...and breathe!

So what an adventure we have been on since Chase left for Florida 2 weeks ago. ( First off I can't believe its already been 2 weeks!)

Just a few days after he left we got news that Mike, his step dad, was rushed to the hospital at 3 am one morning with trouble breathing. He was on another round of Chemo for lung cancer as it had come back and apparently his body wasn't responding so well. Turns out his lung was collapsed. For a week he stayed in ICU on a ventilator being closely monitored. The doctors outlook wasn't good and 1 week from the day he was admitted he passed away to be with God. It was a sad day, whats worse is I had to tell Chase, who was alone, in Florida. Not only was he in Florida but at that moment I had no way to reach him as he wouldn't have his phone on him until 3 am due to job security. I debated making the 8 hour drive to be there for him but at the time it wasn't logical. He was pretty distant but with good cause. We found out prior that in the event of Mike's passing that Chase would not be granted leave. I know this was heartbreaking for Chase. I even offered to bust him out of Florida and promised to have him back before any one noticed. I would have given anything to be there when I had to tell them and I never want to tell him news like that again over the phone.

It was a hard night, and Morghan didn't understand why I was crying so much and I honestly had no clue how to tell her that G-pa went to Heaven. She asks about Jesus and Heaven all the time and I'm still not 100% how to explain it all to a 3 years old although I try very hard.

The next morning began another adventure. Morghan was running a fever of 101 at 9am. This was odd to me because she very rarely runs a fever in the morning. In the afternoon/evening, sure. I gave her some Motrin and we went on with the day as she seemed fine. She was running and playing as usual. She started crying saying her tummy hurts but it would come and go. Things is, when it would come.. she would be in tears and I didn't really know what to do. As the day drew on her fever rose higher and higher. By 9pm she had hit 104.8 and that was it. I had alternated Motrin with Tylenol and she was getting worse. By now of course the height of the fever was definitely taking its toll on her. She was just laying there breathing heavily and I got scared so I rushed her to the ER. We did not make it home until early the next morning after they had run numerous tests. Strep, neg. Mono, neg. etc. Finally her UA came back and the doctor explained that she might have a kidney or bladder infection. We still needed the results from the culture but those wouldn't be available until Monday so we were sent home. She had antibiotics and some extra Tylenol just in case. Monday morning rolled around and her fever was finally down to 100.9. By 2pm at her follow up dr. appt she was back to 98.8, and I couldn't be more relieved. However she was still having these horrible tummy aches. Her DR called for the test results of the culture and turns out its positive for bacteria. Now they are running more tests to try and get a better idea of whats going on. Should know more by tomorrow.

Relay for Life

For those who don't know what this is...

"The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length."
(YOU CAN ALSO GO TO RELAYFORLIFE.ORG WHICH IS WHERE THE EXCERPT CAME FROM)

My mom participate in this event in Pearland one year and I participated in the event last year locally. I joined a team of co-workers and this year I really want to do it again. I want to start a team. I don't even know where to begin! The lady who was team captain last year isn't here anymore and I haven't heard anything about starting a team lately. Part of me is worried I'm going to place to much responsiblity on my plate that I won't be able to handle (even though stress makes me work MUCH harder!)

I'm going to talk to my division head tomorrow and see what he thinks. Especially since my previous division head just passed away of cancer. I REALLY want to do this so I hope I can get it off the ground. I don't have much time as I believe its in April!

Press pause, please!

- Thursday at 10am I arrived for the walk through of our new house. At 11am I began unloading my car! :) ha! I had been up since 6 am packing because I waited until the last minute to do so. We packed/moved until 8pm that night. Seriously? Do we really have that much stuff? We now have 4 bedrooms so that's nice and no more carpet! yay!
- Friday I didn't get home from work until 11pm and then
- Saturday we spent the whole day cleaning the old house top to bottom. I must say that a magic eraser is my new best friend. I was worried we would need to repaint Morghan's room, NOPE! I went through 5 of them but damn that house is clean!
- Sunday we spent the afternoon at a friends house for a birthday party and BBQ.
- Monday I had class until 5 for work.
- Tuesday I go called in to work where I later discovered my boss passed away after a long battle with cancer. This really put me down for the rest of the day.
- Today Chase left for Florida and I swear he wasn't gone 4 hours and it already felt like an eternity! I was late for work because when the guy came to hook up our cable, Internet, and telephone he took an hour and a half!

Between all that I was editing photo shoots and making cards for people while I impatiently waited on today for Internet.

I got a letter back from St Jude thanking me for all the cards that were sent. I'm not sure if I posted yet but courtesy of a BUNCH of kiddos we were able to mail over 500 handmade Valentine Cards to St Jude. I was so happy! Now I just need to make copies and mail them out to those who helped out. I can not wait to start another project.

One of the great things about this house is I can finally have a art/craft/hobby room! For all the various things I do, I can now contain everything so its not all over the kitchen table.

There is still so much more to post, yet I still have a 2 page long list that I must tend to so I am off to see what I can accomplish next!

...don't tell Chase!

If Chase knew I was on here he would be so angry as I'm supposed to be packing! I sent him to pick up Morghan while I finish up a CD of a photo shoot I did. Now that I'm done I will share a brief update.

Turns out Morghan's hand is NOT broken. We had an overly cautious ER doctor, which is not entirely a bad thing. She does have some pretty sever bruising that will take a while to heal. We are so relieved! :)

We move in to our new house tomorrow morning. I have been putting off packing and I do not know why. Perhaps I thought this day wasn't coming but its here and I'm WAY behind. Up until today I had packed a closet, the living room and the dining room. As soon as I got home we tackled Mo's room so she wouldn't be here interfering with her precious babies! However, I'm sure it might be mildly traumatic when she gets home and sees her mattress on the floor and only her dresser and t.v. left in her room! I'm off to pack up the kitchen and then its finish up our bedroom and the bathrooms! I will leave the office for last as its rather daunting.

Hope everyone is well. For you mom's watching your sweet babies grow CHERISH THE MOMENT! I just realized last night Morghan is 3 1/2! We found her baby pictures a couple days ago and I almost cried.

OK, I really need to go pack. Procrastination is a bad, bad thing.

Broken Hand

Friday night after a day of cleaning, packing and picking out our new house we decided to take a break. Some of our friends were headed to the bowling alley on base and asked us to come along. We all got in the car and took off.
Morghan was having a BLAST! to say the least. She and Adrianna we having so much fun bowling and dancing. I started out helping her, but if anyone has an independednt 3 year old you know that my helping didn't last long. She wanted me no where near! So we watched from a few feet back constantly keeping eye as the girls would occasionaly bowl in someone else's lane if the pins didnt reset quick enough!
In the brief moment that I turned to take a sip of my drink it happened. At first all I saw was the bowling ball rolling into someone else's lane. I couldn't see Morghan as there was someone standing in between us. I walked over to grab the runaway ball and that's when I saw/heard her screaming and holding her hand. I immeadiatly snatched her up and ran into the entertainment room where there was light so I could examine the damage. I had no clue I was about to see a swollen purple hand! I went and got an ice pack and after about 20 minutes and some phone calls we decided to take her in to the ER to get examined. If anything we simply needed peace of mind as we didn't think it was broken since she could move her hand.
Once at the ER we were in for some rough times as she needed a X-Ray and wasn't willing. Turns out the ER doctor thinks she has what is called a compression fracture so he wrapped her hand in a splint for the weekend. Even today the swelling in her hand is still very present and she usually gets Tylenol when she needs it. We have a follow up with her Pediatrician this afternoon so we will see what she says.

Abondonment issues?

So I've pretty much abandoned my blog as of recent and when i logged in I noticed I was not the only one! Everyone is so busy lately! :)

This past month has been absolutely crazy. We finally got the approval to get a new house on base so we've had a a lot of stuff to do. We just did a housing inspection today and it went well. We might get to go pick out our new house this evening so I will be keeping my fingers crossed! As for now, we need to start packing and have most of our stuff boxed by Monday!

We have also been making a lot of new plans for the future months but that is an entirely different blog. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I think we just need to take it one day at a time and not rush anything.

We are however planning a trip to Texas in May/June and HOPEFULLY there won't be any drama! For once I'd love to come home without anyone holding resentment and negativity.

That's all for now! Sorry my entry is rather jumpy but I'm just so excited to be out of this horrible house!

Valentine's Cards

I know that there is still a month until Valentine's, but I'm excited about my new "project," if you will.

I spend extra time at Morghan's school when I get off of work early. So I thought that instead of my usual hanging out with kids playing I could get them in on a project! My thought is to make Valentine's card for the children at St Jude's. I'm going to get all the kiddos at her school(that can participate) to help put together these cards for those who will be in the hospital.

If you work with children (teacher, day care, etc) and would like to participate that would be awesome. Even if you just know a group of adults that would like to join in! If you do want to participate please make sure that...

* Cards are a Valentine theme.
* Cards can't have anything about 'Get Well Soon', 'Feel Better', or anything reminding them of being sick. (Only Valentine Cards)
* Try to make cards that can be used for any gender or age.
* You can include a message in the inside, but please remember, nothing reminding them of being sick. (Maybe just a Valentine sentiment.)
*You can sign your name and where you are from.

I plan to mail the cards on February 5th.
E-mail me at ames0486@yahoo.com if you would like to participate and I can give you my mailing address to send the cards.