Blown Away

Literally...... On my birthday in January, Scott surprised me with a special treat. I could choose to go with him to either Chicago or DC after tax season for a long fun weekend. Afraid of running into Obama and his possies, I gladly chose the Windy City. So, on April 14th, I said "hasta la vista baby" to my last tax return and began packing up. We were going to drive to Birmingham Wednesday night and wake up and meet my parents in Clanton at 8:30am to drop off the kiddos. At 9pm Wed. night I tell Scott to check the tickets to make sure we were all set. Scott had made most of the plans for the trip since I was so busy with work. We then discovered that our flight didn't leave at 1pm (in Huntsville) as we originally thought, it left at 11am. At this point I am physically and emotionally drained, and I just tell Scott we might as well cancel the trip because I am not able to drive all throughout the night to drop the kids off with my parents and I hated to make them drive through the night to meet us 1/2 way. (Seriously, am I 90???) I think he at this point wanted to drop me off with my parents and take the kids on a trip.... Anyway, Mom tells me to ditch my pity party and get in the car and meet them 1/2 way. Long story longer, we agree and at 1am we meet mom and dad in a parking lot off the interstate in Prattville. The kids were sound asleep, but Eli woke up as we put him in dad's car. As they pulled off, he sleepily looked at me and blew me a kiss, and I just lost it. Needless to say, Scott is really pumped up about our trip at this point.... We woke up early the next morning to get on the road to head back to the airport in Huntsville. I didn't feel so great, but decided to be in a better mood. That lasted until the Lakeshore exit when I asked Scott to pull over so I could throw up. Nice. Threw up again a little later and thought the trip was over. We rushed home, I popped a nausea pill, rushed back to the airport, hopped on the plane, made it to Memphis without puking, felt better, ate a potato, kissed Scott, flight cancelled to Chicago-- maintenance, got on another flight, made it to Chicago, oops- our luggage didn't, went to dinner, back to hotel, changed into my complimentary Delta t-shirt and brushed teeth with complimentary "toothbrush", went to sleep, woke up next morning, bags in lobby, and the rest is happily ever after.....
Windy day in the windy city...

My most patient friend......

My motto for the trip.....

My kids have the laugh part down on this one---- the others are works in progress...

Tulips were EVERYWHERE. It was beautiful!

Outside our hotel.

Happy Amy.

Happy Scott. (promise)

He Captured it Perfectly....

My mother's day gift from my sweet hubby...... surprise pictures of the best things in my life...

I could not have asked for a better gift that truly captures the joy I get from being a mom.

Thank you Daddy, Eli and Caroline. Love you..... infinity and beyond!!!!

Success

Baby Thomas is out of surgery and it was a success. Now our focus should be prayers of healing...... yeah!!!

Update on Thomas

The surgery is underway and has been successful thus far. Minimal blood loss. Please keep praying for this baby!!! His parents are updating every few hours via his Caringbridge site (see link in post below).

Prayer Warriors Needed

Friends,

There is a little boy named Thomas Summers who needs your prayers. He's cuddly, he's cute, he's 6 weeks old, and ......he's going to have 1/2 his brain removed on Thursday.

His father, Stuart, is a childhood friend of my husband. Stuart and his wife Chris also have a 3 year old boy named Forest. You can go to his caringbridge site at www.caringbridge.org/visit/thomassummers to find out all the details and to follow Thomas' progress. There have only been about 10 surgeries of this magnitude for a child this small--- EVER. The Summers family lives in Birmingham and the surgery will take place at UAB. The surgery will be about 48 hours in total, and if he lives through the surgery, he could possibly live a normal life with the remaining half of his brain taking over the functions of the other.

To break your heart even further, let me give you some more background on this family.....

Seven years ago, Stuart's sister gave birth to a beautiful little boy. All was joyous until several hours later Christy began having some complications. 24 hours after the birth of her son, she was dead from toxic poisoning. (this happens VERY rarely). Fast forward to last week. Stuart's mother and father found out about Thomas' condition and started the drive from Huntsville to Birmingham to see the baby. Mrs. Dot began developing a bad headache and they turned around and went to the hospital. Her blood pressure had sky-rocketed, causing a stroke, and she was hospitalized until yesterday. Scott and I visited with her in the hospital and she seems to be better and in good spirits.

Needless to say, this family has been broken. This family needs a miracle. Please pray for one this Thursday.....

Doing Our Thing

We eat sand. We play in dirt. We make silly faces. It's everyday life.

Whew!

I'm making progress. 2 new posts below. 2 more to go....