New Year
Greetings to y’all!
December
came and went and the cards are still sitting on the buffet waiting for a
letter! So in the effort to get things done, here we go….
2013 was not
a stellar year in so many ways….
January
brought a Breast Cancer diagnosis for my Mom (Carol) who shares our home. Within days of her diagnosis she had a double
mastectomy and started down a path that included 18 weeks of heavy dose chemo
followed by 33 sessions of radiation. We
mastered walking on egg shells as Grandma was very sick. Thankfully we made it through!!! In February
she goes back to the oncologist for a 6 month checkup, so far so good. She is also retired now so that has been a
HUGE adjustment for all of us having her home 24/7. We are very thankful for all the prayers and
positive energy that was sent our way.
March
brought Annika to Children’s Hospital for a few days as she had a Ureteral Reimplantation
to correct her kidney reflux. After 4+
years of daily antibiotics, it was decided it needed to be fixed
surgically. A lot of research, prayer
and doctor input went into this decision.
Grandpa Dennis (Thomas’ dad) came and helped keep me company during
surgery and helped keep an eye on Grandma and manage the big kids. It gave me
some time to learn more about his Navy days which was very interesting. After about 2 weeks our little rock star was
back to bouncing around and we haven’t looked back. No more daily meds J
April
brought us back to Children’s Hospital, but this time for Linnea. She had a very nasty fall in our bathroom
that resulted in a seizure (our bathroom is VERY small and she hit the door,
wall and floor at the same time) after multiple tests, visits with a neurologist,
cardiologist and a neurosurgeon it was determined it was hopefully a onetime
incident. She will continue to be
monitored for the next few years by the neurologist and with MRIs. She has also suffered from recurring sinus
infections and ear infections and now migraines are being added to the
mix.
June brought
Thomas to the Gastroentoloigist for problematic acid reflux. It was found he had quite a few ulcers. He probably got a few more with me being his chauffeur
home from his appointments after some happy juice was administered to check on
things J thankfully after treating things
with medicine he is ulcer free, a big relief and surprise considering the
stress of the last year.
July,
August, September, October, and November were major medical free except for
routine doctor appointments and rechecks.
December brought Annika back to the surgical ward for another
surgery. She had her highly infected
tonsils removed along with her adenoids and sinus surgery at the same
time. A week before surgery she had her
first ear infection in 5 years. We are
hoping it was a fluke and we won’t need tubes at some point soon.
The year may
have had its share of lows but we also had some big milestones and fun.
Linnea
officially became a teenager on January 25.
She is becoming quite a young woman.
She is into her music which focuses on hard rock, heavy metal, and a
large emphasis on 80’s rock. Who would
have thought our cassettes would get a second life with our kid! She went to
church camp in June and a week later took her first solo plane ride to Atlanta
to spend time with Grandpa. She has been really great with the frequent
doctoring and has managed to maintain her sense of humor (definitely my kidJ) she started playing drums in
September and is quickly picking up her musical chops. She is blazing her own
trail and of course testing the waters with mom and dad.
Ulrik has
remained ever so great. He has been
gifted with some great friends who have let him escape from home and crash with
them for a few days here and there. He
took Grandmas diagnosis pretty hard. I’m
so thankful for his wonderful teacher and his friends who helped him
through. He continues to be our “Danger
Dude” jumping from great heights (scaring his Mom), blasting his enemies (GI
Joe) and inventing new tricks. He takes
acoustic guitar lessons 1 night a week and often serenades our morning routine
with his practicing. He played “We wish
you a Merry Christmas” at the holiday program in December, I was so proud of
his efforts and as his Mom his perfect performance J He continues to be our tender heart
and is slowly beginning to blaze his path in the world.
Annika…our
little Annika. She has been a rock star with all the doctor appointments for
herself and being brought along for Linnea and Grandma Appointments. She has continued with preschool this year
and will definitely be kindergarten ready come September. She is looking forward to riding the big
bus. She is our budding artist. She loves to paint the most, but crayons and
markers are close behind. She is always
making things to give to others, so generousJ She likes to help with almost
anything, dishes, vacuuming, laundry, but put an art project in front of her
and she loses all sense of time. She likes to push the buttons of her siblings,
Piper and Mom, but she can be a sweetheart more often than not.
Thomas went
to Alaska in July to visit his brother Bracy and family. It was a much needed break from storm season
which started off early and with a lot of extra hours. Also a welcome break from the craziness of
the last 6 months. He continues at Xcel
Energy marking 14 years this past June.
He is planning a family camping trip this summer which could be very
interesting, as the most we have done was some camping with the kids last
summer, in the front and back yardsJ He continues to entertain the boys
in the evenings, right now they are all building models. It will be fun to see
how they each turn out.
As for me,
the head honcho of this party, I thankfully was blessed with remaining sane
through every curveball that was tossed our way last year. My mantra is
tattooed on my left arm as a daily reminder: JUST BREATHE. I continue to watch my sisters kids
Matthew(9) and Piper(3 ½). My sister is divorcing and became a department
manager at Menards at the same time; this has brought on a lot of extra time
with the kids at our house. It has made
for some louder days and evenings with the 5 kids cooped up in the house, but
we have a good routine now and everyone has gotten into the groove. We also
have my nieces Donna(16) and Natalie(14) over quite a bit as everyone wants to
spend time with Grandma, and each other.
I’m thankful the 7 hooligans get along (most days) so we can enjoy time
together. I have been the main,
cheerleader, chaffier, doctor, nurse, cook, accountant, court jester, etc. for
14 years now. On January 2, I started
college. I’m taking online courses which
are nice because I can still manage the house and kids, but it has been a new
challenge to my time management skillsJ if everything goes right I should be done with
school and looking for a job when Piper starts kindergarten. I’m going for an
Associates degree as a Medical Administrative Assistant, with a goal of
becoming a Care Coordinator at a hospital or clinic.
We were able
to find one weekend to make a family vacation happen. Thomas cousin was married in September in
Iowa, giving us a reason to get a hotel room for a few days and just relax. It was so great to see family that we haven’t
in a while as time escapes you sometimes as your family grows! We have blessed
with some wonderful friends and family who have brought a meal, let us invade
their space for a day(for a mental health breakJ) taken kids for a night or 2 to give
them a break from the egg shells that seemed to replace the floors for the last year. The kids have been awesome through everything
this last year. We have found a way to
practice our mantra “find one thing to be thankful for everyday”
We hope last
year was good for you and everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year. While the last year brought
challenges, in the end it is LIFE, you live it, you embrace it and deal with
the curveballs you get thrown.
Many
Blessings for a wonderful year!
Libby,
Thomas, Linnea, Ulrik, Annika and our little guardian Zachary J
Having a
place to go - is a home. Having someone to love - is a family.
Having both - is a blessing. ~Donna Hedges
