Scary Day....

Whenever the kids and I are in the car and see an ambulance go by with it's lights flashing and siren wailing we pray. We pray they get there quickly to help whoever is in need, and that the person gets well.  I know someone was praying today for the one that we had to call to our house at 8am.


Sitting and eating cereal as a normal day this morning I look over at my 3 year old, Nehemiah, and his cereal bowl is tipped over with milk and cocoa crispies all over the table with his face in the milk. I thought he was playing at the table as he normally does and lapping the milk up like a dog..... nope. He was in the middle of a seizure.


Seizure. 


That word at this moment, hours and hours later, still brings tears to my eyes and an ache to my chest. 


Just as I was starting to tell him not to play at the table he slumped in his chair and I caught him before he hit the ground. The rest is a blur but I vaguely remember screaming for Josh to hold him and put him on his side while I called 911.  Nehemiahs eyes were rolled back, his mouth open, and he was stiff and unresponsive.  While I was talking the the dispatch center he came back to crying and very confused. It probably only lasted 1 minute, but as a parent that was the longest minute of my life.


He was deathly pale, white lips, white eyes, and lethargic.  Josh held him while I was on the phone. They said help was on the way and to watch for more seizures....


More?


Thankfully, none happened and a policeman was quick to arrive.  He just helped monitor the situation until the ambulance arrived. In front of our house. An ambulance.  That made it all that more real.


At this time Miah has just started regaining his color in his face and lips. His hand and feet were cold and he was just starting to answer some basic questions like "What is your favorite dinosaur?" :)  Still sitting very still though- which for anyone that knows my son knows that is very odd.


We got asked a million questions, checked his heart rate, blood sugar, oxygen, etc. Everything checked out just fine.


Fine? He had a seizure!


So we declined the ambulance ride and I took off to the hospital that is 3 minutes away.  


The emergency room staff had us checked in and getting monitored in less than 8 minutes. Amazing. They are amazing at their job!  Thank you Jesus for those wonderful people.


My little trooper got an IV put in, 3 vales of blood taken, and a cat scan.  Somewhere during this Josh showed up thanks to wonderful neighbors who watched Abby and Josiah for us.


After all this is said and done they found nothing.  Am I thankful or worried?  Is this a problem that will continue or just a freak one time thing?


They said that it is usually one of three categories for seizures:
1- Chronic illness due to epilepsy or diabetes
2- due to trauma to the head, falling, car accident, etc
3- a freak one time thing with no answers as to why


Since he came back so quickly with no symptoms they are pretty sure it is #3; however, #1 isn't completely ruled out yet.  He has to go in this week for more testing of his brain waves and blood sugar.


Oh my.  God bless my little one, my heart, and the doctors doing all the tests.


What a scary day.

What does an engineer do, anyway?

I stumbled across this today and it just made me laugh, only substitute the man on the roof fixing a satellite dish to me messing around with family members computers.

Granted I'm a marketing engineer, so I'm not designing circuit boards, but at the end of the day I can talk through why your cell phone works the way it does.

My kids still think that an engineer has to do with trains and for now my job is "cool" so I don't want to ruin that perception just yet.

It's ok. I love what I do, even if no one in my family or friends understand it or can tell anyone else what I do. It kind of makes me feel like a spy:)

Grouchy, but losing weight

I've been working out with a personal trainer at work, and let me tell you that her first 5 minutes are harder than my 30 minute work outs, and I love it. I love the fact that I am working on being healthier and losing weight that I can no longer claim as "baby weight". She even has watched my heart rate while exercising and after to see how healthy my "heart" is and I've seen improvements there too.  When you have a schedule and all you have to do is walk away from your desk and show up- it helps. It makes me more aware of what I am eating too because I know how hard it is to work that extra helping of whatever off.  On the other hand, being sore, and more tired physically, and eating less has made me grouchy.  I think it's understandable though. Think of people to quit smoking... and how grouchy they are. It is the same thing in trying to lose weight and not using food as a stress relief.... but inside I'm very happy I'm getting it done:)

Prayer and Petition

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

I've been plagued with prayer requests for myself, my friends and children growing up in rough situations. Our pastor has been talking about prayer. My friends have been asking for prayer, and although I do pray a lot to God sometimes I feel like I'm must not be doing it right. Sometimes answers come, but I'm not convicted my prayers had anything to do with it. I know they are important, but some people just seem to "know" that their prayers work.

I decided to start walking through my concordance in my bible and looking at prayer verses. This one stuck out to me the most. Turn your worries into prayer is the reference and the verse talks about prayer and petition. Why is petition called out seperatly? What makes it different than prayer? A petition to me is something you sign to change a law and try to get 1,000 signatures.

Maybe it's having a specific request that you want answered that you are requesting.

I know I have enough requests right now.... and as they say in the Catholic church "Lord hear our prayer".

Christmastime

Christmas is here! What a wondrous time of year. I love how people go out of their way to give, take time with their families, and can't wait to surprise someone they found the perfect gift for. Of course I love shopping, and baking, and the smell of pine trees. Ahhh Christmas.

I think this is the first Christmas in a few years that I will be able to enjoy. My baby is 18 months and a walking toddler. I am not pregnant. I didn't just change jobs. We didn't just move. And I do not have a baby! Wahoo...

I've baked several batches of cookies, volunteered at a Christmas party at a nursing home, 1/2 way decorated my house, baked 3 batches of apple butter, have already gone sledding, bought all my gifts, and wrapped everything.

Plus, my kids are so excited this year. Abby remembers Christmas. Nehemiah loves opening presents and has the best "ohhhhh" when opening gifts, and Josiah---- well, he's old enough to not eat the tissue paper. It's the small things.

And last but not least we will be home for Christmas eve and Christmas morning in our own house. I am so excited I almost needed to change my pants! I can't wait for Christmas this year.

Yeah for Christmastime and the reason for the season:)

Welcome Fall

Fall is upon us already and it's not yet the end of September. My daughter needs to wear tights. I need my scarf and jacket. Leaves are turning--- ahhh I love fall. It is my favorite time of year. I 'm not sure if it is because of my birthday is in this season, or because I'm not overly fond of being hot. I like summer sun and fun, but give me cold anytime over being hot. I think wearing jeans, short sleeve shirts with a long sleeve one tied around my waist and comfy tennis shoes is my favorite outfit--- hence I love fall.

It signifies change and time for being indoors with warm blankets and loved ones. Baking and cooking yummy soups (not that I am a soup lover mind you) and sweets.

It also used to mean back to school. I love school. I am a nerd- no surprise. I miss going to school, ok not the cost, but the classes and learning.

Now my daughter is in school and it's me being the mom arranging play dates, PTO events, and packing lunches. When did I get so old??? I would happily just pack my lunch and go to school and play at recess and do art projects right along with her. Alas, it's her time now and I'm the school bus.

How time flies.....

Something has got to give

You ever have one of those weeks, months?, where something has just got to give. Things can't keep going like this. Nothing is horribly wrong, but nothing is awesomely good either. It's life. There are amazingly good things like my son running up to me, randomly, and saying "momma, I love you" or my baby waking up from a nap and saying "hi!" like it's the best day of his life. Poor little guy got yelled at earlier for no reason except that momma was tired. Thank God they don't have many memories before the age of 4. I just need to outweigh the good stuff from the bad, like yelling at them. We had a blast today playing outside with water, and swings, and mud for hours. I loved watching them play in the yard each of them with a different agenda. Sometimes they played together, and sometimes not. I feel like our yard is small, but for them it's huge and it's fun! I'm still not sure how I can keep going on and on and on and on without a break soon. A real break. No work. No kids. No housework. Time to sleep and craft and create. Notice sleep came first;) Ah if only it was that easy. Oh yeah, and hitting the lotto would help too.