Hello Life!

Its been a little over a month since Ive written last. Well after my last post, things got super crazy. My sister went in for a non stress test on Saturday. And then ended up being air lifted to Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. She has Hope Syndrome and Pre-Eclampsia. And it was Easter weekend. I took the girls to the circus in Baltimore Easter Sunday. (Funny how God works). After the circus we went to the hospital to visit and bring my brother in law home. All was good, they had her under control. Bad news was she was staying till CJ was born. So we made a list of things that she would need for her new home. Everything was great. Then Monday, a little after 5 hours from talking to her, Chris called. Her blood pressure was out of control and it was time for CJ to make it to this world. And Tuesday morning he did. Born 8 weeks early.

The next six weeks were full of tears, worry and almost three hour drives one way to visit him in the NICU. But it was worth every minute. He did great and was only in the NICU for eating issues, nothing medical.

Now here it is July 1 and he will be 3 months old tomorrow. And he's wonderful. My sister however, had to have emergency surgery. She had mastitis which wouldn't go away and they had to do surgery to get rid of the infection. That same day Sara was taken to the ER for what we thought was an asthma attack and ended up being pneumonia.

Can I have that summer vacation now please?

And there will be some blogging about our endless adventures to Baltimore!

The Christmas I Put My Foot Down

Yes I know its almost at the end of January. No one ever said I was on top of things! ;)

 So I think after Christmas of 2011 I vented my frustrations about having to do 5 Christmas' in two days. Ridiculous. Its no fun to rush rush rush. Then open all your presents and have to leave to not come home till 10 or 11 that night. Especially spending time with a family who couldn't care less about you the other 364 days in the year. So I said no more. And guess what? We didn't do not one Christmas but our own. It was GREAT! We slept in, opened our presents, made breakfast then the boys went hunting. I cooked dinner and we just chilled the rest of the day. Couldn't have asked for a better day. And just to back things up for a minute, we even went to two services on Christmas Eve. I think this will be our new normal! And I'm sure plenty had something to say, but guess what? I no longer care what "they" think. They can suck it!

Really? I mean REALLY?!?

Well looks like we're back at it again. My dad is heading for that nasty battle again. The tumor is back. But this time the game plan has changed. He cant do chemo since he just finished a round and radiation is out of the question. So we are faced with two choices. One, being doing nothing and we have less then a year with him. Two, remove the rest of the tongue, replace it with muscle from his chest. He would be in the hospital for 14 days, then 2 weeks of rehab and then 4 weeks of recovery time. Oh, and the surgery would have to be done by the end of the month. So that's where it stands. We have lots of decisions and praying to do. I'm leaving it to God to point us in the right direction. All I know is I want my time with my daddy. And he knows that. I told him Im being stingy and not ready to let him go. He owes me some back time. And he agreed with me!

Two Month Slump

So its been two months since Ive written. Nothing else bad has happened, thank God. Just been trying to get back in the groove of things and have a happy family. Summer here has gotten off to a slow start with all the kids having bronchitis or pneumonia or both! The next few weeks of summer will be busy to get everything in that we wanted to. Stay tuned for upcoming adventures and projects!

Life Happens

Well its been several months. And I can say not happy months. Little did we know that in a 5 day period we would loose a battle and start one all over. So here goes...

The last week of January sucked. There is no other better word to describe it. Johns dad was diagnosed with cancer in his shoulder which led to the finding of stage 4 lung cancer. 4 days later my dad announced that his cancer was back. 1 day after that my sister lost her baby.

My sister had a d&c and recovered nicely. My dad began the fight.Again. My father in law never got to fight the battle. He made it through 3 chemo treatments then ended up in the hospital for 10 days. In that period we learned that he had cancer in his hip,spine and back. And quite possibly in his brain. He was released and was home 2 days(one which was a really good day) before he ended up back in the hospital. After being there for 2 days the doctors concluded that there was nothing more that could be done and it was time for hospice. We  brought him home on hospice on a Tuesday, and one week later on Tuesday, at 7:01 am, he was called home. He never got to fight the battle. As much as it hurt, the suffering was over and that's what we wanted.

Life has yet to return back to our normal. Not that I think it ever will. We will have a new normal now, once we    find it.

And So it Starts Again

My dad is back in the hospital. Apparently he started to spit blood and come to find out the vein they put in his jaw ruptured. They said this is common. But also they said that if he would have been any longer getting in, he would have bled out. Which scares the hell out of me. Today he had emergency surgery to fix it and is back in ICU. But he's in Massachusetts. I'm really pissed that I cant be there. I don't care how much Lisa reassures us hes ok. If I cant see him then I'm not going to believe it. And if hes fine, then he wouldn't be in there now. So asking for some prayers and positive thoughts our way!

Meet My Great Nephew.....

Dylan!! Wow, did I just say that? Great nephew? Why yes I did!! He was born Thursday night at 1158 p.m. Mom, dad and baby are doing good. I cant wait to meet him! You can be assured that when I do, I will be taking TONS of pictures!!

Grrrrrrr

Yes, grrrrrrr!! I growled! Why? In this last week my mother has done some things that are unspeakable. Things that I dont want to post. Things that I dont want to forgive her for doing. I know thats not the Christian thing to do. Lets just say that I could forgive, but wont forget. It hurts very much to think of the things that she has done. For now, I have decided it would be best if my family does not have contact with her. Eric and Tina know why, Sara of course doesnt. Im just waiting for Sara to ask to go over there. Its going to break my heart. Family should NOT be like this. It upsets me so much that these things have happened. I have been praying about it and nothing comes to me other then what I have already decided. I pray that this also opens her eyes.

Thinking about my dad

I talked to my step mom tonight and my dads having a hard time right now. The 5 day a week treatments are starting to take their toll on him physically and mentally. He is also going through the 7 stages of grief. I hope that hes able to keep positive through all this. Im asking the Lord to left him up and show him that we will get through this! I love him so much and I hate to see him like this.

January Updates

Looking back at my posts I realized I have not posted about my dad. Dec 21, 2009, my dad had a PET scan done because he had been having severe ear pain. He had put it off and put it off and finally decided to just go. Well they discovered a tumor on the back of his tongue and the right side of his throat. December 23, 2009, he went for a biopsy. After it was done and he was in recovery the doctor came out and told us that the tumor was cancer and he believed it to be a stage 4. Luckily the day after Christmas, we found out that it was stage 2 but would require aggressive treatment. He will require 5 radiation treatments a week and up to 4 chemo treatments. This will all take place in a 7 week time. The doctors are very optimistic that this will take care of the tumor. Lets just pray that they are right!! This past weekend, we had Sara's birthday party. My dad said he would come down as long as he felt good. Well I prayed all week that he would. And guess what?? He did!! I was so excited that he came down to the party. I made sure I took pics of him!! That totally made my day.

Other then my dad, everyone else is doing good. Today I registered Sara for the pre-k program at Blessed Lambs. Im very excited that she will be going there next year. As far as my New Year's goals, well lets just say that is slow moving!! But Im sure they will all fall into place here shortly. Next week I get to watch Eli and Aaron while Chelsea is in school. Im so excited! I love all her kids so much. I also had an idea for Easter. Im going to have an egg dying party for all the kiddos!! I figured I would set up and provide all the kits. Im going to ask each family bring the eggs they want to dye and a snack to share. It should be fun!!