A House of Water

This past week could definitely pass for one of the most chaotic and unexpected weeks we have had the “privilege” to experience. What a week! Last week El Paso was hit by a very unusual winter storm. With that being said, it only snowed a couple inches and the snow wasn’t even that big of an issue. It was the freezing, record breaking, temperatures that we experienced! We hit below zero degrees a few times, which left us feeling like it was -10 to -17 degrees outside when you factor in the wind chill. Past that, we did not see temperatures above 15 degrees for a few days, which of course, left us feeling it as below zero still! I know that to some of you this may not seem like a big deal at all. But, you have to remember we are in El Paso people! El Paso is not equipped to handle this type of weather. We are supposed to have mild winters and hot summers. Mild winters do not at all equal freezing temps! It got so bad that the electrical company was unable to keep up with the demand of what the consumers were trying to use. Needless to say, the houses out here are not built for that type of drastic change in the temperature either; leaving it very hard to keep the houses warm. The heaters all over town stayed on continuously; even they were kept at 65 on the thermostat. So, with the demand for electricity being used nonstop, we all had to endure Rolling Blackouts. The electric company had different areas on the grid taking turns through the blackout. It left us without electricity anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours. It was crazy! But, as I told Kevin, I would rather go that length of time without electricity over days without! Some areas of El Paso were out of Gas for a few days due to the demand of natural gas that was being used. All throughout El Paso, we thought that was the worst of it…. Of course that was said too soon! On Friday water lines started breaking in homes. Leaving a lot of people waking up to flooded houses. We left around lunch time that day to pick up groceries and whatever else we needed and come home to a few inches of water throughout the downstairs in our house. Yes, our water line in the backyard busted and our house had flooded. It made it up through about a quarter of our living room and out through the door and into our garage. In other words, the only safe area in our house was upstairs, the master bedroom and bathroom. The kids’ bedrooms, hallway, hall bathroom, kitchen and dining room were completely flooded. Of course Nic found excitement in his huge puddles of water that he splashed through. It is always great to hear his goofy laugh. We were without water for over 24 hours, which isn’t too bad compared to others. It was something we could work through. We managed to save all of our furniture and most everything else. Some books and small items like that were trashed. Breanna lost her phone charger from leaving it out on the floor. If that so far the worst of our personal damage, I will take it! As far as the house goes… we will know more next week on what is being done. The adjuster and General Contractor came out yesterday to access everything. Right now they are debating on ripping out the entire bathroom and how far up to go on the walls. Kevin and I did have to pull the carpet out of the house, which ended up being a good thing once we found puddles of water still under the mat. We vacuumed the carpet for hours nonstop and still could not get it all up. So, that too has to be replaced. We are hoping that the GC will have his guys out next week to start the repairs and what not.

Below you can get an idea of what we went through.... (Picture our house now a mess with no carpet... We are living on the concrete floor for the time. )

 This is where is all started...

 This is the area that water shot straight up a few feet and filled up the walls, leaving the house to be flooded when it seeped out everywhere.

 Now you see what popped and actually caused the flood.

 Living room view from Dining room

 Dining room walking into kitchen

 Just to show where the water was against the steps.

 Nic's room and the bathroom where hit the hardest.

 Nic's room

 Girls' room

 LR from DR

 Dining room

 Nic's room again

 Bathroom

 This is from the following morning... The carpet of course was no longer flooded, but the wood still soaked up way too much water within a few hours.

Little Miss Turns 8......

I know I say this every time one of our kids steps in age, but seriously, where has the time gone? It just seems surreal to me how old my kids are! I cannot believe that we just celebrated Caitlin’s 8^th birthday…

We had a small party for her at our house the day before her actual birthday, 22 January 2011. Kids took over our house that day (and a group of girls that night). They had so much fun! Luckily, the weather was awesome! Warm enough for the windows and doors to be open and everyone to be in and out. She ended up with so many toys, outfits, makeup, and so much more. “Papa” Tom surprisingly ordered her a jumping balloon for over 24 hours. That was his gift to her. I do have to say, probably the best one! The kids stayed on it until it was time to stay inside and get ready for bed, but were back out the following morning… where they stayed until the guys showed up to pick the balloon up.

Thank you to everyone that came out for her special day! We all truly appreciate everything! She had a fabulous time! And to the ones that are just too far away, thank you so much for the warm wishes, gifts, and cards! You all made her day incredibly special!

Now, onto planning Nicholas’ big 4^th birthday! Now really, where did the time go?

What I didn't Expect

As I sat in the waiting room of the GI doctor’s office with Kevin and Nicholas, I honestly expected to hear that I would be put on more medication for the form of colitis I have. What I didn’t expect to hear was the word “tumor”, even if it did come with the work benign before…..

As most of you know, in November of last year I was admitted into the hospital for kidney stones and colitis, which led to me falling back into kidney failure again. During my stay I had to undergo multiple test and labs. One of the days during my weeklong visit, I had to go through a colonoscopy in order for the gastrointestinal (GI) specialist, Dr. Tune, to have a better look at my colon. During this procedure a mass was found inside my colon and a biopsy was taken. Ulcers and minimal internal bleeding was also discovered, both stemming from the colitis. I was sent home on a variety of pills to take throughout the day for the weeks to follow.

This morning I had my follow up appointment and check up with Dr. Tune. I really like and trust this doctor. He also did the endoscopy I had done in January 2009 when I was admitted for the thyroid storm I went through. Some of you may remember how mad I was over that! The “amnesia” meds did not work properly, so needless to say, I was able to recall the whole experience. They told me to go to sleep afterwards, so I would forget everything, but with me being so stubborn, that never happened.  Back to today, after my exam he had me meet him in his office in order to discuss the report that held the results. He then proceeded to tell me that I have a benign tumor in my colon. During the colonoscopy, he did perform a biopsy on the mass that was found in my colon. The lab is stating it is benign. I am being monitored for the next few months and have a follow up appointment on 13 April 2011. At this time, a second colonoscopy will be scheduled. The doctor wants to check the size and form of this tumor. At this time we will also discuss treatment options depending on the outcome.

I also found out through Dr. Tune that endometriosis can also be found in the Colon if not removed properly… He does not think this is the case at all. However, during the colonoscopy after April, he is going to look for this as well. If Beaumont did not remove it all, then it could have started forming on my intestines as well as other organs. Please just say a prayer that all was taken care of. We have been made aware that due to the multiple abdominal surgeries I have had to endure; I stand a very high chance of surgeries at a later date because of scar tissue buildup throughout the abdominal and pelvic cavities. The scar tissue is already surrounding my colon and was not removed when my ovaries were. This may too be an issue. We will of course know more at a later date. The scar tissue can and will mock the same symptoms as the endometriosis I was diagnosed with a few years back. At this point, we are at a standstill and are praying for no more surgeries in the near future. I am not at all ready for anymore (not that anyone really ever is). I am just ready to get past everything and start living my life with Kevin and our kids.

As I know more, of course I will let you all know more. You all know how it goes. Everything with health and a lot in life is a waiting game. Patience is the key to it all. I am hoping to know more on April 13.

Just please, keep praying…..

Our First Two Weeks of 2011

Below are just random pictures that have been taken since the first of January. The first two weeks of this year have already kept us all incredibly busy. Kevin and I cannot wait until the days when we have a little downtime in our chaotic house of kids! Lol. One day that will happen and in return we will miss and long for these days that we are in now....

Caitlin and Destiny

Bre and Caitlin

Heather and I in my kitchen

Me with Destiny

Kev and Destiny

Kevin, me, Heather, and Marty

Bre

Caitlin is so photogenic

A whole mix of crazy kids

Nicholas with Kaylee and Karissa at McDonalds

♥Us♥ I love how he stoops down so he doesn't appear as tall next to me. Haha

Nic playing at McDonalds 

I think this one is way cute of us

Our Goofy Girls

Bre's Brave Day

What a busy day Breanna and I experienced yesterday! After about 3-4 hours of sleep, the two of us ended up waking up a little after 5am to get ready for Bre’s surgery. Kevin had to work the night prior, so he ended up staying home with Nicholas and also go Caitlin off to school. He did get up with us to see us out. I think that helped Breanna out as well. We left the house around 545 to start our journey to Beaumont. We checked in at 630 and began the waiting process. Why is it that they Army’s famous line of “Hurry up and Wait” must even play a vital role with the children? We sat in her room until a little after 10 before heading out to the OR triage room. Bre went into surgery around 11 and was out and in the OR recovery room by 1145.

Before the surgery she held herself together a little too well. She acted like it was no big deal. She had a room with another little girl, Caitlin is her name. She is seven. She went to the surgical floor before Bre. As soon as the nurse came into get her, she just broke into tears. It crushed me! She too had to undergo a tonsillectomy. Following her leaving, Breanna and I sat in the room for a good while longer waiting. She colored and watched her tv. We talked. She ended up getting pretty restless and tired of waiting. I can’t lie, so did I. Once we were on the surgical floor and in her triage area, Breanna just melted into tears, which you all know, broke my heart. I hate seeing any child cry, but especially my own. She told me that we needed to just go back upstairs, let her get dressed and leave. She didn’t want to go through with the surgery. I ended up putting the side of her bed down and crawling onto the bed with her. We sat there just talking. I explained to her why this procedure was necessary and how the first few days would suck. However, I also told her that she could have as much ice cream, popsicles, frozen yogurt, applesauce, and anything else that is soft that she wants. That seemed to help ease her fears a little. I also explained to her how much better she will start to feel in the weeks to come. The doctors and nurses were in and out of her area, asking her questions and explaining a lot of what all was going on. They had her take her inhaler again to help keep her airways open. Then the time came to take her back. This is when the tears really started to come. Of course, when they pulled her away, so did mine. It was such a long 45 minutes of waiting.

The surgery went without complications. She did great throughout it! Following her surgery, the doctor pulled me from the waiting room and explained to me all the details concerning the surgery and how her recovery should fall into place. When we reached the recovery area, Breanna was pretty loopy. She was fighting with the nurses, not wanting to be messed with at all, and being a total pain. Haha. When she realized I was standing there, she sat straight up, put her arms out, hugged me, and said “It is so good to see you again, Mom”. Lol, I could not help but to laugh at this comment. It had not even been an hour since we last saw each other. It was too cute and made me feel pretty good.  At another time she was almost asleep when she shot up and told me Caitlin is nothing but a liar. I asked her where this was coming from. She proceeded to tell me that Caitlin is a liar because Caitlin told her that she would wake up talking like this….. This ended up sounding like a dying frog. Needless to say, Bre had a voice. After about 15 minutes of sitting there she told me that she had to go to the bathroom. We had to call the nurses over, who told us that never before had they experienced a patient needing to urinate that soon after a surgery. Leave it to my child to pull this one! Lol. We had to get the head nurse to approve her getting up so soon after the procedure. Yes, she actually had to go! After that, she told the nurses she felt real sick to her stomach. They ended up having to give her phenegran. Which knocked her out! She was completely asleep when her eyes popped open; she looked at her left arm and asked, “Whoa. What is that? Take it out because it is hurting my hand”. Breanna had just taken notice of her IV. She kept trying to pull her IV out because she just didn’t want it in. Talk about a fight we all had on our hands until the morphine and phenegran finally hit her.  Then she slept for almost three hours. Typically they keep people in that area for about 45 minutes to an hour before sending them back to their room on the 6^th floor to be monitored for a few more hours there. As I said, we spent almost three hours in the OR recovery area. This happened because her oxygen levels stayed kind of low when she was asleep so they wanted to monitor her more there. A lot has to do with her asthma and lung development. She stayed between 88-92 on her own, so we had her hooked up to oxygen which kept her between 94-98 for the most part. Once she was able to start keeping her levels up on her own, we headed back to her room, where we sat for about another hour or so. She slept for the most part, except when the nurse came in and mentioned ice cream. 

As we were preparing to leave, Breanna asked me if we could still go to Hobby Lobby for some wooden dolls she wants to color. (She also sat up in the OR recovery area and asked me about this. She actually asked a few times.) She was dead set that we were going to Hobby Lobby. The nurses said if she felt up to it then there was no reason we couldn’t go in, but only for a few minutes. Of course, we stopped by for her to get a couple of the dolls. Following this, we headed home. Once at home, she took a few naps on the couch, which is where she slept all night. Except when I woke her up to take something for the pain before it got out of control.

Today she seems to be feeling okay. Bre is just in more pain than she was. We told her tomorrow will probably be the worst, which is typically is. Then by Monday, she will slowly start to feel better. She just needs to remain patient and take it easy. Of course, she loves the fact that she can eat as much ice cream as she wants! She sent me out for more ice cream last night. She has more popsicles than I really think she knows what to do with, as well as a frozen yogurt and applesauce. She made an attempt to eat mac and cheese last night, but learned she is just not ready for it yet. So, she went back to juice, water, and the easy things to eat!

Thank you for all the prayers, love and concern! We all truly appreciate it all. Breanna is doing great for all that she went through. She’s a strong little trooper! Thank you for all the text messages, phone calls, comments & emails on FB, and any other way you have been in touch throughout this! We love each of you and are very blessed to have you in our lives.

Before the surgery. We were waiting to go to the Surgical Floor

Before

Bre was getting irritated at this point & ready to get it over with. 

We were in the OR triage area... she was trying not to cry.

Trying to keep the tears from flowing...

She broke down and I felt so bad for her. This killed me.

So, I climbed onto the stretcher with her & we took pictures.

Saturday Clay-day

What a fun weekend the kids had! On Friday night Marty, Heather and all the kids came over. We hung out at the house eating pizza and just enjoying some downtime. The kids played video games, made potholders, and whatever else they found entertaining. Destiny and Carissa spent the night with the girls. They had their slumber party in the living room.

On Saturday morning we all woke up and had pancakes and oatmeal for breakfast. Have I mentioned that my husband makes the best pancakes ever? This is coming from a person who is not a big pancake eater! Later in the afternoon, after all the girls cleaned up their mess, we decided to experiment with a new art project! Breanna, Caitlin, Destiny, and I made out very own homemade modeling clay! We even broke out the food coloring to have a variety of colors for them. They all made things and had a blast! Nicholas refused to nap, so he jumped in and started his attempt in making dinosaurs and monster trucks. This is by far the cheapest art project and we had everything in the house! Flour, salt, water, and food coloring is all it takes! It dries better and quicker than the store bought clay. At the end of this, Caitlin has decided she wants to make more for her birthday as an activity the kids can do. I think they'll enjoy it! Oh, and it's nontoxic....just real salty. Just an FYI incase any parents want to make it.

It's 2.5 cups of flour, one cup of water, one cup of salt, and food coloring to your desired color. The food coloring needs to be added before all ingredients are mixed. Once it is moist, take it away from the mixer and knead with your hands. It dries in a matter of hours! It is a wonderful project on a rainy day!

























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Location:Biddle House

Dino-Bath

If I took pictures of my son playing with his cars or in the bath (like the one I'm sharing with everyone) or anything else, you would have no other choice but to agree with me.... I think my son is OCD like his mom! This is no joke. He has to line his toys up perfectly while he is playing and if you even scoot one a quarter of an inch, he freaks! He'll ask you nicely to please not move them, then if you continue, he will get made and probably yell. The yelling part is just him being a three year old.

I walked into his room tonight and he had all of his books lined perfects along his floor and his cars in a line as well....

The dinosaur picture was taken a few nights ago. Note to anyone who may watch him, never push a dinosaur into the bathtub when he has them lined up on the edge... Just a warning in advance. 

- Posted using BlogPress from Britt's iPhone

Location:Biddle House