what happened to my vaca??

I've been off this week, just staying at home and getting my act together. Molly has been right by my side, tearing my act apart. Im gonna call it a push.

the shirt is out of the "winter" bin, the pants out of the "too small" bin & add daddy's prized "champion boat" hat to complete the look.



and we had to accessorize! This came out of the "Halloween" bin!

My poor yard, which was totally redone last season, is showing the wear & tear of two big dogs...so Pruett Home Improvement is on their way to fix it by re-doing the deck and hang gutters! ( i KNOW...the sarge didn't understand either) They also will redo all the entry ways to make it easy for mom to enter the house AND the pool! Did I mention I'm married to the most wonderful man in the whole wide world?

I did get to Spg to visit w/ my bebes. Zoey is growing by the second, and can hold her head up and focus intently on my face, as well as jerk around to see what dog just walked by, or where mama's voice is coming from! She is also starting to smile! SHE'S SO ADORABLE!!





Aubrey Jo's vocab has now surpassed mine. She runs the i-phone, looks up her flash cards, and i think she's working on the grade 12 set! They told me it's also causing trouble. Daddy was admonishing her one day, and when he got to "3" on the countdown Aubrey just turned around, dropped her pants, and said "Smack it! Just Smack it!" hahahahahahah. She can also just drop her pants because she is no longer in pull-ups! YAY AUBREY! She continues to idolize her Aunt Molly. :-)



Mom has been a roller coaster ride, we're glad to say we're off of. She crashed one more time to the point i was arguing with the ER doc about putting her on a vent! EEK!! A new doc came on duty about 5am, and LISTENED to me...(Thank you, Lord) and we tried the Bi-Pap machine (strap-on face mask that blows O2) and her numbers came back into line with every 1/2 hour blood-gasses draw! She was diagnosed with "carbon dioxide" poisoning, occuring because her breathing was so shallow. Those pesky lungs are still bugging us, and she remains on O2. I'm thinking she inherited Gramma LuJon's lungs *sigh* As SOON as her levels were back in line?...she bounced right back. There have been more than a few Miracle Days along this ordeal.

She came home for an all day visit with us yesterday, making Memorial Day a day to remember...and I know we're very close to her coming home permanately. I want to go get her again today, as they do no PT in rehab on weekends, and i saw first hand her improvement throughout the day as she moved around. I don't want her being idle all day and 'stoving up'.

She's being very impatient with her recovery, and i detected a little depression. I told her this is part of the post-major surgery blues, perfectly normal, and to keep working....which would be another reason I want to go get her again. Rehab doesn't have a problem with it at all....but mom was hesitant.

We finished off the regular school year last week, including 3rd grade pet day!! Molly was pretty "ho hum" about it i thought, until teacher described to me the way her face lit up when she saw mom&dad and the matching set of German Sheps! Too much fun with a goose, and a donkey being brought in to round out the dogs and cats!



Her teacher that we LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Ms Stephanie (Wit-Wee) and Steph's daughter Kendall with their Oversized Weiner Dog! :-)






Got a new desktop computer, so spent the bulk of my time with that headache, (which translates into I'm locked out of my bank acct until tuesday) and since none of my peripherals would fit it, had to buy a new printer, too! SPENDING SPREE! (yep, ally and me snuck away to Target and Best Buy, and got pedi's while i was i Spg) To sum up? I think larry AND the bank account are both going to be very happy to see my vacation end

now? prepping to go back to work *sigh* I definitely would like to add "permanent vacation" to my resume...as I know Molly would like, too.

Carly George

This is Carly George, and this week as i sigh a little sigh of relief in our own health crisis, my heart focuses on this wonderful family. They are so much like us. Mama Joany has grown children as well as her "late in life blessing", Carly, who is just a year younger than my Molly Kate.

The one thing especially dear to my heart, is the fact that Carly also creeps into the big bed at night, to snuggle between her parents, just like Molly does. I KNOW, I KNOW!! we shouldn't let this happen, but the look on Moll's face, as she holds both our hands in hers, is absolutely precious. The one look makes me realize how hard it must be for her to conform to her school and typical peers, as well as to our constant ABA (applied behavior) demands......but for one fleeting instant, we can see how happy she is to be right where she is and cannot deny her. I love that i could share that with another mom....a mom who understood.

Carly was born "enhanced" or having down syndrome. Unlike molly, her little heart was only half-formed, but through many surgeries, she healed....The family was again immediately devastated to learn she had developed leukemia. She survived the horror of that protocol and was in remission. The last few years she has grown stronger, joined her class at school and they too, began to live the typical life of a family with an "angel child" and all the joy that comes with that.

Last month, Little Carly, who had survived impossible odds to be on this earth, simply dropped and left it. They kept her alive long enough to be snuggled in between both her parents and she simply slipped away.

This week, everything is so much better in my life...mom is stronger by the day, school is almost done and really fun for molly, and I have some time off of work. Time to right my world, which has been spinning out of control for the past month. I can finally crawl off this rollercoaster of 2am phone calls from panicked nurses, rotating doctors by the day, Emergency Rooms, DNR requests, Ventilator arguments, ICU's and FEAR! Lord, the FEAR just eats you alive. I laid in bed one night and actually started chilling, the way a woman does right after she gives birth. The stress was taking it's toll.....and I'm so relieved that the pressure is finally abating.

It is unfathomable to me, that Carly's mom Joany will never get this chance, will never get off the roller-coaster, will never sigh the sigh of relief, or witness the "look" that comes at the end of the day, when your special child is surrounded by the security of a big, warm bed, and her loving parents. My heart aches for this mom.

I ask you to lift this family up in prayer. I ask you to spend that extra time with your family...let the dishes soak, skip the meeting, make the trip to visit and just bask in the love of your family.

Our worlds can be turned upside-down in the single beat of a little heart.

Hospital Drama

So, as i left you we were celebrating the birth of my #2 granddaughter, Zoey Grace...that was 5 weeks ago...and i see photobucket removed all my pics! grrrrr we'll get that fixed.

We were all walking on air when, when as life does sometimes, everything crashed...actually my mom crashed, right onto her knees as she was putting a basket up on the top shelf in her bathroom. Both mom and dad had been running around like crazy trying to pack for the big trip back to colorado, the car ready, serviced and loaded.

She fell right onto her knees and they were swollen from impact, but after walking back to her bedroom and getting them up, she refused to go to the doc....she just jammed one and she was sure if she stayed off of it for one day, it would get better.

Next morning, she obliged me by letting me take her to the doc. The impact of the fall had not only jammed her knee, but had knocked the ball out of her hip joint and fractured it. They called an ambulance to the doctor's office to transport her to the hospital, and then two weeks of hell began.

Mom is currently at a rehab wing in a local carehome...She is better and the new hip ball is in place and healing nicely. I don't want to even think about the 2 weeks of horror that happened in between the fall and the rehab...suffice to say...we never want to go through anything like that again.

I was glad that i did not have to survive it alone...and had a witness to the weirdness that is hospital life, or what i've come to call....Bizzaro World. You absolutely lose all sorts of time frame, or logic...thank God there are nurses there to guide you through. My sister patty, when she heard the panic in my voice as things declined- dropped everything and drove right out....she drove all day and night from colorado springs, right to the hospital...thats about 16 hours of driving that she made in record time.

Then my children organized and got mobile...gabe from springfield (even though he was prepping for college finals) bill from fayetteville (leaving his phones/work) and shauna from DC....giving up a fun trip she had planned home.....They took care of the shopping, the cleaning, taking care of molly, and even made AMAZING evening meals for all of us...no matter what time we got in...8, 9, 10pm...there was food waiting. My children never cease to amaze me with their selflessness and good heartedness. They took care of everything i couldn't.

Dale (sis's hubby) stayed with larry and worked at the house, whipping our yard back into shape & the annual cleaning of the garage...we've had a couple of close calls with tornadoes...and spring rains...and the land was definitely getting out of hand. All the acres are cleared and stacked and the new tower is painted...thank you Dale.

Mom will be in rehab for about a month...or less. She refuses to come home while not being able to walk...and the drama that occured earlier left her flat on her back for 2 solid weeks, at which point her body just quit her. She wakes early and heads to the therapy room...lifts weights...works with bands..and walks on the "ballerina bars" Shes recouping fast and i cannot wait to get her home and have life return to normal. We still don't know how the colorado trip is going to work out....life is kind of on hold right now.

So...i am back to work and still not in a 'routine' with my new schedule, which includes waking early to do the domestic thing and take molly to school (map testing week) stopping off to visit with mom and tweek her orders...track everything that's been lost in moves from the floor to ICU to the floor and then to rehab...(they lost her clothes) then onto work-where i try to focus for a few hours until i can run back to rehab on my lunch hour. She is pretty much settled now..pictures up on the wall and new jammies bought...She is very determined not to be there long and amazes me with her attitude and drive.

The day we got there, my little town suffered a double-murder, suicide, domestic dispute...all of which involved, as well as the witness to the event.. are employees at the facility mom is staying. ...so now add a few news crews to the day....the drama and stress just seem to continue....so i ran away! Not really, but i am taking a powder for a day or two...not to club med..but to springfield. Gabe is now trying to take finals and finish papers for the semester...Ally-mom has returned to work, and two little girls are making them both frantic!

Mom-mom (what AJ calls me) is here, watching dora and shopping and fixing meals for them! Finals should be done this evening...and i have a congratulations meal ready for him to celebrate with. Funny how that whole family thing comes around, isn't it?? I was missing my babies anyway..they grow so fast..and molly is having a ball with her favorite person in the whole world, miss aubrey jo!

I sure understand why both Ally and Gabe have the dark circles...baby is only sleeping about 2 hours at a time (just like gabe when he was an infant) and refuses to sleep on anything but a warm human body! Aubrey Jo is full into the 'terrible twos' and the second you sit down to rock the baby (this happened last night) she runs to get into some trouble....this time grabbing baby shampoo and pouring all over her head! As soon as baby is slipped into a swing so that you can handle that mess...that little angel starts screaming! Not much ruffles mom-mom....but the poor kids seem frazzled! Adding college finals to the scenerio made this a necessary trip, something that made it's point when I took my first shower with curtains and door open, and with my glasses on!

I'll add pictures later...maybe...when things settle back down to my much appreciated boring life...and hopefully will get back on blogging schedule soon!

hugs...and don't forget to appreciate all that you do have....including your health, uneventful days and well slept nights. Boring is the goal I'm working toward for this summer! :-)