Another Update

So are you guys getting tired of all these updates yet??? Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands? No laundry, children, dishes, food to prepare, baths to give, children to correct....just my sleeping husband, me and my laptop! I love wireless Internet! So I've been busy checking everyone else's blogs and responding to emails, I should have responded to weeks ago. It's nice to have the time to do it.

Ryan is doing really well. He's settled in his room right now, trying to sleep. He was in the recovery room for about 25 minutes. Not long at all!! He was in tremendous pain when he woke up. Both of his legs were cramping horribly. I think it was because of the weird position they had him in for the surgery. Picture a sky diver jumping out of a plane...he was laying flat on his stomach, arms stretched out in front of him, legs bent backwards with his feet up in the air. He was like that for two hours, so no wonder he had leg cramps. He got some percocet and I massaged his legs and he's feeling much better. His back actually hasn't even started hurting yet. He got his blood transfusion in his room (I am not very good with blood, it was making me feel a little woozy just watching it go into his arm. Here's a bit of useless information for you; I was originally a nursing major until I was observing during a surgery one day and I totally passed out in the operating room. Embarrassing - changed my major to teaching). He's already eaten a turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies and a dinner roll. So I'm happy to report that he's doing better than expected.

I have so much going on in my mind right now (scary, I know). We are in a wing of this hospital just for bone marrow transplants. Georgetown University does more bone marrow harvests than any other hospital in the world (just learned that today). Everyone around here is really excited because tonight they're receiving some kind of national award. Georgetown University Hospital also does bone marrow transplants for people that live in this local area and for military personnel all over the world (they fly here for treatment). Seeing all these chemo/radiation patients walking the halls of this wing is very sobering. Knowing that they are facing the fight of their lives. Knowing that they are praying for someone to be their stem cell/tissue/bone marrow match. Knowing that they have families that are struggling at home without them. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw a mother, her head wrapped in a scarf, walking down the hall holding her daughters hand. I just wanted to hug both of them. It just makes my heart cry out to God! I'm so thankful! I'm so thankful for the health of my family. For the support system we have. For great neighbors and friends. For a great church. For a career that my husband loves. That I can stay home with my precious kids. For blogging buddies who bring me joy and encouragement. For the God that I love, who I know will see me through every moment of my life. I'm just so thankful! Thankful that Ryan was given this opportunity! Thankful that he came through it so well. Just thankful!

I always have a tendency this time of year to sort of skip the month of November and start planning for Christmas. I always put my tree up early, I've got the majority of my Christmas shopping done. I brought a Christmas book with me to read. I have tons of crafts planned for the kids to do. I just love Christmas and can hardly wait for the festivities to begin. But I think this year I really need to slow things down and be purposeful about making this November a month of thanksgiving for our family. A time to examine my own heart. I time to teach my children what it really means to have a thankful heart. I don't have a plan of how I'm going to do that just yet, so let me know if you have any creative ideas about how to teach toddlers to be thankful! So that's what I've been sitting here thinking about. THANKFULNESS! It's been a good day! It's always a good day when you can look beyond the circumstances of the moment and see the hand of God in your life!

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8