What A Week!

We had a bit of a heat wave this past week. It got up to the mid 90's here and this is exactly how we all felt around here!

And again I have to ask myself...."Why am I even wasting all my money on toys and games? Apparently boys only need a hose and a garbage bag to keep them busy!"

All I can say is boys..boys..boys! If you have boys then you know what I mean!

Update.....

I know its been a week and you are probably wondering what is up with my dad. Well its been a slow week with nothing really happening. And when I say nothing really happening....I mean that! For days he was just being "maintained" on a ventilator and meds. The concern is that his heart is failing which is causing everything else not to work properly. His lungs, kidneys and liver. He has had bad days and we were told they we need to prepare ourselves for the worse. They wanted to do procedures on his heart but he's just not stable enough. Days and days of no progress is very frustrating! Numerous tests and minor procedures have been done but no concrete news. It seems like there is an infection but they can't find where it is. On Friday the doctors finally agreed that they needed to move forward on something so they decided to do some of the risky procedures even though he was not stable enough. They put a cath line straight into his heart and by doing that they where able to read that the meds they were giving him for his heart were wrong and to much. And he was too heavily sedated. So they made some adjustments and very quickly he seems to be turning a corner! His heart is more stable then it was, the oxygen they are giving him is at 35% as oppose to 80%, his vitals look much better and he is starting to wake up. Doctors said it will take a few days for him to wake up because he was sedated so strongly. Once he is fully awake and he is able to breathe on his own then the ventilator will be able to come out. I saw him today and he is starting to move around, trying to lift his arms (they are restrained so he won't mess with his tube) and his eyes will flutter briefly. It reminds me of a newborn baby trying to wake up. So we are not out of the woods yet but SOMETHING is finally happening! Progress is slowly being made. His heart is still bad so I still don't know how all this is going to end though. Thank you all for your kind words and prayers this week. And I want to also thank my Aunt Kathy for having the insight to send me money for gas since I had burned through my gas allowance for the next month. That truly blessed me!

Todd said this morning that it would be funny....cruel but funny....to tell my dad when he wakes up that he has been out for 8 years instead of 8 days. Make ourselves appear older, change all the calenders and dye Kylers hair blond and tell him that it was Kaden (at 11 yrs old) and that Kyler was off to college! Very cruel but you have to admit....kind of funny!

My Dad

This is my Dad

He is someone that over the years I have had a love/ hate relationship with. At times he can totally frustrate me and other times he has really come to my rescue. He is a tough one. A hard worker and someone who would give you the shirt off his back.

He should be taking my kids fishing right now.

He should be working in his perfectly kept yard right now.

He should be fixing fabulous meals right now.

He should be fixing this or that for me.

But he is not doing these things....

Instead he is laying in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital. Instead he is in a drug-induced coma with a ventilator down his throat.

What happened???

It happened so fast we are still asking ourselves that same question!

He had been sick all week with some kind of flu (no, not the swine flu!) Wednesday night it got so bad he became SEVERELY dehydrated. Close to death kind of dehydration! I won't go into the gory details about that but after he had some sort of seizure my mom called 911. After he got to the hospital he was quickly diagnosed with pneumonia. Possibly a sepsis infection which is something that grows in the blood. So he was immediately admitted to ICU and over the last few days has steadily gotten worse. They are describing him as a puzzle and still haven't figured out what exactly is going on. But this is what we do know right now..

Pneumonia, lungs are bleeding, broken rib from coughing, extremely low blood pressure (but this has gotten slightly better) liver is in distress, kidney possibly in distress, heart is in distress, dehydration is obviously under control now, some sort of other infection possibly sepsis, low oxygen.

Which is how we come to the ventilator part. He was having such a hard time breathing that all his effort and strength was going into that. Doctors wanted him on a ventilator so his body would relax and not have to fight at it. With him being in a drug-induced coma with a ventilator, the doctors can now treat him better. But....its really hard seeing him like that. He is extremely puffy and bloated with a thousand wires and tubes coming out of him. He is lifeless and completely unrecognizable. We can't even talk to him anymore because any stimulation makes him agitated. He will try coughing in his sleep and he will come closer to the suface. And of course we don't want him waking up!

How am I doing? I know everyone is going to ask that. I am doing as well as can be expected I guess. I have never been in this type of situation before. My dad has been in and out of the hospital for years with 3 heart attacks and 1 triple bypass surgery. I always felt he was going to be ok. I knew he would walk out of there no problem. But now?.......I don't know about that anymore. Its hard to look at him and imagine him snapping out of this. I am feeling down which is to be expected. But there are so many other emotions mixed in with that. Was I a good enough daughter? Should I have been more understanding and patient with him? Part of me just wants to turn around and just forget it. Its hard to go to the hospital. Its hard to even touch him and talk to him. Its all very surreal and uncomfortable. I don't know what is in my dads heart and if anything were to happen.....would God have mercy on him? Where is he going to go? My mom seems to be handling this well but I feel I need to step in and be the strong one. The shoulder to lean on. And that's ok. Its what my mom needs and I am good at it. But its draining and the whole thing makes me tired.

So please pray! For me. For my mom. And above all else my dad. Pray for comfort, healing, wisdom and strength. Pray that I can picture him walking out of there and taking my kids fishing this summer.

Hello. How Was Your Weekend?

Oh wait. I have a blog? Oh, yeah. Hi and hello there.

I just have one thing to say about this past Memorial Weekend....

It was in the middle 70's all weekend! Can you believe it?

Here was our weekend in 40 words or less..

Beaches, jellyfish, sunshine, sand, ice cream, boats, sunglasses, lunch on the water, sand castles, getting buried, swimming, cousins, games, iced lattes, reading, sunburns,

Lydia's first birthday (my niece), bbq, caterpillar birthday cake, presents, friends, family

( H stands for Hooray!... he is still pooping in the potty!)

(He is eating his ice cream so fast that you can't see his hand)

How was your weekend?

Important Things Around Here

This precious and sweet child....

Has possibly finally decided that pooping in the potty might be a good thing!!

I am still holding my breathe on the subject but I think we have made some major progress. Months and months of begging, pleading, threatning, bribing, screaming and crying had led to absolutly nothing. And then just one day he decides "ok...I think I am ready" I should have known this would happen. This is the way he has handled all milestones in his life.

I can't believe how freaking stubborn he is but I sure do love him anyways

I no longer have visions of changing his pants at his high school graduation!

He's 35 And Still Looking Fine!

Today is Todd's birthday and he turns the big 35!

Not much planned today because we are unfortunately broke...still. But I wanted to make it a special day so I spent most of it in the kitchen. They say ONE of the ways to a mans heart is through his stomach so that is what I set out to do today.

Breakfast started out with a rhubarb crumb cake

It was mighty tasty...alot of work but still very good.

For dinner we had steak with all the fixens

And for dessert I made for the first time ever lemon meringue pie

Of course it looks innocent enough and I could stop here and not reveal the whole truth but... It's good to keep yourself humble I guess!

The honest truth is that it didn't set and turned out to be lemon soup

You can't win them all!

In honor of my birthday boy, here are 35 things you probably don't know about him

1. First of all he is just plain hot! A better looking couple has yet to be found

2. When he was 15 he went to Japan for a month and a half with some classmates

3. Todd was a Thespian in high school

4. Not a sports guy in high school. More into theatre, pottery, drawing and photography

5. His father was one of his teachers in high school

6. He hates watermelon and broccoli. He thinks they are of the devil.

7.Coffee in the morning is an absolute must

8. He is a slippers and pj's kind of guy

9. Whenever he takes a drink of something, he always turns his head slightly to the side when he swallows. Its very strange and I tell him that often.

10. He has 2 brothers and 1 sister

11. When I met him he had walking- stick bugs as pets

12. He could spend hours kite flying. (and trust me he has)

13. He like to do math problems in his head all the time. He tries to get me to do them with him but I refuse.

14. He is an avid reader like me

15. Went to school for photography ($40,000 in school loans and he doesn't do anything with his degree)

16. He has great communication for being a man

17. He talks to his mom almost everyday

18. Probably one of the most confident people I know

19. He is really patient with me and the kids

20. He never yells! We have never had a real fight. Discussions...yes, but no real fights

21. He has 7 holes in his ears

22. He is very likable. Everyone likes him!

23. He is the life of the party.

24. Always making me laugh

25. He can actually cook

26. When he blows his nose, it's like a fog horn is blowing in the house. And his sneezes are just as loud.

27. He can fall asleep in a blink of an eye. It still amazes me how fast he can do it. Sometimes in the middle of a conversation. He has also been known to sleep standing up.

28. He is extremely loyal

29. He won't let me go to bed mad

30. He is the reason my kids are so good looking

31. He dreams about taking voice lessons and also doing voices for cartoons

32. He will frost my hair for me!

33. He likes to take Kyler fishing

34. He is the master of interesting facts and useless knowledge

35. He also wears scars relating to the birth of our children. (bet your curious about that one!)

Happy Birthday to my one true love!!