Scared to go to bed.........

Ok, so it's 11:15 p.m. on Sunday night, and I'm scared to go to bed. Not because there is a monster under my bed or I'm hearing strange noises outside. It's b/c I caught my 4 boys (ages 6, 9, 10 and 12) making a YouTube video of them trying to kill each other, not literally, but that's what they called it. I walked in on them throwing duffle bags full of clothes at my 6 year old's head. So, I shut the computers off, scolded them the best I could and got in bed.

Then, I heard a lot of laughing. I got up and opened the bedroom door and my 12 year old was tied to a chair with a metal pipe running through the rope. I'm not sure what the pipe was about or where they even found it. They said that they were timing him to see how long it would take him to get untied. That was only 5 minutes after I found them making the video. I mean, what was coming next? My husband assures me that this is normal boy behavior.

When you get 4 boys together so close in age, things like this are bound to happen, right? RIght? Or am I just living in a zoo?

Oh, and tomorrow, there will be 6 kids here. I'm also keeping my sister's two kids. Fun, fun! The good part about that is that one of them is a baby. I LOVE babies!

Anyway, now I have to stay up until I think they're asleep. Ugh!

Another thing......my 9 year old lost his first molar today. So, I went to get it from him and told him to put it under the pillow in the extra bedroom b/c the tooth fairy wouldn't come in there if one of them was still awake. He looked at me and started laughing. I said, "What?" He said, "Do you really think I believe in the tooth fairy?" I said, "Who told you there wasn't one?" He said, "I'm 9 mom; I'm good like that!" I wanted to start crying right then. My baby is growing up. I say my baby b/c the oldest two boys are my step-sons, so I haven't been around for all of their "losing of teeth". They live with their mom in Texas.

I have to admit that I told my boys that there wasn't an Easter bunny. They caught me putting out the baskets last year. We always go camping on Easter weekend, and I have to keep them in the trunk of the car under a blanket. They saw them before. I tried to lie, but it didn't work. Finally, I said, "Do you really think there is a huge bunny hopping around with a million Easter baskets? That would just freak me out!" They thought that was funny.

Well, that's all for now. I'm sure I bored everyone to death. Maybe I made a few of you realize that your life isn't really that bad after all, LOL.

Oh crap. I just heard one of my boys declaring proudly that he could fart his name. Then, I heard a bunch of boys going, "Ooooh" and gagging. How do you fart your name?

Merry Christmas To Everyone!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

"Update on 11-month-old needing liver"

I wanted to update everyone on the last post. I let everyone know that there was a family looking for a liver for their 11-month old boy.

I have wonderful news!

The night of this post, early in the morning, he received a cadaver liver.

The last I talked to the family, he was doing well.

Thank you to everyone that contacted me regarding this. I'm sure I'll be contacted about more in the future.

Melissa

"Should I Donate?"

Hey everyone! I wanted to update everyone on what's going on in my life. I've gotten a lot of emails from readers asking how I'm doing and what's going on. I really appreciate people caring enough to check on me. Keep sending me emails. My email address is melswanson@gannett.com. There really hasn't been a whole lot of change since the last post. I'm doing very well. I can't complain. Othere than being tired, I'm not having any major complications.

I've had several people contact me b/c they're thinking of being a live donor. If anyone is interested in learning more about the donation process and how it works, feel free to email me. I will be glad to help you out in any way I can. My goal is to bring as much attention to living organ donation as possible.

I got the most heartbreaking email yesterday. A lady wrote me asking if I would consider donating part of my liver to her 11-month old son that's dying of liver failure. Unfortunately, liver failure is very progressive with no real treatment. So, he doesn't have much time. It is possible to donate part of your liver and your liver will regenerate itself. They put part of your liver in the recipient, and it also grows to a full liver. Anyway, it broke my heart to have to tell her that I was not able to donate part of mine at this time. I can't even consider something like that for another year. I wouldn't pass the tests since I just donated part of my kidney. Otherwise, I would definitely do it.

The little boys blood type is A+. So, if you're type A or type 0, you may be able to donate. If absolutely anyone that reads this is interested in learning more about donation or donating to this child, PLEASE contact me. I am working on getting some pictures and more information about the family. All I know right now is that they will probably be sent to Children's Hospital in Dallas if he gets a transplant.

I told the family that I would help them find a donor. So, I'm going to post updated information as I get it. PLEASE email me at any time with questions.

Melissa

"Update: 5 weeks post kidney donation"

Hi again! I wanted to update everyone on what's going on post-transplant. I have been moving for the past 2 weeks and haven't had much time to blog.

I've had one scare recently with dehydration, but nothing too serious. Honestly, I'm doing very well considering all the stuff I'm able to do now. I'm pretty good at overdoing it too soon. I did that after this surgery and paid for it for a while. Now, things are much better.

I've talked to Masud and his wife, Sharmin, several times recently. Masud is doing very well! He gave me some really good news 2 days ago. He said that he was able to play with his kids for the first time in a long time. That almost made me cry. It was so important to his older son for him to be able to do that. Anyway, he's doing great! His kidney levels are in normal range (on the high side of normal). The doctor's said they are very happy with his progress. He's no longer having pain and not too tired anymore.

"Update: 3 weeks post kidney donation"

Hey everyone! I haven't written in a week or so b/c I've been busy trying to catch up at work. I'm also busy packing b/c we're moving soon. I'm not moving away; just to a new house. I know, I know....bad timing. I'm great at that, lol.

So, the only thing that's changed since the last post is that I'm getting better each day. I'm finding that I tire very easily, but that's expected. Until my kidney functions gets back to normal, I will be tired a lot. I should be back to normal in about 3 months or so. It's a small price to pay for someone's life, so I try not to complain too much.

I appreciate all of you that have sent me your well wishes, kind thoughts, and especially for those of you that prayed. Where would we be without prayer? I don't even want to think about it.

In other news........
My baby started Kindergarten yesterday. I thought for sure that I would cry. But, I surprised myself. Instead, I dropped him off and told him to have a seat. Then, I turned around and ran as fast as I could, LOL!

"KTAL Kidney Donation Follow-Up"

KTAL recently did a follow-up story on the kidney donation. Here's a link to the video:

http://arklatexhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=31721