M.I.A.

Been awhile. Surgery went great and he’s recovering quite well. We are back home but will be returning to Chicago on July 13th for TJ’s post-op appointment. Between now and then I have a full plate. Between planning my baby’s 2nd birthday party *cry*, planning our 4th of July party, laundry, taking care of the kids and the house I hardly have anytime at all for myself.

I received a call a couple of days ago to let me know that I actually won something, the something was a month-long gym membership. Apparently Chop Stix must think I eat their delightfully yummy Chinese food way too often. So I set a goal, lose 10 lbs by the 21st (the end of my one month free trial). Can I do it? Doubt it. Is that really the right attitude to have about it? No, but I’m being realistic. This month I have a lot going on and most of the things I have going on involve really yummy food. We shall see what happens

The List

Uh… Seriously what list? That sucker flew out the window Friday. Here we are the day before our flight and I am not ready. Why? Well, that’s me, I am NEVER ready when I should be. The only thing that I have managed to do of the long list that needed to be done, is clean the house. Our bags still need to be packed. I need to run to the store… you know when the store opens. (Go small towns! Nothing is open when you need it to be! Luckily they did put in a walmart about 10 minutes away recently but I. hate. walmart.) We have friends coming over for lunch and we need to see some family before we leave too. Then pack the car with all of our bags, TJ’s car seat and his wheelchair, then somehow wake up tomorrow at 4-in-the-God-forsaken-morning and off to the airport.

By the way, in case you were wondering, and I know you weren’t. Our flight plan sucks. Do we get to fly directly from Kansas to Illinois? Nope, that would be too easy seeing as there’s only Missouri in the way. No… we get the awesome experience of leaving Kansas and heading straight to Georgia and then after a 4 hour layover we fly from Georgia to Illinois. Yep cause that makes perfect sense. I wouldn’t mind so much on the way there but this is also our route on the way home, except you know, in reverse. Which once again it wouldn’t bother me except you see, my son will be 3 days post op after the first surgery he has had in almost 2 years. Yep, super…

 

The Call

Shortly after writing the first ever post on here I received a phone call. A call I have been waiting for since December. It’s time for another surgery for my TJ. This time we will be headed off to the busy and exciting Chicago, IL. This will be TJ and I’s 3rd time on an airplane because that’s how we roll, we do it all together. That or the fact that I am so terrified of falling out of the sky that if it weren’t for the fact that we needed to get there for my baby then I would never. ever. ever. ever. get on an airplane. I’d do anything for my boys so here I am 4 days from our departure in full on panic mode. Of course he doesn’t know that. He couldn’t be more excited to go back to Chicago, and why wouldn’t he be, last time we went he got toys and stickers (oh the stickers!), he got to see clowns and nice doctors and go swimming. Last time, he didn’t have surgery. The last time he had surgery his little brother was still in utero and his twin hadn’t learned to climb on EVERYTHING.

It will just be me and my guy up there in the windy city. We will be gone a week, the first half he will be happy and excited the second half…. he’ll be on so many pain medications that he will mostly be sleeping. Simply put the flight home is going to s u c k. Suckiness aside my baby will be getting what needs to be done taken care of.

The last bit of this is kind of a shout out to the kind people who work for the Shriner‘s Children’s Hospitals and all of the Shriner’s Temple’s around the country. These kinds selfless people help children who otherwise would not get some of the best care available at no cost to the families. You are amazing!

The Plan

The plan of my life, that is. At 15 I thought I had the absolute perfect plan for how to live my life. It was something along the lines of:

• Get good grades, Graduate
• Play softball, make dad proud
• Get a boyfriend
• Go to college, Graduate with masters in Social Work
• Have a great job
• Maybe get married and maybe have kids

Well I guess I should say, almost none of that happened. My Dad died 2 months after that 15th birthday where I had planned my life. My grades sucked, I didn’t make the softball team and how could I make Dad proud… when I didn’t have a dad anymore. I did get a boyfriend and then I did end up pregnant at 16… whoops defiantly not part of the plan. I graduated from highschool none the less with my boyfriend Matt and our twin boys in the bleachers cheering. I went to college for one whopping semester, until my financial aid never came through at which the university informed me, “Pay us $2,247.19, or get out”. Well I didn’t exactly have that kind of money just lying around. So I left with every intention to return as soon as feasible.

Here I am 6 years after “the plan” was made. I’m now married to Matt, our twins are 4-year-old hellions and we have a sweet and adorable 1-year-old, our own house and a giant dog, Gunner. I still have not gone back to school and I’m a stay-at-home-mom *insert eye-roll and groan*. Well the good news is that by not being in school and staying home I get to watch my boys grow. I do still intend to return to school, in 2 years I will force myself to return. Why not before you ask? By that point all of the boys will be in school. The biggest reason that I’m waiting for this to happen? Well that reason is Baby B, numero dos, the second of the twins, my sweet TJ.

TJ and his brother were born much too early (27 weeks 6 days)  and had to be put on ventilators in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to keep them alive. During which time TJ suffered two brain bleeds, which we learned almost a year ago, has caused him to have Cerebral Palsy. He was also born with a birth defect that affects his mouth and nose. His bilateral cleft lip and palate has meant surgeries since he was a baby up until he is an adult. My guy has had it rough. All in all, he cannot walk or stand without assistance and his speech is very delayed. Defiantly not part of the plan…