Hospital, shmospital.

You know you've been in the hospital too long when you come with nothing and leave with a cart.

So, on Saturday (the 8th), Husband started having severe abdominal pains. He thought he had had these types of pains before but when I found him curled into the fetal position on our bed, I started trying to convince him to let me take him to the ER. He resisted, so I started researching on the internet what this could possible be. I came up with gallbladder/gallstones. I couldn't find any information on what should be done about the pain, except on one site that said if you are experiencing abdominal pain and you don't know why you should seek medical treatment. I told him this and the look on my face must have convinced him to go. He wouldn't let me drive him but I was going to let him do anything he wanted if it got him to the hospital.

After he left, I continued my research on the web. I discovered that it could be his appendix, so I texted him right away with that info. Of course, his phone was already dangerously low on battery power. Later I found out that he told the ER doctor that "my wife thinks its either my gallbladder or appendix" in which she replied, "Gallbladder issues are in women or fat people and you are neither of those." So it was confirmed that his appendix needed to come out and they admitted him to the hospital.

(Sunday) I couldn't get there until the morning (when my mom came to take care of all the kids). He was in a lot of pain when I got there and asked for meds. Shortly, they wheeled him back and he had his appendectomy. The doctor came out to the surgical waiting room and told me everything looked good and I even got to see pictures, which I know Husband would never want to know even existed, queasy as he gets. After surgery he was very sore and it turns out that the carbon dioxide that they used to inflate his belly irritated his diaphragm, making it hard to inhale deeply. He wanted to wait on pain meds (as he likes to only take meds "when necessary") and ended up waiting too long. He started experiencing a lot of pain and when the nurse took his blood pressure (standard before giving heavy duty pain killers as they can lower BP even further) she found it sitting at 74/48. She called the "rapid response team", which is basically like a code blue without the heart attack. In about a minute there were people everywhere. They didn't seem too concerned, kind of talking to each other about what could be going on and have you tried this and what's his _____ ? and so on. They finally decided he was dehydrated and started pushing bags of iv fluids. And when I say pushing, I means squeezing the bag with all their might. The team slowly started leaving in singles and pairs until it was just the hospitalist, the head of nursing, and our nurse. His BP evened out and everyone left. Shortly after, our doctor showed up. He said that he didn't understand what was going yet as Husband was a young, healthy male, but that it could be just dehydration, body reacting to trauma, internal bleeding, or any combination of the above. We were just going to have to wait it out. So it was a rough night.

(Monday) The morning showed promise though. Husband felt like getting out of bed and walking and really seemed to be improving. He was even enjoying his clear liquid diet. His blood work kept showing drops in his hemoglobin, which all I know about that is it has to do with his blood. Normal is between 9 and 15, and by the time Husband's reached 6.0 on Tuesday morning the doctor said that's it, we're going back in. So, he went in looking for internal bleeding.

(Tuesday) The doctor didn't actually find an "active bleeder" but found two spots that were potentially the problem and a lot of clotted, old blood. He cleaned out the blood and tied off those two spots (just in case) and called it done. He was even able to go into the same holes as the appendectomy so there was no new trauma to Husband's belly. He did end up getting a total of four units of blood, two units during the surgery and two afterwards.

After this, it was slow going but he steadily made progress and after another two days we were released to go home Thursday night.

I hope this ordeal is over. We will see over the next few days but I really think that we are good, knock on wood.***

So that's been my week. Hope yours was better! I'm looking forward to a plain, uneventful weekend. :)

Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

***UPDATE 2013-06-20: Everyone is doing great. Husband returned to work on Monday and even though he seems more tired than usual, has had no other side effects. The kds are responding better to authority with both their parents back at home. It took some time getting back into a routine. Baby boy still will not go willing to my mom; I think he thinks I'm going to leave for another 5 days. My mom just now feels caught up on her sleep. :)

Meg's Mini Album

My BBF just graduated nursing school last month! Woot woot, for Megan! I am so very proud of her and I wanted to make her a mini album to keep all those special things that she has or will collect over her time as a nurse. We all need a happy place and hope that that is what I have created for her. I do remember from the work place, getting those random pictures and thinking, "I love it but where to keep/display it?" That was the job I was giving to this gift. Now, whatever she decides to do with it is completely okay with me but we've got to start with a plan, right?

I used My Mind's Eye (MME) The Sweetest Thing paper collection and the 'Lavender' papers and embellishments from within that collection. All edges are inked with Brushed Corduroy distress ink. I used Kathy Orta's Build-a-Page mini album. Love it! So many ways to customize. You can see the video HERE.

Couldn't be more proud of her. Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

(Thanks for letting me watch you go through this journey, Megan. I love you.)

Girls' Summer Mini - Before

It's our first official day of summer!! Woo-hoo!!

Let's start with the mini album I was inspired by; THANK YOU, Shelly at YT: Shelly Bailey. She created a summer mini for her daughter and made it even more fun by adding a jar full of summer fun to document. I loved the idea and went ahead, creating my own. Now mine is bigger than hers as I have three kiddos that need real estate in this book. But the idea is the same. This is the "before" post. The mini has just been bare bones waiting for the summer to begin. And today, it begins.

I used Kathy Orta's Retro-Fitted Mini Album tutorial. That is one talented lady!

We can't wait to fill this mini up with our summer adventures. I will be back with the "after" when school resumes. I'm sure it will fly by. :)

Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

Summer Mini #3 Update

So I was talking with my mom today and discovered that our family friend's daughter is graduating tomorrow. So the summer mini has turned into graduation mini.

I added a sticker with a quote from Thoreau that came in a school quote sticker pack I got at Michaels when I first started making minis about 4ish years ago. I backed it on Stampin' Up's Basic Gray cardstock and popped it up on dimensionals.

Then I added one of my favorite embellishments, the mini binder clip. I put both the Michaels charms (purchased at the same time as the sticker pack) on the same jump ring and attached it to the clip. She can move this around and possibly use it to add her on memorabilia to the book.

Hope this finds you happy and healthy. :)

Mommy's (BIG) Little Man

So my little guy, who's not so little, is about 18.5 months old. Crazy. I feel like he joined our family just yesterday. He is so much fun; very active and curious. He has such a sense of humor as well. He keeps this family in stitches. It will be interesting to see how that develops as he starts going to his little school (Mother's Day Out program) in the fall. And of course, elementary school. But we don't have to think about that just yet.

At his 18 month check up, he weighed in at 24 pounds even and 33.75 inches long. That's almost THREE feet tall! At 18 months? Holy cow! I guess if anyone gets the height, I'm glad it's the boy.

Mind you, the girls were tipping the scales at barely 19 pounds at their 18 month check up. That's why the shock. :) Of course, they were also speaking complete sentences by now and Little Man still points and grunts.

With Shiloh, our 70 pound patient beast. 

the "longhorn" suck (he's being a bit lazy with this one)

His I'm-up-to-something face.

He likes his trucks and cars and construction/emergency vehicles. He doesn't like anyone else touching them.
He likes to eat.  He doesn't like the food he is served.
He likes the dog. He doesn't like the barking.
He likes to baths. He doesn't like getting out. Or drying off. Or getting into PJs.
He LOVES his sisters. He doesn't like when they try and pick him up, pretending he's "the baby".
He likes babies, which he points out everywhere. He doesn't like being treated like one himself.
He likes to read. He doesn't like to sit still.
He likes to nap. He doesn't like being tired. (Mommy doesn't like him tired either.)
He loves wearing his shoes. He doesn't like the way his feet stink when you take them off. (No one does.)
He loves climbing on the furniture. He doesn't like falling off the furniture.
He likes the computer mouse and banging on the keyboard. Mommy doesn't like this. :)
He likes to talk. A lot. He doesn't like that no one can understand him.
He likes the "longhorn" suck (demonstrated above). His teeth don't like it.
He likes his whoobie. He doesn't like the silky side.
He likes to smile. There's nothing not to like about this. Dimples!!

Hope this finds you happy and healthy.

Summer Mini 2013

I made these minis for some extra special friends in my YT world that have really stood by me through the last 2 years. I've had some difficulty and I know that no matter how much time has passed, I can call (or text more likely) either one of these ladies and it's like not a day has passed. 

Some of the materials used are DCWV's Sunday Afternoon Stack, Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink, and kraft cardstock. I used a file folder tutorial from Michelle at ThePaperAddiction. I kept these simple because I want the ladies to be able to add their beautiful touches and really make it their own. I was able to create two full mini albums and then a "mini" mini album with the scraps left over. I still have HALF of the stack left! :) You can see the VIDEO HERE.

Summer Mini 1:

Summer Mini 2:

Summer Mini 3:

Don't know yet what I will be doing with the little one yet but I'm sure I'll find something.

Hope this finds you happy and healthy!

Mother's Day Mini

This mini is more functional than fun, though its fun too. I made this for my mom who is an avid card maker. I saw this stamp set on tshernjpan YouTube video and knew immediately I had to have it. The set is Papertrey Ink's Desktop File. I used the left over scraps from my mother-in-law's mini (see previous blog). I glued all the strips down and then cut the paper to size. I inked the edges with Black Soot Distress ink and the images are stamped with Stampin' Up black ink. The pages are index cards and I used an entire package. You can see the mini in its entirety HERE.

I was thinking that I might check into the PTI's Angel Policy and see about offering this book in my Zibbet shop. What do you think? I know a couple of crafting friends who will be receiving one for their special day but I thought it would be fun for others to have excess if you can't get the stamp set yourself. Let me know what you think about that idea.

Thanks so much for your time! See you soon. (Oh, and I'm on FaceBook now, Happy Chick Designs LLC)