Archives for September 2012

Today is Huddy’s 4th birthday.  When Huddy was born it was such a grand day, but boy did he make his momma work to meet him.  He is just such an incredible little boy and I am so in love with this guy and his infectious spirit.

We usually do birthday parties for our kiddos with just our families, but we decided after Harper’s birthday in March, we’d ditch the parties all together and focus on something with just out little family of 6.  Turns out it ended up just like that anyways since Amon and I are still in the hospital.

I will be truthful in the fact that today was a hard day for me.  Josh and I have certain birthday traditions and I didn’t get to be apart of them which totally bummed me out.  We let the birthday kid pick their breakfast…anything they would like.  It can be cake, cookies, ice cream sundaes, anything their little birthday heart desires.  Huddy chose Green Lantern waffles.  Josh took care of that.  He even colored his waffle mix with lime green food coloring…I have taught him well 🙂

(photo taken with Josh’s 1980s cell phone.  It’s not really from the 1980s, but you get the picture)

We also decorate the birthday kid’s door while they are sleeping, so they wake up on their birthday with a killer decorated door.  Again, Josh totally rocked this as well.  Again with the 1980s phone.  I hated to not be apart of these moments today, but so thankful for the incredibly, crazy awesome dad Josh Kelley is.

We all had lunch together in the hospital cafeteria, opened presents and ate cake.  I did something I’ve never done before…bought a birthday cake 🙂  Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying a store bought cake, but my Mom always made our birthday cakes and I LOVED that about her.  I decided long before Harper was even born that I would make all my kids cakes too…just like my Mom did for me.  Well, there’s a first time for everything.  Leave it up to open heart surgery to change my ways.

And you know what…Huddy loved it.  And it was pretty tasty too.  Publix makes a mighty fine whipped frosting.

So even though Huddy’s birthday didn’t go as I had envisioned, we still celebrated Huddy and spent some time together.  This will probably be a birthday he always remembers.

Amon had a nice day today too.

And hands down, my most favorite pictures from today.  I think I am raising little creepers who know how to photo bomb.  Sol’s is definitely my favorite.  They both clearly knew what they were up to.  I give them props for succeeding.

So here’s to Hudson Hall Kelley and his 4th year.  You are one incredible little guy who I completely adore.  You crack me up every.single.day and make me feel like the only mama in the world with your sweet words, tight hugs and tenderness.  The world is already better because you are in it.  I cannot wait to see what God has planned for you.  I love you so very, very much, sweet, sweet Huddy!  Oh and I do really think your love of swords and knives and anything else with a blade is pretty rad.

Happy 4th Birthday Huddy!

Today was another good day for Amon.  He’s still having a few little hiccups…one of the biggest being 2 stomach tubes that still cannot come out yet!  Other than the small things, he is really doing so, so well.  And we had another day full of smiles.  He is slaying the nurses here…they can barely handle his smile & his bright eyes.

Last night he slept pretty decent and I stayed up until his last feeding to try a little craft project I had seen.  I spotted these wire words on Whatever…which is a great blog…definitely check it out.  The only thing was there was no tutorial, but I knew I could figure something out.

Before we went to the hospital, I browsed through Hobby Lobby looking at different wire options to use for these, but then it hit me…I could just use pipe cleaners.  So I used pipe cleaners, craft glue and scrap fabric strips.

So here’s what I did.  I twisted 4 pipe cleaners together to make the base of the word or object thicker and then added additional 4 pieced pipe cleaners as I needed for extra length.

Then I used scrap fabric to do a base covering of my anchor and craft glue just dabbed here and there.

Once I had it completely covered with a base fabric, then I picked out more fabric strips to go over it again with pops of color.

And that is that.  Super easy.  I made our little Ace of Hearts a little word to hang in the boys’ room too.

My sweetest little Ace ever!

We had several visitors today and that was super nice.  My cousin Emily brought me the sweetest gift bag full of things just for me 🙂  One of my favorite little things were these amazing matches…yes, matches!  A smooth sea most definitely never made a skillful sailor.  I love them!

And I came across this photo today and it made me smile.  This moment seems so long ago…my “twins” seem so big now…Huddy will be 4 tomorrow!  Crazy how time really does just fly on by.

Again, thank you for all the prayers for Amon.  I cannot wait for our “We’re Going Home” post…I know it will be amazing/terrifying.  Hope you have a grand weekend.

Happy Friday!

Today was filled with more x-rays and ultra sounds and a heart echo and a picc line being put in and Amon is just exhausted.  He is really, really doing amazing everything considered…the kid hasn’t eaten since last Thursday…and thank God for morphine.  His heart is still doing great, but we’re just having some hiccups.  I think this road is just going to be traveled a little more steadily than at the super speedway pace I really was hoping for…and I’m okay with that now.

And tonight Josh brought the kiddos up to see Amon and me.  All day I was just so anxious for them to get here.  I could not wait for tonight.  I needed all 6 of us to be together…my heart needed it big time.  I needed hugs and kisses and I needed to hear someone call me “mama”…and it was lovely.  I hated to see them leave.  I just wanted us to make a blanket and pillow pile in Amon’s floor and slumber party it out, but there is school and hospital rules.

It was really sweet to see the kids with Amon again.  They all just adore him.  When Harper saw him for the first time I wanted to crawl into the corner of his room and cry my eyes out.  This little girl has so much going on in her head and I just want to be there for her and help her understand so many things that a small 5-year-old has no business even thinking about, let alone sitting and worrying about.  I just want to make her world rainbows and unicorns, but that’s just not life.  So Josh and I are doing the best we can to help her little brain grasp what has gone on over the past year and what is currently going on around her.

The boys were super sweet too.  Sol just smiled at Amon and was really wanting some doctors and nurses to come into the room.  Huddy was more cautious.  He asked, “Is Amon happy or sad right now?”  He was trying to understand too.

It was so good for us to be together, even just for a bit.  Harper has her first homework project due this Friday and she told Josh she thought she should work on it with me.  I love her and her crafty loving heart.  So we spent most of the time sitting in the floor working on her project.  Josh brought us all the supplies we needed.

For all of Harper’s life whenever you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she always, always, always says she wants to be an artist.  For her class project she had to decorate a paper person like a community worker or what she wants to be when she grows up.  Tonight when I asked her what she wanted to be, I was already getting excited about all we could do to make her person look like an artist and then she said, “I want to be a doctor.”  Josh and I were a bit shocked, but what an impact Amon’s surgery has already made.  I was literally floored at her answer, but my heart swelled with sweetness.

Today I am thankful for our little family of 6.  Even though we are a little out of sorts right now, we are always home to each other.  Tonight was just so, so good for my heart.  I am so thankful to God for this journey and how it is changing and molding our family.  Thank you so much for your continued prayers.

Happy Late Wednesday Night!

This journey is hard and Monday night was tough and today was really tough.  There is absolutely no where else I would rather be in the entire world except right beside Amon and pretty sure wild horses couldn’t drag me out of here…I like to be made of steel, but this is just really hard…watching them do all that has to be done to him and seeing him in pain and discomfort and watching him struggle and hitting some road blocks…pulls my heart strings right out.

So far my goal for each day is to try and keep tears limited during day time hours and then bawl like a baby at night…you know, kind of like a job…business during the day, cry baby at night.  So far it’s working out okay.

I’m ready to sleep for days if I could just get my nerves to settle.  I am so thankful for healthy children.  My heart aches for parents who are watching their child go through much worse than Amon…I can only, only, only imagine how they feel.  Praying for the families and children all around us here.

I am beyond thankful for this hospital and its medical staff.  His nurses have just been crazy amazing and I think I will forever bring baked goods here now.  All that these nurses do is just unreal.  They have given me a voice as his mama and have been his advocate and have encouraged me and been honest with me and let me participate in his healing.  They have just done so much for Amon and have been something incredible to my heart.  This is a time when I could easily be overcome with grief in missing my mom and random nurses…people I do not know…have stood in the gap and given me hugs and reassurance and cried along side with me.  Truly amazing.

God really goes before us and walks out each step before we take it.  I am taking great comfort in that tonight.  That God knew exactly how our day would play out and He already knows what the night will hold.  I’m glad He knows my heart and sees Amon’s and that He completely understands…deep, deep in His heart…how painful and hard this is.  I’m glad He has walked this road ahead of Amon and our little family.  Our captain truly controls the winds and the waves and our ship is a mighty strong one.

I’m now sitting and thinking about the good things this day held.  It’s easy to let the rough patches win…control your thoughts…I want the good to win.  I want the blessings which are so abundant to be what I look for.  It’s definitely not easy…no way…but I get a choice…at the top of my lungs, hallelujah.  Yes, that is my choice for tonight.  Tomorrow will be a whole new decision making and I may fall flat on my face and wallow and pitch a fit, but tonight I’m making the big decision to see the blessings this day contained.

I’m thankful Amon’s heart is growing stronger and stronger every day.  I’m thankful for great head ultrasound results today.  I’m thankful for sweet singers who made there way room by room singing to these sweet heart children and for how attentive Amon was to them as they sang.

I’m thankful for Josh who is holding down the Kelley fort so well.  I’m thankful for Aunt Jen and Aunt Susan who are taking and picking Harper up from school everyday so Josh can cross another thing off his to-do list.  I’m thankful for Sara & Loni who blessed our fridge and freezer with enough food to feed an army.  I’m thankful for my mom’s co-workers who have brought Josh and the kids meal after meal.  I’m thankful Harper sent flowers just for me.

I’m thankful for Courtney & Patrick who not only watched the wee Kelleys so Josh could come visit us at the hospital tonight, but even did our dishes.  I’m thankful for a husband who showed up with the gift of crazy good music for his weary wife.  I’m thankful for visits from family and friends that help pass the time.

I’m thankful for calls and texts of prayer and encouragement from family and friends.  I’m thankful for craftiness that fills my hands.  I’m thankful for pull out couches and comfy pillows and blankets.  I’m thankful for Nene & Big Daddy who have been keeping Huddy & Sol quite busy.  I’m thankful tomorrow the wee Kelleys get to see their little brother.

I’m thankful for Amon and his sweet heart who have brought us on this journey and for communication with God that has sustained us on our way.  Clearly the good outweighs the bad because our blessings are abundant and overflowing.  God has walked this road…He has gone before us and He knows our steps.  Praise be to Him…His mercies are new every morning.  Thank you for the prayers…they are deeply appreciated.

  Happy Late Tuesday Night!

Today has been a pretty good day.  Amon has had a few ups & downs, but way more ups…and that is awesome.  Today he is off all oxygen and his heart is doing great.  He is having some stomach issues and still hasn’t eaten yet, but if he does well through the night we’ll get to move out of the PICU and up to a regular room sometime tomorrow.  Yipppeee!  Just another step closer to home.

Amon is now giving a permanent thumbs up, which is pretty awesome.

We’ve rigged up his little frog toy he likes so much for when he opens his eyes.  He actually swatted at it a few times too.  It was really nice to see him do something other than just lay there all pitiful like.  I so want to see a smile though…that’s my own personal mom goal…get him to smile again.

I got to see the wee Kelleys today and that was completely great.  They didn’t get to see Amon though because 2 out of 3 have been sick.  So we hung out in the Ronald McDonald waiting room and ate snacks.

And they showed off really weird poses under the PICU sign.  They all crack me up, but I laughed out loud at Huddy when this picture loaded onto my computer…he’s a special one for sure.

The nurses put Amon’s name on his door and the kids drew pictures for him too.  It makes me weepy for some reason…in a happy, sweet way.

Harper drew Amon…looks just like him.  And that’s a puppy on his shirt, not a baby in his belly.

I got a little crafting in today.  I’m going to string these together on some twine.  They are going to make a mighty fine garland.

Amon’s globe is getting lots of love.  His nurses have been crazy wonderful.  We have just been so blessed.

And that was our Sunday.  Thank you for you continued prayers.  We really and truly appreciate them.

Happy Sunday!