Clearly an Answer to Prayer

Two weeks ago I had surgery.  This was my third surgery and hopefully my last.  As you probably know, Greg and I were not able to have kids (our two boys are adopted) and as a result I was in a lot of pain and it was decided that I would need to have a hysterectomy.  I was really concerned about this surgery.  It requires six weeks recovery, and anyone I spoke to indicated that the first two weeks were pretty much spent in bed, etc. 

I had surgery last year related to the same issues as this time around, and compared to this one was very minor.  I was almost a full two weeks where I couldn't stand or sit for longer than two or three minutes at a time.  The pain was incredibly bad.  This is what I was expecting and anticipating for this time around.

The night before my surgery my Corps Officer, Major Catherine, called to pray with me.  She asked me if there was something specific that she could pray for.  I indicated that I was worried about the amount of pain, etc. afterwards.  So during her prayer she focused on this and fervently prayed that I would have little to no pain when my surgery was completed and that my recovery period would be ok and go well.

The morning of my surgery I was very anxious.  I might also add that it was also the day of my 40th birthday!  What did you get for your 40th?  They wheeled me into the operating room, the OR doctors offered to sing Happy Birthday to me.   My heart rate began to rise and they had to give me something to calm me down before they put me under.  I woke up in recovery and as usual, they had to give me oxygen three times before my levels finally leveled out and I was alert enough to have a conversation with the nurse.  They sent me out to the next level where I spent a few hours and Greg was able to come in.

I was home by about 2:00 p.m. that afternoon.  I had a nap, but by the evening (I think around 7ish) I was sitting up having toast and juice.  Friday morning (the next day) I had my last pain medication and have been mobile ever since.  I've been up walking around, have experienced little to no pain whatsoever, if it wasn't for the bruising I was beginning to wonder if they actually did anything!  That is not to say that after I do an activity I'm not extremely tired and then need to nap, but as far as pain goes, the prayer was absolutely answered!

It's funny how I can't say that I've seen any other time in my life where I prayed for something, and with absolute certainly, that I can say I saw the answer to my prayer.  I'm not saying it has never happened, I'm saying that I guess I've never been willing to say it was God's answer to my prayer and not something that I did on my own.  This time I am with an unfailing faith, and claiming that my recovery from this surgery is a result of the prayer that was prayed on my behalf, and I truly believe that it was CLEARLY AN ANSWER TO PRAYER!

More 'isms! :-)

CJ and I were arguing over whether or not they need a sweater:
CJ - No, it's going to be warm today.
Me - No, you need a sweater. You are always cold.
Daddy - Yes, you need a sweater, it's gotten colder now.
Kai - Yeah, all the heat has gone to China!
Me and Daddy - WHAT???? :-)

Kai noticed nana's haircut and asked her - "what number did the lady use?"...(the boys are a number three clipper) :-)

Out for lunch with Nana and the boys. The waitress says "Would you like a Chinese calendar?" CJ says, "No thanks, we are Canadian!" :-)

Has one excited soon to be 8yr old (CJ) waiting to celebrate his birthday this afternoon with some of his friends. He came out of his room dressed for his birthday wearing jeans, t-shirt, and a jean jacket. And proclaimed, "I bet I look cool!"

Greg was at the table eating something, Kai looks at him and says, "Hey, big guy, slow down!" hahahaha

We went to see the movie Courageous! at Westminster Park. Great movie and even some very funny parts. I also loved how excited CJ was talking to Curtis about beyblades....especially when it was time to go for their movie (Dolphin-tale) and CJ looks at Curtis and says, "come on, we'll finish this when we get there!" :-)

Off to a Beyblade tournament....yep you read that correctly! Cause I am cool like that! CJ signed up to participate in the Beyblade tournament at Toys R Us. He doesn't do well participating in things and well, typically always backs out. Say a little prayer he will participate...he has been sooooo looking forward to this! - Update: He did it! He participated without hesitation. He was completing against a 13 yr old and he won one of the three, he didn't proceed to the next round but who cares! He did it! So proud of him!

CJ gets in the car after school, daddy turns on the radio and CJ declares that he isn't voting for Dalton McGuinty....when asked why? He stated - "Because he loses jobs and raises taxes!" When asked, well who are you voting for then? CJ replies - "Well NOT Dalton McGuinty!" ( :-) The power of advertising! )

I wonder why Kai is going around saying, "Wanna see my armpit?" What a kid!

Kai is full of it today. Kai just looked at a picture of Celine Dion and said, "That's Justin Bieber's mom!" :-) What am I going to do with him! Hahaha

Just heard from the bathroom after CJ flushes...."Agh! That was freaky!" :-)

We had guests over and CJ offered to do the detour! :-) (He meant a tour of our house)....hahahaha

Kai'isms

I just picked myself up off the floor, Kai just walked out of his room, took one last look and said, "well, I'm fantastic!" hahahahaha

Kai began playing in the junior band last fall. I am really glad Kai that he is really excited about band, but really, playing his cornet at 7:00 a.m.? Now he's showing me how you hold your instrument in rest position...hahaha, what a kid!

Whew that was close...Kai assures me Santa will find us cause we still have the same curtains....good thing cause this Santa hasn't even thought about Christmas yet this year!!! and I can use all the help I can from the real Santa! :-)

Nana: "Kai, why do you give mommy such a hard time?"
Kai: "Cause I love her!"
Mommy: (gee thanks)

Are you sad?

Kai - "You sad mommy?"
Me - "Yes."
Kai - "Because of Poppy?"
Me - "Yes."
Kai - "It's ok. He's with Jesus. That's the best place for him."

Out of the mouths of babes....you are right Kai, that is the best place for him, but we will, and still, miss him here.

House Building

In the midst of everything else that happened last year we were also building a house. In May, one Sunday afternoon, Greg and I were on our way to Wal-Mart and I suggested we stop and look at the model homes. I exclaimed - "WE ARE NOT BUYING!! This is just for fun!" Well within the week we had signed on the dotted line and our current home was on the market.

We limited our search to a certain area of the city primarily so that mom was still close to dad at the nursing home, not realizing that by the time it would be necessary to move it would no longer be a factor.

The house build was progressing nicely, however, our house wasn't selling. We had lots of interest, but no follow through. It was getting a little bit stressful. After five months, we had an offer, but they wanted/needed a 30 day close. I contacted the builder and the builder needed 45 days to finish the house. We took the offer anyway and within a matter of days we went from owning two homes to being homeless for two weeks! :-)

Then the planning began, where/how do we store our furniture/belongings? Where can we stay during this time. We shipped mom and Oscar off the stay with Shawna in Kitchener, if it wasn't school time I would've went there with the boys as well. But great friends of ours gladly took us in. We are forever grateful to Jeff and Gerri, they opened their home without any hesitation and let us invade on them for as long as we needed. The house was finished and on October 11th we got possession.

The above pictures are:

Left - Me and the boys the day we signed on the dotted line

Middle - The house in progress

Right - The house mostly finished

The pictures below are:

Left - The upstairs Family Room, also known as the play room

Middle - Our kitchen

Right - The main floor family/adult area

We moved in, got settled, the boys switched schools, and I am happy to say I AM NOT MOVING ANYMORE! :-) We love the house and it was the right decision, the boys have the much needed space for themselves that we were looking for and mom's layout in the basement I think is much better as well.

Kai's SK Graduation

I love the fact that I went to see Kai graduate from SK, when he comes out on the stage he looks at me and mouths, "I told you not to come!" He had apparently been telling his teacher all morning that I wasn't coming. :-) Every time he saw me with the camera he would cover his face! I so felt the love! Only Kaiser!

Happy Birthday in Heaven!

Today dad would have turned 65, he should have been retiring and looking forward to the golden years! I am thankful for the 64 years you had and the wonderful example you were, through it ALL! Love you dad, miss you, and am wishing you a very Happy Birthday in Heaven today!

P.S. We will have a Boston Cream for you! ;-) (Kai's idea, he was the one that pointed out we needed to have a birthday cake for you!)

Blessings

Adoption Day 2011

As with every year around June 16th (the date our adoption was finalized) we go away as a family and celebrate becoming a forever family. Last year we did the same, however, it was much more low-key....we had just buried dad the week before and well it was a tough day as the weekend typically always falls on Father's Day as well.

I think everyone of us was "feeling" the missing piece of the puzzle, the big hole that was left in our family. One of the boys looked at me and proclaimed, "I don't like you....I want a new mommy!" If he only knew what that really meant...I'm sure he wouldn't have said it. Oh well, life goes on and I'm sure I'll hear it many more times over! :-)

Here's a few pictures of our adoption day last year - Medieval Times was our event!

What if tomorrow never comes?

I wrote a really good blog yesterday morning in my mind! ;-) And now for the life of me I can't remember what I was talking to myself about...I do remember the title though - What if tomorrow never comes?

With the series of blogs that I need to write next in my "catch up" over the past year....tomorrow never came, in a two week period tomorrow ceased to happen.

In May of 2011, Greg and I on a Sunday afternoon were headed to Wal-Mart and it was a beautiful sunny day. We, well I, decided to stop at some model homes and well the bug bit! By the Wednesday that week we were signing on the dotted line and had decided to build a house. Our area was somewhat limited because we were trying to stay in a certain area of the city for mom to be able to get to dad easily at the home where he was. Little did we know that tomorrow would never come!

Excitement and stress was building with the process of building a house....and trying to sell our current house. We had a year before we had to close on the new house, which meant we had a year to sell our current home. We are not the type of people to be patient enough to wait a year for the house to sell and as time (even short time) went on we were getting more stressed.

That was the beginning of May....on May 25th (Wendesday) Dad had a major seizure and what we didn't know then, that was the beginning of the end. Saturday night we got a phone call from the home, dad had what appeared to be another seizure and he was taking too long to respond. They wanted to know if we wanted to send him to the hospital. I was on the phone and said yes.

He spent the next week in hospital. They tried to treat the pneumonia, but even if they were able, the reality was that this would likely become a pattern because of Alzheimer's, and the stage that he was now at.

I think I was in a bit of a daze, by the Wednesday/Thursday that week the doctors, nurses, etc. were talking to us about palliative care. I thought it was for "future" instances, not for tomorrow! (That tomorrow came, and with a vengeance) Friday they sent dad back to the home from the hospital, and he was placed on palliative care.

Two weeks to the day, from that major seizure, he passed away. Do I know where he is? Absolutely, he's in heaven with Jesus, no doubt about it. Do I wish he was still here? Selfishly, absolutely, but for his sake, no, he's in a much better place there. Do I wish tomorrow never came? Yes, I wished I had more time. I wish I was able to talk with him. I wish he was able to see the kids grow up. I wish he was able to play with them. I wish they would be able to know the wonderful grandfather that he would have been. I wish....just one more day.

What if...tomorrow never comes?