HE'S COMING HOME!!!

After a very long 12 days my dad is finally COMING HOME TODAY!! Actually they are getting released from the hospital as I type this!! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been praying, calling, text messaging, or emailing to get an update!! The prayers are greatly appreciated and still very much needed, after all he did have emergency open heart surgery 12 days ago!! I have been holding off on this post until we knew for sure he was coming home and besides I didn't want to ginx it!! For any of you that know my dad knows that he can make friends anywhere and he has made lots of friends at the hospital. We continue to thank the Lord everyday for saving my dads life, because he still has so much left to do, not only does he get to walk me down the aisle in March he gets to watch Aaron Baron grow up and so much more!! It has been a long 12 days for all of us, but we are glad that his chapter is coming to a close and the recovery chapter is beginning!!

I will post more later, I just wanted to post this quick update, plus I finally downloaded my pictures of Aaron crawling!!

I LOVE YOU DAD!!!

Update on Dad

I just wanted to post a quick update on my dad and to say thank you to all of you out there who are praying!! The prayers are what has made him make huge improvements and what have gotten us all through. I was in a wedding on Saturday night, so I was not able to see my dad on Saturday, but Brian and I did see him twice yesterday. Saturday morning my step mom called and said that he was doing much better and things were really looking up. Then Saturday night she calls my sister before the wedding and tells her that dad has started running a fever again and he is having some a-fib (don't know the complete medical term for that, but that was why he went in to have the first procedure done in the first place) and that he became agitated so they sedated him again! My step mom finally figured out that when they had tried to take the ventilator out on Saturday morning they explained things to my dad on his right side (which he's deaf on) and that was the reason he panicked! She explained to his nurses that he can only hear you on his left side, and once we got that straight he did alot better. We saw him yesterday and he was awake enough to know that we were there and would talk to us a little bit (well mouth words, because he can't talk with the ventilator in). He was joking with us by the time the night visit rolled around. He still doesn't know completely what has happened, but that is better that way for now. I must say that Brian is an excellent lip reader and that the rest of my family sucks at lip reading!! Brian could catch almost everything that dad said while the rest of us were still guessing! Plus dad is getting a little aggrivated that he can't talk and we can't lip read! I called and checked on him this morning and they took the venitaltor out (much to dad's liking considering that yesterday he was begging us to take it out) and when I asked the nurse to give him a message, she said well hold on he wants to talk to you and he was able to whishper that he loves me and asked how I did on my test this morning.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who is praying and to everyone who has called for updates. We definitely appreciate them! This has been one of the hardest things that I have ever been through and don't think that I have gone one day without crying. I would live at the hospital if I could! We kept encouraging dad that he was getting better everday and that before he knew it, he would be at home watching Aaron Baron crawl (by the way he learned to crawl recently). Kim and Guy did have to bring him to the hospital last night because they didn't have a babysitter, and we all took turns watching him while we went back to see dad, but believe me for a split second (and yes I do mean a split second as we know that babies are not allowed in ICU) we thought about how could we sneak him back to see his pops. Brian and I will go and see him tomorrow and I will post updates as they come. Thank you all again for the prayers and phone calls!

PRAYER REQUEST

I just wanted to ask everyone to please say a prayer for my dad. He went into St. Lukes hospital in the medical center yesterday to have a realitively simple procedure and they ended up running into some unexpected complications that led to him needing emergency surgery last night. He is in ICU right now and is expected to be there for a few days until he is stable enough to be moved into a regular room. I am waiting for Kim to get off work and then we are headed back to the hospital as there is only certain times of the day that we can see him. I am so thankful for everyone's prayers already and especially thankful for a great God that has been watching over my dad. It was very hard for me to see my dad in ICU last night hooked up to everything, but he is tough and I know that everything will turn out great. I spoke to his ICU nurse this morning and he did better than they expected him to do last night, but are going to keep him heavily sedated today and keep him on the ventilator and will reasses things in the morning. Thank you all for your prayers!

Proud Big Sister

As of yesterday I am a PROUD BIG SISTER OF A U.S. MARINE!! My lil bubba joined the marines yesterday. He has been thinking about this for about 2 years and officially joined yesterday. I will be the first to admit that I didn't want him to go and part of me still doesn't, but I am so proud of him and will be there cheering the loudest when he graduates from boot camp. He will be here until the middle of October and then he goes to boot camp for 12 weeks and will get to come home for a few days after that...I think and then he goes to specialist school, which he promises me he will be home for my wedding so I sure hope so! It was a hard realization to realize that Julie may not be back from her tour of duty to be here for my wedding (which is like getting married without Kim being there) but I know she will be there in spirit and I hope Lil Bubba will be here too!! Lil Bubba will get to be here for Aaron Baron's 1st birthday which I am really glad about! I hope he will be here for Christmas too!! We are all going on vacation here in a few weeks and we can't wait to spend some time with Lil Bubba!

Here is a message that I got from my Lil Bubba the night before he enlisted. As I read this tears were streaming down my face.

FIRST OFF, I CAN NOT WAIT TO GO ON VACATION WITH YOU, BRIAN, KIM, AND GUY YALL ARE SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD!!!SECOND, IVE THOUGHT ABOUT IT LONG AND HARD AND I REALLY DO WANNA JOIN THE MARINES, SO IM SIGNING THE PAPERS ON MONDAY.I WILL LEAVE FOR BOOTCAMP THE FRIST PART OF OCTOBER, THAT WILL PUT ME BACK HOME EARLY DECEMBER, AFTER THAT I WILL LEAVE FOR INFANTRY SCHOOL IN JANUARY, I WILL BE BACK HERE END OF FEBRUARY. I PROMISE YOU THAT NO MATTER WHAT I WILL BE THERE ON MARCH 7TH, TO SEE MY BEST FRIEND AND MY SISTER WALK DOWN THE AISLE!!!!! I WOULD NOT MISS THAT FOR THE WORLD.

LOVE,LIL BUBBA

So I am now not only the proud best friend of a U.S. soldier but I am also the very proud big sister of a U.S. marine! I know he did not come by this decision lightly, and I know that he talked to Julie alot about it and that makes me feel better. I love them both and I am so proud of them!! I will post more later!

JULIE AND MATT I AM SO PROUD OF YOU AND ALL THAT YOU ARE DOING/WILL DO FOR OUR COUNTRY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!

I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my love!! He turns 25 today!! I love you babe and hope you have a great day!! I know this will be a great year for us and I can't wait to share it with you!! Thank you for all you do for me!! I love you more than you'll ever know!!

I'll post more later, but for now just wanted to wish Brian a happy birthday!!

1 Down 1 To Go

Well I did it I finished my second class of summer school and have one more to go!! I am VERY happy to say that I got a B in the class and worked my tail off for it!! I owe alot to my grandpa who tutored me every free minute, to Brian for understanding that I didn't have alot of extra time, and to my parent's for encouraging me every step of the way. I am believing and praying that my second math class of the summer (which starts Tuesday) will go as smoothly as this one did. I am half way through summer school and looking forward to my vacation!!

I also want to take a second and ask everyone to remember those that are fighting for our country as we are about to celebrate the 4th of July! I want to say a special thank you to my best friend Julie who is serving in Iraq right now. I am happy to say that I received an e-mail from her earlier this week and am always relieved to get an e-mail from her. Julie thank you for all that you are doing for our country and know that we are always thinking about you and praying for you and are so proud of you!! God bless our troops!!

Brian and I are going to spend the 4th hanging out with my family at my grandparent's house on the lake. I can't wait to see how Lil Man likes the fireworks! Mom and I bought him a special 4th of July outfit and I just hope it fits. Our family has always loved the 4th of July and I can't wait to see what Aaron Baron thinks of it. I will definitely take lots of pictures and post them soon.