More Super Excitement

Things are CA-RAY-ZEEEEEE. 

Mom’s back in the hospital.  Let’s give a big fat BOO for that.  Congestive heart failure.  You can read about that here, cause I can’t explain it in 2 places.  I’m tired, but God never fails to provide me with strength and perspective in situations like these.  I met the most awesome woman at the hospital, who is beautifully enduring some of the most terrible circumstances, so I have been again reminded to abandon my pity party and get on with it.  This pitiful life is not the end-all be-all people.  You must get to know my God, you MUST. 

Today I had to bring Blake with me to the hospital.  Who would, in a million years, have guessed that today would be one of the best days I have ever had with him in his short little life??  He was an angel.  Unbelievable.  He snuggled, he napped in the hospital room, he obeyed, he made me laugh, he ate what I told him to.  So sweet. 

hospital

Also, for those who still refuse to join facebook, we are proud minivan owners.  I. freaking. love. that. van.

minivan

It has more ammenities than any car I have ever owned.  My kid can get into his seat unassisted.  I have a little remote on my keychain that opens and closes doors and the liftgate.  I roll over bumps and don’t even feel them.  If you have anything to say about where this puts me on a “coolness” scale (ahem, Christopher ADOLPH Garza…hello middle name), then you can go suck an egg.  It is so awesome.

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How bad is this blog?

I temporarily abandoned my blog.  As you can see in the last couple of posts, I have been writing updates on my mom’s open-heart surgery and recovery on a different blog.  I obviously cannot keep up with 2 blogs.  Heck, I still haven’t folded laundry that was washed 2 weeks ago.  But I will randomly fill you in. 

Even now, I’m not sure what to tell you.  I’m exhausted.  A tad overwhelmed.  I’m the baby of the family, and people in my family don’t usually put me in charge.  Being the one calling the shots in my mother’s recovery is a responsibility I would like to give away.  I’m so ready for her to feel better, but this road is a very long one, and we still have some traveling to do.  I was also so ready to have her out of the hospital, because traveling back and forth, worrying about her care, arranging for childcare, was all very complicated.  But now that we’re home, I would like to have somewhere to go.  I thought this morning how funny that was, since 1.5 weeks ago I was so ready to get to stay at home.  Are we ever content?

Stu is busy being Super Dad.   Pretty much rocking the house.  Thank God for him. 

Daina and Dad show up tomorrow.  I love when help comes to my house. :-)

I’m getting my hair cut soon.  For some reason this makes the future seem brighter. 

I put on my skinny pants today.  They are tight.  But they are on.  13lbs down.  I heart Weight Watchers.  Not that I go to their ridonk $12 meetings anymore, but I do buy myself stickers sometimes.  This is an especially amazing feat for me because in stressful situations, I’m not one of those people who annoyingly drops weight  (what’s up with that, anyways?).  I’m one of those people who finds some chips and queso and dives right in.  Followed by brownies.  In a stressful situation, I would usually be found face-first in a sheet cake.  I finally feel like I’m in control.  It feels good.  And no, I haven’t given up queso.  Not completely.  It just counts as flex points now.

I’m going to buy a minivan.  No, I’m not pregnant.  I have, however, borrowed my friend’s minivan so many times now, for so many different uses that I think it’s time to just get my own.  The fact that the Element only seats 4 and my mom can’t easily get in and of of it helps to seal the deal.  I have had too much time to research them so I know way too much about all of the vans out there.  Way too much.  The funniest part of this story is that Stu hates buying cars so much that he wants me to do this without him.  He gets all crazy tense and really hinders my negotiation process.  Him staying home is probably best, so he won’t spoil all my fun. 

I’m going to try to do better here, so don’t give up on my blog.

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Step down

That’s what they call it when they move you out of ICU here, but don’t have you in a regular room yet.  So we are sitting in the family waiting area having one of the family parties that Mom swore we’d been having the whole time she was here.  What she doesn’t know is that until now we have been too exhausted and traumatized to “party”.  We’re feeling a tad more festive now that it feels like she’s making a good step in the right direction.  I have so many stories to tell you, but only a few minutes right now.  Mostly, I’m getting more and more perspective on how precious life is.  It’s been very hard to watch people dealing with their sick children here.  I want to go home and squeeze mine. 

My sister and dad leave tomorrow, and I have my Aunt Sandra ’til Monday.  I don’t really know what will happen after that.  I try not to feel heavy with responsibility, because help keeps arriving just when we need it.  That whole “one day at a time” idea is taking on new meaning.  For now, I’ll just be glad to be away from ICU.  I’ll think about the rest tomorrow. :)

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This too shall pass

A couple of people have used this phrase in encouragement over the past couple of days, and I actually think it’s one of the best things you can say to someone in my situation.  I am not one who normally wishes for time to fly, but this week, I find myself glad that it’s always moving.  Every hour that passes is one more in which things can get better.  Although there is always the possibility that they can get worse, odds are that we’ve already hit rock bottom and now we’re moving back up.

Most of you have been following the blog I’m using for updates on my Mom, and if you want details, you’ll have to go there.  Here, though, I feel like I can express a little more about what we’ve been going through.

Open heart surgery is hard.  This is an obvious statement that I had already heard, but until I had to watch my mother undergo this trauma, it hadn’t seemed so real.  I was actually pretty tough the first couple of days.  But last night I cracked.  We went back for our evening visit to the ICU and I had just really hoped for some encouragement.  They had removed the ventilator, which was a marked improvement, but her misery was still so apparent.  My brain knows that she will not remember these drug-filled days.  My heart can not come to terms with it.  The extremely slow recovery is going to be a difficult, emotional road.  One by one, family members are going to have to get back to their families and jobs.  All of them wish they could take this on themselves, and would if they could.  But she needed to be here, in Baltimore.  The weight of not knowing if I’ll be able to take care of her well enough is heavy.  And I must remind myself where my help comes from (Psalm 121).

Our hardest struggle has been the balance between getting rest and being at the hospital.  We seem to wear her out when we’re there.  She even managed to kick us out once.  But not being there induces a great deal of guilt gut.  I have no idea how to manage that.  I am aware that sitting in the waiting room for hours on end in case she opens her eyes is not the best way to go about things.  It’s what we all want to do though.  Especially, and understandably, my dad.  I suppose we’ll get better at figuring it out.

I suppose with every hour that passes, maybe things will get better.

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Two Sisters One Heart

My mother’s heart is getting an upgrade this week.  She will be undergoing open heart surgery to hopefully remedy the effects that her Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy has had on her heart.  Besides that her heart is under great stress, her quality of life is so poor.  We are excited to have found such a talented team of doctors here at Johns Hopkins who are ready and able to help.  She will be recovering here in Maryland with me, and hopes to one day get back to Texas.  She’s already a little homesick  I think.

She’s all set for Wednesday, 10am.  My sister and I are going to try to keep everyone updated via this blog.

Bookmark it, subscribe to it, or whatever it is you do to blogs.  I’ve had so many people call to ask for updates, that we think this may be best.  (I didn’t forget you Uncle Robert!  Well, I guess I didn’t call so you could argue I did.  Sorry. :) )

Again, here’s the actual web address: http://twosistersoneheart.wordpress.com/

I’ll probably still let some thoughts out here too.  Count on it.

ps. We do have a loving brother and our blog title is not meant to exclude him.  But he does seem to be allergic to this sort of thing.  Besides, Two Sisters, One Brother, and our Mom’s Heart was a much more tedious title.

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Camp Funcle

Stu is the “fun uncle” in our family (with my sister and brother’s kids).  He always has been.  Mostly because he loves kids and kids kind of pick up on that sort of thing.  The other uncles have jabbed him in the past about it, and eventualy, somehow, his name became Funcle Stu.  Funcle for short.  For the first time ever, we were able to get the 2 oldest nephews here from Dallas and Chicago for several days for some quality Funcle time, and Camp Funcle was born.  The boys have played hard, and even worked hard this week.  Stu and I have gained a new appreciation for those of you who are parenting pre-teens.  I suppose we all felt that our intelligence was superior at that age, but it’s still surprising to see our sweet nephews adjust to their newfound  enlightenment. :)   They have seen DC, been to a Nats game, eaten whatever they want (don’t get me started), played Xbox (I feel like Stu is enjoying that part alot too), watched movies, had an inpromptu visit to a slip-n-slide bouncehouse, and more.  Blake has been in heaven and the boys have loved having him as a shadow even more than I expected.

IMG_1466

As for the work, they had an important job to do as well.  Most of you know that Mom has moved back into the basement in preparation for her heart surgery at Hopkins this coming Wednesday (more on that soon).  She can’t navigate the stairs well in the house, due to the fact that she just doesn’t get enough air.  The basement is a walk-out though, and the back yard backs up to a street where I can pick her up and drop her off to minimize stair climing.  There is a slight decline though, so we needed about 4 stairs to be built into the hill.  The grandkids were pumped at the idea of doing such an important job for Nana, but to say they worked might require the use of air quotes.  :) They have thoroughly enjoyed staying downstairs with their Nana, and I think the quality time with her grandkids has been priceless.

Also worth mentioning: Family Monopoly.  The game began at 9pm last night and wasn’t finished until 2am this morning.  Our family dynamics made the game all that more fascinating.  Papa won in the end (no surprise there), but kudos to Andrew for hanging with him for so long!

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What?? The government can’t buy me a new car after all?!

http://wcbstv.com/consumer/cash.clunkers.success.2.1108544.html

When will our government decide that maybe it can’t bail us out of everything?! I really try to avoid political rants. I hate discussing it, even though I keep up. But Stu’s parents told us about the Cash for Clunkers business last night and I was humored. But I was ready to take them up on their offer. We don’t technically have a clunker, but many dealerships are offering great deals just to get people in anyways. How little foresight must our President have to not realize that his butt can’t cash the checks he’s writing?!

Obama,
I appreciate the offer (to pay for my house, car, medical insurance, ect. with my own tax money-and to then control it) and the fact that you really seem to want to help. But, Dude, I think you have some problems of your own to deal with. Put the shovel away. You might drown in that hole you’re digging.

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*Brag Alert*

Although the posts on my blog tend to be as eclectic as the thoughts running through my mind, I really need to get a stereotypical mommy blog off my chest. This kid of mine is cracking me up.  I tend to feel that every age we come upon is my favorite (once we were past infancy, I kind of hated that part), but I feel the most strongly about this.  I am truly having so much fun with B right now.  He’s definitely aspiring toward The Terrible Two’s, but he still just been a blast to hang out with.  So, here are some of the things my boy is doing these days:

IMG_1359

1. Starting to really talk.  He now tries to say everything.  He’s been a little late in this area, but I can see that he will catch up soon.  The reason I know he’s capable of more than he lets on is that his Aunt Alix taught him to say “YeeHaw!”.  If he can say that, I’m pretty sure he could (if he wanted to) say many of the other things I’ve been begging him to say.  He simply can not take a bite of any food unless you have told him what it is, he tries to say it, and you repeat it back to him.  If you do not repeat it back again, he will simply say it and say it and say it until you cooperate.

2.  Speaking of that, he really likes chicken.  Since he knows what a chicken says, he usually says “bok, bok, bok, bok” the whole time he is eating it.  And no, Christopher, he has still not consumed it in nugget form.

3.  His 2 favorite vegetables are bell peppers and cucumbers.  He will eat them raw.  But don’t you dare even consider putting a tiny bit of broccoli on his plate.  You can smother it with cheese, ranch, whatever, and he is totally on to you and will scream about it for the rest of dinnertime.  Broccoli seems to actually make him angry.

4.  He wants to eat everything with a fork.  Even things that are not meant to be stabbed, like pretzels and Kix.  He wouldn’t eat his goldfish at snacktime in Sunday School until they found him one.  His teachers think he has impeccable manners.

5.  He really, really likes going to the store, or anywhere in public where he can get strangers to say “Hi” and “Bye” to him.   He waves throughout the entire shopping trip as if he’s on a parade float.

i6.  One of his favorite games right now is Hide and Seek.  But, the dramatic version-where you jump out and scare him when he finds you.  The more surprised he is, the better.  I’m afraid Stu is going to give him a little toddler heart-attack.

7.  The child has a high pain tolerance.  It really takes a lot to hurt him.  He’s got a lot of size to manage, so falls, bumps on the head, running into walls, corners of tables are all very common occurrences.  He will howl, though, if something makes him mad.  He bumped his head last week, and Aunt Alix offered to kiss it.  He promptly turned, kissed her on the cheek, and got up to play.

8.  He loves the water.  He showers with his Daddy a lot and will stand directly under the stream of water.  He’ll choke and sputter, then go back for more.  I love it.

9.  Bedtime has gotten downright hilarious.  I used to get his lovie, paci, milk, and some books, and gather him up in our big rocking chair.  I would read to him while he drank his milk, then rock him with a song.  He now wants to read to me.  Sometime he even babbles with the correct inflection for the page.  Then he’ll lay on me for about 30 seconds to rock.  At that point he looks up at me and tells me “B (pointing to himself) ah bed (pointing to the bed)”.  I asked, “Is it time for B to go to bed?”  He makes that thrilled face that tells you you broke the code.  I’m kind of sad that he doesn’t need that rocking time anymore, but I love that he is so comfortable in his bed that he looks forward to getting in!  So I put him in his bed, give him Sock Monkey, and his all time favorite: Max (the little guy in the wolf suit from “Where the Wild Things Are”).  He says Ma? (Max)  I repeat, “Yes, that’s Max”.  And inevitably, as I walk out the door, I hear  “Eeee Heee”  (This is always “Thank You” in his language).  Does it get any better?

10.  The dancing.  Oh, the dancing.  He asks his daddy to play music every night when he gets home.  He then proceeds to dance his heart out.

It’s just amazing.  He’s becoming this little person with this spirited personality who plays, communicates, and shows affection.  I’m having fun.  Oh yes.

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On this day in history…

wedding portrait

Stu and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Friday.  Our actual “wedding” anniversary is today.  The day we were legally married in a courthouse in Ellicott City was the 16th.  It’s very confusing.  And that part really wasn’t public information until the last few years.  Basically, we weren’t going to be in Texas long enough before the wedding to obtain a license and have it signed (you have to wait 3 days in TX-or 2? whatever) and I didn’t want to have to wait until we were back from our honeymoon for things to be legal.  So, these 2 Texans took our lunch break the Wednesday before our wedding and got hitched in front of a judge right here in Maryland.  Stu went through most of the courthouse ceremony feeling the need to inform everyone that this was not, in fact, a shotgun wedding.  The witnesses to this top secret matrimony are friends of our whom we have sadly lost touch with and they took the only pictures in existence of this occasion.  We didn’t tell everyone at the wedding festivities a few days later that we were already hitched, because we didn’t want to spoil the fun, but man, did it ever take the pressure off!  Ha.

Our wedding and reception took place on The Spirit of Texas, a paddlewheeler that took us on a 3 hour tour of Kemah, TX (right near the Gulf of Mexico).  What fond memories we have of that party and the people who celebrated with us!

The vows:

the vows

The people:

the people

The dress:

just wedding dress

The dancing:

dancing

The newlyweds (in “party” attire-no way I was dancing the night away in that big dress):

night wedding portrait

And… the end:

leaving boat

Stu, I cherish you more than I did that day.  As we’ve said so many times (sometimes in humor, sometimes not, ha): We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  Look at us, we were so clueless.  I had no idea the good times would be so good, I had no idea that my love for you would change from that butterfly romantic love to this deep love that runs through my veins like a part of me.  And we have been through some hard times that we didn’t know would be so hard.  I’m overwhelmingly grateful that God persistantly brought us together and I know that it is because of our love for Him that we have been able to love each other so deeply.  What an unspeakable joy to be able to share life with you!! Sometimes I joke that it’s like getting to have a slumber party with my best friend all the time, but it still feels like that.  And now that we have brought a son into this, well, words can’t describe how blessed I feel.  I look forward to filling up this house with children.  I look forward to seeing how God wants to use us to help others.  I look forward to 6 more years.  And 6 after that, and 6 after that.  You get it.

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Swimming through my head…

…are these thoughts.

My baby (I know he’s not really a baby, but please be kind enough not to discuss this with me) has been a source of endless entertainment this past week.  I find myself belly laughing at him constantly.  He also has 3 giant splinters in his foot that seem to have come from our deck.  I discovered them this morning.  And even though they are red and puffy, he is completely unfazed by them.  I know I have to remove them.  But does anyone remember this blog? I don’t like this sort of thing, it makes me all queasy and light-headed.  But, being the responsible mother I am, I will hike up my britches and get those splinters out.

I went to another WW meeting.  They told me I lost 5 pounds and then gave me a sticker!  They do alot of stickers there, which completely perplexes me.  What I did find, which the not so nice lady who registered me did not tell me, is that once you join, you pay for every week-even if you don’t go.  I’m going to give that a big fat What The Fruitnut.  I don’t think they’ll be seeing me at the meetings anymore, because I already have a scale and I’m pretty sure Target sells stickers.

Today is our mock anniversary.  Technically, we got married in a courthouse in Ellicott City on the 16th.  Our wedding, however, was on the 19th in Texas.  We celebrate it on the most convenient date.  In my defense, this is why I can never remember when our anniversary is.  You can expect a super mushy blog about all of this on Sunday, complete with wedding pictures.  Get excited.  Tonight, however, Blake will be with some of his favorite people while Stu and I commemorate the date with sushi and Harry Potter!

I have more on my mind, but the time has come for splinter removal.  boo.

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