Lots of new News!

Is it really Sunday night already?
Time really is flying by so quickly that I'm not sure how anything gets done, or does it??
Grace started school, full time, I'm in shock that she's old enough to go to school at all! Dancing has started up as well, and her other dance class will be starting up this week as well. So, there's no wasted time in getting things up and going that's for sure.
Joey is doing well, he feels like an only child during the day now, with Grace being gone, so when they get home together it's mayhem!!
Grandma is holding her own. She goes for another blood draw tomorrow if I remember correctly.
We had a big Labor Day party at our house, just about thirty five to forty people, it was fun. the kids were on the slip n slide all day long and it was a scorcher so they made good use of it!
We had both families over as well as our friends and the kids friends, everyone had a great time, lots of food, I cooked up a storm!
I'll keep you posted of upcoming events!

It's Been A While!

It's been a while since I've blogged. Daily life seems to get in the way and honestly it's just hustle and bustle, not even that interesting sometimes. But in a good way!

Gram is holding her own. She checks in with the VNA every day at the same time through that amazing machine she has in her house. She weights, checks o2 sats and blood pressure daily. If they can't get a reading or they dont' like what they've seen they have her go back and do it again, so it's quite helpful.

Mom's doing ok. She's helping Gram out and keeping two houses.

Grace got stitches last week, I'm hoping this is the first and last time for this one. Five of them, she tore her elbow off, ewwwww! and OUCH!

Joey, is well, Joey. He's doing well, we're in the midst of potty training. Oh happy day. It's a hard fete for all of you who have toddlers you know where I'm coming from!

Joe and I are still working hard. I've been working weekends in exchange for a day off during the wee, usually Wednedsay for the past month or so, and it will end when Grace goes to school in a week and a half, boy did this summer go by quickly or what?

We've done the summery things, gone to the Fair, Fantasy Island, Darien Lake and all of that, the Zoo especially! This weekend is the Irish Fest and I'm sure you guessed with a last name like McNamara, we're season regulars!

Grace has been enrolled into Irish Dance classes for the fall, into tap/ballet combo and acro. It's going to be quite the year for her. Joey is going to swim again in the fall. I'm hoping to get a handle on his Von Willebrands Disease and what kinds of sports he will be able to play and what I need to do to safeguard him. Also, with his blindness in the one eye we need to keep that in mind.

I hope this finds everyone well!

Sunday

Well, it's been another busy week in the McNamara household.
Gram is doing ok. She wasn't feeling well today from what I gathered. I went over and combed out her hair for her b/c she has a cardiology appointment tomorrow morning. She went to her primary last week and she said things looked fine. Her VN didn't think the same way though. Gram takes her blood pressure everyday weighs herself. She's been consitant in loosing weight unfortunately, her blood pressure was very low and the VN was very unhappy about that. She placed a call to the cardiologist on Thursday I believe it was and they in turn called us back to let us know that they were going to change some of her meds around and decrease them, b/c her pressure's low and she's been feeling "unsteady". Please pray this works. Unfortunately in changing the meds now she has to make sure she's not swelling up or having a hard time breathing b/c in lower these meds this can happen.

On a different note, we went to see Deirdre in High School Musical at Nichol's on Friday night, Grace had a blast! She went running up on stage to hug and kiss Deirdre and congratulate her on a job well done when the show was over! "Go Wildcats!"

Yesterday, we took the kids to the St. Martin's Lawn Fete, it was HOT!
then they came home and took a dip in their pool.

Today, we took an adventure to Niagara Falls with Mom and Dad. It was so much fun! The kids had a blast and were amazed at one of the wonders of the world, although they thought it was raining and it was the mist from the falls!

Friday

TGIF!!!!
Well, this has been quite the week, as most of them are.
I play "Mom" at work to thirty six people, all women except for one, and we are acquiring one more staff member in about two weeks, you guessed it...........another woman. Then I come home and I AM Mom! Guess that's why I feel like I never left home while I'm at work!
Anyhow, let's see what's going on today.......Gram is doing good today, she got to use her new machine, it sounds a little freaky in some ways to me, the machine beeped at her to get her attention, she walked over to it and it started talking to her. The nurse was telling her that it was time to weigh herself, take the pulse ox and blood pressure. Gram lost another pound. I'm hoping it's b/c she hasn't had a donut in weeks and is eating much healthier, although she herself said that yesterday was not a good eating day. I'm not sure why. I offered to cook her dinner tonight, she declined, but Sunday I am going over with Joe and the kids in tow, I'm going to grill up some chicken at home and make fat free cheesey potatoes for her, she likes those, I'm also going to make her a fat free taco dip, the one my mother in law makes, my gram loves that and the fat free one is Jillie's favorite. So maybe that will help out in the 'different food department'.

My brother in law went home today, he is still in pain and discomfort, so please continue to pray for him.

For those of you who check this blog, I'm glad that it's a nice source of updates for you, and hope I'm covering everything.
Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Grandma's new machinery and some other misc. things!

Hello!
Gram's nurse came today and she now has some equipment at home. She will do her blood pressure, pulse ox and weight herself on a daily basis and it will transmit over the telephone right to the VNA. Also, if she is not feeling well there is a button that she can push that will immediately alert the nurses at the VNA site. Her pulse ox was ninety nine percent today! That's awesome, I was thrilled to hear that.
Onto a few other things now.
I would like it if everyone reading this would add my brother in law Matt to their prayer lists. Matt has been battling a kidney stone for the past week. Sounds quite simple, but it was not in this case. Matt has endured a lot of pain this past week and a lot of trips to the ER. They placed a stent last Friday and he was still unable to pass his stone and in a lot of pain. He was admitted yesterday, and they did surgery today. He's still in pain, but we are praying that he's on the road to recovery. This hasn't been easy for him or his wife Jody, let alone his parents or the rest of his family. Please pray for Matt's recovery and for his wife and children, they could use the prayers right now. Matt has lost some weight b/c he has been unable to eat or drink anything in a week from what I'm told. My mother in law has been keeping us posted on Matt's condition and was happy to report tonight that surgery was over!

A happier note.........Grace is enjoying Irish Dance Class. She comes home happy and jumping around. She doesn't say much about what's she's learned but did show me her "duck walk". I'm glad she's having fun.

I got news from Aunt Lori today that Matthew got his permit..........way to go Matthew!!! I feel sooooooooo old that Matthew is old enough to drive. Sixteen, huh? Scary! Gram was choked up when she was telling me tonight too.

Well, it's getting way past my bedtime!

Wednesday July 18, 2007

Hello.
Well, nothing super new to report so that's good. No news is good news in our case.
Gram has a nurse that comes twice a week. They will be bringing her a monitor to wear that will transmit over the phone to let them monitor how she is doing. The nurse said that her blood pressure was better than it has been in a long while so that made us very happy! She should be seeing her primary care physician in the next couple of weeks, I'm not sure about the dates. But she will be seeing her cardiologist as well soon.
She is in good spirits and appreciates talking to everyone when they call. She appreciates the phone calls, prayers and thoughts more than you all could imagine.
We celebrated Ava's Christening on Sunday. She is such a doll! Gram was thrilled to be there to share in her special day with her. Uncle Tom did the ceremony and it was beautiful. Ryan and Jill are very lucky and blessed to have such a gorgeous, healthy baby girl, as well as the rest of the "Licata" clan!

I will post when I hear more news!
:)

Thursday

Gram is doing well at home. She will have a nurse go to the house on Saturday at some point to check her stats. She is due to see her primary in the next two weeks and the cardiologists. There was some concern over one of her meds, they needed prior approval for it and I guess the pharmacist called her primary who did not prescribe it so she was not likely to give them the "ok" to get prior approval from the insurance company. I suggested they call the cardiologist. They didn't want to even give Grandma a pill to get her through last night until we could reach the doctor. Thank goodness my good friend Wendy is the Assistant District Manager for the Pharmacy chain that we deal with and was more than willing to lend a hand. She managed to get the pharmacist to give Gram two pills until we got this taken care of. Mom took matters into her own hands and called the cardiologist office today and got the prior approval! It's always an adventure.

The kids had an eventful day, Joe's cousin Deirdre watched the kids today and they had fun! They played outside, went swimming, and just had a great time. They even cleaned up their messes and took a nap for her. She's awesome!

I'll post more when I can, and this weekend I'll put some pictures on here of the kiddies.