Hello, Saturday!

My blog posts are becoming few and far between. Not because I don't like to sit and share what's going on, but because we've been so busy lately, life just hasn't presented many opportunities for quiet moments and time to sit without heavy eyes. So with a calm minute this morning as Adelynn watches a Barney video and Lillian plays on the floor,  I thought I'd give this a shot.

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I've been so blessed to be able to stay home with my girls. I knew even before we had kids I wanted to stay home with them. When Adelynn was born, I wasn't sure I would be able to do this. Afterall, Brian and I had only been married for a year. Brian was fresh into a new job and I was just out of college and still paying for it (If only I had taken those Dave Ramsey classes just a little sooner!). But I was able too. And what has made it possible is by watching other children too. So every year around this time, we have four or five other children who come to live with us. Ok, so they don't necessarily  "live" with us, but they do join our lives on a daily basis and become part of our family. We love these kids and do our best to make sure when they come here they feel like this is home to them. It's been the first time we've had them all back since Lillian was born in December. So this week we've jumped right back into it. With four more kids added, our house has become lively and loud. I like to call it organized chaos. And I love it.

(We're a couple less here--we're missing Kate and Emilee!)

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We moved both girls upstairs, so they now share a room. The room downstairs that used to be Adelynn's bedroom has now become a toy room. I love having both girls close to us upstairs, and it's nice to have a room downstairs where the kids can play and keep all of their toys. It's a work in progress with a few changes that still need to be made, but so far it has worked out really well.

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I'm amazed by the changes I'm seeing in her.

Physical therapy is going very well and we're seeing tremendous improvement in her upper body strength. She's rolling over more and is able to lift her head up and support herself with her arms now. These were things she was unable to do when she first started therapy a little over a month ago.

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Her imagination is budding and I love watching her play when I'm not looking. I'm not sure I like how fast she's growing up. I caught her on video last week and I couldn't help but laugh.

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After a busy week, we're glad to have a weekend for some rest and recovery. I've been pretty stuffy and Lillian has her first cold--it's actually the first time she's ever been sick since coming home. I'm keeping a watchful eye on her, still nervous and not knowing how her body will handle even a small cold with the other complications she's had. But she's doing alright. A little stuffy and had a hard time getting comfortable last night, but still giving us lots of smiles and babbles this morning. So with that, we're planning on doing a whole lot of nothing this weekend. Hello, Saturday!

Happy Weekend!



Picnic In The Park.

Summer seems to be sleeping through our fingers right before our eyes. So after being sick for the last couple of weeks and being up with a baby who didn't sleep well last night, I was determined to make the most of today--to soak up as much as we can of these last few days of Summer.

Today, we decided to pack up and head to George Bible Park for a picnic. And even though the park is just a few minutes away, packing up young kids for something such as this still requires some effort, not always proving to be the easiest task. However, it's always well worth the work it takes to make it happen--to have these special moments with my girls.

Just to prove even a simple trip with 2 kids is never dull, we started off with the car running, both girls in their carseats, and me standing outside of the car..locked out by Adelynn. I spent about 5 minutes trying to explain to her from outside the car how to unlock the door. And when she was unable to unlock it, I spent another 3 minutes frantically searching for the spare key in our house. All of this of course, before we even left our driveway.

But nevertheless, we made it to the park and had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day for a picnic..

Lillian is 7 months old!

 Lillian, at 7 months old it's hard to believe you're just that much closer to a year.

I love watching you grow and learn, soaking in everything around you. As you watch your bigger sister, I can tell your little mind is turning--It's as though your saying "Just wait, someday I'll be able to do that.." You laugh and giggle as she dances and talks to you. You love her, and she loves you...very much.

And speaking of your little giggle..Oh, it's so infectious. You're such a happy baby.

You've been introduced to a variety of fruits and vegetables and we've found that despite your petite little body shows, you LOVE to eat! I think you get that from your momma. Your first taste of a fruit was pears, and you loved them. Your first vegetable was peas, and you loved them equally as much.

You're sleeping through the night now, going down about 7pm and not waking to eat until 6-6:30am. What a special treat this has been for mommy and daddy!

You started physical therapy to help build your muscles stronger, and you've shown tremendous improvement. We can see the most improvement in your upper body strength. You're rolling over now and pushing your self up with your arms when you are on your belly--things you were unable to do just a month ago. We are so proud of you..you are doing amazing!

Your eyes are dark and soulful, and in them I can see understanding there beyond your 7 month body. I sometimes wonder if you know much more than what I think you do about the world around you, especially with all you've been through. Perhaps a deeper understanding of the way this world works.

I imagine those early days you spent in the hospital, so tiny and frail, the Lord wrapped his arms around you tightly and whispered in your ear "You are mine. I will take care of you." I'm so thankful He has chose me to be your mommy and allowed me to hold you in my arms for your time here on earth.

7 months and counting Lillian Faith. We love you so much!

Postponed.

 I woke up early this morning, anxious about my surgery and ready to get it done and out of the way.

And just as I had dropped my girls off at my friend Brianne's house, I received a phone call from the doctor. A phone call explaining they were going to have to postpone my surgery until Tuesday.

Not knowing what to think, I sat silently as he explained the OR team wouldn't be available until later today. And since they had a large gap in the schedule on Tuesday, it only seemed appropriate to move the surgery.

And I'm thinking that though I would like to have had this surgery taken care of today, I am still very thankful I'm not going to have to wait until Aug. 23 to have it done..

 I've made it through the week and I can make it through the weekend.

So Brian is heading into work today, and Brianne graciously offered to still keep Adelynn so I can get some rest.

For now I'm off to take some percocet and catch a nap...Tuesday will come soon enough. :)

Surgery.

Still unsure of when I would be having surgery to get this crazy kidney stone removed, I asked the doctors office to call me on Monday when I was released from the hospital so I knew when to plan for it.

I was napping when the phone rang, and my heart sank when she said they had me penciled in for August 23. 3 weeks!?! Couldn't they get me in any earlier!? I reluctantly agreed and hung up the phone. And then I sobbed..

I was tired and uncomfortable. There was no way I could feel this way for 3 weeks. Sure, they had given me percocet to take for the pain..but for 3 weeks?? I needed to get this over with before then and move on. After all, I have a toddler and a baby I need to keep up with--there's no time for me to be sick, and certainly not for 3 weeks! Not to mention, August 23rd is the first day of school. I have parents relying on me to be ready to watch their children. I needed to feel better before then...

So I picked up the phone and dialed them back. She must have called right before they closed because I got the answering machine and I think I mumbled between sobs something like, "Please, if there is any way you can get me in before Aug 23 to get this stone out--I have 2 girls I need to take care of and right now I'm so uncomfortable. I don't think I can do this for another 3 weeks.."

 It was certainly not a smooth message, and I felt embarrassed when I hung up the phone. I was running on very little sleep, not feeling very well, and was rather emotional. I'm sure they were thinking, "wow, this girl is one hot mess!"

They called me back first thing the next morning and agreed to get me in for emergency surgery this Friday. I timidly apologized. I felt bad crying, but I am very grateful for them getting me in earlier than 3 weeks from now...

So Friday it is..Whew!

And for now, I'm counting my blessings. I have so much to be thankful for!

There's no place like home..

Before I even begin this post, I have to admit, if it's hard to follow it's because it's full of high emotions, a week of little sleep, and lots of pain killers..

Our plan was to go see The Wizard of Oz this past weekend. My brother was in it and I was really looking forward to watching him. I heard it was quite the cast and they all did an amazing job. Not to mention I was looking forward to a date night out with good friends. Needless to say, this didn't happen.

It started early Wednesday morning, when I woke up in the middle of the night in quite a bit of pain. It was an all too familiar pain I had recognized from just a few months before. I knew it had to either be an infection or a kidney stone, both which had been reoccurring ever since I first had a stone in the middle of my pregnancy with Lillian.

I made a call in to the doctor first thing Wednesday morning and found that my normal family doctor was out for the week, so I would have to see someone else. The pain didn't seem to be as bad, so I made an appointment for later that afternoon. The doctor thought it was definitely a kidney stone causing my pain, so he scheduled me for a ct-scan Thursday morning and to see the urologist Thursday afternoon. Sure enough, the ct-scan done Thursday morning showed an 8mm stone-- A rather large stone in the scheme of kidney stones. The urologist wasn't sure if I'd be able to pass it own my own, but sent me home on some percocet and another prescription he thought would maybe help to relax my muscles. I was then to come back in 7 days and see if the stone had moved.

But again, Thursday and Friday I was having a tremendous amount of pain. It would come and go in waves, but once it hit me it would be excruciating--a kind of pain I hadn't felt since I had been in labor with Adelynn. I struggled through the night Friday and woke up Saturday morning to my temperature creeping up. The doctor I had saw on Thursday had said to call him immediately if I started running a fever, so I knew it was something that needed attention. But Saturday morning he was out. Lucky for me, my mother-in-law works at the medical group and was still able to get ahold of him even though he wasn't in the office. He referred me a doctor in Waueson for surgery.

By the time I was admitted, my fever was still high so the doctor decided to postpone the surgery until Sunday. The plan was to go in and remove the stone and then put a stent in that he would later remove at a follow up appointment. But first he wanted to have a full 24 hours of antibiotics in me before he performed the surgery.  I was a mix of emotions. I cried at the thought of not being with my girls. I hadn't left either of them since Lillian was in the hospital in February

I continued to run a very high fever through Saturday evening and into Sunday morning. When it came time for surgery early Sunday afternoon, I was still running a fever. During surgery, the doctor said my fever was at 102.3 so he was unable to remove the stone. Since he knew an infection was present, he was afraid if he tried to remove it then bacteria would stir up and it could cause sepsis. So he instead put a stent in, leaving the stone for another time. He later told us it was likely that the stone that was causing me problems was the same stone that had caused me problems months earlier. It was so lodged in there, he knew there was no way I would ever pass it on my own. He said I would have to stay another night in the hospital for more antibiotics until they could get my fever down. I was devestated. The time away from my girls was enough, and it broke my heart knowing I would have to spend another night away.

I was so uncomfortable with the stent in on Monday when I came home, but I'm just glad to be home. I have had an amazing support from my husband, my friends, my parents, and Brian's parents. They have watched the girls, brought us meals, and prayed.  And though I am still in quite a bit of pain, there is so much truth to the saying "there's no place like home"..

There is another surgery to come.

More on that later...