When I last posted, unbeknown to you, I was in the midst of spending 8 solid days watching mindless television, being brought three square (ish) meals a day on a tray, and visiting with a lot of wonderful women in sweet uniforms.
(Aaanndd...I just realized it sounds like I spent a week in a mental hospital. Or possibly jail. Fabulous.)
Thankfully, it was neither of those things because I have no time to break any laws nor the time to fall apart, though I have penciled in a period of melting down once Piper successfully completes treatment this fall. I shall call it Planned Post Traumatic Stress Vacation and I am uncertain as to whether I will be allowing anyone to come with me on this experience.
But I digress.
Today is Friday and Piper and I came home from our little Scottish Rite vacation on Wednesday. I had a hard time posting because we were having such a great time being on isolation, pooping a lot (Piper), cleaning poop up a lot (Myself), watching an awful lot of Elmo,hiding food from a two year old and trying to keep Piper mobile while attached to a ridiculously loaded down IV pole. Don't be jealous of how I spent my summer.
Thankfully, after rushing in through the ER Tuesday night and finding Piper pretty dehydrated, they admitted us pretty quickly and began the battery of tests that go along with being a leukemia patient acting ill. Blood tests, stool test, TPN, fluids, semi gut rest and random fevers all added up to "a simple summer virus". Yep, that's what those Dr's said. Unfortunately for Piper, her immune system is a joke at the moment and when she feels bad she stops eating and this combined with the diarrhea she had recently begun having again well, dehydration was the order of the week. And because she randomly was having fevers her visit stretched to 8 amazing days.
We finally broke out of there and have been home for 2 days and all is back to normal. She is totally back to the silly, sweet Piper we know and love. I am always amazed at how quickly she can go down hill and how quickly she will bounce back. The only thing we are changing up is holding her weekly and daily chemo doses...She has a appointment this week to check everything out and hopefully start things back up.
So, what did you do this week? I am totally caught up on my Elmo episodes should anyone want to know how he and his blankie are. And because I have the lowdown I will suggest you not show your two year old anything about this furry red monster...its a doozy of a thing to have constantly running through your brain, memory and dreams.
Trust.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Hopefully Refined
About 2 weeks ago as I was dozing of in my fabulously comfy bed, I was mentally planning out the next day and rerunning parts of the day past and suddenly the thought hit me " Susanna, you totally forgot to get refined!"
Oh my, oh no.
You see almost 2 years ago when my sweet Piper was diagnosed with infantile leukemia and I was totally and completely overwhelmed with what all that was going to mean for my newly made family of four, I remember being told often that God was in control. (true) And I remember being encouraged many times over the months that God was "refining" me. That He was taking this horrible, no good, very bad news and using it to refine me as a Christian, as a wife, as a mother and as a woman. That He was going to walk me through the pain of this fire in my life in order to become cleaner, more pure. Hmmm.
I still say Hmmm. I looked up the word "refined" on dictionary.com because I am currently lazy and it says this:
Refined: adjective
1.
having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc.: refined people.
2.
freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc.: refined taste.
3.
freed from impurities: refined sugar.
Well folks, that doesn't sound much like me. I mean really, my daughter knows how to correctly use a 4 letter word and I rarely wear matching clothing. The part I most find shame in is the "freed from impurities", because I am a work in progress. For reals.
I planned on becoming refined over the course of Pipers 2 years of treatment. I envisioned myself more patient, more kind, more giving, less snarky, less lazy and less questioning. People would look at me and know that I was wise. I would become the mom I dreamed of being and my husband would sing my praises. Well, Piper completes her treatment in September of this year. So, that's basically less than 2 months of refining I have to cram in. Possible?
Who knows. I do know that while I hardly feel refined, I do know that leukemia is not the only trial I will go through and that someday when I stand at those fancy pearly gates and God is going to look at me (probably similarly to the way I sometimes look at Linley and Piper when I just don't get why they don't get what I am trying to get them to do) and still open His arms up and let me in and then, and only then will I be fully refined.
So long story short(er), I am not through being refined. Not one bit...but I am still faithfully married, I still pray over two daughters before bed, I still rely on my soul friends, and I still desire thoroughly that God will continue this work He began in me. Not only the work I was when I first loved Him, but even more so when He first showed me what it is to walk through fires and come out not scorched, maybe a little scarred but probably a whole lot of Hopeful.
Oh my, oh no.
You see almost 2 years ago when my sweet Piper was diagnosed with infantile leukemia and I was totally and completely overwhelmed with what all that was going to mean for my newly made family of four, I remember being told often that God was in control. (true) And I remember being encouraged many times over the months that God was "refining" me. That He was taking this horrible, no good, very bad news and using it to refine me as a Christian, as a wife, as a mother and as a woman. That He was going to walk me through the pain of this fire in my life in order to become cleaner, more pure. Hmmm.
I still say Hmmm. I looked up the word "refined" on dictionary.com because I am currently lazy and it says this:
Refined: adjective
1.
having or showing well-bred feeling, taste, etc.: refined people.
2.
freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc.: refined taste.
3.
freed from impurities: refined sugar.
Well folks, that doesn't sound much like me. I mean really, my daughter knows how to correctly use a 4 letter word and I rarely wear matching clothing. The part I most find shame in is the "freed from impurities", because I am a work in progress. For reals.
I planned on becoming refined over the course of Pipers 2 years of treatment. I envisioned myself more patient, more kind, more giving, less snarky, less lazy and less questioning. People would look at me and know that I was wise. I would become the mom I dreamed of being and my husband would sing my praises. Well, Piper completes her treatment in September of this year. So, that's basically less than 2 months of refining I have to cram in. Possible?
Who knows. I do know that while I hardly feel refined, I do know that leukemia is not the only trial I will go through and that someday when I stand at those fancy pearly gates and God is going to look at me (probably similarly to the way I sometimes look at Linley and Piper when I just don't get why they don't get what I am trying to get them to do) and still open His arms up and let me in and then, and only then will I be fully refined.
So long story short(er), I am not through being refined. Not one bit...but I am still faithfully married, I still pray over two daughters before bed, I still rely on my soul friends, and I still desire thoroughly that God will continue this work He began in me. Not only the work I was when I first loved Him, but even more so when He first showed me what it is to walk through fires and come out not scorched, maybe a little scarred but probably a whole lot of Hopeful.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
my blog? Oh yeah, that.
For lack of the mental effort it would take to make excuses for not keeping anyone/everyone updated I will instead make a a list of what I have been busy doing since coming home from that amazing vacation to Tybee Island.
Not to brag, but rather so that I can remember. It has indeed, been THAT busy.
1) Monday: packed the entire apartment up.
2) Tuesday: spent the day, kid free, with the spousal unit at IKEA celebrating our
7th Anniversary which was actually the following Sunday. (I think)
3) Wednesday: moved majority of belongings into new apartment
4) Thursday: celebrated Pipers 2nd Bday by getting her a new "big girl" bed
5) Friday: Pedicures and lunch with the ladies in my family prepping for my sisters induction the following day.
6) Saturday: farmers market and then spent the day waiting for Braxton to arrive
7) Sunday: Braxton Clyde Grant graces us with his awesome cheeks after 28 hrs of labor!
8) Monday: woke up to the news that my sister in law had delivered their son five weeks early. After taking Pipers to her 2 yr check up I packed Linley up and rode with my dad to Fayetteville NC to meet the amazing Nash Teague Martin and to kiss on his big sister.
9) Tuesday: slept the majority of the trip home from NC and perked up in time to cuddle my own sweet Piper but also get a few kisses from Braxton.
10)Wednesday: playdate for Linley and lots of attempts at unpacking my own home as well as a late night chai and m&m date with a good friend.
11)Thursday: dragged both Chad and Linley to a early morning sedation/spinal chemo for Piper and cheered because while she was totally rotten at the clinic, it was her very last sedation EVER!
12)Friday: tomorrow I plan to help a friend move and not deny my mom and Aunt the chance to watch my two sweet girls while Chad and I go fall asleep at Barnes and Nobles...aka: have a date night.
Sounds like fun? It actually has been...I have had some sweet moments with both my new nephews and was suggested a Tylenol by my own daughter when I spoke of my renewed "baby fever".
As if.
Now that I have a true list...(And apparently my memory!)...I will spend some time adding some pics of all these sweet little newbies to the family and also of this new apartment with so very many modern amenities.
And if I am going to be all wild and crazy I may actually catch up on some of the goings on from oh, six months ago. Like the fact that Linley had a rockin' party to celebrate turning 6. Or that Chad and I ran to the mountains for five heavenly days. Or this amazing chair I found next to the dumpster...Maybe I should just take a Tylenol and hush about expanding my own family until things are semi caught up.
As if. :)
Not to brag, but rather so that I can remember. It has indeed, been THAT busy.
1) Monday: packed the entire apartment up.
2) Tuesday: spent the day, kid free, with the spousal unit at IKEA celebrating our
7th Anniversary which was actually the following Sunday. (I think)
3) Wednesday: moved majority of belongings into new apartment
4) Thursday: celebrated Pipers 2nd Bday by getting her a new "big girl" bed
5) Friday: Pedicures and lunch with the ladies in my family prepping for my sisters induction the following day.
6) Saturday: farmers market and then spent the day waiting for Braxton to arrive
7) Sunday: Braxton Clyde Grant graces us with his awesome cheeks after 28 hrs of labor!
8) Monday: woke up to the news that my sister in law had delivered their son five weeks early. After taking Pipers to her 2 yr check up I packed Linley up and rode with my dad to Fayetteville NC to meet the amazing Nash Teague Martin and to kiss on his big sister.
9) Tuesday: slept the majority of the trip home from NC and perked up in time to cuddle my own sweet Piper but also get a few kisses from Braxton.
10)Wednesday: playdate for Linley and lots of attempts at unpacking my own home as well as a late night chai and m&m date with a good friend.
11)Thursday: dragged both Chad and Linley to a early morning sedation/spinal chemo for Piper and cheered because while she was totally rotten at the clinic, it was her very last sedation EVER!
12)Friday: tomorrow I plan to help a friend move and not deny my mom and Aunt the chance to watch my two sweet girls while Chad and I go fall asleep at Barnes and Nobles...aka: have a date night.
Sounds like fun? It actually has been...I have had some sweet moments with both my new nephews and was suggested a Tylenol by my own daughter when I spoke of my renewed "baby fever".
As if.
Now that I have a true list...(And apparently my memory!)...I will spend some time adding some pics of all these sweet little newbies to the family and also of this new apartment with so very many modern amenities.
And if I am going to be all wild and crazy I may actually catch up on some of the goings on from oh, six months ago. Like the fact that Linley had a rockin' party to celebrate turning 6. Or that Chad and I ran to the mountains for five heavenly days. Or this amazing chair I found next to the dumpster...Maybe I should just take a Tylenol and hush about expanding my own family until things are semi caught up.
As if. :)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Hello, 2nd of July
..Its nice to meet you. I know your sister, the 4th of July but this year we chose you to celebrate on simply because you fell on a Saturday.
As we have done for the last 3 years we went to the tiny town of Gratis for some of the best and longest display of fireworks around. Piper is still not walking solo but she definitly is attempting to keep up with her big sister and they both had a great time at the nearby playground, playing with glowsticks and eating rice crispy treats with our sweet friend Zoe (oh yeah, and her mom and dad).
We literally drove home from the beach, dropped our bags off, played a game of Operation and let Daddy nap for 30minutes then ran back out the door to grab dinner and meet up with the rest of the party to celebrate. Thankfully I was fully rested and thankfully Linley LOVES fireworks and Piper just wants to cuddle when they are going off so it was a most enjoyable night for all of us.
Tybee Island, GA 2011
Years ago I was a nanny for 2 little (incredibly adorable, now incredibly tall and grown up preteens) boys. Each of my days were spent playing Thomas trains, watching Thomas the train movies and eating little mini pizza sandwiches. It was fun and it was obviously busy. One day I told the oldest I was "losing my head" and that sweet 4 year old thought that was the most hilarious thing he had ever heard. Each day from that moment on until I left to care for my own little daughter he would ask me if I had my head or if I had lost it yet.
To this day, I still hear his laughter every time I feel busy, crazed or super fun.
And as you know, my life is a little hmmm...busy? Crazed? Super fun?
Thankfully my inlaws decided we all needed a little vacation and they booked a week for us all at Tybee Island. Last year we went to Daytona. I have to say I think we traded up this year.
Tybee was beautiful and relaxing and all the things a vacation should be. We spent hours on the beach, ate much shrimp, visited Savannah, rode bikes and focused on doing nothing else. As usual for my girls, they kept Chad and I on our toes since Piper loved the sand and hated the waves and Linley loved the waves and hated spending time in the sand...basically he and I just played tag and traded girls off and on until a grandparent stepped in and saved us. Both my girls proved once again that they have their daddies great skin tone and not their mommies tendency to burn despite SPF Way Super High.
It was a wonderful time for this mommy to find her head once again...
To this day, I still hear his laughter every time I feel busy, crazed or super fun.
And as you know, my life is a little hmmm...busy? Crazed? Super fun?
Thankfully my inlaws decided we all needed a little vacation and they booked a week for us all at Tybee Island. Last year we went to Daytona. I have to say I think we traded up this year.
Tybee was beautiful and relaxing and all the things a vacation should be. We spent hours on the beach, ate much shrimp, visited Savannah, rode bikes and focused on doing nothing else. As usual for my girls, they kept Chad and I on our toes since Piper loved the sand and hated the waves and Linley loved the waves and hated spending time in the sand...basically he and I just played tag and traded girls off and on until a grandparent stepped in and saved us. Both my girls proved once again that they have their daddies great skin tone and not their mommies tendency to burn despite SPF Way Super High.
It was a wonderful time for this mommy to find her head once again...
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