Curveballs

Dear Life,


I don't understand you sometimes.


Sincerely,


Ashley



I got off early on Friday and was looking forward to Riley's return home for our last weekend at our home in Mustang. Well my mood quickly changed when I received a text from my sister. This is all it was...

Although we have had years and years of experience with my mom and the emergency room, everytime I find out she is sick it sends a wave of fear through my body. So I immediately called my sister but got no answer. Another wave of fear. She finally texted back with more information than a terror-inducing photo. My mom had woken up and felt terrible from the get-go on Friday morning. She progressively got worse as the morning drug on and had Bailey making several calls to her transplant doctor in OKC. After an unsuccessful trip down the hallway which ended in my mom being too weak to make it to her destination and falling, Bailey was advised by her nurse to call 911. My mom protested this of course but felt so bad that she finally gave in. She spent much of the afternoon in the ER at Bass Hospital in Enid and was finally transferred by ambulance to OKC around 4 o'clock. Hallie and I were of course there waiting for her in the hallway as they wheeled her toward her room on the stretcher. I was surprised to see a not so bad looking momma. Until we got settled in her room that is. The waves of nausea and dizziness settled in as well and she was not looking so good. Hallie and I waited for Bailey and Spencer to arrive and then I headed home to put a tired baby girl to bed after reluctantly saying goodnight to mom. We had decided to put my name and number down as an emergency contact since my dad was home sick and unable to travel to OKC that night. So I innocently gave them my contact info not thinking that they would have to use it. Well, they did. I got a startling phone call at 2:30 a.m. telling me that my mom's condition had worsened and that she was being moved to the ICU. What!?!? It was pretty tough to sleep at that point so I settled for lying awake in bed praying my heart out that she was going to be okay. I awoke the next morning to find that she was somewhat stable in ICU. Her heart rate and blood pressure were still acting up and the doctor's were confused about what was causing this whole cascade of nonsense in her body. One thing is for sure, my mother's health is in the best hands...Dr. Doug and Dr. Nelson have been referring to her as "Karen" for over two years now....we all joke that she is so high maintenance that she is only known by her first name. No last name needed...they definitely know who "Karen" is. Dr. Doug decided to intervene and put a temporary pacemaker in place which was a Godsend and finally fixed part of the problem. At that point my mom went from a lethargic lady to a feisty female. She was commenting on the cute male nurse out in the hallway and begging the docs to let her out of ICU so that she could see Hallie. They are thinking it is most likely her heart transplant rejection that caused this cascade of problems. As this is a chronic issue, our question now is how to keep this from happening over and over. That is the question we hope to have answered tomorrow when her main doctor is back on duty. Now I sit here typing with much greater ease than I have had over the past couple days because I know that she is on the up slope to recovery. There are still many questions to be answered and of course we would like her out of ICU but after many go-rounds with my mom being in the hospital she is making a recovery look easy. Like she always does.

We managed to break a few rules today. No children under 12 years of age in the ICU?? I don't think so....

The Best Medicine

I got a call around 3 p.m. today telling me that I could bring Hallie with me to visit. She had worked her magic somehow and her nurse, who was in charge on the floor for the evening, said it would be okay to sneak her in. Thankfully Hallie was minding her Ps and Qs tonight. Of course she found many entertaining objects to play with. All of which were sterile of course...

"I need a breathing treatment too Grammy."

After spending nearly seven straight months at the hospital in 2009, my mother and I became familiar faces to many people around the hospital. And it really was my second home for awhile. Which leads me to make myself at home in certain situations. Like today, I took in upon myself to fill out the information board in her room...

I don't even think it's necessary to state that life is a tad bit stressful right about now. So I won't. I will just give you a rundown of what the Fannings have been up to lately....

We have loved our weekends with daddy home. He is elated to see his Hallie girl and reluctant to leave us on Sunday evenings. Almost as reluctant as we are to survive on our own. But survive we have and I should say that we have done a mighty fine job with the help of Nanny on Thursdays and Fridays and pop-ins from Grammy on doctor visit days. Hallie has been a very sweet, loving girl during the daytime. During the night, not so much. I am not sure when she decided that she needs to eat during the night but it has become an every night event. The strangest thing since she was doing so great from months 2-4. Those were the days. The days when sleep deprivation seemed to be a thing of the past. I don't think Riley has enjoyed his weekend nighttime duty with Hallie since we began supplementing with formula. Lol! I think he much preferred the old days of strictly momma feedings so he could snooze while Hallie and I partied in the middle of the night.

Our angel has become a full-time sitter upper with no support needed. She plays by herself in sitting and has been for a couple weeks now. PLAY. That is all the girl does. She LOVES her toys and they are being put to good use. So if you bought her a toy for Christmas, rest assured that she is playing her little heart out with it. She also enjoys exploring a very furry toy we like to call Emmi...

Soulmates

We have cut back on the messiness as I have grown a backbone and decided to limit the amount of involvement of her hands during feedings. ;) We still have our messy moments though...

We loved our quality time that we got to spend with Aunt B and Spencer this weekend. Although the circumstances weren't the best we made sure to make the best of it....

Hallie reached a big milestone yesterday evening at dinner...she sat in a big girl high chair. Nevermind that it only lasted 30 seconds due to boredom and us not allowing her to munch on the edge of the table.

Oh yeah, did I mention that we are moving by the way. Lol. This is what I mean by curveballs. Geez. Of all weeks to be moving. I don't want to leave OKC until Grammy is out of the hospital...and who knows when that might be, especially if she has to have a pacemaker surgery. All unknowns. But what I do know is that we just spent out last weekend in our home as a family. It's the last time Riley and Hallie were here together. The last time our puppy was here. The last time all three of us were here together. And when it all hit me suddenly today, I literally broke out in tears. Riley just laughed and gave me a hug. :)  It helped, but it still hurts. I still don't want to leave this home. I still don't want to pack up our lives. I still don't want to start a new job. When will this grow on me? Well it has about two days because we are moving to Woodward on Wednesday. Although I will be back here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to pack and of course spend time at the hospital. As I type this Riley is at our rent house unpacking a huge load of stuff that we packed up earlier today. And by the way, who needs professional movers when you have a stock trailer and a strong man.....

This is how us country folk move

Between packing and hospital time today I managed to snap our last family photo in our first home....

Hallie is even waving "bye"

Please send up a prayer or two or three or four for my mom...she isn't completely out of the woods yet. We are still waiting for a permanent solution to this problem so that it doesn't happen everytime she has transplant rejection. Thank you for the prayers!

They Call Me Hallie G

Hallie Fanning is my name, making messes is my game. That's right folks, I'm back!! It's Hallie's Corner! Last time mom let me write I was a wee little one. Trust me, I've done some growing since then. One might even venture to say that I'm a big girl. At least the girl at Jamba Juice did the other night. And not in the way that you are thinking...she may as well have called me a fat baby. I didn't lose my cool though when she commented on my size with emphasis on the word "big." I like to refer to myself at pleasantly plump and short. While we are on the topic of being a chubbers I might as well start with food....

Lately I have been getting to eat all different kinds of treats. For example....

Peaches & Green Beans

Prunes

 Peas

Human food, if you will. So far I have tried out peas, carrotts, grean beans, sweet potatoes, apples and prunes. I would have to say that prunes are my favorite. I know what you are thinking. But when you have to go, you will find anyway to make yourself go. ;) Mom even let me try munching on some apples and frozen strawberries through my mesh chewing device (not sure what it's called exactly). My parents were pretty excited about it...I think they thought it would be a great pacifier when I'm cranky. Fooled them...I hated that thing.

"How the heck does this thing work?"

I love to try and help with my feedings. Those rubber spoons feel oh so good on my gums. And don't even get me started on those big plastic bibs...they are perfect food collectors for me to shove in my mouth when I'm done to get every last drop of food. Makes for a huge mess though. But as I like to say, "the bigger the mess I make, the longer the bath I take"...cue evil laugh...

"Yum, a bathtime snack. Glad I saved these peas."

After my meal of prunes this morning mom said I looked like I'd just got done eating all you can eat ribs at the baby bbq buffet....

"If you think this is messy then you should meet my dad."

When I'm not eating I am just doing your everyday typical baby activities. Like hanging out with dad on the weekends....

Testing out all of my new toys. This one is defective though. Everytime mom turns the wheel this monkey pops up and scared the peas out of me....

Watching my new Baby Einstein video. What's new?! But now I have the best seat in the house....I hear it's like the balcony seats at Warren Theater. I get my bottle, a comfy seat and the feature presentation....

I am silly. That's all....

I rarely let others feed me these days. I like to feed myself. Unless I'm very tired, then snuggling is a must. ;) I've become so independent that I am not interested in nursing anymore. Nope, who wants to lay sideways and eat anyway? Not me. Mom just doesn't get the hint because she keeps trying. I keep getting momma's good milk somehow but she warned me that if I don't compromise with her then it won't be around much longer. I'm ready for the milk maid to retire, but I don't think she will back down without a fight!

Milestones schmilestones. I'm crossing them off the list all the time. Sitting is my most recent big achievement.

;)

"Grammy, grab me that gumball machine please"

Everyone else acts like it's a big deal but I don't take any satisfaction in it. My arms are too short to reach for my toys and I haven't ever seen anyone roll while sitting up and 'hello!', I LOVE to roll! So I rest my case. Sitting up is for the birds. I'd much rather spend the day rolling around the living room floor searching for toys. I want to crawl so badly....but mom says my body isn't ready just yet. Well what does she think this is..................

"Duh, crawling."

My Baby Einstein addiction is even more far reaching now thanks to my mom's new phone. My parents finally joined the 21st century and purchased iphones. I requested that they get me a Bphone (Riley's version of the iphone for babies) but they told me I don't know how to be responsible yet. I'll just have to wait. But for now mom lets me watch my videos on her Baby Einstein app. Yippee! Einstein on the go!!

I'm not 100% positive about this news I'm about to share, but something odd is going on. I think we are leaving this house. Half of our house is missing now....and just the other day Auntie Heather came to see us and she boxed up our entire kitchen. Um, excuse me...those are my baby bowls and rice cereal you were packing missy! I'm not sure where we are moving to yet, but I'll let ya know when I find out. Heather definitely could have packed faster had I not been wanting to be held. Don't judge....wouldn't you want to be held too?

But we managed to come to an agreement that made everyone happy....

I've just been loving life these days...no constipation, constant playtime, lots of visitors, and I get dessert with dinner every night! What more could a baby ask for?! I do have one question though....do I get a bigger room when we move?

Livin' on Hal....I Mean Tulsa Time

Hallie proved to be a content little gal during a trip to Tulsa to visit great grandma Vice and lots of other family! Hallie and Nanny took a road trip on Friday to spend the afternoon with great grandma, great aunts MaryAnn and Sandy, great uncle Kent, and cousins Isabelle, Hannah, Angela and Heidi. I hear that she shared plenty of smiles and was a happy girl. And I don't know if it's just me but it seems like Hallie has grown so much in these photos! It may have to do with the trend in them...I spy a bottle in 2 out of 3 pictures!

Hallie & Hannah on her blanket that Hannah made

Angela feeding the little piggy

Quality time with Nanny and Great Grandma

Special thanks to Nanny for being my blog photog during their trip! And an additional thanks for the ME time I got to spend while they were on their roadtrip...priceless!

What's up Doc?

"Mom, you didn't warn me I was getting my feet amputated?!"

Remember when I told Hallie that the red dot on her nose gave her character? Well, it also earned her a trip to the dermatologist yesterday. At her 4 1/2 month checkup Dr. Stecklow told me to keep at eye on the growth of the hemangioma on her nose. He was concerned that it was growing over some very crucial structures in her nose that haven't formed bone yet and remain cartilage at this point. He told me to call Dr. Clements (the dermatologist) if it grew any. Well of course me being the paranoid freak of a mother that I am, it seems to double in size overnight. This wasn't really the case but a week later I called to make an appointment. The receptionist acted as if this was routine stuff and she mentioned that they may remove the dot in office....OR go to an outpatient surgery center and have it lasered off. EEEEEEK!!!!!!!!Surgery center? Anesthesia? No thank you. Not for my girl.

I gladly took the morning off work and Hallie and I had a great time sleeping in (which means 5:45, lol) and hanging around the house. I thought what better time to kick back on the couch and catch up on some tv. Except there was just one little problem. Hallie had gotten ahold of the remote the night before and used it as a chew toy. Poor remote paid the price...I think it's fried from all of the slobber. Everytime I want to change the channel I have to bang violently against the edge of the couch, which scares Hallie, so I was stuck with what was on Bravo (commercials and all, gasp!) We were in luck though....Real Housewives of NJ marathon!! After getting in plenty of time with her toys and books, we made our way to the clinic and found ourselves in the most friendly and inviting doctor's office I've ever been in. From the receptionist to the other patients waiting in the waiting room to Dr. Clements herself. What a wonderful lady she was! She immediately reached for Hallie and snatched her from my arms. Not to check out her red spots, but to play with her and sing to her. After the gooing and gahing she took a look at her thigh and nose. After taking some measurements she assured me that there was no need to worry at all. She wants us to keep an eye on them and see her back in 6 weeks to measure for growth. The hemangiomas will disappear at some point. After she was through with her assessment and letting me know where we would to go from here, she spent a few minutes squatting down at Hallie's level and giving her some good advice on life. I think it went something like this: "Don't ever let this world corrupt you sweet girl, stay innocent. And be nice to your parents because they love you so. That means when they say you are grounded, that means you are grounded. Surely you won't ever be grounded though, no, you are much too sweet." She left us by saying that Hallie had made her day! As sweet as the doc was, we really don't want to have a reason to see her ever again!

But if Hallie would like to have weekly checkups with the pediatrician just for the fun of it that would be fine by me....I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing all morning, picking up Chipotle for lunch and going in to work at 1 o'clock. Thank you silly red dots!

One-handed girl in a two-handed world

Normally I would say my parents are my heroes. If you asked me this week I would tell you that single parents are my heroes. My new mantra is "two more weeks alone, two more weeks alone, two more weeks alone..." I have always been one to multi-task and actually it might be one of my favorite things to do, BUT I have taken multi-tasking to a whole new level this week. Picture this: balancing in a squatting position with baby on left hip with bottle propped on my left shoulder with her half-holding it all the while talking on the phone and transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer one-handed. One task that is not possible to perform one-handed...bottle washing. Can't be done. I've tried and it wasn't pretty. Now one-handed tasks aren't always boring things like dishes and laundry. No, they can be fun such as eating out with a friend and balancing your baby on the table with your left hand while you eat with your right. This only works in the case that your baby is happily munching on chopsticks. But do beware of the danger...he or she may poke their eye out. 

Hallie has had a very poopy week at daycare. By that I mean she has pooped through seven outfits in three days time. I told Mindi that she saves all the good ones for her. On Tuesday I got a text from Miss Mindy saying, "Hallie has used both sets of clothes and I have improvised, BUT she will need a bath ASAP, lol!" This is how I found my girl...dressed in a toddler boys' sweatshirt...

"Do I stink or something? We never takes baths in the afternoon!?"

Hal and I have played like it was our job this week. Play, play, and play some more. We have given every toy in the house the attention it deserves. "No toy left behind" is my new motto! She is a pro at knocking down blocks that I stack up. She will take a whack at the tower and then look at me and smile when they tumble to the floor. Silly girl! She makes sitting up at 5 months look like a piece of cake....

"oooo, this looks like a great place to spit up in...don't mind if I do."

Not even mobile and already making messes

"WAKE UP BABY!"

And don't forget Baby Einstein. Oh no, we can't forget that. Her serious obsession has slowed down this week but she still enjoys her learning time. Thanks to Grammy we have a new video. Baby's First Sounds. There are certain parts of these videos that just captivate her...and others that leave her uninterested. I can tell you that she probably won't enjoy taking a foreign language class in the future because everytime the video lady speaks in Spanish or French she turns away and starts to holler. I guess my baby has no interest in being multi-cultural at this point in life.

We were blessed with the company of some of our favorite people so far this week. Aunt B and Uncle Spency stopped in to visit on Sunday night after Riley headed to Woodward. Grammy popped in to visit on Tuesday and was hands-on with the babe while I got some chores done. Hal fell asleep in her arms and looked so peaceful that my mom didn't want to put her down. But alas, she had to get back to Enid before she fell asleep herself. Tonight we met up with our best pal Laura for dinner. Auntie Laura. She always cheers us up. Nanny will be here soon for her end of the week playdate with Hallie. Hallie told me to not even bother cleaning up her toys because her and Nanny were going to play all day tomorrow. ;) And Friday is approaching rapidly when DAD will arrive!!!!!!

Riley continues to protect his girls from afar. He goes through a checklist with me every night on the phone. "Did you lock the doors?" "Did you turn the light on outside?" I have to admit I am pretty creeped out at night when I hop in bed...and I literally mean hop. I take a leap once I get close to the bed so that the monsters won't grab my feet. Yep, there have been monsters under my bed since I was ten. I let them stay under my bed still so that Hallie won't have any under her bed or in her closet. Now that I have shared that very embarrassing piece of information with the blogging world I will move on. I am relieved to say that we now have a place to park our family in Woodward. At first I typed "happy and relieved" but erased the happy part because I'm still working on being happy about living in a rental duplex. Riley went and took a look inside the place tonight and he thinks it will work for the time being. We will be able to move in anytime after tomorrow. The great part about it...no contract and a month to month basis, they allow pets, and it isn't a run-down dump according to Riley. OMG, I feel like I just described a college boy finding a place to live during the school year. This is the strangest feeling in the world. Picking up and moving everything. Life as we know it is no longer. Strange. New doctors, new vets, new babysitters, new church, new home, new job, new massage therapist. See how I snuck that one in there. Well I'm gonna need a good one after all of this moving business.  

Hallie's Corner

Site under construction... (aka, lack of creativity at the moment)



Life Lessons

We taught Hallie a few good ones today......

ALWAYS BE READY FOR A SURPRISE...

........

NEVER DRINK AND SWING.....

and finally

CRACK KILLS.....

We're moving on up....to NW OK

It's official. We are leaving Mustang. To Woodward we go. This transition has been in the works for awhile now...well, since the beginning of November. Riley found out that there was an opportunity at Woodward Regional Hospital to work as their physician practice manager. Although at the time he didn't really know what being a practice manager entailed, what he did know was that it was an opportunity to begin work in a health care setting which has been his goal since graduating with a Health Promotions degree in 2006. After sending a resume to the hospital and waiting a few weeks, he finally got the call asking about setting up an interview. Riley interviewed for the position on November 23rd and was offered the job a week later. I knew he would do great...and also he looks pretty snazzy in a suit! We put our house on the market on Dec 13th and so far we've only had two showings I'm sad to say. Our realtor did not give the best outlook when she met with us...she made it clear that the market was very slow right now and showings are few and far between. The for sale sign is up, but no one is biting. So the big question is....WHO WANTS TO BUY OUR HOME???

Once the decision was final I honestly felt like life was out of control. And if I stopped and thought about it really hard, it was too much to take in. How was I going to work full time, take care of Hallie, keep the house spotless for potential buyers, manage the daily chores, and pack our house? How was I going to make sure Hallie's routines stayed constant and how would I have enough time to play with her and make sure she was getting all the attention she needed? I can answer those questions now after having spent our first week alone. It was tough. Very tough. And I wasn't even really alone because I had Grammy here on Tuesday and Nanny here on Wednesday and Thursday. Thanks to them for babysitting this week while my Miss Mindy was on vacation!

My first task was finding a job. Luckily, the job found me. It's not every day you get two job offers in a 24 hour period. I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity fall into my lap. I am very thankful at the moment that I picked a profession that keeps me in high demand. It just so happens that there was a job opening at Woodward Regional and they called me to set up an interview. In the end, Riley and I decided that it would be best for me to take a more flexible job in the home health setting. This would allow me to work part time but still have the option to put in full time hours...also I have the option to work four days a week if I choose to do so. Another very cool part about this job is that I will be working with (well, kinda) Matt. Matt and Riley are long time friends and I graduated with Matt. So I will now be working for Northwest Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab doing contract home health work. And yet another cool aspect of this job is that I will be doing most of the home health visits in and around Shattuck and will be close to my aunts & uncles and grandma & grandpa everyday!

I was devastated to have to part with my Emmi. She is my cuddle buddy at night and keeps me warm. So far Emmi has had two different homes through this moving process. First as I wrote about in an earlier post, she traveled to stay with my parents in Enid for two weeks. We picked her up on Christmas Eve and she is now in Woodward with Riley. Trouble just seems to follow that girl wherever she goes. She scratched my mom's arm up and down and made sure to tear up every good dog toy in the house. The other day I got word from my mother-in-law that she was exploring the backyard and decided to wander out on the ice-covered pond...Kathy noticed a freezing cold dog shaking off in the backyard and discovered that she had fallen in the pond. She reminded me that I was wrong about her being the first to fall in....

So now that I have shared a bit of my thoughts I would like to share some very positive information to offset my nonstop worry fest. Riley started his job as the physician practice manager on Monday and so far he is enjoying it very much. He loves the fact that he will have regular hours unlike his previous job which usually started at 6:30 am to anywhere from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Hallie and I will appreciate that part of the job VERY much! He tells me that it's going to be a steep learning curve but I know that he is up for the challenge and ready to take on anything set in front of him. Hallie and I were so excited to go visit dad at his office on Thursday. He met us out front in the parking lot in his suit and tie...lookin' good! We got the grand tour of his office and the orthopedic floor. I must say that he seemed to fit right it and was on the phone doing business and shooting emails to coworkers like he had been doing this "managing" stuff for years. We were very proud to say the least!

I'm not trying to sugar coat this situation or make everything seem rosy at all...because like I said, life seems out of control. The strange part about it: I no longer seem to have control over anything. It's pretty tough to find a place to live in a town that is 2.5 hours away. It's also difficult to find an at home sitter when you don't know anyone in town. That leaves me with other people making decisions for me. Hence, the out of control part. Since this all began, Riley and I made a pros and cons list. We didn't actually write anything on paper, but we would make mental notes on our lists. I would venture a guess that Riley's pros list is monumentally larger than mine but I do have a respectable list of pros as well. Through all of the chaos that this has brought, we somehow still find a way to laugh about it. Like just yesterday: we were sitting in the parking lot of On the Border with baby and dog in tow. We were out wasting time while the realtor showed the house. The dog was jumping back and forth from the front to the back seat. I was eating the dashboard because Riley's truck is less than desirable for holding a baby carrier in the backseat. Hallie was hungry and screaming. Riley forgot to put a coat on Hallie and she didn't have a blanket so she was covered in his jacket. We just got a text saying that the viewer didn't like the house. And....the truck would barely start. Riley's new turd. An older Ford pickup that he bought after he had to give up his company truck. He didn't want to get something nice right now while we are in this transitional phase so he settled for a turd. We were laughing to the point of crying. Uncontrollable laughter brought about by enormous amounts of stress. It's official. We have lost our minds.

Most days I feel like I am being dragged kicking and screaming while yelling "I don't want to move, I don't want to leave our home, I don't want to pack, I don't want to quit my job, I don't want to find a new babysitter, I don't want to send my dog away, I don't want to leave my friends!" Call me a baby if you will. Call me selfish. But change is hard...and scary. I feel uneasy about looking at houses in Woodward while our house is still on the market. Two mortgages and student loans? I don't think so. So I do believe a rent house will be the route we will go. We are both fearful of leaving our life of anonymity in Mustang and heading into small town gossip and seeing ten people you know everytime you go to Walmart. Everything is in God's hands, everything is in God's hands. Why is it that even though I keep repeating that phrase in my head, I still get nauseous everytime I think about all that has to happen for us to finally get to Woodward and get settled. Once we do get settled, I do have faith that it will be nice to have family nearby. I do believe that it will be nice to have twenty potential babysitters (family members) to watch Hallie at the last minute. I do believe that we will make a house a home. I do believe Riley will love his job. I do believe that we will settle into small town life. And I know God has a plan. I just wish he would give me a hint every now and then....;)

Hello 2011

The Fannings didn't actually say "hi" to 2011 until this morning. In true exhausted mom fashion, my head hit the pillow as soon as my girl was asleep in her crib. This was all after we partied, of course. We partied to celebrate many things. A wonderful year in 2010, a year to look forward to in 2011, Aunt B's birthday, and another year has passed since Grammy's heart transplant. NYE never really meant a lot to me. I think I have attended one actual NYE party and several church lock-ins but that's about it. Our new years eve celebrations always consisted of cuddling up on the couch with my parents and sister and watching Disney movies while we drank sparkling grape juice. But NYE has such a greater meaning now. I will never ever ever forget two years ago on December 30th when she got the call.....

"You might wanna start heading this way, we have a donor for Karen." Those may not be the exact words that the man told my dad, but I think it is something close to that. I do believe we made it to the hospital in record time, driving from Enid to Baptist Medical Center in OKC. My mom's health was failing her and she was on the verge of having to get an LVAT. "What the heck is an LVAT?", you ask. Ok, if you have ever seen that episode of Grey's Anatomy where Izzy cuts her boyfriends LVAT wire....ok, not ringing any bells....well it basically is a machine that substitutes for a heart. And it's a last resort. After one false alarm in early November, we were trying to be cautious about getting too excited about her getting a new heart that day. Well, she got a new heart...but it wasn't that day. We waited in overwhelming anticipation for 24 hours! And finally...she was wheeled into surgery at midnight. One of my favorite pictures ever.....

Her new heart fresh off the jet...precious cargo

What seemed like the entire family spent NYE 2008 in the surgery waiting room. But it wasn't your typical surgery waiting room because it was midnight...so that meant no volunteers dressed in those ugly smocks sitting at the front controlling the behavior of wild children. We were all wild children that night....

At 6:00 am we met the surgeon who had just performed this amazing surgery and heard the words that "everything went great."

I get so excited just writing about all of this because this whole event ignited my love for blogging. Grammy's caringbridge page became my obsession/job during my winter break. Most of our original crew celebrated with us last night, with a few people missing though.

Back to last night.....

My mom was thrilled to wear the huge "2" necklace on her chest last night. Actually I think I got an eye roll, but she wore it proudly and it was quite the fashion statement. Thanks to Dara, last night was definitely entertaining. Thanks to my parents for letting me use their house for my parties I decide to throw on a whim.

Hallie Grace had slept for a record amount of time that afternoon and was rested and ready to party....

Planning a party for me usually involves making lists and going to the store to get supplies days in advance. This year, with everything going on at once, my planning included calling to order the food the night before, buying a cake once I got to Enid, and running into the dollar store for a piece of poster board, a sharpee, and a package of paper hearts. The dollar store items are all part of a game our family calls "Pin the heart on Karen." My art skills blossom more each year as I attempt to draw an outline of my mother....

One thing is for sure, the rules are never the same and everybody cheats. Except for Aunt Lisa...

As I watched my mom go through months of hospital stays and so many painful procedures, my prayer was that she would be healthy again to enjoy her grandchildren one day. And here we are, we have come full circle....

Even if her grandchildren aren't always enjoying life themselves.....

Next year's party may have to include a game of "Pin the kidney from Sharon to Karen."

So far, all 17 hours of 2011 have been amazing! Today has been my definition of THE perfect day. I jumped out of bed refreshed after 8 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep to find my baby had been bathed, fed, and dressed in her best Sooner gear. 10 points for dad!!!

This, of course, is only because of how I dressed Hal on Wednesday morning for the Alamo Bowl.....

Cowboys good luck charm

Wow, now that is growth. Both of us able to dress our baby in rival gear. Baby steps.

Finally having Riley back home after a VERY LONG WEEK was an awesome way to start out the new year. Also very relaxing. Because of course I'm playing the "but you haven't had to take care of her all week" card. And he doesn't mind a bit. He missed his girl for sure! But today is a rare gem in Hallie World...the girl hasn't had one crying outburst, hasn't been mad, hasn't thrown a tantrum. Not even once. I know, I'm sure Grammy is wondering if we sedated her. Nope, she must just want to start a clean slate of good behavior for 2011! Let's hope and pray so! To quote Riley, she is "the dream child" today. Swinging in her portable swing, feeding herself with her bottle, and taking mini naps between Baby Einstein sessions and playing with mom and dad. And of course buying Beatles music on Itunes...

"Dad, you forgot Hey Jude."

This being one of our last weekends in our first home that we love so much...I am so blessed to have a relaxing, peaceful start to the new year with my happy, little family. Key word being "HAPPY".....