 

8/25: I am thankful for my sister-in-law go spent the day with today

8/26:  I am grateful for Riley's new teacher who specifically requested to have Riley I her class

8/27:  I am thankful for my very good friend Melinda who is celebrating her birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUH!!

8/28: I thankful for youtube for the funny videos that make my day.

8/29: I am thankful for my good friend Nicole who is celebrating her birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!!

8/30: I am grateful for how well Riley is doing.  She climbed the steps today pretty much by her self.

8/31: I am thankful that we were able to travel to see our Godson today. And I am doubly thankful that he is as healthy a he can be right now. 

9/1:  I am grateful to have had a wonderful meal and fun game night with good friends 

9/2:  I am grateful to have gotten to spend a beautiful Labor Day with my family on their boat 

9/3: I am grateful for my beautiful Godson  HAPPY BIRTHDAY IAN!!!

9/4: I am thankful for a good cup of tea.

9/5: I am grateful for each new thing that Riley learns.  She has really shown interest and is getting rather good at feeding herself mostly by herself.

9/6:  I am thankful that my first work week of Medifast went so well. 

9/7: I am thankful an email that I receive form Riley teacher last year.  She contact simply to tell me that she wished Riley a wonderful year even though she had left the school where Riley goes.

9/8: I am thankful that Riley got to play with her cousin Zander today.

9/9: I am grateful that Riley loves going to school so much that she throws a tantrum when we pick up.

9/10: I am thankful that my husband got to go hunting today because he really enjoyed it and got his first deer of the season.

9/11: I am grateful that I go to spend a wonderful dinner with a great friend, who went the extra step to make sure I did not eat the bread at Outback. THANKS MELIN!!

9/12: I am grateful that my husband and I are supporting each other on this diet so that we both are successful.

9/13: I am grateful for my Take Shape for Life coach for encouraging me everyday.

9/14: I am greatly for the beautiful weather that we had today so that the family for go the county fair.

9/15: I am thankful to my wonderful husband who let me take a nap today.

9/16: I am thankful for how happy Riley is as soon as I walk in the door.  It does not matter how bad my day was she always has a smile and a big hug waiting for me when I come in.

9/17: I am greatly that I have been plan to stick to my diet and now have drop another 10 lbs.

Days 144-212 of 365 Days of Thankfulness

So We have had a very long difficult summer.  Riley spent all of June in the hospital and as such I had a hard time finding things to be thankful for.  I have listed that time as one entry.  I am also going to do a thankful thing per week for July, there will probable be multiple item on each date set.  After this post I am going to go back to finding one thing a day to be thankful for.

6/2-6/24: I am grateful for all of the doctors, nurses, and staff that saved Riley's life and took such good care of her.

6/25-6/29: I am grateful to have Riley home. And for my mom for staying overnight at our house for the few days that we were home so I could get some sleep.

6/30-7/6: I am thankful to live in the USA.

7/7-7/13: I am thankful that Kyle is off midnights.

7/14-7/20: I am grateful for my wonderful friends.  I am thankful that Riley's swallow test showed that she is not aspirating anymore.

7/21-7/27: I am thankful to be on vacation with my family.

7/28:-8/3: I am thanking that Riley is super cuddling when she is not feeling well.

8/4: I am thankful that Riley is finally feeling better after being sick for a week.

8/5: I am thankful for a quiet day off of work to spend with my girl.

8/6: I am thankful that Riley is health, happy, and home.

8/7: I am grateful for coffee as I really needed it today.

8/8: I am grateful that today Riley climb up 2-3 steps with very little help.

Hospital stay updates

These are the updates that I have been putting on facebook.  I decided to get them together in one spot in case anyone missed any of them.

5/30/13:
For those of you that don't know Riley ha her tonsils out yesterday. She is in pain and not her normally smiley self as to be expected. We will be in the hospital until at least tomorrow. Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers

6/1/13:
On Wednesday Riley went in to have her tonsils taken out, the surgery went fine. Thursday night she developed a fever and vomiting, she was running a fever all day on Friday. Friday late afternoon, she took a turn for the worst. Her oxygen levels dropped very low and the doctors and RTs tried everything they could to bring them back up. It was decided that Riley needed to be sedated and put on a ventilator. We are currently in the Pediatric ICU at John Hopkins, and will most likely be here for at least a week.

Riley is doing better today but she is a very sick little girl. Right now the only thing that we really need to good thoughts and prayers sent Riley's way. She is a strong little girl and we and the doctors are confident that she will recover from this without any lasting effects.

6/2/13:
Not much change with Riley today. She is still sedated and on the ventilator. Katie and I are giving her lots of love, sent from so many people. Thanks for all the prayers and kind words. We are staying positive and are thankful that the doctors think that when she recovers there will be no lasting effects. Thank goodness for that

6/3/13:
We are still in the PICU and still on the vent. They have been able to lower some of her setting, but it has been slow process. Riley has developed a fever and her heart rate has been high, but the doctors are trying different things to get the fever under control and when her fever is down so is her heart rate. They may be switching her to a different vent either today or tomorrow. Small steps is all we can ask for.

I wanted to thank everything for your thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated and needed. At this point there is not really anything that we need, other then for you to keep us in your thoughts

6/5/13 (8:38 am):

Riley had a pretty good night overnight. Her heart rate, blood pressure, & oxygen levels are good. They did decide to give her another unit of blood as some of her levels were down. She seems to have liked it as her stats seems to be stable.

She is still on the vent and requiring about 60% oxygen to keep her happy. The doctors still have her heavily sedated, but she is moving in response to being touched. When she gets over stimulated she will pull away from you. So it is a constant debate whether to be standing at her bedside holding her hand or just sitting quietly next to her.

Riley's chest x-ray from yesterday did look a little better, but we still have a ways to go. I have not seen the x-ray from today yet as the doctors have not yet rounded.

We have been talking with the RTs and doctors and will probable be in the hospital for about a month. They are also saying that she may have asthma after this is all done, as any time you blow air into the lungs it does some damage and your lungs are never prefect again.

The RT also told us that he thought would probable come home on a biPAP machine. Which is like a cPAP, but helps you when to breath in AND out.

6/5/13 (12:40):
Her latest chest x-ray was worst, the bottom of her lungs has collapsed.  They started her percussion chest PT every 4 hours when she gets her albuterol.

6/6/13:
We had a good news / bad news day today. She is still on the vent and requiring about 50% oxygen to keep her happy. The doctors still have her heavily sedated, but she is moving in response to being touched. 

Good News: Her chest x-ray was better this morning. Good News: The doctors have been able to identify the virus (Human metapneumovirus) that they believe Riley had before surgery, but was not showing symptoms of until after surgery. So now we know why crashed so hard, so quickly on Friday. Bad news: The virus just has to run it's course. Good news: We are already about half way through the virus' course.

Bad news Riley has picked up a bacteria while in the hospital (an unfortunate consequence of being in the hospital alot of the time). Good news: The antibiotic she is on seems to be help to fight it.

Bad news:The medication that Riley has been on for sedation and pain is a narcotic so she has to slowly have it replaced with another medication then we will have to ween off the new medication too. It will be a bit of a long process.

Riley is still in for a long recovery. We will be in the PICU for a while still and the hospital even longer. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

6/8/13:
Riley had a pretty calm day today.  

We are still on the vent, but they have been able to lower a several of the settings.  They are planning on lowering even more tonight.  

The doctors have started to ween her off some of her sedation so she is moving around more.  In typical Riley (aka Houdini Bodenhorn) fashion she was actually able to get out of one of her restrains today during rounds with the doctors.  Luckily we caught her before she could do any damage.

Riley's coloring in looking better, her heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels have all been good so far today.


Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

6/13/13:
Riley Update:
The last 60 hours for Riley have been very good. Her fever has broken, her heart rate and blood pressures have been good. How oxygen levels have been pretty good. In the last 24 hours the doctors have been making good changes to her vent settings. 

Yesterday's chest x-ray look better, there had not been much change to it for the days prior. I have not seen today's x-ray or heard the plan for today yet as the doctors have not been on their rounds yet. 

But we are moving in a good direction. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

6/17/13:
It has been a really good 72 hours.  

The doctors had planned on taking Riley off the vent on Saturday morning...  Well Riley decided the she was done with it on Friday night.  When she woke up from the heavy meds she had been on and started fighting the vent.  The doctor made the decision to pull the tube early instead of medicating her even heavier.  So at 10:30 pm on Friday night just over two weeks (by about 4 hours) since the tube had gone in it came out.

Friday night was a rough night with almost no sleep for either Riley or I as she was very uncomfortable (I think I would be uncomfortable too if I had a tube in my throat for 2 weeks) and would not let me out of her sight.

Saturday was the first time I was able to hold Riley since this all started and she I am both took an hour and half nap.  When my mom got here we switched places and I napped on the couch for 5 hours while Riley slept on my mom.


Sunday was more sleeping, but today PT came in and worked her for a good hour.  And by the end she was much more alert, but also very tired.  Riley has been able start taking food by mouth.  

We are ready to get off the PICU floor but are waiting for a bed. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

6/20/13:
Riley is doing really well. We were moved to a regular floor. The doctors are slowly weaning Riley off the medications that she is on, at the rate we are going she should be off all her medications in 12 days.

Riley is still on some oxygen, but they are going to try turning in off tomorrow.

Our biggest hurtle right now is Riley's feeding. She is having a hard time with liquids, so tomorrow we are doing a swallow test to see what is going on when she is drinking.

I got my first Riley hug last night it was wonderful. She is starting to act more like herself everyday. 
.

6/24/13:
We are very happy to have Riley home. We were released from the hospital today after being there for 27 days. Riley is still requiring oxygen during the day and we came home on a feeding tube that is placed in her nose, but WE ARE HOME! Thank you to everyone that has been praying and sending us wonderful thoughts.