I had lots of plans for Thanksgiving, but we hit a little bump in the road when Brandon had to take me to the ER on the Friday that we got out of school. I had been pretty sick all week, and the pain just became unbearable (worse than labor), so we ran our sleeping daughter across the street (well, actually, Brandon ran sleeping Avaree, and I waddled with all of her stuff while he whisper-yelled at me to get back inside, but you know me, ha!!) to our sweet (amazing, God-ordained, precious, can i add any more adjectives?) neighbors Jake and Ginger. They gladly took our (by this time screaming child) and were just amazing. Ginger slept with Avaree in the guest room, and Jake got up super early to go buy her more diapers, because I NEVER anticipated being admitted to the hospital, so I had only packed her little backpack with a few diapers and some juice. Can I again say that they are A-MA-ZING? :) Anyway, B took me to Plano Presby ER and they did every test you can imagine, and gave me lots of morphine and phenegren before admitting me around 1am, and that is where I stayed until Tuesday afternoon. It seemed like an eternity, but I was never more thankful to be home with my sweet little family on Tuesday night (and every day after that). Apparently it was a terrible UC (ulcerative colitis) flare coupled with a peptic ulcer that could only be remedied with bowel rest (i.e. ice chips for four days) and lots and lots of iv meds (steroids, antibiotics, remicade treatment, etc.), and they sent me home with even more potent meds. It is a super long story, but, really, who wants to talk about my colon? :) ha! Needless to say, I am very grateful to be back in the swing of things though I have to be very wary of germs because all of my meds knock out my immune system (did i mention i'm a teacher, i have a toddler, and i teach 1-year old sunday school? ha!), and be very careful with everything i eat, and try to remain calm at all times (UC reacts to stress). The Great Physician has consistently shown his grace and mercy on our family through all this, and we are so grateful. We are also grateful for all of our sweet friends and family for their support, calls, visits, and help! It took me a good two-three weeks to feel normal-ish again, but now that my body has gotten accustomed to the meds, I do feel like me again! :) Thank you for your PRAYERS!!!!!! I felt them.
I'm going to take just a second to brag on my husband, even though he doesn't like me to (and he would probably NEVER admit to any of this). Y'all, he was amazing. I know that he loves me, but he really SHOWED it to me while i was in the hospital. I could never list every little thing he did, but i'll give you the highlights. One, he didn't leave my side (including the nighttime where he slept on a rock hard bench) except to go home and check on Avaree (at which time he sent sweet Ginger to stay with me), get my medicine, and to suprise me with items from the gift shop when my tears were overwhelming. He bathed me, washed my hair, shaved my underarms, carried my iv poll and other machine to the bathroom all 3,000,087 times that I had to go(even during the night). He painted my fingernails and toe nails, he played go fish, and old maid, and scrabble with me. He fed me ice chips. And he took my face in his hands and told me that he thought i was beautiful as they were pumping that horrible prednisone into me that makes me feel like a dead fish. He let me cry every time the doctor left, and he promised me it would be okay. He was amazing. I'm pretty sure that I've never felt so loved. Thank you, baby. (I don't know if you've ever dealt with any bowel related issue, but it pretty much is the furthest thing from feeling pretty, lovable, etc. in the whole wide world, so for him to do all of this when I was in such a state, was just amazing.)
So, we finally got to come home on Tuesday afternoon. We had originally planned to be at my dad's on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we packed up Wednesday morning and headed down there. It was a rather LONG drive, but we finally got there and Avaree enjoyed visiting with her grandparents. I hadn't been able to see my Dad's new house yet (on Sam Rayburn lake), so it was nice to get to see their beautiful retreat, I just felt pretty rotten. We then got up the next morning and headed to my mom's, but again, i just didn't feel good, so we changed our plans again and came home on Friday so that I could get a little rest and hopefully get a few things done before we headed back to school/work on Monday. My parents were, of course, very gracious and loving and no one allowed me to do a thing but lay around, so that was nice, but I was glad to get home. The first week back to school was pretty rough, but after I was able to start tapering off the prednisone some, things calmed down. :) Despite all of the craziness, I still managed to take some sweet pictures of my little love bug enjoying her Thankgiving break!
Avaree and Niecey walking on their land that would normally be covered by water!
The amazing reclining swing! The princess enjoyed her green tea and pears in style! :)
I kept feeling the need to tell her that this was not real life! :) She enjoyed watching her shows on Papa's back porch by the fire!!
Her spot in front of the fire/tv...
See what I mean? Brandon wanted to sleep outside! ha!
:) My Dad and Denise have a BEAUTIFUL retreat. It is so peaceful, and we look forward to making lots of memories there! I'm so happy for you, Dad! You've worked so hard, and I hope you enjoy your partial retirement! :)
Above: Avaree and Daddy watching the Aggie game. Avaree actually wanted to play tea party, but you can imagine how that went... :)
Pretty girl...
We probably hadn't been there ten minutes before Ave remembered the swing! :)
I love, love, love the beautiful colors of fall at my Mom's house. The lake (now we are on Toledo Bend) is also really low here. I've never seen it this low.
Mom Mom love.
Playing golf with her Daddy... :)
We had such a short visit with my Dad that he came over to my Mom's the next day to visit a little more with Ave and me. (Miracles still happen every day!) :) Avaree loves her Papa!
I can't even look at these next three pictures without crying! I have SO many memories with my grandaddy, and I just LOVE that Avaree got to play tea party with him! He loves her to pieces, and she adores him. (In fact, every older grey-haired man that we see (anywhere) she calls "Gran-Da-Dee"!) This melts my whole heart. I just love the way they are looking at each other. Thank you, Jesus, for the generations. :)
I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Our little family has so much to be thankful for. Thank you for loving us, praying for us, and keeping up with us. May you and yours be richly blessed, and may we all be a blessing to others... :)
We are so blessed.
Brandon, Allison, and Avaree
Grace Barton
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