More catch-up...

My grandfather whom I love more than anything on this planet, Sweepie, had triple heart bypass surgery a couple of weeks ago, after going in to the ER for an EKG when he noticed he was having an irregular heartbeat.  That turned out to be PVC, but the EKG showed what could've been some arterial blockage, so they decided to do a heart cath to be sure.  There ended up being three blockages - one pretty major, and the other two problematic but not too terrible - so they scheduled him for triple bypass, after determining that the major blockage couldn't be fixed by a stent.  The surgery went very well, and the doctors said he was doing great for a patient his age (he turned 82 in April), but then he started having stomach pain.  At first it looked like they were going to need to do laproscopic surgery and possibly remove part of the intestine (because they thought part of it may have stopped getting bloodflow altogether, in which case the tissue would've died), which would have been really dangerous for him.  But, they did some type of scan first, and they found out that one of the arteries going to his intestines was really calcified - something that's likely been building up for a while, and may be at the root of a lot of his digestive issues over the last few years.  So, they were able to go in and stent that calcified artery and get his intestines the proper bloodflow again.  In fact, the doctor said once he heals completely from the heart surgery and from being in the hospital for so long, he'll probably feel like a new man! 

He's home now and recovering slowly.  My stepdad and mom have been staying at my grandparents' house, because my grandmother is still working on regaining her full strength since going through chemo and radiation for breast cancer, so she's not able to help him get up in the middle of the night, or do many of the household things he's always taken care of.  He is still feeling sort of confused when he wakes up in the middle of the night, so they need someone there to help him.  Wesley's also taking care of the lawn, grocery shopping, etc.  It's during times like these that everyone is so grateful that our family all lives fairly close by!  I mean, Mama and Shannon are in Austin, but they have the flexibility with their jobs to come and stay here for as long as they need to.  It's also kind of perfect that, if this had to happen, it happened right at the beginning of summer, so Mama and Shannon don't have to worry about taking their girls to school, or, for Mama, having to take time off suddenly from her job at the school.  The universe really takes care of us. :-)

Josh and I can't wait to go see him, but we're waiting a while longer, until he's stronger and ready for company.  He and Grandmommy are home bodies and pretty much just prefer the company of one another, and the comfort of their routine.  They need to get that familiar feeling back before we all go crowding their house and showering them with love and affection. :-)  That's OUR need to fulfill, not theirs, so it can wait.

Catching Up

I haven't posted anything since January!  Ridiculous. 

Me: Getting ready for our Whole Foods to close and for the new Addison store to open.  Re-focusing on going to school and preparing to sit for the IBLCE boards next summer.  Dreaming about my future lactation consulting practice.  Learning some things about myself and my needs as a parent.  I joined an Attachment Parenting Meetup group, and can't wait for the first get-together next month.  The topic is attachment parenting your 5-to-12-year-old, which is right up my alley, and SO appropos for me right now, and the reason I wanted to find an AP group in the first place.  Now that we've "aged out" of La Leche League (except, of course, I still love being a leader), I have been on the hunt for a new tribe. 

Josh: Getting his skateboard business off the ground.  Also getting ready for our store to relocate to Addison.  Preparing for a trip to Montana at the first of June to help his other sister (they keep abandoning us ;-) ) and her boyfriend move.  Exciting things on the horizon with the business; he has the name and logo picked out.

Micah: Has her first gymnastics meet coming up at the end of May (this is a first for us, but I'm equating it with the ballet recitals Naomi and I participated in when we were kids), and is turning 8 on Tuesday!  WHAT?  Finishing up 2nd grade, loves reading, gymnastics, playing outside with neighborhood kids, playing inside with her Barbies and dolls, and has lost six teeth now. 

Rowan: Finishing up pre-k with some fun spirit day activities from now until the last day (June 6), including a day when he gets to dress up like what he wants to be when he grows up.  He chose policeman.  Pics to come!  Is about to re-start Kung-fu, loves drawing, playing outside with his big sister, and can't wait to go to kindergarten next year and be at the same school as Micah!

2012 held some pretty rough spots for our family.  Josh's mother passed in July, and his grandmother passed right after we got back from Josh's twin sister Jill's senior art show at MSU last month.  It is just so sad.  She was in her mid-eighties and had lived a long life, but it happened so suddenly that no one got to say goodbye.  I had a special connection with her and will miss her terribly.  It is just extremely rough for this to come so closely on the heels of the death of Josh's mom.  Josh and all his siblings are still reeling from that loss, and really can't cope with much more right now.  Life can be so hard.  But it's really beautiful at the same time.

We had a lovely Christmas this year.  Josh got a gift card to Asel Art Supply, I got some beautiful new clothes and some books, and the kids each got new outdoor rides (a new bike for Micah, and a scooter AND a new bike for Rowan), some games, and fun toys.  Last year our artificial tree broke as we were dismantling it (in *cough* February), so, since we couldn't afford a new one, this year it looked like we were just going to go treeless.  I've always longed for a real tree, but we always assumed it would agitate Josh and Micah's allergies.  Well, this year we tried a little 3 ft. Fraser Fir from work, and it was perfect.  It looked so quaint and beautiful, and neither Josh nor Micah had any allergy problems with it being in the house.  Yay!!  Maybe we'll get the same thing next year!

The kids enjoyed their Christmas break and are back at school now.  Micah has made nothing but straight A's so far this year!  I have been so pleased with how little homework she has, but am pretty sure that will change next year.  Rowan loves his class and his teacher, but has a hard time leaving us some mornings.  Josh and I can't believe he'll be starting Kindergarten in seven months.  He's really excited about being walked to his classroom by his big sister next year.  Micah wants to go horseback riding for her 8th birthday, and Rowan wants his 6th celebration to be at Chuck E. Cheese.

We are awaiting our transfer to the new Addison Whole Foods sometime this year!  I'm still working towards sitting for the IBLCE, and Josh and two partners have started an art collective and hope to be making and selling a product soon.

Here's to a nice, fun, peaceful 2013!