Poor Reed

This week has been a whirlwind. Saturday morning, Reed came up to me and said “ear hurt”. I didn’t put TOO much into it b/c he says things hurt a lot, but I was concerned knowing his surgery was coming up and that he needed to be healthy!

Sunday morning I noticed that his cyst was very enlarged. It freaked me out a little bit b/c it was the largest it had ever been. At that point, we assumed he probably did have an ear infection, or some kind of infection that was making it so large. Because of the history of walk in clinics and this, we felt like it was best to wait and take him to his own doctor Monday.

This is what he looked like on Sunday:

We took him on Monday and he was looked over. There were no infections to be found in the ears, throat, anywhere, so his doctor determined the cyst itself had an infection. He sent us home with antibiotics and told us that we needed to call ACH to talk about surgery. We talked to the nurse and she told us we’d have to wait and see what the doctor wanted to do. They called about Tuesday mid-day and said that we would need to see if the cyst and infection improved before Monday. If it did, we could go ahead with surgery.

Meanwhile, this is what he looked like on Tuesday:

 

Tuesday evening it was even worse and more red. I called the after hours number and the nurse just reassured me that if there were no new fevers or symptoms, then the medicine could take 48 hours to work, and that it could get worse before it got better. Well. It did.

We woke up Wednesday to a blistering on the cyst. We called doctor immediately and they put us in front of all the other patients. He said that it needed to be drained. Normally, he would do that himself. Because this is on a cyst, he doesn’t feel comfortable with it and he called ACH to ask them what we need to do. So on Thursday we are traveling to LR and having the cyst drained at Children’s. I’m so over this cyst and just praying he can feel better soon. At this point we have no idea what will happen with surgery but for now I just want this infection out of him. We have to be at ACH by 12 and I have no idea what the timeline will be from there.

He is such a sweet boy and I would give anything to take this away from him. Please be praying that he can get over this infection and that he can get well enough to have his surgery very soon!!!!

Beach photos

One evening, we went down and had some photos on the beach. We took an entourage and had two cameras, and some people willing to be silly to make my kids smile! I was so happy to get some photos of the four of us on the gorgeous beach!
    

I {ADORE} this photo of them!           

I will definitely have to pick out my favorites and have a couple blown up to update some photos in our house! I’m so thankful for these memories!!!

Letter to Almost 20 Year old Sarah

One month from today, I will turn 30. So far, the thought of turning 30 honestly doesn’t bother me. I’ve been reminded lately of just how short life is, so each day I’m given, I consider a gift. However, I feel like the last ten years have past in a blink. And if I’d known then, what I know now….. so here is a letter to my 10 year ago self.

Dear Almost 20 Year Old Sarah,

You think things are tough right now, and they are somewhat difficult. You’re about to start your junior year of college and things really pick up then. You’ll be SO busy and it will be hectic, but don’t wish those days away. Savor those last two years. After that, never again will you see your best friends on a daily basis or live seconds away from them. You’ll remain friends with some of them, but as your lives go different directions, so will your friendships. Don’t worry so much on the getting through college, because you will. And you’ll do it well. Instead, live those days up. Have fun and skip class every once in a while. It’ll be ok if you do.

I wish I could tell you how much is ahead of you. Your 20’s will be filled with so many emotions, and they will range from devastation to pure elation. There are some of the happiest days of your life ahead, as well as the hardest days of your life. Know that no matter what comes, you WILL get through it. You are strong, and no matter how bad it seems at the time, you survive. You learn something with each challenge and you make yourself better because of them.

I know you wonder about what you’re going to do when you’re finished with college. Well, I’ll tell you. First, you’ll travel to Europe for two weeks with two of your best friends to see another best friend. It will be one of your most incredible experiences to date and you’ll LOVE it. You’ll then start working in a job where you’ll stay for 15 months. It will challenge you and will quite honestly be an awful situation by the time you leave, but it will teach you a lot and it will also give you some of your very best friends who you’re still friends with as you turn 30. Your next job will be much better and you’ll really grow professionally there. One thing I want you to remember is to work hard for yourself. Regardless of your achievements and failures, work in a way to make yourself proud. No matter what you do or where you work, you’ll experience highs and lows. And things won’t always go the way you might want them, and you may not always feel appreciated. So do what you can, work hard, and hold your head high knowing you’ve always done your very best.

After you finish college, you’ll start attending weddings as many of your friends marry their loves. And you wonder how you might possibly ever meet someone, let alone someone worthy of marrying. DON’T WORRY. By the time you graduate, you will have met the man you are going to marry, though you won’t have any clue you will marry him. About 4 months after you leave school, you two will start dating, and you will love like you’ve never known. Those broken hearts won’t matter anymore because your future husband is an amazing, loving man. He will love you like you never imagined possible and he will make you happier than you’ve ever been. Enjoy the ride and soak up every minute of your time together. Your wedding day will be perfect. As your 30th birthday approaches, so is your 7th anniversary and you’re even more in love than you were the day you got married. He makes your life infinitely better, and you’re so grateful for him.

In addition, when you turn 30, you’ll have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy. They will be your pride and joy. Your firstborn initiated you into parenthood quite well as she had a hard first few months of life. And your second born was born with a collapsed lung and was whisked away from you within minutes to be taken to the NICU where he would spend the first 10 days of his life. You worry about them constantly and love them so much you feel like your heart could burst. You know even at age 20 that you were made to be a mother, and you will experience that and it will be better than you ever dreamed.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Every time you find yourself in a situation where you wonder how it will ever work out, God works out the details, big and small. You learn to trust Him more than ever through these years and you witness the way His love for is unfailing. Carry that faith with you through all your years.

Sarah, you have so much ahead of you. The struggles will be hard and there will be days you just feel like giving up, but know that you are a survivor. You are strong and you will persevere and you have so many days of happiness ahead of you. So many life changing events will come your way in your 20s and I hope you savor them along the way. The highs far, far outweigh the lows and you are blessed beyond belief, but you know that. Before you know it, another 10 years will have passed. And as good as your 20s will be, as you are about to leave those years behind, you know that what lies ahead will be even better!

Love,
Almost 30 Year Old Sarah

Beach Vacay – part 2

So this will be round two of the beach photos! This will be the last beach post, aside from the one where I share the photos from the “photo session” we did one evening! :)

We mostly spent our days sitting in the sand and playing in the water!  

On Wednesday afternoon, my SIL Kelsey suggested taking the kids to a park so that they could run free and just have a break from the water. So she and I loaded up the kids and headed out. The playground equipment was hot and Reed was really the only one playing on it. So, he was playing and the rest of us were close by and all of a sudden I heard him screaming. He’d fallen off about a 2ft high platform face first. He looked like he’d been drug across the concrete! Poor baby!

Every time we rode the elevator, Reed would run right on, but would immediately grab the handle. So cute!

 

 

{LAST DAY!}

Reed was done with the beach by this day. He kept wandering away from us and when we’d go get him, he’d say “bye-bye beach!”

We had two TIRED kiddos on the way home!!!!

We also had two kiddos were VERY happy to be out of the car after 12 hours and who were to happy to see their home!!!!!

We had such a wonderful week. It was so nice to get away for a bit and we had such a great time! i’m so grateful we were able to do this for our family!!!

Beach Vacay – part 1

So, as I mentioned, we left for the beach on July 12. We went to Fort Walton on Okaloosa Island and had a BEAUTIFUL week of fun in the sun! The kids LOVED the beach. Since we had Reed’s appointment before heading out, Ava rode down with my parents. There were 27 of us there all together and we had SO much fun! I have so many photos to share so I’m going to try and let those do most of the talking!

 

We were packed in kind of tightly and Reed decided he wanted more of the crackers that were sitting close to him. I looked back and saw him digging in the box!

 

Seeing the beach for the very first time!

 

My older brother and his family were there also, and Reed and Ava loved getting to spend some time with their cousin Luke. Funniest thing: Reed called Luke “Luck” all week. Luke’s dad calls him Lucas some and Reed would call him “Luckus”. So stinking funny! In this video, you can hear him saying “Luck, are you?” (Luke, where are you?)

One day we met up with sweet Molly (Duchess of Fork) and her precious kiddos at the Gulfarium. We had fun and the kids loved it! Afterward, Ava said she wanted to be a dolphin trainer when she grows up!

 

This gets us about halfway through the week! Will share more tomorrow!!!