It was the best of times....It was the worst of times....HOLY SEPTEMBER!!!

WARNING: THIS IS A LOOOOOOOOOOOONG POST.....get your reading glasses ready!!!

What.A.Month! September has been quite the month to remember!!! It actually started the end of August when Michael started a new job. It had been a long process, and saying goodbye to his company he had been with for almost 6 years was not an easy task. However, he was offered his DREAM JOB at the corporate offices of the PGATOUR Superstores (one of his clients at the other company), and I am SO PROUD to say that Michael is now the Manager of IT-Operations for the PGATOUR Superstores!!!! Congrats, Daddy!!!! He is loving the job, just not the commute! ;)

After Michael's first week of work, we had a quiet weekend at home for Labor Day, getting ready for Caleb's first day of school on the 6th. I don't know who was more excited....mommy or Caleb!! As a teacher, I wanted him to LOVE school and everything about it. He is going to school at our church, so I knew the people and some of the other kids in his class. So, the morning of the 6th Caleb and I went off to school. I was an emotional wreck. I was SO proud and SO sad at the same time (if thats possible!). I took picture after picture of my little student. I think he was more excited about his bookbag than anything.

We got to school, and Caleb walked right in, dropped his bookbag at the door, and went in to play. He was not too happy with me when I made him come back for a picture with his teachers . Anyway, that was that....he was a big boy, at school, and mommy could leave. He had things to do and people to see, for goodness sake!!!!! His first week was wonderful, and Caleb was loving life!!!

In the meantime, we can't forget about Miss Abby who is rolling like a rolly polly these days! Her personality is coming our all over the place, and we, affectionatlly, call her a "hot mess."

At the end of Caleb's first week of school, I had planned a surprise night out for Michael, along with his brother, Grant and his wife, Morgann. It had been in the works for a long time. We had babysitters (thanks, Grandmommy and Grandpa!!!), and we were going to go out, in Atlanta, and act like adults to celebrate Michael's new job, Grant's new job, Morgann's pregnancy (she is due at Thanksgiving with our niece, Harper) and me for supporting all these people and I had a baby 5 months ago (HA!). He went out to an AMAZING dinner at Prime Steakhouse (DELICIOUS!!!!), out for dessert at Atlantic Station, and some nice adult time with Grant and Morgann. It was a great night...however...the end of the night was not amazing....

A month after Abby was born I started having this HORRIBLE pain in my back. It was smack in the middle of my back, went through to the front under my ribcage, and up my right shoulder. It would last anywhere from 45 minutes to 8 hours. It was awful, but I was scared to go to the doctor (don't they always have bad news?!?!), so I tried to deal with it myself. Well, in July I finally had enough, and I went to my PCP. He said that I had reflux and put me on meds. Well, the only thing the meds did was make me swell like I was 9 months pregnant. I tried that for about a month, went back and told him it wasn't working and that I wanted him to do something to see what was going on inside of me. He then told me I was wrong, and that I had reflux, and handed me a prescription for the meds I had been taking (he had given me samples), and said he would see me in 6 weeks. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper, but felt like I was stuck. At this point school was in full swing and I have 2 small children, not to mention a husband, that depend on me. BUT...the pains started happening every other night and lasted for longer....I was just plain MISERABLE!!!!!! So, I took matters into my own hands, and called a gastrointernologist (NO IDEA HOW TO SPELL OR SAY THAT!). I went in and he immediately called for an ultrasound and a stomach scope. I had both of these things done, and guess what Jennifer has -- GALLSTONES!!! He said that it would need to come out, but didn't look like it was an emergency, meaning it was clogged or about to rupture. So, that was on a Thursday, and on Friday we went out with Grant and Morgann....see where this is going???

Friday night while we were out, I started having the pain again. However, this time it felt different and started much earlier. It usually started in the middle of the night, waking me up. It never went away, and finally at 9AM Saturday morning I called my gastro guy (the doctor:) ). He said that I needed to go to the ER. So, off we went. Within an hour of being there I was scheduled for EMERGENCY GALLBLADDER SURGERY. The nurse was telling Michael and I that I was going to have to have surgery, apologizing, and I think we were both relieved....I had not been able to live life for the past 5 months because I never knew when I was going to have an attack. The nurse was shocked at our attitude and response! Ha! So, that afternoon I had my gallbladder removed. The surgery lasted about an hour, and the doctor told Michael that it was huge and clogged. He said the pain never would have gone away this time without removing it. When we were talking to the doctor before the surgery we asked him why I had this (29 year old, healthy person), and he said that Abby, or her pregnancy, rather, caused it. Something to do with the bile in the gallbladder and the estrogen that my body produced during pregnancy. He said that I most likely had this while I was pregnant, and had they known, I would have had to have surgery when I was pregnant. The girl who had surgery before me was also having her gallbladder out, and she was 29, a teacher, and 20 weeks pregnant!!! It is very common in pregnant people or people who have recently had babies. At my post-op last week the doctor said that my gallbladder was 3 times the normal size (it should be the size of a pear), it was full of clear fluid telling them it had bad for a while, full of stones and there was 1 in the duct (it was clogged). His words were "you just had a really bad gallbladder." Thanks, guy.

It took me about a week, but I am feeling GREAT!!!! I didn't realize how miserable I was until now, and how great I feel. I thought I was only in pain when I was having an attack, but I have realized, since the surgery, that I was in pain all the time. So, the moral of the story is: if you are pregnant or just had a baby and have back pain you most likely do not have reflux, you have gallstones and you need to DEMAND an ultrasound of your gallbladder! :) You can send your co-payments to me, Dr. Anderson. :)

September 25th was another big day for our family. Abigail Susan was baptized at our church, Cannon Methodist. Both of our families, all 14 and two 1/2's (Michael's sister and sister-in-law are pregnant), were able to be there. It was a very special morning for us. Abby did a great job, too!!
**I will post these pictures soon....we are having technology issues, and I want to go ahead and post this. Stay tuned...**

Luckily the last few weeks have been quiet....Caleb is loving school (after a few days of screaming), and Abby is all over the place. This week she started sitting up and crawling!!!! Since she is mobile he is starting to get into Caleb's toys, and he is not loving it! We are constantly saying the word "share" at our house!! Life with 2 is never dull!

Sorry I have been MIA, but we have been just a *tad* busy! :) I will post soon with Abby's 6 month stats and Caleb's 3 YEAR stats!!!!!!