Saturday, September 22, 2012

Fabulous weekend.

Matt and I spent the weekend in Tulsa.  We ate and shopped, and ate, and ate some more.  We are pretty good at that kind of routine.:)  We spent Friday shopping at Antique stores and used furniture stores.  We had a blast just strolling back in time looking at all the junk  wonderful things people find so great and classify as antiques.  It's quite interesting.  We love it though!!  We scored a sweet desk for Matt's office for a whopping $60.  It needs a little work, but nothing my man can't handle!

Saturday we woke up early and went to Starbucks.  I had a Groupon and we partook is some delicious coffee to start our morning off right.   We then headed to a Flea Market.  I have always wondered why they call them Flea Markets.  Now I know.
Matt got his knives sharpened.  That was exciting.  What was more exciting is the fact he had EVERY SINGLE ONE of them in the car.  Good to know.  Just. In. Case.

I had scheduled us each a massage.  Via a wonderful and inexpensive Groupon.   Gotta love Groupon.  It's my favorite.   As soon as I shook the massage therapist hand, I KNEW I was in trouble.  Oh boy was I ever so correct.   I would say I am pretty flexible person. Though I have never been able to do the splits, (until today) I have always been active and exercise almost daily.  That must have played to my advantage today.  I was in positions I never knew my body could hold.   At one point,  I ended up air bound,(sort of) and half off the massage table.  She pushed my shoulders down so hard that my legs were off the table up to my knees.  I was quite impressed with her strength!!:) At times I was praying for my life.  I was in the hands of she-woman and I knew she could take me.   During the massage She asked me a question that I thought went something like this:
HER: Would you like the boot treatment?
ME:   Oh sure, that would be great!   (Side note-some places call your feet and hands a foot and mitt treatment.  I was sure this was what she was referring to.)

I then found out...through a high level of discomfort that I had clearly misunderstood her question.
It clicked...she had asked if I wanted to partake in the "Glute" treatment.  To which I answered, "Sure, that would be great!"  Really?  I would have never agreed to something of that sort, and I surely would not have responded with "that would be GREAT!"

I was clearly uncomfortable throughout my session in more ways than one. :)  And what do you know, this massage for once, seemed like it would NEVER end!  

Matt's in the massage room right now, so I am dying to see how he thought his session went!!:)

Ok so Matt's words post massage:
"That was the Greatest but most invasive massage I have had in my life!!" It was so great, he hugged she-woman before he left!!
He hugged her...I ran from her.

I'm ready for some lunch after that workout!!

And this was lunch. I earned It all!!:)






Friday, September 7, 2012

Surgery day!

Wednesday we loaded up and headed out to Bella's surgery.  We arrived at 10:30 and got checked in, received Bella's hospital attire (to which she was very disappointed it was yellow and not red.  Princesses don't wear yellow), and played a few games in the waiting room!

They called us back to the hospital room and as soon as I saw that little bitty bed, it took all I had to hold my composure.  Bella immediately looked up at me and her lip was quivering.  She said, "Mommy, I don't want you to leave me."  I assured her I was going NO where.  At least for the time being.  She watched some TV while Matt and I snapped lots of pictures. Thanking God the whole time that she was willing and able to run around the hospital room like a wild child while waiting for her surgery.  That's not the case for  a lot of children that enter ACH.

A sweet nurse came in and gave Bella her happy juice.  I was beginning to wonder if that potion was ever going to kick in and calm her.  The Dr. came in to discuss his plan of action, look at Bella's fast growing tongue, and to give her a fist pump.  After about 15 mins, she was nice and relaxed.  She didn't care who wheeled her away and what they were going to do to her.  We prayed for her and kissed and hugged her and off she went.  What a helpless feeling seeing your child being wheeled away in a hospital bed, down a hallway you have never seen, with people whom you know nothing about. That's where the Lord's peace overcame us and we went to the waiting room and waited.

They called us to meet with the Dr. and he assured us all went well with her surgery.  He said the mass they removed was about a inch in size.  He had never seen anything like it.  She has at least 8 stitches and a cut from the top to the bottom of her tongue.  Just typing that makes my stomach churn.  He informed us when they woke her up, she would likely be an emotional wreck.  He DID NOT LIE!  Whew!  That she was.

It took us about an hour to get her to stop crying.  I do not do well in the recovery room.  Never have. I have ended up sick and passing out at every. single. one of Matt's surgeries!  AND.... History repeated itself again on this day.  While trying to console my screaming daughter, I am sending Matt out for crackers, and stealing my daughters apple juice because I am about to throw up and pass out.  I was in and out and people were frantically trying to help Bella calm down, Matt was in the waiting room scrambling for crackers, Bella is trying to pull out her IV, the nurse is wrapping up her arm like a cast to keep her from ripping every thing out of her hand, while simultaneously pumping her full of morphine, she kept telling Bella to stop crying because you are scaring your momma,  and I am out cold in the rocking chair.  I was convinced I was the one with the IV.  Bella was screaming and I was the one out!!:)  The Dr. comes in and begins to tell me this is the possessed state he was talking about and that when she goes back to sleep she will wake up much more normal.  I am hanging on to every word he is saying while trying to not drop my daughter and wondering where in the world those crackers are!?  I am sweating, shaking, and my whole body felt like jello.  Matt walks back in and sternly says, "Sarah you gotta get in the game!"  I kindly told him I was doing the best I could at the same time talking myself out of passing out!  He kept looking at me like....Get it together.  Just so you know, I come by this extremely honest...thanks grandma and mom!!:)  You guys ROCK!
I downed Bella's juice and a cracker and was well on my way to recovery!!:)  HAHA.  No, I really was fine after that.  I pulled out some glorious tunes from my vocal chords and rocked that sweet baby to sleep!!
As I apologize over and over to the nurse for my behavior, she proceeds to tell me, "No, I was almost there with you.  I was so frazzled.  I didn't know what to do!!"  Well, that was good to know.  Also good to hear that from the Post-op caretaker of your child!!:)

Bella did indeed wake up much more calm and a little confused!:)  She wanted to eat as soon as we left the hospital so we stopped and got her CFA nuggets and ice cream.  We got a 12 pack so she would have some later if she wished.  NOPE, she ate every single one right then and there.  Stitches and all.  Then all the ice cream...and wanted more. So, we stopped in Russellville and bought more nuggets for the rest of the night!  We were so thankful she wanted to eat and could eat.

She did not sleep again until bed time.  We are convinced the Oxycodone has had her wired and a little on edge.  She's been extremely emotional and everything you say or do is wrong.  We don't feel she has been in a lot of pain (because we have kept her drugged) but the meds make her CRAZY!  So...in order to get our sweet little daughter back,  we have taken her off the pain meds and she is just taking tylenol now.  She seems much more herself and for that we are happy!

Thank you so much to everyone who has called, texted, or messaged us to check on her.  It has meant so much to us.  The prayers going out for her amazed me and made me realize even more what a awesome God we serve and what a friendship believers have together.  People I don't even know were praying for my daughter. So humbling and amazing!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Love this...So true


I ran across this Top 20 list of things I would tell a engaged, newlywed, or older married couple.  I found this list so true and wanted to share it and add a few things to it.  :)



1. Marriage is made up of two good forgivers. Because every marriage is made up of two sinners. (Romans 3:23)
2. At some point, you will have to learn that life isn’t all about you. (Philippians 2:3)
3. Don’t listen to women that tell you that passion fades…it doesn’t have to! (um…all of Song of Solomon)
4. Don’t give up. Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13)
5. He wants a kind wife, not a maid or another mother. Be nice. (Galatians 5:22-23)
6. Give your husband the gift of your respect.  He needs it more than you know. (Ephesians 5:33)
7. Be mindful of your expectations.
8. Honor the Lord above all things. Colossians 3: 17
9. Find your worth and security in the Lord, and don’t look to your husband to meet all of your needs.
10. Be very careful about reading romance novels, they set you up for an unrealistic view of romance.
11. Real romance is finding that one spot in the crook of his arm to snuggle into, that shared look over the dinner table when the kids are acting crazy, and the way he fixes the leaky sink when he is dog-tired after work. (So true!!)
12. Love is about relationship.  The more I love my husband, and seek a relationship with him, the less critical and duty-bound I become.  It is similar to my relationship with God. 
13. Be thankful for the husband you have. Accept him as he is, not for what you want him to be.
14. Don’t compare!! Don’t buy into the game of comparing him with anyone else’s husband.
15.The Biblically “normal” marriage is filled with joy, connection, laughter, and peace.  It’s not free of hurt feelings and conflict, but they know how to process their pain with one another so that they live more often in a meadow than at the scene of a train wreck.  This is not the average marriage, but it normal – -because it is a visible display of Jesus’ relationship with His bride (Ephesians 5:22-33).
16. Your marriage is a testimony! “The #1 evangelistic tool in America (the world) today is a successful marriage, because it’s a living miracle!” – Dr. Joe Aldrich, former president of Multnomah Bible College.
17. Pray for your marriage. Pray hard.
18.I’ve heard that is gets better with age.  I have to say in my short {9 year} experience, that is so true.
19. Where there is God, there is always hope. Even for the most broken marriages. “With God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
20.Marriage is commitment and sacrifice. But it’s also the best, most wild ride you will ever have with your best friend.
I will add a number 21:
21. Take the time to invest in your marriage.  Spend time together.  Carve out time, even in the busyness of life, to spend with your love.  How can you grow and mature in something you don't invest time in.  Life is busy, and I know it can be hard with children, but make the commitment to make your spouse the most important relationship, aside from your relationship with Christ.  Your children should never come before your husband.  That's not how God Designed marriage.  
What would you add to this list?