Getting Crafty

A friend of mine invited me to a flower bow making class at one of her friends houses last night. I had a lot of fun and I ended up with two pretty cool hair clips. Maybe this will be the start of a new hobby! 

Farm Animal Days

 

We went to the Farm Animal Days put on by a local University. They had lots of farm animals to see and touch and free ice cream! I got really lost on the way there, there were way too many people for my kids tastes and Audrey was scared of the animals... but it was nice to get out of the house and we ran into some friends while there, and again there was free ice cream  so it wasn't all a bust. 

Quick Update

I admit I am not doing so well at keeping up with posting. So here are the general updates: Don is doing better- he is starting to get a little energy back but he is still somewhat limited in what he is able to do. He is back at work and that seems to be going okay. We are still showing our house- hopefully something comes of it soon because I am getting tired of cleaning the floors! Audrey is now very opinionated and has enough language to tell us all about it. Last week I took her to buy some new shoes- she was so excited that she picked out the ones she liked and sat in the middle of the floor so I could help her get them on. She loved it! I have a feeling I am in trouble when she gets a little older- hide the credit cards!
Ryan finally told me he loves his new school- it's been a harder transition then I thought but I think we are finally there. He has also decided that if Don or I have any sort of ailment he has it to. He has used the fact that Don has not been able to do things as an excuse to not do things himself.
I have been working on a craft project for Ryan's birthday with a friend (yes we started early). I'll post an entry about it once I take some pictures. I have signed up for do races- one is a Ninja race and one is a rugged maniac- both are 5K's with obstacle courses. I'm pretty excited- hopefully the fact that I am not training at all will not come back to bite me in the butt!
I'll get some pictures of all our goings ons soon!

Audrey's Playdate

Audrey has starting making some very good friends. It's harder socially for the second child because there are less play dates/ playgroups/ classes- at least in this house. I'm glad we have found a few kids around her age that she really likes to hang out with- maybe it will help her to realize she isn't almost 4 like her brother! 

Diagnosis

So for those of you who I haven't talked to here's a run down of what went down with my hubby's illness. He was having stomach trouble Saturday, by Sunday night it was really bad- I didn't know how bad it was because he didn't wake me up. The next morning he was looking really rough, he didn't talk about it, it was just rough and he wasn't able to do much. He had had the same issue a few times before and was always blown off by the doctors as having some sort of stomach bug. I felt like something was wrong- he was acting the same as he usually does but this time I just had a feeling. I insisted he go to the doctor (he got the first appointment) and I insisted he get every test including an CT scan. He went- and they called him back when they got the results and told him to go to the ER immediately.

I threw him and the kids in the car- called my mom a handful of times because she wasn't picking up, when she did our conversation was literally Mom: "Hey", Me: "Hospital, NOW", Mom: "I'm on my way"*Click. She took the kids from the parking lot and we got checked in. After hours in the ER where they determined that Don had a perforated bowel caused by an acute diverticulitis flare up we were taken back and Don was taken into a 3 hour surgery. It's a very serious condition- luckily we caught it early, had good doctors, and Don is young and therefore could fight his body fighting him. My friend Amy sat with him into the wee hours of the morning until Don was out of a successful surgery and I was able to go back and see him (a total of about 4/4.5 hours.

My mom stepped up and took the kids for the 4+ days that he was in the hospital so that I could be with Don. I had a slew of friends take the kids for a few hours at a time so that my mom could get some work done. My Mom, Amy, Crissy, Leigh and Julie made it possible for me to be there for Don with my full attention.

He is still trying to recover- he can't pick up the kids, he gets winded going up the stairs and he is still fighting pain. He has to go in for a follow up surgery in a month and then will go through another round of recovery. This is a long, terrible process. He will have Diverticulitis for the rest of his life, but at least now he has a diagnosis so he should be able to treat it before it requires surgery next time. So that's where we are now...

Taking care of the kids full time by myself (including the switch over to daylight savings time which throws off sleep schedules), House Showings (with constant cleanings), making and serving 3 different meals a day to 4 different people (between allergies, post surgery diets and age restrictions on foods I am making probably 10 different meals a day) and everything else I am ready for a vacation.

Michael Jackson

Last night my brother took my mom and I to the Cirque Du Soleil Micheal Jackson show (it was my mom's Christmas present from my brother). It was fun, though I think the most fun part of it was the crazy Micheal Jackson fans surrounding us. There were tears of joy and sadness, dancing, singing, screaming etc and that was just in our row and the row behind us (My brother was even grabbed by a fan she was so excited). The pictures were taken in weird lighting from my iphone but it gives you an idea.

Birthday Party Outing

We went to a very close family friend's birthday party yesterday. It was nice to have something fun to do with good friends after such a turbulent week. Happy 2nd Birthday G! 

Duke Fans

My mom has been staying with us to help me with the kids while I went back and forth from the hospital.  She decided to take the opportunity to try and make the kids Duke fans. It must be working because last night Ryan slept snuggling his new Duke T-shirt. 

Home from the Hospital

We've made it home from the hospital. It is nice to be out and about and out of the constant noise of the hospital. It will take some time before Don is back to himself so until then he is comfortable in bed (well as comfortable as he can get).  

Family Emergency

Don was admitted to the hospital Monday night for emergency surgery. It was very serious but he is doing much better now and they are talking about possibly discharging him tomorrow. In light of the family emergency I will get back to my month long photo challenge for April. I will post more about everything when he is out and I am no longer running back and forth between the hospital and the kids at home. We have been getting great support from friends and family which has allowed us the flexibility of me being able to be with Don a lot of the time but it will all get a lot easier once he is home. We still have a pretty long road to full recovery but we are moving in that direction.

Day 3: Your Neighborhood

Today was really cloudy, rainy and generally yucky out and since I took so many pictures this morning bowling I just couldn't muster up the energy to go out and take a picture in the neighborhood. So instead I have decided to  post a picture from the summer at our NEIGHBORHOOD pool- it will help me to remember that warm weather activities are right around the corner.