Summertime...

and it's about time to update this! I've got a bunch of pictures to go with also so they'll do some of the talking... We started the summer with BB turning 8 years old and a backyard birthday party before we moved from our other neighborhood and before a bunch of friends moved on also. Then both BB and BG played soccer and they both enjoyed it for the first few games and then BG lost interest... We ended up missing the last couple of games because one or both of them was sick and then we moved and it was too much to do. I'm a terrible soccer mom... and I hate bringing snack too! Anyway, on to moving into our brand new house and trying to get everything unpacked before we headed to Ocean City, NJ for a week at the beach. Not everything got done, but we had a great time at the beach or the shore as it's called here on the East coast. We got to spend some time with the Adams side of the family, playing with cousins and fishing with Pop-pop and J and I even got a night out in Atlantic City while the kids stayed at Aunt Vicky's (or as LG says, Aunt Wicky). We had a great time in our rented house which was about a block from the beach and the start of the boardwalk. The weather was wonderful, the ocean just cold enough and the food was fabulous. Cheesesteaks and pizza and fresh donuts in the morning. We had a great deli and ice cream shop just around the corner. Yes, I gained a couple of pounds back... Anyway, it was the perfect relaxing vacation without a lot of demands to go see and do stuff and just what we needed to spend some time together just being.

It seems the past few years it wouldn't be summertime in our house if I didn't spend at least a few days in the hospital... I had time to reflect on that as I was laying in the hospital the last 5 days with blood clots in my lungs and leg. Not really my idea of a great vacation but here's how it went down: the end of May I was having issues with allergies/sinus infections and I also had an unexplained cramp in my leg, so I went to my Dr and told her about it and that I was also periodically coughing up blood with the mucus. So she prescribed an antibiotic for the sinus infection and sent me for an ultrasound on my leg to rule out a blood clot which came back negative for a blood clot. Shortly after I finished my antibiotics I started walking again and was having a hard time breathing when I exercised. Then we moved and I was still having difficulty breathing during exertion and thought it was just because of allergy stuff still going on. We went on vacation and when we got back the drainage in my throat was worse again and I was coughing blood still so I went back to the Dr and saw the Nurse Practitioner who prescribed me some more allergy medicine and told me the shortness of breath and blood was from the mucus buildup at the top of my windpipe. About a week later (last Wed) I was hanging some flowerpots and I got down from the chair and moved it and all the sudden I couldn't breath. I made it in the house and BB got J and I was on the floor almost passed out but recovered pretty quickly. Scared me, but we still were thinking it's allergy related or maybe I was developing asthma from that. So the next day I was really tired and weak and my leg started hurting that evening and by the next morning I had a painful knot in my leg and decided it was time to go to the ER! So, turns out I had a blood clot in my leg and a whole bunch of little ones in both my lungs. They started me on blood thinners (heperin) and coumadin and kept me there until today when the levels of coumadin in my blood reached the 'right' levels. So there's my drama for the summer. Really, I would love to skip it this year...

J did a great job keeping the kids happy the last few days and the kids did a great job not giving daddy too hard a time! When they picked me up today, both LB and LG said they wanted to go to the doctor with mommy, so it's going to be tough getting out of their sight anytime soon! And it was great listening to BB describe life with daddy: "you have to do this and this and this before you can play outside!" Anyway, the next couple of weeks will be busy with daily blood tests for a while and switching to a new primary care manager because I'm a bit distressed that my doctors didn't recognize the signs of a potentially life threatening condition. Anyway, thanking God for his constant mercy and blessings towards me and my family and also thankful for the wonderful friends and family I've been blessed with.