A New Year

I am not sure how we got to the middle of January!  I also am not sure where all of my pictures are or if I even took any.  But I am sure we have been busy.  These pictures are of Bryant's Science Project.  He built balloon hovercrafts.  He loves science so he really enjoyed it.  I really enjoyed finishing.  We had company for the first few days of January.  Then Brett started the big push for the audit.  Now the audit has been indefinitely postponed.  We are all grateful.  Calli cut a top front tooth so she's been a little louder than we are used to but still awfully smiley.  She loves to clap, play peek a boo, bump noses, walk with her walker from Christmas, eat bananas, try to eat whatever I'm eating, and she says 'dada', 'mummum' and yells a lot.  Emma is getting ready for girls camp.  We have girls camp over spring break here because it is too hot in the summer.  She has made some secret sister gifts and received a girly pocket knife for christmas, along with a blow up bed.  Bryant has worked on his science project, webelos stuff, and started flag football.  I went to a parent teacher conference for him this last week and when I got to the office and opened up my purse to get out my ID...it was filled with ants.  I know, you wish you were me.  May is loving her friends at school and spends a lot of time getting phone numbers and trying to place calls to them.  She also tries to set up playdates with me and their mothers.  Derek is enjoying my return to the YMCA.  He has a friend that comes about the same time so he thinks we are going for a playdate just for him.  And since Calli loves it there also I have noooo excuses.  I do like going there but feel guilty not exercising outside where it is absolutely gorgeous these days.  I am loving my CTR4's (5's?)  at church.  They are darling and I love the lessons.  I am also grateful for Brett taking Calli for two hours while I am with them.  Last weekend we moved a lot of furniture around.  We swapped the boys room with Emma and put May in Calli's room.  The house has a much better flow and I love that it's clean under all of the beds for now =).  I still have a few decorations to hang up, add that to my Monday list.  I had my check up for my eye and all looks good.  I got to see the MRI and it was pretty amazing.  We live in an amazing time don't we?  I guess I didn't blog about my eye trouble.  I had pain behind my right eye the week before Christmas.  I thought I had a sinus infection (which I did, but on the left side=)).  Then one morning I woke up and my vision was blurry, no matter if I wore my glasses or contacts.  I put in a call to my eye doctor who was, of course, out of town.  It was the 23rd afterall.  I called his backup doctor and the nurse on call told me to get some drops, she didn't think it sounded serious.  I just felt uneasy so I drug myself to my family doctor.  He said he saw some swelling and told me to see an eye doctor.  I asked if I could wait until the 26th, I had a dinner party the next day and Christmas obviously.  He said, 'no, you need to be seen today or go to the emergency room.'  UGH.  I still held out hope that it was all precautionary and no big deal.  Thankfully, Brett got off work and took me to the eye doctor (the only appt available in town).  This doctor took a look and told me I had Optic Neuritis.  It is a swelling of the optic nerve and I would need to go to the EYE ER.  I broke down sobbing.  Not because I was worried about my eye so much but because of all the plans I had made for the weekend.  He was stunned and asked if anyone came with me.  When Brett came in the doctor talked about how this could be an indicator of MS.  Now I really did sob.  We must've floated to the car and headed home to arrange for the kids to be watched by our neighbor.  Then we headed to Miami for the Eye ER.  I cried most of the rest of the day.  They called in the MRI team and I had an MRI at 11 that night.  It finished around 1.  I called my mom and cried some more.  Finally the results came in that there were no indications of MS and that I would need an aggressive treatment of steroids.  We were so grateful.  When they came in to hook me up to an IV they couldn't get a vein and on the second try I broke down and about fainted.  I am usually not a wimp around IV's but I think it all just hit me, all of the stress of the day and worry for the future and the fact I hadn't drank anything for many hours. They brought me food and a drink.  Let me calm down and then tried again with success.  I would go back Christmas Eve and Day for continued IV treatment.  I kept the IV in for those days. So, why do these things happen?  I don't know.  But two things are apparent to me from this experience.  One is that health issues put things into perspective for me and remind me how blessed I am.  I am more grateful for my husband and children and their health, I am more grateful for insurance, I am more grateful for friends who step in at the last minute, I am more grateful for my healthy days, I am more grateful for the simple things in life.  The second occurred in the waiting room at the ER.  We sat by a grandma and her son and his baby.  The baby was about two, Kayla is her name.  When she woke up we were surprised to see a little body that reminded us of our nieces, Mikaela and Mckenzie!  Kayla had a rare form of dwarfism very similar to our nieces and nephew.  Same eye sight, and very similar body shape.  As we chatted with them we were so pleased to tell them of all of the wonderful things our nieces and nephew are working on and accomplishing. I think it gave them hope and comfort.  Maybe I had this experience because they needed a little boost, a little more hope, a little comfort.  I know I talk a lot, Brett says I make stranger's ears bleed.  But perhaps the Lords uses us talkers because we open our mouths and make connections with random strangers wherever we are.   And perhaps we talkers sometimes get to be in the right place, at the right time, to help somebody else not lose faith...even in the ER in Miami in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve.