Life Is Good: Mini-Vacay

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Mini-Vacay

I was blessed with an extra couple days off over the July 4th Holiday weekend. We made it a mini-vacation weekend. On Friday we went out for breakfast...

Followed by a few hours at the Omniplex...

We came home and spent a few afternoon hours resting and relaxing before we went to a party!

Cousin Addy was turning 2!

Saturday we didn't do much but we spent a lot of time together. Without that stinkin' phone. My job isn't particularly stressful and I'm extremely blessed to work from home and be an ever-present part of my kids' lives and I have liberties that many people don't because I can work from my cell just about anywhere. However, I'm amazed at how completely relaxed I am when I'm not "on the job". I am, like every other working person, different on the job and off. I guess you can consider it like this...I work 2 jobs. I'm a full time dispatcher/secretary AND I run a full-time daycare! Taking a few days off one of those jobs is pretty nice. I don't know what I'd do if I had a few days off of both of those jobs at the same time! Taking time off from the kids isn't high on my priority list. I love my boys! (I would like to have a few hours just to myself though...without them being the late night hours when I'm super sleepy.)

Sunday we went to church and had a regular Sunday.

Monday was Independence day and we enjoyed a cookout at Uncle Paul's for lunch and fireworks in the park at dark!

Evan learned to climb over my long weekend.

Tuesday was my final day off and we spent the day with Nana at Pelican Bay in Edmond...

Followed by a great dinner at SouperSalad. And, of course, ice cream to top it all off!

It was a great mini-vacation. I can't wait for more time off this fall!

1 comment:

mimi and Grampy said...: Now that looks like a FUN TIME!; July 20, 2011 at 11:12 AM

Post a Comment

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander