On a much brighter note...

Here is our good news...many of you knew about this already, but there were a few we were trying to surprise at Christmastime. Word got back to us that the last few people we'd hoped to surprise caught wind of it, so now that the cat is out of the bag, we may as well share the exciting news with everyone!
We're expecting!

An update on Adam

What a week it has been! Adam and I remember joking on Tuesday morning, when we checked into the hospital and still thought we'd be coming home that afternoon, how funny it was when the nurses would say things like "we change our IVs every four days" or any other references to the future "days" of our stay. We kept thinking, "man, how long do they think we are going to be here? Do they know something we don't know?" HAHA Adam finally had his Endoscopy (that we thought we were having Tues morning) on Wednesday evening. They scheduled it with a new doctor and I was so happy to have things moving forward and scheduled so I could make arrangements to be there with Adam. The procedure went well and they told us he'd need to stay over night again and continue without food until morning at which point we'd know if he suffered any complications. They said there was a chance he'd wake up with a tummy ache but most likely would feel like a million bucks. He woke up with a tummy ache. He contracted pancreatitis as a complication from the endoscopy and is now again in severe pain. He will be spending another couple days in the hospital (without food or water) on heavy pain medication. When we found this out yesterday morning, Adam's sweet mom hopped on a plane and flew down to be with us. I can hardly describe how much the weight has been lifted off my shoulders by her being here. Adam is getting the care he needs at the hospital now and I don't have to worry about who's with my girls and there are two of us to help each other out now and take turns visiting Adam. I went to "tuck him in" last night and was excited to find that they'd moved him to a private room (a nice reward for all he's been through) and so he was able to invite me for a sleep-over. What a treat! Adam's mom stayed the night with the girls and I got to stay by Adam's side all night and morning with far less worry. Today is Stella's birthday (Adam's mom). We , of course, shipped her present up to Utah so it is not here for her; we bought her a b-day balloon, which the girls popped, and we tried to take her out to a fancy lunch at Sonic and their debit card machine was broken so she had to buy her own b-day lunch and ours! Some days you just can't win. She's spending the afternoon with Adam at the hospital now and although it's not too stimulating, I suspect she enjoys having some time with her baby boy today. :) The doctor's anticipate that we'll be able to bring Adam home Sunday or Monday and then he'll need of few more days of TLC at home with us. His work has been great and everything else is getting back in order. We hope you are all well and look forward to a happy, healthy, Christmas in just a few more weeks!

For anyone curious about what pancreatitis is, here is a link of info for you:

http://www.medicinenet.com/pancreatitis/article.htm

In a nut-shell, your pancreas secretes enzymes into the intestines to aide in the digestion of food. Pancreatitis occurs when the enzymes become active while still in the pancreas and it begins to digest itself. Lovely, I know.

Deja Vu?!

As my mom put it so well..."what is it with Adam and the holidays?!" You may remember that Halloween was spent in the ER with gallbladder related pains and the gallbladder holiday pains returned on Thanksgiving. You may wonder, "how can that be if they removed it?" Good question. The theory is that a gall stone or two "jumped ship" before it was pulled out and are now causing "issues" other places. The fun started while Adam was enjoying a lovely round of Thanksgiving Day golf with my dad. They returned home after only twelve holes and an hour and a half early for dinner -which Adam laid on the floor for anyway. :( He continued not feeling great throughout the holiday weekend hoping our guests were having a good time in spite of his not feeling up to having a good time himself. On my parents last night here, we almost went back to the ER but decided not to in the end (okay, I fell asleep while we were deliberating). Oh, regrets are so painful! Just hours after the last of my family left town, Adam became jaundice (he probably was before and we just didn't notice in time). We were advised while at church by a doctor in our ward to call our surgeon that day, which we did. Adam had lab work done and an appoint on Monday during which they told us to report to the hospital Tuesday morning to have a "procedure" done to find the missing stone. We showed up at 8am this morning, fully expecting to return home later today (as we did on the day of his first surgery), and I came home in tears at 6:30 this evening without Adam. He was admitted to the hospital and had a CT scan done but has yet to have the "procedure" done (where they send a scope down his throat -ouch! -to correct the problem) and as of an hour ago (11pm) had yet to see or hear from the doctor that will supposedly be performing such an operation. We don't know when or much about the "how" this will take place, so now after a long day with a frustrating end, we are still very much in limbo. We again were helped by a couple of wonderful friends in town who watched our girls for nearly 12 hours today until I gave in and came home to them, regretfully not having been able to support Adam through his surgery. We hope for better luck tomorrow and would be just thrilled if there could be an improved sense of communication and perhaps even a schedule tomorrow so that I might be able to return to Adam's side until the tough stuff is over. Wish us luck, we just might need it! For now, I will spend the night alone at home with my girls while Adam sleeps at the hospital with his "roommate" -a fellow abdominal pain patient who lucked out and got the bed next to the bathroom. Oh the joys of hospitals! Sweet Dreams!

The prize winning turkey and other such delights!

The way California is meant to be enjoyed...

...at the beach!

My special birthday surprises!

How wonderful to discover how fun birthday's are when you have a three year old like Lexi! She welcomed the day with a big hug and kiss and even a card she'd made. She told me she had a surprise and not to look and came back to my room minutes later with her arms full of stuffed animals and toys from her playroom. She got out our wrapping supplies box and filled every gift sack we own, complete with make shift ribbons and bows (since she doesn't know how to tie yet). She hid them around the house, in the laundry room and various other spots I've used before and informed me I had to wait to open them until we had cake. She came running out of my room, enthusiastically dragging a birthday banner behind her asking me to hang it up for our "party." She loves birthdays and it was pretty hard for me not to enjoy mine with her around. Adam and I had great plans to spend a night on the town while my mother-in-law was here visiting but in the end, I was grateful that Adam had just enough energy to take me out to a wonderful dinner together and then home for cake with the girls. What a wonderful day! Thank you all for your calls and cards. You made the day special for me. :)

The Happy Halloween that almost wasn't.

The last couple weeks has been a little crazy... let's begin with the wee hours of Halloween. Adam woke up in extreme pain in his abdomen. He's had the pain a few times before and even had a doctor's appoint. scheduled to talk about it with his physician but there was no way he could wait until afternoon. We put the girls in the car with their jammies still on and drove Adam to the ER. Once his blood was taken and he was given a IV full of morphine, they told us they suspected the cause of the pain was his gallbladder and he'd need surgery that day. We had to wait for a few more test to be done before we'd know for sure. I took that opportunity to take the girls home and get them bathed, dressed, fed and off to the neighbors (which I miraculously managed in one hour!) Adam and I spent the rest of the day in the ER waiting to talk with the doctor while a couple of wonderful friends took turns watching our girls. In the end, we got to come home from the hospital with a dr's appoint. scheduled the following morning to make arrangements for surgery to have his gallbladder removed. We picked the girls up at 4:30pm and I got them ready just in time to head to the church for the chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat. The girls had SO much fun there and trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. They walked into every house we stopped at and I had to excuse myself and go in and get them. I guess the concept of waiting at the door for a treat is a little odd. When we got home, the girls dumped out their bags and loaded up a bowl to hand out their treats to everyone who rang our doorbell. Actually, even to those who didn't, Lexi was so excited to pass out candy that she chased a few kids down the street hollering "I have candy for you!" What a fun night it turned out to be. We never did get to carve our pumpkins, but the girls did draw some pictures on them and our sweet friends helped them make halloween cards and do other fun activities to make the day fun for them while we were at the hospital. The next few days were spent going from doctor, to surgeon, to hospital pre-op and finally surgery on Saturday. Again we had great neighbors who spent the day with the girls and more who brought dinner the next couple nights. This last week has been spent helping Adam through his recovery and we've enjoyed his company at home while he did so. This is how people survive without being near family; with a great ward to look after us. We had a blessing for Adam and many, many calls of concern. How grateful we are for the help we received. Life is meant to be shared ...in good times and bad.