A smooth ride till its not....

              So the year 2014 started out like any other, we make promises to change for the better in a number of ways and always made with the best intentions.  We will finally loose that last 10 pounds, exercise every day, organize our homes/lives so that we will be on time and clutter free.  This year was no different, the month of January came and went, it was cold there was snow here in North West Arkansas.  The kids loved it, the parents did to, till they started miss many days of school, then we prayed for sunshine and above freezing temperatures.  Things started out cold in February and then gradually became warmer and warmer towards the end of the month. The end of the month.  that is when life changed for our little family.  The last week of the month Brad came home early that afternoon.  I can't really remember why, but he was home and I was tired I think I had stayed up with the baby girl the night before.  She didn't sleep through the night, maybe she was unsettled because she knew the next day would bring chaos.  The kids had just gotten home from school and I told Brad I really needed to lay down for 20 mins. it was all I needed to gear up for the rest of the evening.  I had just laid down and was trying to relax when my phone rang. I almost didn't answer it, I rolled over and saw my brothers name flashing on the display.  He lives in Tennessee so we don't see each other much.  I accepted the call and in a tired voice said hello, his response was shaky and he explained to me that he had very little details, but that our dad had had a heart attack.  Boom there it was, the trajectory of that day derailed with one sentence. I sat up fast in my bed and asked, what he meant?  Was Dad alive? At the Er? Where was Mom?  About a million question ran through my head and half came out of my mouth, he could only say "I don't know." He was packing the car and heading to the hospital to see them both, he lived an hour and 20 mins. away, he said I could try to call Mom but he would call me when he got to the hospital.  I jumped out of the bed and ran to a startled looking husband sitting on the couch.  I told him what happened and he grabbed my hand to steady me while listening to my brother.  We hung up and I didn't want the kids to know anything till I knew something concrete so I ran to back to my bedroom.  Brad came in and put his arm around me and I wept.
                 I cried for a bit then got a hold of myself and called my mom, she said that she knew very little as well.  That she had been inside the house and he had gone outside to do yard work and all of the sudden a stranger knocked on the door and he told her to come quickly that her husband had, had a heart attack.  In socks she ran across the yard to see two fire fighters giving him CPR, one calling an ambulance and them both attending to my dad on the ground.  They got him to the hospital, and immediately doctors and surgeons worked on him; my mom was waiting there for information with my Aunt Ann and Uncle Bob.  More family would be there before to long, its what happens when you come from a large family like my mother.  My Sister far away in Nevada was driving to Las Vegas for a weekend trip with friends.  I called my Uncle Pete and let him have the news, it was so gut wrenching to tell him, he is my Dad's only sibling.   Things move at quick pace in a crisis but also super slow at the same time.  Its weird how it happens, all of the sudden I needed to pack and figure out how to get there, but they weren't sure if he was going to make it through the night so they wanted me to wait till the morning to start the long drive to Tennessee.  We didn't know if we were taking the whole family to a funeral or just me and the baby to help with recovery.  Our own family was about to renovate our kitchen with new counter-tops 2 day later.  So many decisions were to be made but lucky for us, we have lots of people in our corner to make things happen quickly.  My Dad did make it through the night, I was able to send the boys to school and take Jillian with me.  It was a miracle the kind of drive we had, Jillian never cried once for me and we stopped only once to get gas, we pulled into Cookeville hospital that evening. My mother and brother were both in the ICU waiting room, they looked terrible.  Puffy red eyes, tired circles, pale and slow moving.  The hours at the ICU are very strict in the heart wing.  Only a few hours at a time, a few people at a time, and no children.  They let me go back and see him soon after I arrived Mom stayed with Jillian while Andrew and I walked back to look at him.  He was laying there with lots of  tubes and IV's everywhere.  His eyes would flutter open every once and a while but he was mainly still.  It was hard to see, so to distract I would ask lots of questions.  What do all of these machines mean?  What does this one or that one do?  Which ones will he be taken off of first?  What does he have to be able to do to get this or that one off?  The nurses there were excellent, they could answer each one confidently.  They were honest about how sick he was and how his heart had stopped for a time, so after shocking him back there could be side affects.  They also said that making it through the night was a positive thing to, they honestly didn't know if that was going to happen.  Every hour was milestone at this point, they could drop down the doses of meds by just only little tick at a time. It was indeed a waiting game at this point.
                 That night I made my mom go home and sleep in her bed, she had stayed at the waiting room the night before on a small uncomfortable couch.  My brother and her both needed sleep, and rest to make it through the next coming days.  My Uncle would come in from Maryland that next day with his girl friend Wendy.  The next day he was more responsive, we asked him to blink if he could hear us and he did, which made us so happy.  We asked him to squeeze our hands if he could understand us, he did that as well.  We kept explaining what happened because we knew each time he "woke up" he didn't know where he was, or why he couldn't move.  I can't imagine what his perspective was, but I could only think that it would be terrifying not knowing where you were or what was going on.  After two days of being there Sunday night he seemed really more awake, the nurses said he isn't going to remember any of it but we kept talking to him and holding his hand.  It was the only thing we could touch, was his hand.  My Uncle had to leave and go back to work, and so did my brother so I stayed with my mom all week long.  My sister was preparing to fly in to help once I headed back home to my family.  We knew he'd be in ICU for at least a week and then the regular hospital room for 5 days as well.
            Five days after the heart attack he was much more wide awake and wanting that tube out of his mouth, we could tell he was grabbing at it, so the nurses had to tighten the restraints that they had placed on his arms.  It didn't work.  Right after he had seen my mom, and it was time for her to leave she told the nurse  "He is trying to get at that tube."  She said she would go and check on his arms again.  But before she could he pulled it out!  Every alarm went off and they rushed into help him out.  We knew then my Dad was definitely back.  I don't blame him, I would have probably done the same thing.  We just wanted to make sure his lungs were ready for him to breathe all on his own.
                   We were so excited to call my brother and sister and tell them that he would be able to talk and that he was making so much progress.  Andrew came back to see him and my sister was excited to know that he would be in a better place when she arrived.  We quickly learned that he had memory loss.  My brother came to see him and the next day he couldn't remember it, He couldn't remember the yard work or the fire that occurred and how he had help putting it out for the kindness of a stranger who just happen to be driving by and stopped to help.  We decided not to dwell on it and ask him what he could remember because he was getting frustrated every time he had to say no I don't remember this or that. We worked on resting, getting enough energy to stand up and walk to the doorway.  We could not believe that he was progressing so much in the coming days.  My sister came into town and she brought new energy and joy all three of us kids were able to see him which it had been a long time since we were all together.  They moved him to a different room that was in a less strict part of the hospital, he could have visitors all day but still no children but he could wheel out to the waiting room to see Jillian.  That made him smile, and Jillian learned that he had gotten sick but that the Doctors were making him better.  I left on that Monday to head back home to Brad and my boys.  Brad had gotten very sick himself (the flu and strep throat at the same time!) and was just counting down the minutes for me to get back.  He was to be in bed and let the meds that the Doctor had given him take affect.
               My Sister stayed that week and he was released from the hospital to a therapy clinic that helped him relearn to use all his facilities on his own.  After a few days my mom could come pick him up and take him home.  The road was still going to be long but we now know that he was mending and going to make it.  We learned how quickly things can change and how it changes our perspective.  We learned how family can work together when things get rough and that we are a team each pitching in and helping.  We learned about love and how much we have for our Dad and each other.  Love ya Dad!

Christmast 2013

Christmas is always fun we have kids who are like most, totally excited for Santa to come and visit them.  My parents came this year to stay with us for the holiday and that is always exciting for everyone.  There's way to many presents as always and we spend the whole day opening gifts talking with dozens of family members and having a really good time.  Its so nice just to hang out and have a really great day with our family.
        The boys were really able to show Jillian the ropes on how to open presents.  They were excited for her to get a gift from Santa.  Even though she was scared of him when we went to see him.  She got a little tricycle for Christmas that she can learn to use and grow into for sometime.  Garrett got a scooter that he was wanting to replace his very well used old one.  Brady got lots of Titanic books, that is his latest obsession.  He wants to go see it one day.   I love watching them open gifts and seeing how excited they are in giving each other gifts.
The night before in new Jammie's!

 Garrett LOVES soda, I don't let him have it that often.  So when Santa brought him Root Beer in his Stocking he was so excited!

                           Jillian new bike, she is getting to be so big!

 They both love to ride this scooter!

 Brad and the kids getting ready to go to Church....

Jillian's Birthday

Jillian turned 2 on December 16th, 2013.  She is such a cute, sweet, and feisty girl.  She has been our little princess.  We just love her to death, the boys have adored her since birth and we are so happy to have a girl in the family.   In her second year of life she was super busy, learning to walk, talk, make animal sounds and getting all her teeth.  She tries her best to keep up with the boys and always wants to be apart of what ever it is that they are doing even if she doesn't really "know" what that particular thing is.  We couldn't imagine what our family would be like with out her funny how that happens.  

 She also got her first broken bone, falling off the bunk bed ladder.  Did I mention she likes to climb?  A. LOT. Yeah it was her collar bone and it grew back together quickly but still scared me.

 She worked on growing hair this year too, we started pig tails and I think she is adorable in them.

 This girl loves water!  Isn't afraid of it at all, wants to jump in and play right away.  So happy about that.

 Being a princess must come in her DNA, cause she does the dressing up all on her own.  No need to push her into any directions.  She asks for pink things, which we don't have to ton of and dresses.  But she makes a cute ballerina!

Turning two is a big step for me/her and I can't believe these past two years have gone by so fast!  We love our Two year old, Jillian!  Happy Birthday beautiful.

Thanksgiving 2013

We stayed home for Thanksgiving, but we still celebrated with very good friends.  Our friends become family during times like these.  We are all far from our "homes" so we eat and laugh and hang with each other to fill in the gaps.  And I am grateful for that, grateful that our kids get along and have almost sibling like relationships.  Garrett had a Kindergarten performance this year, I almost get nervous for him because he is a bit more reserved when it comes to be in front of larger groups of people.  But he did great!  They sang some songs, wore their headdress, he was a pilgrim, some kids were Indians everyone looked so cute.
Here is Garrett when it was over with friends....

Up on stage, he's on the very end.  They are so sweet!

We had a really great Thanksgiving, we stayed here and there wasn't any family coming to town so we spent it with other friends in the same situation.  It was at our good friend the Molines, they had us and two other families that we knew, plus our good friend Jennie.  Chelise my dear friend loves to cook and entertain, so she goes out all with pretty much everything.  I like the way she decorates, here is the kids table...

Isn't it cute?

 Then we have the adult tables....

The food oh boy it was SO good, we each brought our favorite side dishes that we loved to cook at Thanksgiving and they were so good!  We had turkey of course and stuffing, rolls, sweet potato casserole,  cooked corn and mashed potatoes and gravy.  Then there were the pies! I think I just gained weight just thinking about it.  It was such a great day.  That night we went out and did a bit of shopping for Christmas and the next day I worked at the Children's Place at the mall.  Everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, there was a lot to be thankful for as there is every year.  

  

Happy for Halloween

Halloween was a fun time of year but also kind of stressful too.  I don't know why I let it get to me, I want the kids to have such a good time picking out the costumes and the having fun while doing the traditional trick or treating.  Sometimes I think I get stuck on having them look just like the character and go out searching for just the right "item/costume" and I just need to relax and enjoy the process.  I am going to work on that next year.
  Brady has been so into Charlie and the Chocolate factory books and movies lately.  Like really obsessed.  He told me the other day when he is older he wants to change his name to Willy Wonka.  Whoa, he's taking it a bit far, Willy Wonka McKasson....  So he decided he wanted to dress up like Willy Wonka, now there are to versions of this character because there are two movies, an older '70s version and a remake that was made in 2005.  Willy Wonka looks totally different in each movie Brady decided to go with the more recent Willy Wonka.  Here is the picture he was trying to imitate:

 I found this awesome wig for him to wear but he wanted nothing to do with it.  He didn't have the confidence to wear it, I kept trying to convince him but he was afraid of what others would think.  We are going to work on building him up in the future....
I still think he looks pretty close and handsome.

 We got him a golden Ticket to take to school on the day that they were allowed to dress up!  He was hoping I would have made a bunch to pass out to kids but I didn't have the time to do that.

 
Garrett decided that he wanted to be a ninja, a friend from Church gave me a costume to borrow.  He looked adorable, he loved to strike a " warrior pose" when I asked him to so I could take a picture.  He is pretty easy to please this one...

  The there was Jillian who was going to be a spider.  Both of my boys were spiders at 2 Years old and I just really wanted her to be one as well.  They are so cute in this fluffy costume!  None of them will sit still at this age and get a really good picture but you get the point...

This one was taken right before we went out for candy you can see in her eyes how excited she was to get going.  The curls all around her hat sticking out kill me she is so sweet and cute.  At first she got a piece of candy and wanted to stop and eat it right away.  We had to show and explain how we were going to get more.  Once we went to a few houses, she caught on and was ready to go all night long!  They got WAY to much candy like they do every year.  Not to mention more candy at class parties and the Church party. We brought it home and sorted it all out.  It was utterly crazy how much we had so I immediately took all the candy from Jillian's bag and mostly left her with dumb dumb lolly pops and tootsies rolls. She was happy as a lark and I think is really going to get into this next Halloween.

After eating dinner with friends, going out on Halloween, surviving two school parties, and one with our church I am glad that this fun Holiday only comes once a year!

A Pack of Animals

In October we went to the Tulsa Zoo.  We have lived with in an hour and half drive of this Zoo and never explored it.  So one weekend we were headed that way and decided to make a day of it and see what it had to offer.  Garrett has never been a huge fan of animals, but he has been warming up as he has gotten older.  He loved the Zoo, our whole family had a great day.  Here are some of the fun stuff we saw...

 We caught a seal show and Brady is in the orange shirt down front.  He is waving to the seal and then in the second one the lady is showing him the teeth and mouth.  Brady had such a good time learning about them all.

We tried seeing the Elephants and having them all take a picture at the same time but it doesn't always work out that you get a  perfect picture.  

And we got to ride the train, which every Zoo seems to have and our family loves them!

          

I think that this needs to be an every October tradition for our family.  They had such a good time and the weather was great and there weren't a ton of people.  I would give the Tulsa Zoo two thumbs up and tell others its a must see if you are in Tulsa! 

                                                         

Girls Weekend

Sometimes you need a break, and this October I needed one.  Just a few days to recharge my mom-juice if you will.  I had not see my little sister in over a year, way to long if you ask me.  So I  took Jillian with me, and we went to Reno.  My sister had just moved there this summer so I wanted to see the new city she'd be living.  While making plans I begged my long time friend/roomate, Raina, to join us.  She needed a break too, at least that is what I convinced her of and she brought her newest baby with her and before you could blink it was a Girls weekend!  Raina and I lived with each other for 3 years before she married her husband. one of those years my sister was living with us as well.  She knows me so well and I am so sad that she lives so far away (in Portland Or).  So I was so happy to hear that she would meet me at my sisters house, we had so much fun!  We had  such a good time catching up going out to eat, checking out Truckee, Ca and lets not forget Lake Tahoe.
My nieces are so sweet and adorable, Jillian hardly knew them and they were so good to her.

 Peas in a Pod, or in boxes I should say, although when they are older no one is going to believe they are cousins....they look nothing alike.

   We headed up to Truckee this small resort type town right before Lake Tahoe and it was so cute and fun to walk around.

 So I took this one of my sister and Raina and then the one below we got my oldest niece to try and take one, she did pretty good!

Then my sister wanted one of her and her girls.......well anyone who has taken pictures with kids knows to keep expectations low when capturing that perfect pic.

Then there was this little guy.. oh be still my heart he was so good the whole weekend.  I just love his age they are so cute and cuddly Mr. L you were a champ.

We went to eat at the this cool restaurant that the Famous Chef Bobby Flay did a throw down with the owner, it's a T.V. Show my husband and I like to watch.  They battled it out to see who could make the best omelette.  Its a hip/trendy restaurant.  They let you write on the walls, which is Jillian's dream, so we let her and her cousin go to town.
Can you see the happiness in her eyes?

That night we got to go out eat just us girls no kids and Nick was THE MAN for making that happen.  It was so fun we just chatted and talked all night, and the food was soooo good!  The funniest part of the night was when a waiter mistook for me for someone else he knew and came by to say "hi".  I had no idea who he was and tried to be polite and say hi, we laughed about it later.   

I seriously love these two ladies, we haven't been together in years, but once we were together its like we just picked up where we last left off.  Its so nice to be yourself and comfortable around people with out even thinking about it.  

Lake Tahoe is awesome!  Raina and I kept trying to take a picture to capture it and I knew it wasn't going to work.  I had no idea about this place but SO glad that we went.  I took about 50 pictures while we were there:  

 I love that he is looking and cracking a smile priceless!

 My sister is so good to my daughter and I love her for it.

Such a good weekend, I am trying to convince Raina that we need to do this every October so we can see that beautiful time of year again, and again in Tahoe.