Goodbye, Mother in Law

Most of you may know by now, but I wanted to blog about losing my mother in law last week.  I'm not going to put a lot of detail in this post because it was a very trying time for our family and it may be hard to read later on in life.  Of course I say that, but ya'll know how I am and I will end up telling everything before it's all over.

On March 12, a Wednesday evening, I was just starting supper when Maynard came in from work with a worried look on his face.  He said we need to get Mom to the hospital  She is passing blood really bad.  So I turn everything off and we run out the door looking like a bunch of orphans.  I'm not even sure I had brushed my hair or even Amelia's that day.  We got to the hospital and waited in the waiting room for about an hour before they took my Mother in law back.  Once they started checking her we finally realized how serious this was.  She wasn't just bleeding, but she was hemoragging.  It was so bad they couldn't check her to actually see where the bleeding was coming from.  She went from bad shape to critical in only minutes.  She was started on units of blood while preparations were made to send her by ambulance to UK Healthcare center.

My Pastor and his family came to get my kids and me, Maynard and Tara drove on to Lexington.

My MIL was in ER and the bleeding hadn't slowed at all.  She was still receiving blood and no tests could be done to see where the bleeding was coming from because every test would have been hard to read with so much blood loss.  After a few hours of being there she was placed on life support.  We were exhausted and nervous wrecks.  We sat up all night waiting, hoping for good news, but none came.

She was moved to ICU the next afternoon.  That's where she remained for 7 more days.  Finally a couple of days later the bleeding had stopped.  They had found bleeding ulcers and a vessel in her stomach had ruptured.  She was showing signs of getting better.  It was on a Sunday when they started pulling all the tubes off of her and she was talking to us a little bit.  Maynard's brother and his wife offered to stay with her that night so we could home and see our kids.  We hadn't been away from her bedside now in 4 days.  We had been sleeping in chairs in her room or the waiting rooms.  She was in too bad a shape to leave her.  Since Frankie offered to stay with her that night, we went home and got our kids.  They were missing us so bad.  Josiah said God answered his prayer that night when we got there to pick him up.  We spent some time with them and then went to bed. 

We got that dreaded phone call at 2 in the morning that my MIL was hemoragging again. 

This time we just packed the kids and their stuff up and headed back to the hospital by Monday afternoon.  The Lord blessed up with offerings that was able to help us get a motel room for 3 nights because I knew the kids wouldn't be able to stay at the hospital 24/7 like we had.  I am super proud of my kids.  They behaved really well for me and stayed with us for 2 days. 2 days was about all I or they could handle though.  They were done and I was done.  I was texting my mom and asked her if maybe one of my sisters would be interested in keeping Amelia for a few days.  While I was texting her my sister in law, Michelle, text me and asked if she could keep the boys for a few days.  I started bawling.  In just about 5 minutes or less, I had sitters for my kids who were more than happy to watch my kids.  I am so thankful how it worked out.  My mom and dad came by the hospital that evening and got the kids.

On Friday night, Tara and I went to the motel to lay down and get some rest.  I never did get any rest, because I was so troubled that night.  Maynard had made the decision earlier that day to not allow them to put his mom back on the ventilator.  She absolutely hated it and it was clear that she wasn't going to get any better.  It was just going to prolong her suffering.  Her kidneys were failing and things wasn't looking good.

About 11:30 Maynard called and said the drs had come in and said she only had a few hours left to live.  I woke Tara up and we headed to the hospital.  We stood by her bedside and said our goodbyes.  We held her hand and sang songs, and prayed.  We felt like she would be gone just any time, but she held on as long as she could.

We had figured up that she had had at least 22 pints of blood while being in the hospital.  Maynard and I had both agreed that as soon as we got out of the hospital we were going to donate blood.  We had left my MIL's room to go grab us some breakfast when we noticed a blood drive was going on right across from the cafeteria.  We ate breakfast and then signed up to donate blood.  I'm not sure if it was the best idea ever for that time to give blood, but we did and were happy too.  Felt like we were giving back somehow for all the blood my MIL was given.

It wasn't too much longer and my MIL passed.  It had been about 15 hours since they called and said she wasn't going to make it.  Even though we knew it was going to happen and we were waiting for it to happen, it didn't make it any easier.  Me and Maynard were out in the cafeteria when we got word that it was time.  It scared us so bad I took off running.  She took her last breath.  I about passed out about 5 times.  I went in freak out mode.  I told myself the whole time that I was going to be strong for the family, but after loosing a pint of blood and running from the cafeteria, I dropped.  I couldn't lift my legs.  They felt like bricks.  I was so upset at myself.  I had nurses around me trying to help me.  They were laying cool cloths all over my face and neck.  I kept apologizing to Maynard, but I think it was from donating blood and then loosing my MIL was just overwhelming.  I'd say a bit of exhaustion had a lot to do with it too.

We left the hospital and headed for home.  Maynard wanted to go pick up the kids in Etown and then go home, but I honestly didn't have the strength to even take care of my kids at that point.  I missed them so bad and wanted to see them as bad as he did, but I knew they were in good hands.

We got home and my Pastor's family and my buddy Michelle had cleaned my house.  They was afraid I would be mad, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.  It felt good to come home to a clean house.  They had KFC ready for us to eat too.  We ate and then went to bed at 7:30 and slept until the next morning.

We were busy making funeral arrangements and spending time at my MIL's house getting it ready for company that was coming in.

My parents brought my kids to me 2 days later.  It sure was good to see them.  Maynard broke the news to them and Josiah and Amelia was heart broken.  I didn't think it would affect Amelia like that, but it did.  I knew Josiah would be grieved.  He was crazy about his Mamaw and she doted on him all the time.  Titus hugged Maynard, bit his lip, and then said, "I'm going to go find something to eat."  He never did cry.  I know he's bothered about it because he will mention how he misses her sometimes, but I guess he grieves differently than the rest of us.

The funeral has come and gone.

We were overwhelmed with the kindness of everyone during our loss.

First Pentecostal was amazing with their support and participation during the funeral services and even visits to the hospital.  They prepared an awesome meal after the funeral.  Home cooked food tastes pretty good after you haven't had it in almost 2 weeks.  I can't say enough how their love was shown for our family, Tara, and even my MIL.  So if any of you all are reading this, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  Also, my family and church family was very supportive with their help watching my kids and even for offerings that was so needed.
A big thanks to my husband's boss for allowing him all the time he needed off work to be with his mother.  You don't see that everywhere and it sure was a blessing.

I can't name everyone because I will leave someone out, but we are truly thankful for family and friends God has blessed us with.

I will miss my MIL.  She was a praying woman.  I could ask her to pray about anything and she would.  Sometimes the need would have already been resolved and I had forgotten about it.  Then I would see her a little later and she would ask me about the situation.  She really was concerned about it.  If you asked her to pray, then she would.  We are going to miss her prayers.  I'm going to have to fill in the gap and it's going to be hard to do.

Keep my family in your prayers.  Maynard is crushed and still needs the Lord's help.  Tara's whole world is turned upside down and she needs prayer and guidance to what the Lord has in store for her.  Maynard promised his Mom that he would take care of Tara and that's what we intend to do.

Here's a few pictures of our journey>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This was Maynard's spot the whole time.  We had to make him leave to eat or sleep.

Tara giving her Mom permission to go on to Heaven.

Maynard donating blood.

Josiah's card for his mamaw.  I though he done a good job.

20 minutes after arriving at the hospital they had to eat.

Tara playing play doh with the kids in the waiting room.

So, I ended up giving you all more details then I had planned.  I left a lot out, believe me, but this was in general.  Again, thanks to everyone who helped watched my kids so I could be by my husband's side.

Fall pictures 2013

I realized that I haven't posted our fall pictures yet so this is going to be a quick post with mostly pictures.  A big thanks to Sarah Adams for taking her time out to get some of these great shots.  She is a very talented lady!!!

Basketball and tears

Last Saturday my sister-n-law and her sweet kids and my Mom, was headed to Somerset. Somerset only happens to be about 30 mins away. They asked us several weeks ago to meet them there. My nephew Cameron was going to have his first ball game at a Christian school there in Somerset and wanted us to come watch. 

Now we normally don't go to ball games, but this was my nephew and it was all Christian schools playing so I made an exception. 

We woke up Saturday morning and I asked the kids if they wanted to go see Cameron play basketball. They were beyond excited and started looking for papers to make signs to cheer Cameron on. However, we were in a big rush and they didn't get to make their signs. 

We got to the school about 15 mins late and Cameron was already playing. My boys were so excited to be there.  At least they were more excited than Peyton, my nephew, was to be there.  He was miserable. Lol. Poor thing had to get up at an ungodly hour to get there.  Emma was extremely happy to see me and jumped in my arms. Ok. That's not true at all. Emma is not normally happy to see anyone, but her own little family. Ha ha. So what I meant to say is that I took her away from my Mom and made her sit with me and she tolerated it. 

Cameron had open heart surgery when he was a baby and it was just awesome to watch him out running back and forth on the court. Now he's in the fifth grade and doing great. 

Apparently, his little team had only been practicing for about 2 weeks for this game. It was a jr varsity game so they were teeny tiny kids. Well on their team anyway. They had to play against some pretty tall 12 and 13 yr olds. They still played their best, but didn't win. 

They had a couple hours to spare before it was time for their next game so we, along with Cameron's team, went to McDonalds for lunch. 

When we got back to the school after lunch we noticed that my kid's school van was there. Ha ha. We were busted. We hadn't been to one our school's games all year and here we were supporting another team. 

Lca was up playing a game and Josiah began cheering for his school. He could barely take the pressure. 

After LCA played it was Cameron's teams turn again. They played against even bigger kids again this time, but still couldn't win. I loved watching their coach smile at them and encourage them instead of yelling or getting frustrated. You could tell they were out there just doing their best and having fun. 

Josiah's principal walked up to him and asked if he wanted to play their next game. He said he had an extra jersey if he wanted it. He came running to me and asking if he could play.  I didn't know what to think since Josiah has just recently shown any interest at all in basketball. I figured if he was asked to play then it was up to them to teach him how real quick. Ha ha. I said sure, go ahead. He was grinning from ear to ear as he went to claim his jersey. 

Josiah claimed this was a dream come true. 

By now Cameron's team was loading up and heading out, but no way was Michelle going to leave before Josiah had his big dream come true. So this time Cameron hit the sidelines and watched Josiah play. 

Of course I had to go buy Josiah a Gatorade like all the other cool basketball players had. He stayed on the bench so long I was afraid he would have it drunk before it was his turn to shine. Lol. It was the last quarter and Michelle screamed, "they're putting him in. They're putting him in."

It's blurry, but you can see him out on the court. 

He did get his hands on the ball once. Too bad it was the other team's ball at the time. 

He ran to the basket and was going to throw it in, but the referee was blowing his whistle to get the ball back. It was too cute!!!!!

Lca ended up winning and Josiah was thrilled. They were going to play another game, but not until 3 hours later and I did not want to have to wait. Plus, Michelle and my mom were ready to head home and I knew Maynard would be home soon. I had to break the news that LCA would have to win the next one on their own. 

We said our goodbyes and Mom slipped me some money to go buy they kids a treat after we left. 

We headed home and this is what happened the whole way home. 

Titus was grieved that he didn't get to play.   His heart was broken. I hate to see Titus cry because he's not a crier and it gets to me. Soon his grief turned to anger and he told Josiah just how horrible a ball player he really was. 

We decided to meet maynard for supper at Cheddars and Josiah couldn't wait to tell him his exciting news. Maynard just laughed and was happy for him. 

Titus was still in a rotten mood until I ordered him a Monster cookie and told him it was from Mamaw. Then he was all smiles. 

All in all it was a fun day. I  thankful for the principal and the coach for allowing Josiah to play even if was only for a few minutes. Those few minutes meant the world to Josiah and helped boost his self esteem back up a notch. 

And this little guy...................

Has been role playing every little detail about what he seen at the game. Including wearing his dad's socks as knee socks.  Lol. Yesterday he had on black pants with a green striped shirt and a whistle around his neck. He must have been playing referee that day. 

1st trip to Chuck E. Cheese. (Mine too)

Last weekend we were invited to a little boy's birthday party. He was going to have his party at Chuck E. Cheese. I have never been there before and had always dreamed of going. It always sounded like an awesome place to go. So we got an invite to go and I thought I would take them up on their offer. I didn't tell my kids about it until it was time to get dressed to leave. They were beyond excited to say the least. 

We got there and the kids just all went separate ways. There were games everywhere. It was so crowded. You couldn't walk without bumping into someone. That part I didn't like at all. I was also nervous because I had 3 kids to chase after and I couldn't keep up with them in the crowd. Finally I just gave up. I sat down and ate a salad and just prayed my kids were safe. One thing I did like was that as we went in our hands got stamped along with our kids. That way when people tried to leave their stamp had to match their child's stamp or the child wouldn't be allowed to leave the restaraunt. That gave me some peace of mind. 

The crowd seemed to dwindle a tad and I took after the kids again to play with them and get a few pictures. All the games and rides were only one token each and I loved that about it. Other places some of the games can take up to  4 or more tokens and the smaller kids don't know how many tokens to put in and they usually lose their tokens that way. 

Josiah wanted me to take a picture with him in the photo booth. I was honored. Ha ha

This was a cool ride that you had to pedal and as you did it would rise up. 

Titus kept leaning over to try to guard his token cup that was sitting on the part where you put your money in. He was afraid someone was going to steal his tokens while he was up in the air. 

Amelia liked this little ride too. 

To be honest it wasn't my most favorite place to go. I would stress that kids dont really go there to eat. They got to play. I happen to go while I was starved to death. Next time I'll be sure not to go hungry. 

It's just one of them things that you do for your kids that you really don't enjoy, but you know it's worth it to them. 

Will we go again????

Maybe. Amelia is already planning her party for next year. 

I can finally say I've been to Chuck E Cheeses even though I'm 35 yrs old. That should be illegal!!!  Ha ha

Amelia's 4 yr check-up

The dreaded visit had come. 

4 yr old check-up=shots. 

Amelia done great with her flu shot so I kind of thought that she would do ok with her vaccinations. 

She weighed 49 lbs and was 45 1/2" tall.  Believe it or not she was actually in the 95% for her heighth. She has always been off the charts before. 

Her check-up went great. I did mention how she had been crying with her legs a lot hurting her.  He mentioned it was possibly just growing pains, but he would prefer to have bloodwork drawn to rule out anything more serious. 

After the dr went out the nurse came in with needles and Amelia wigged out. I told her the nurse had really cool band aids for her if she took her shot like a big girl. I still had to hold her down. She screamed and big tears streamed down her face. She sat back up to see her bandaids and was very angry. 

"They aren't princess bandaids."

"Yeah, but they are really cool Daffy Duck ones."

"I DIDN'T WANT DAFFY DUCK BANDAIDS. I WANTED PRINCESS BANDAIDS!!!"

Then we left the exam room as she continued to run her mouth at how girls like princess bandaids and not duck bandaids. The check out clerk offered her a sucker that I had to politely refuse do to dye allergies. Well that made her even more mad. 

"Can I have a sticker?"

"Sorry, sweetie. We are all out of stickers today."

"WAH!!!"

Oh the injustice for a 4 yr old. 

We got in the vehicle to leave and I drove straight to the hospital. I was trying to figure out how I was going to talk her into cooperating to have bloodwork drawn right after getting 2 shots 30 minutes prior. 

It ended up not being too bad. They did have to call for help to hold her down, but it could have been worse. She grabbed my hand and covered her eyes. She decided she like the nice ladies because they kept telling her how pretty she was and how they liked her dress. 

She kept begging to ride the elevators so I mean that was the least I could do considering all she had been through that day. We rode around awhile and then spent a lot of time looking at a brand new baby in the nursery. 

We even took a walk around the pond and enjoyed the weather. 

I took her to the store and actually paid $3 for a Barbie juice bottle. She still loves that cup. As matter of fact she is drinking out of it right now. That seemed to make up for all the injustice she had to fave that day. A $3 juice was totally worth it!!!

I am very thankful for my healthy children. I don't ever want to take their good health for granted. That's something that could change in a moment and we never know how God protects them and keeps them each day. 

Amelia's bloodwork ended up being just fine. She is just going through a growing spell so that's why her legs have been hurting so much. 

Josiah got the Holyghost

Sunday night, March 2, 2014. 

Josiah loves The Lord and makes me so proud. 

About a month ago Josiah refused his breakfast and had tears in his eyes. I thought he was sick, but he told me he felt like he needed to fast that day. He also begged me not to pack his lunch. I walked in the living room and he was down praying his little heart out. It made me wonder who he stood in the gap for that very day. 

I was afraid he would get sick hungry while At school so I packed his lunch anyway. I told him it was ok to fast only one meal if he couldn't make the whole day.  He ended up eating his lunch, but he is only 8 and I am proud of his sacrifice. I'm sure The Lord took notice of his prayer. 

Now my boy has the Holyghost that will help him on his journey.