Holiday Wrap Up

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  It appears I'm a bit behind....AGAIN!  We've been laying kind of low and keeping things pretty quiet.  We did get out a bit on Sunday, Dec 26th, to spend time with family and it was really nice to be able to do that.

New Year's Eve was nice and quiet - steaks and the good company of our closest friends and early to sleep (for me and the kids anyway). 

M has had a long, difficult recovery from this latest shunt revision.  Until a few days ago, she continued to be irritable, pulling her hair, sleepier than normal and just not herself.  She wasn't drinking at all and that prompted some lab work to determine if we needed to do some IV fluids at home.  While her labs values were trending down into the low range, her neurosurgeon was hesitant to put her on fluids because of the placement of her Hickman and distal shunt catheter.  They sit right next to each other in her right atrium.  Friday, she began to turn around and we've seen some smiles, better drinking and a less agitation.  She has an MRI, ECHO and neurosurgery visit scheduled for tomorrow morning.  We're hoping the news is good, however, we realize that this "event" is probably not yet over.  The neurosurgeon felt that, though he was very pleased with the work his partner did, it was probably not going to "fix" all of M's current problems.  We're thinking that he won't admit her tomorrow as long as she is doing clinically well.  He will likely wait until there is another malfunction to pull out his next trick. 

Yesterday, Kevin and I decided to have "date day".  We went and saw the Bodies Exhibition  which I have been wanting to do since last year when it was in Milwaukee.  It was so incredible!  If it comes to an area near you, you simply MUST go!  We also took in a movie, True Grit, which was way better than I thought it'd be.  I'm not normally a Western movie kind of gal, but it was really quite good.  We finished the day with an early supper at one of our favorite restaurants and then headed back to pick up the kiddos.  Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for taking care of them so we could have this much needed time alone.

So, it's the New Year.  Supposedly one should be making resolutions and big plans.  Other than planning to continue to the quest to be a better wife and mom, and trying to improve my health, I don't have much.  Of course, I always plan to win the lottery, get out of debt, and buy a new house, but since I don't play the lottery, that stuff is unlikely to happen.  My wishes for this year are the same as last year:  Good health for my family, friends and especially my kids and for K to come home (preferably before May when everything expires for the last time).

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our holiday festivities:

Christmas Eve 2011

I'm always on the lookout for AA dollies and I stumbled across "Lenore" at Walgreens of all places.  I LOVE that she comes with her own Birth Certificate and Adoption Papers.

More dollies - thank you, Grandma & Grandpa!!

Favorite gift of 2010 - A Geo Trax Lights and Sounds Crossing for the massive train set E has!

Grandpa recently got his childhood Lionel train up and running. 

This is pure, unadulterated joy right here!

 First (and very much enjoyed) serving of banana cream pie.

Happy New Year - 12:00 a.m. Jan 1st, 2011