A Summer of Pure Craziness

Well here it is September. Brooks has started Kindergarten. Presley is in 3 year old preschool. Dave is right smack in the middle of his busy season at work. And I'm back teaching preschool.

They say time flies when you are having fun. But this summer, time flew, and it was pretty much a disaster.

It started out pretty well.  We took a little road trip to Oklahoma City to see Marcie and her family.  We had a great time hanging out at Grandma Karen's.  Her pool was drained, but that didn't stop us from filling it up with a little bit of water and hanging out anyway.  We also spent one day at a water park, and had a great time.

We came home and settled into a usual summer routine, with swimming lessons, play dates, and family fun days.

Then, on June 23rd, at about 4:15 in the afternoon, the kids and I got in a pretty bad car accident and our van was totaled. We were on our way up to see Dave, when a 16 year old girl turned right in front of me.  I didn't have time to stop.  I slammed into the back end of her Jeep, and then her car turned back towards mine, and slammed into Brooks' side of the van.  It was terrifying.  Right before we slammed into the Jeep, I prayed that God would protect my babies.  And thankfully, He did.

Immediately, I felt pain in my legs and saw blood. But I smelled smoke and wanted to get the kids, who were panicking and screaming, out of the van. I could not open the drivers side sliding door, so I crawled through the front to get them out.  They were both very upset, but praise God they were not physically hurt.  My legs were both hurting badly and my left leg was bleeding heavily, but I did not want to scare Brooks and Presley, so I continued to reassure them that we were all going to be okay.  A young college girl named Ashley, who witnessed the accident, pulled over and began to help me with the kids.  Presley was really freaked out by all the blood and didn't want me to get near her, so Ashley took them to her car, where they were safe until the police came.  I called Dave to come get us, and asked that they not send an ambulance for me.  I did not want to upset the kids in case they wanted to transport me to the hospital.  So when Dave got there, he took me to Urgent Care.

It took almost all summer, and even part of fall, for me to physically recover.  But the emotional toll was much worse.  I did not want to drive for almost a week. When I did start driving again, I was very anxious.  Presley screamed and cried for weeks any time that we had to go anywhere.  She had horrible nightmares and did not sleep through the night for weeks.  She talked about it constantly.  It broke my heart that it was affecting her so much, but I just kept stressing how thankful we could be that we were all okay. 

Interesting story:  The song that was on the radio when we got in the accident was "Brother" by NeedtoBreathe.  Since the accident, every time that song comes on, Presley remembers and tells me to turn it off, that she does not like that song.  Amazing what our minds remember. 

My parents bought a cabin in Oklahoma that sits on 5 acres, mostly wooded, with a river running at the bottom of the property. So we thought it might be a nice little getaway, where I could relax and unwind.  I was still having quite a bit of pain from the accident, and Presley was still really struggling with the emotions of the whole thing.

Our first weekend at the cabin, July 4th weekend, was an absolute nightmare. It included an epipen injection and a trip to the emergency room when Dave got stung by a wasp in Friday night. Then literally, as we were getting home from the hospital, the air conditioner went out and stayed out until Saturday night. Pretty miserable with temps in the high 90s. Then as soon as Dave got the new AC unit installed, Brooks flushed the toilet and poop started coming out of the bathroom drains. With no running water,  Sunday Morning we got outta there as fast as we could.

Since then, we have been back several times, and have really enjoyed our time there.  We love to soak in the sights, sounds, and smells of nature.  The kids love to go "exploring".  Dave and I love to hide away from the rest of this fast-paced world with our little family.  We've even had Marcie meet us up there a few times.

In mid July, we took a family trip to South Dakota for Uncle Matt's 25th wedding anniversary party.  I still wasn't feeling 100%. Presley was still waking up terrified and having a hard time sleeping. We were given a loaner van that smelled like cinnamon, smoke, and dog hair. Literally, it gave me a headache to sit in it. We left on Wednesday and came back Sunday, so it was a quick trip. But it was great to see the family, and the kids loved seeing their cousins and going to their first carnival, as it was Sport Days in Canistota.

On the way home, we stopped in Oklahoma to get Blue from Marcie's. Since they were about to move back to Oklahoma City, we brought Addi home with us for a week. It was crazy having an extra kiddo, but we love Addi, and we were so glad to have extra time with her.  That next weekend we met at the cabin to bring Addi back to Marcie. It was just one night, but we had a great time catching up.

The following weekend, Tiffany and her two kids came to visit. We had a great time, but in the middle of her visit, Dave started having his own troubles. 

Thursday night he had a massage and came home with a swollen face. He's done that before due to all the oils they use, so we didn't think much of it. Friday morning he went to work, but came home early with diarrhea, which continued all weekend. He couldn't eat, and was having bad abdominal pain. By Sunday afternoon, he was miserable. I had never seen him like that before, so I took him to the emergency room at Centennial. They gave him some morphine, did a CT scan, and told us that he had colitis. They told us he should probably stay that night, and that we needed to follow up with a gastroenterologist.  Dave insisted that he was fine and that he would rest better in his own bed, so we headed home for the night. Early the next morning he told me he felt like he was dying, that something was really wrong. I didn't waste a moment. I put him in the car and took him to the emergency room in Plano, a much larger facility. 

The next 3 nights, we stayed in the hospital while Dave recovered. It was really scary seeing the man I love, barely conscious due to heavy pain meds, with tears rolling down his cheeks.  At one point Mike called on Face time to chat with Dave. I guess he didn't realize how bad it was, because as soon as I put the phone up so he could see Dave, Mike got all choked up. Shortly after that, Marla Jean was on a plane to help. 

My parents kept the kids the first night, but then Marla flew in to help me. What an amazing blessing she was. I picked her up from the airport at midnight.  That first night we slept head to toe, next to each other, on a hospital couch. But she didn't gripe one bit. She was just so happy to be with us, and to be able to help. I told Dave later, "I sure hope I am able to drop what I'm doing and fly cross country to be with my kids like that one day."  

After several days of observation, another CAT scan, and a colonoscopy, they informed us that Dave has ulcerative colitis. Apparently it's the little brother to Crohn's disease. It's an auto immune disorder that he will most likely always deal with. He has had to DRASTICALLY change his diet. And will always have to monitor it. It also greatly increases his risk for colon cancer in 8-10 years, so we will have to be diligent about monitoring his health and having the appropriate tests done routinely. 

After being released, he had several complications at home. The first night home, he looked like he was 9 months pregnant, so he weighed himself. He checked into the hospital at 209, but was weighing in at 240.  The steroids and IV fluids were making him retain so much water.  His whole body was swollen. The doctor called in some strong diuretics. Once he let go of a lot of those fluids, he started to feel more comfortable. 

Dave was still home for almost a week before going back to work. Of course, with his biggest fundraiser of the year coming up, he had to hit the ground running.

Greg and his family came to visit from North Dakota.  It was nice to have the whole family together, and for all the cousins to get to play together!  Even Kiwi and Sofia were there.

Once Dave was feeling a little better, we were able to squeeze in a few more fun family activities.

With the summer drawing to an end, I had another huge stress in my heart and life. It was now mid August. And in a matter of days, my sweet little Mommy's boy was about to start Kindergarten. I was absolutely terrified of this transition. Not to mention, my heart was absolutely broken. I was not ready!  Brooks was, but mommy was not. 

So we headed up to the cabin to spend our last weekend before school started together. 

It was the perfect weekend. Lots of exploring and talking and snuggling. Saturday night I put Brooks to bed, and I started to write him a letter to express my love to him, so that one day he might understand how much he and Presley mean to me. Well, I didn't get too far before I just started bawling!  Every thing I had been holding in for months came out. So here's my letter!