Thankful

There is so much in our lives to be thankful for! The obvious ones are my two beautiful children.



My Monkey boy is 9 years old and SO wise beyond his age. Yesterday morning after my husband went to work, I went back to sleep. Peanut was content in her bed, so I figured I would get another half hour or so of sleep. I woke up over an hour later, and she was still quiet! I walk to her room and she's not there. I look down the hall, and she's sitting on the living room floor watching cartoons. I said to Monkey "Wow, I didn't hear Daddy get her out of bed this morning when he left" and he said "That's because I did it". Wow! He clamped her feeding tube, turned off her feeding pump, disconnected it from her stomach, and then managed to lift her 30 pound cuteness out of bed. Carried her down the hall, and put on her favorite cartoon channel. Isn't he amazing!!!



My beautiful Peanut girl ... where to even start! I am thankful that she is here in our house and doing great. There are issues and worries but overall she is amazing. I can remember every word of the PICU doctor in March 2005 telling us that we should really consider removing support. That if she ever woke up from that incident, she would be "what people call a vegetable". That perhaps if we didn't decide to remove all support, we should consider placing her in a home for disabled children. WHAT? Today she is AWESOME! She is crawling, playing, "talking", walking in a gait trainer, just plain AWESOME! How little faith that doctor had in her. How miraculous her recovery from an 18 minute cardiac arrest was. How THANKFUL I am to be her mom!!

My sweet husband .... even though many nights I want to strangle him .... he is such a good daddy. He gets up at night with Peanut and rocks her back to sleep. He plays with Monkey, he is just a great dad. I am lucky to have him!

We have such a great extended family and friends. We are so lucky to have people that will take care of Monkey at a moment's notice, if something happens to Peanut. We have friends that drop food off at the hospital for us, friends who celebrate every tiny thing our Peanut does. We have so much to be thankful for.

How about that plastic g-tube in her stomach? I am thankful that it keeps her going! She refuses to take a single bite by mouth. It is the only reason she is healthy, nourished, and alive!

What about the Mitrofanoff stoma in her stomach? The little dimple hole at the end of the loooong horizontal scar on her belly. The one I was scared of so much, convinced there was no way this was a good idea. What a blessing it has been! I can catheterize my Peanut with no assistance, and with no pain or inconvenience to her. It is one of the best things we have ever done for her!

Her doctors, nurses, therapists ... who never give up on her. Who constantly shower her with love and support, above and beyond what is in their job description. Our new neurologist, who I can email any time of the day and get a response within 12 hours. How thankful I am for him!

And all my friends online. How completely thankful I am for having "met" you all. Moms who understand, moms who get it. Moms who are walking the same walk as we are. Moms who love Holland as much as I do, even though they were really headed to Italy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am TRULY blessed!!