So, the next big thing that happened was my cousin Karen had a birthday celebration. Her actual bday is May 9th, but we had a party on May 6th at her sister Deborah's house. I made Karen a "recreation" of a cake I had made for her when we were in elementary school when she had the chicken pox. I decorated it with Red Hots, just like the good ole days. I can remember being so excited to give her this cake when we were little, I love that we grew-up across the street from one another, that is just so cool. Anyways, her mom made the real cake which is a made-from-scratch chocolate sheet cake. I am serious when people come to birthday parties in our family based on the fact that Kay will be making this delicious dessert. I still get a little emotional when I look at Karen, I just think she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, especially since I know her inside out. She has lived her entire life helping others and she is leaving such a legacy. On Wednesday, we celebrated her real birthday at our special place, Jimmy Changas. We had a blast and this time I brought an ice cream cake that we shared with the wait staff.
This shot was taken at Karen's First Bday Celebration. I Love this kid more than I knew was possible.
Thomas loves the green sauce! Not a fun diaper later that night!
So, the next day was my appt with my cardiologist. After a few tests, I found out that my heart is HALF the size it was before transplant. I didn't even know it was so enlarged. And, all my lung pressures were back to normal, so it was a happy appt and I left with a sense of thankfulness! I left there and went to a new Bible Study I was attending with women of all different ages at my church. It was such a great time and I made new friends and spent time with old friends. We laughed a lot about growing-up, marriage, kids, funny church moments, and we really bonded. I love my church so much.
On May 12, Thomas and I went to Noah and Charlee's bday celebration. We only stayed a few minutes because I suddenly noticed a rash all on Thomas' feet, hands and mouth. You guessed it, he had hand, foot, mouth virus. So, no church for me on Mother's Day, but really, on Mother's Day I loved being his momma and taking care of him when he was sick. Mother's Day at church is still hard for me, I am always afraid they will ask mom's to keep standing if they have 1 child, 2 children, 3 children, and so on because I have seen this before. What would I do? I can't help but think about my precious boys in heaven on Mother's Day. I wonder how big they would be and what their little personalities would be like. I look forward to our reunion some day. I am so glad I know where I will spend my eternity.
For two hours on Mother's Day, Paul and my dad watched Thomas while Karen, Deborah, and I hosted our first annual Mother's Day Tea at my house. We had a blast. I stole the idea from my friend Becca, who threw the coolest tea party themed birthday for her daughter. We didn't allow any of our mothers to make or bring anything. We enjoyed great snacks, tea, and good times sharing about all of our childhoods and spending time thanking our moms and aunts for making us the women we are today. We made two crafts and a fan. We plan on doing this more often because girl time is a lot of fun.
This is one of the crazy shots from our tea, we had a really special time together! I love all these women!
So, the next big thing was my doctor's appt on May 17th, I did my usual labs, saw my Dr. O'Mahony, cried to her tears of utter thankfulness. I thanked her for making such a sacrifice for me, she gives up so much to do her job. I thanked her for all the wonderful staff and the excellent care I have received through this whole journey, I thanked her for always asking about Thomas, she remembers I am a mom and she explained to me why I am still on high doses of immunosuppressants. She said I was YOUNG and HEALTHY, so my immune system tries harder to reject my liver than an older person, so they would have to wing me down slowly. I have not been described as healthy in so long, it felt good to hear. That afternoon, I had a CT scan and two MRIs. I haven't heard anything about those, so no news is good news these days. At this appt, I received my BACK TO WORK papers and I went to turn those in and check all my passwords at work to make sure I hadn't been kicked out of the system. I had lunch with my good friend Kelly Brautigam in between all of this craziness and she made me laugh so much. That evening, I rushed to my women's Bible Study for our final night together (it was only four weeks). After the Bible Study, I rushed home to my baby and just held him and praised God for all the good things happening.
After being so happy, a little tinge of sadness started setting-in. I truly love my job, but I love taking care of Thomas full-time even more. I realized that May 23 was going to be bitter sweet. I love my job and the people I work with, but three solid months of Thomas Time was amazing. He has started peeing in the potty and we have a rhythm that I loved. I love snuggling with my baby right after he wakes up, it is the best feeling ever.
The next day was my last MOPS meeting, so sad, but excited about next year's theme PLUNGE. I love hanging out with these girls. This was also Thomas' last day of Mother's Day Out for the year :( He loves his "school" so much, but we are looking forward to next year. That evening, Paul's parents came into town and we celebrated their anniversary, Mother's Day, and Jerry's Birthday. We went to dinner at Cheddar's and then everyone came over for cake and we played RACKO. It was a fun time with all of Paul's family.
As you can see, we had three cakes to celebrate all the different events.
May 19th was a super busy day. Karina turned 17, where has all the time gone? Thomas and I went to her house for breakfast and gave her gift to her. Then, we went to Jackson's Pirate Bday party, then we sprinted to Karina's lunch bday celebration. We had to have a lunch celebration because Karina was going to PROM the evening of her birthday. I can't believe how grown-up she is and how beautiful she is. Below is a pic of her and Daniel (he is her boyfriend and I really really like him).
Later on in the evening, Paul and I went to see The Avengers, while Thomas got a little more spoiled by his Aunt Trishy and Mimi. The movie was really good and it was nice to spend a little alone time with my main man.
The next big thing that happened was MAY 23, I did it, I went back to work. It felt great to see everyone, catch up on all my emails, my computer work and nursing updates, and to be back in my element. Once I am at work, I love it, I believe nursing is one of the best professions in the world. I only had to work an 8 hour shift, so I was back home with my Tommy by 4:00 pm. I also worked on Friday, a full 12 hour shift, and it seemed to fly by! All day, I count down the minutes until I get to see my Thomas. Friday night, I loaded the van with all our camping stuff because we were leaving in the morning to go camping for my Aunt Kay's 60th Birthday. Not just because she is my aunt, but she honestly doesn't look or act 60! Saturday morning, we were all ready by 0630 and we headed out, but there was one problem, all the brake warning lights came on in the van. After my last brake drama, I was taking no chances, so we went home and threw everything in the truck and started over. My docs said I couldn't sleep on the ground in a tent, so we camped all day, but slept in a hotel at night. It was a very relaxing, hot weekend. We had a lot of fun with Thomas and all his cousins, Austin, Jackson, Cash, Charlee, and Noah. Paul even commented how nice it was to go to a family event where there was no drama. I must admit, it was really nice. Paul also loved my cousin Mike's camper. He has been reading all about them here lately! The only other camping experience Paul and I had was during November one year and it was COLD, no bueno. I am waiting for Karen to send me the pics from camping, or I would post one now. We rushed home on Sunday night and headed to Blayke's 4th Bday party, where Thomas swam and went down the big slide into the pool with his daddy. We were all pretty tuckered out and we all crashed Sunday night. Memorial Day arrived and we went to Aunt Celinda and Uncle Rick's house to swim some more and eat hamburgers. Monday was another low-key, relaxing day. Paul was mowing lawns all day, but he met us at their house for lunch. My sister, Karina, and Daniel all came too. There is nothing better than jumping into a cold pool on a hot day.
This is Thomas discovering what a "real" phone is at our hotel.
Jackson, Thomas, and Charlee eating a little jerky!
Tuesday, after Memorial Day, we woke-up early and took my van to the Chrysler dealership and this is where my nogoodverybadluckwithcars started-up again. This deserves it's own post, so I will save it for later.
One final thing, look at my new plates baby......
Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to turn this pic, but you get the idea!! If you are interested in getting Donate Life plates, I encourage you to do it, only $30. Thanks for keeping up with me and please forgive me for taking so long to blog again.
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