That is what family is for

What a week. My life has been a little like a hurricane this week to say the least. Let me start at the beginning.

Last week my mom called to let me know that my uncle, her brother, had been feeling ill and went the doctor. He nearly passed out upon leaving the MD office and was sent to the hospital for some tests. They found that he was "eat up" with cancer to the point there was nothing that the medical profession could do for him. So they sent him home with hospice and gave him 3 weeks to 3 months to live. He passed away yesterday afternoon in his home with his family.  Mom and I were praying that "if this cup could not pass from him" that it would at least be a painless and peaceful passing.  It was.

My mother who lives in New Mexico desperately wanted to see her brother before he passed, got a plane ticket to come in next week.  When she heard he had taken a turn for the worse she changed her ticket to this past Wed. The first leg of her flight, that landed in Minn, was late and she had 15 min to get to her next flight. After running to a completely different concourse she arrived to see them closing the door to the pedway. She had missed her flight. In trying to re-route her to Louisville by another flight it began. My mom slowly forgot where she was and why she was there. This has happened before and she had all kinds of tests run but all were negative. My sister happened to call her just as it was happening and got my mom to give the phone to a lady so she could tell the women what was happening and to call for help.  She was taken to the nearest hospital and they did a CAT scan to rule out a stroke. It was neg, praise God. However, she still could not remember anything past waving goodbye to my dad in Colorado Springs. My sister and I would move heaven and Earth for this woman. She is my best friend. So we called my brother and left Louisville at 6 PM for Minn. The four of us, including my brothers finance, took turns driving there for the 11 hour duration of the trip. We arrived at 6:30 AM. By this time mom was beginning to remember why she was coming to KY and where she was. The doctor called it Transient Global Amnesia. It is a coping mechanism she has that kicks in when she is extremely stressed. Given the situation with her brother and missing her flight it was fertile ground for this thing to plant in. There is no residual effects except for the loss of memory. The doctor said her mind gets so stressed that it just stops recording so she cannot remember the stressful event.  We were so glad she was on the mend and could not wait to scoop her up and bring her home. We left the hospital at 11:30AM and got home at 12:30PM. It was an adventure and a great bonding experience for all of us. It was a crazy 30 hours but I could not have thought of a better person to expel them on.  She was worth every minute I drove through the storm in IN and traffic Sherrie drove in though Chicago.  I would do it all over again tomorrow if needed. She is that kind of person.  Now on a side note we were all stinking by the time we got home and using napkins as a temporary toothbrush just did not cut it.  But we're family and family loves, hopes, and endures though all kinds of stinks just like we did.

It was sad to know my mom did not get to see her brother before he passed but I just fell in my heart that God had a good reason why. She did speak to him by phone so there was some closure. He was a great uncle, quit the comedian at times. He will be missed by all.  See ya on the other side Uncle Frankie.

A trip TOO fast

Chris and  I have been working extra days saving up for the maternity leave in January. Needless to say we have not been spending as much "quality" time with the kiddos as we or they would like. We decided to take a small over night trip up to Northern Kentucky. We started out at the Newport Aquarium. Note to you and myself, do not take a small child till after 4 when you can take a stroller in. We went early and Chris and I had to take turns juggling Maddax throughout the tour. He really enjoyed the larger fish and the jellies but not much else was entertaining to him. He got really restless about 2/3 through the tour and we caved, much against our better judgement, to let him walk. Thank goodness I had him wear his squeaky shoes so I knew exactly where he was or where he was trying to run off to. It was his lunch time so we grabbed a quick piece of $4.00 pizza, can you say highway robbery, for the kids to share till we could make it to a place to eat.

                                                    Dropping off the stroller. SOB SOB!!!!

Loving little man's hair.

She is getting so big.

We walked around the waterfront area for awhile and this nice lady on stilts made Makenna and Maddax a balloon animal and flower. Makenna was very excited to know that if she ate her veggies she could grow big  like that girl on the stilts, according to the girl on the stilts. Makenna said, " monnie if I grow big like her then I can touch the bottom of the swimming pool." I love her little mind and how it works.

We got to the hotel later that day and decided to go swimming in the indoor pool. The kids loved it and we were hoping to wear the two of them out for an early bedtime. Maddax was getting tired so I left the pool early with him to give him a bath and get him ready for bed. By the time we got back to the room we were both freezing from the pool water so I decided to turn on the heater in the room. It slowing began to get warm then, BUZZZZZZZ!!! The smoke detector when off. Maddax was not alarmed. I think he much enjoyed momma waving daddy's shirt at the round thing on the wall that was making a really loud noise. After what seemed forever, it stopped and I quickly called the front desk to let them know we were not trying to burn down the hotel.

Makenna and Chris soon returned and found my episode funny. With Maddax finally asleep I tucked Makenna into bed. She asked if I would lay with her for a minute. I said sure. Next thing I know I wake up and it is 9:15 PM. Then I notice that Chris was out in the other bed. We were just as pooped as the kids.

We enjoyed breakfast on the hotel this morning and loaded up the car. I really enjoyed getting away with the family but it was much too short. It is nice to be totally focused on your family and not be distracted by laundry and the such.  I think our next venture will be camping. Wish me luck.

Sharing a thought

I have been doing a Beth Moore Bible study called A Woman's Heart and I read a scripture tonight that blew me away and wanted to share it with you.

"For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."   Jer 29:11

God thinks about me. I never really thought about it but I guess I figured after all was said and done and things were in motion that He really did not do much thinking, especially of me. But he does. I find some huge peace and release in reading that scripture. Amazing how it has always been there but it never reached out and bit me like it did tonight.

Just stuff

I am now 13 weeks and counting. Seems like each day I am feeling a little better. The nausea is about gone except for a few blah evenings which is probably more related to what I ate then the baby. The fatigue continues but is generally usurped by an afternoon nap with Maddax and Makenna. However, I have been picking up extra days at work, to offset the 8 weeks of maternity leave when the babies born, so I am missing some naps. I am doing 2 1/2 days a week now. It can be pretty exhausting with the 2 hr and 30 min of driving total. Makenna is not big on me working more but I assure her it is only temporary and try to make more dates for just the 2 of us. My sister kept the kids this last week while I worked since Chris had court the next morning. What would I do without her. So any way, I went down to go to bed and this is how I found Makenna. Not really sure what she was pondering but it looked intense.

Took Maddax to the doc the other day for what I thought was a ear infection but turned out to be a virus. He was waking up all hours of the night, refusing naps, and food. I knew something was up. The funny thing is that as soon as we got a diagnosis he was much better. However, this evening he was not much on going to bed. I think it is probably more teeth related. He is more interesting everyday. He loves to sit and look at books and drive his police car across the kitchen floor. His favorite place is in the dryer. Don't wig out on me. I do not let him in the laundry room without me and I never allow him to close the door.

Maddax has also picked up the love of coloring but has a difficult time holding the crayons. I know my fellow therapists would call me giving him bigger crayons enabling him. I should be breaking the crayons and working on his fine motor dexterity but hey he is only a little boy for a while. My friend who blogs, sippycupsandfingerprints.blogspot.com, gave me the idea of melting old crayons in muffin tins to make new crayons that are bigger and just perfect for little man to hold.  While I was watching them melt in the oven I got to thinking. We are kinda like crayons. Frail little things and sometimes we need to be broken and have a little heat added to allow God to transform us into stronger, bigger crayons. Now I am just like the rest of ya. I do not like having the heat added to my life to transform me but i would much rather feel a little heat now than a whole lotta heat later. You?

On another note I have been back to canning. Tomatoes this time and might I add much easier to can. I love tomatoes. So if you or anyone you know wants to off load some, just let me know.

Nana and Papaw's Visit

Well my parents made it safely back home to New Mexico last night.  Another round trip to Kentucky under their belt and hoping for one more before the baby comes in January.  I guess I will just have to wait and see.  Their trip got cut a little short because my dad found out his drivers license expired last November.  The DMV office gave him a 10 day extension for him to get back and renew it. So they had to leave on Sunday. Or mom could have drove home. And my dad like most men do not like to hand over driving to their wives when they are perfectly capable.

Mom brought in a bunch of baby clothes for me, both boy and girls. She volunteers at a thrift store in her town and get some serious bargains. So she was glad to offer up some baby clothes for our butter bean. After Maddax we had planned on not having anymore so I got rid of all of Makennas clothes up to 2T and slowly purged Maddax's clothes as he outgrew them.  Then God opened our hearts and here we are today.  She also brought in a travel swing, booster seat, and this blow up duck for the tub.  She figured that Maddax would have a grand time with it in the back yard since he is slightly scared of Makenna's pool. (You would be too if you saw how manic she is on the slide) Needless to say Makenna tried to dominate the duck before Maddax had a chance. She wants to ride the duck down the slide but we nipped that in the bud just as quick as it came out of her mouth.

Later Maddax got ahold of the broom and decided to clean the back patio. That cute little boy just loves to do work around the house. From vacuuming, cleaning the floor, and now sweeping the patio he does it with a happy heart.

Had a doctors visit today.  I am just over 11 weeks and beginning to feel better.  The baby's heartbeat took awhile to find, which shook me up a bit, but then the rapid beating of its little heart settled my nerves. 180 beats per minute.  Doc says all is good an due back in 4 weeks.  I am beginning to feel better. My worst time of the day is after 4 PM. I just get exhausted and have zero drive for fixing dinner much less trying to eat myself.  Thank the Lord for organic peanut butter and homemade jelly, or my kids might starve.

At the docs office the nurse was telling me how she craved Captian D's fish dipped in spaghetti O's. It made me want to get sick but then Istarted to crave the fish.  So against my better judgement I stopped and got fish and chips at Long John Silvers.  With every bite I prayed it would turn into a carrot as I swallowed. It sure was good. And tonight I am craving Popsicles. I bought the bomb pops at the grocery today.  It saddens me though that the store bought are about a third of the original ice cream truck size. So I ate 3. Yum!!!