
C had so much fun playing with Dada last weekend, but all of that fun is exhausting!

C had so much fun playing with Dada last weekend, but all of that fun is exhausting!
These two crack me up – as you’ll hear in the video! Hubster was using some…interesting Elmo and Abby voices while reading C a story, and I was dying of laughter.

*giggle*

My running, blurry boys were having so much fun! Dada shimmied into C’s tunnel and they chased each other around the apartment. So. Much. Laughter.
On Monday, I quickly mentioned that Hubster was in the hospital. It kind of turned into a long, emotionally exhausting week. I wanted to share it with you all, since I didn’t post this morning like I normally do. Also, because I’ve been through the ringer this week emotionally and I survived – and I’m so proud to say that I have.
Remember how Hubster had emergency gallbladder surgery a couple days before Christmas? Well, it turns out that a few stones had escaped his gallbladder and were hanging out in his common bile duct in his liver…waiting for the right time to wreak havoc on him. When Hubster came home from work last Thursday and told me he wasn’t going to a meeting that night, I knew he wasn’t feeling well. Hubster is kind of a workaholic dedicated employee.
He went to work on Friday, but on Saturday he really wasn’t doing well. In fact, he skipped dinner on Saturday night because he was experiencing pain that was “eerily similar” to what he felt with his gallbladder issues. On Sunday, he looked pretty bad. He made it through church like a trooper, but by the afternoon he was dragging around and lying on the couch. I told him he needed to call a doctor. He was just NOT okay.
They told him to go to the ER, and he was admitted. He spent Sunday and Monday night in the hospital. During that time, they did an endoscopy, in which they put a scope down his mouth all the way to his liver to confirm that there were stones stuck in his bile duct. They inserted a stent to widen the space for any stones to pass through. He’ll go back in to have that removed in a month. He was able to come home on Tuesday morning. He looked yellow from jaundice, but his numbers were going down appropriately.
Waiting around at home with C during all of this was incredibly difficult. I desperately wanted to be in two places at once. It’s one thing to be waiting in the hospital, but waiting at home with no word for hours on end is an entirely different animal. I kept myself busy with C (and with a couple neurotic cleaning sprees) and somehow kept it together. I almost lost it a couple times.
On top of that, C started acting out a lot because he sensed that something was wrong. Our upstairs neighbor was up around 5am each morning, which meant that I was awake that early too because she’s an obnoxiously loud walker. When I tried to nap during the day, she was blasting her music.
I was sleep deprived. Stressed to the max. Emotionally exhausted. Solo parenting. But I didn’t lose it. I’m pregnant with a history of PPA and PPD, but I didn’t lose it. I am so relieved and proud of myself. I want to sleep for a week, but I’m not losing my mind.
Thank God.
Then this morning, I had to take Hubster back to the ER. He nearly blacked out in the shower. His heart rate was very high when he was admitted, but everything came back normal – an EKG, labs, x-rays and even a CT scan to check for a blood clot in his lung (he was experiencing shortness of breath). He was severely dehydrated, but okay.
Thank God.
I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I’ve reached a new level of exhaustion. And with that, I am going to make this my last post until Monday. I need a few days to get as much rest as I can and just regroup.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you again on Monday!

Hubster wanted a new tv for his upcoming birthday! Our 4-year-old 42″ tv now turns off randomly, and we weren’t sure if it would make it until Black Friday. We picked the next best week to buy – the week before the Super Bowl! Happy Birthday Hubster!
We had grand plans for the weekend before Christmas, including visiting both of our families and seeing our niece’s baptism. We made it to the celebration with Hubster’s extended family, and C had a great time with his cousins.

C kept wanting his 4-year-old cousin to pick him up. ![]()
Naturally, C busied himself by playing with various doors throughout the day.
Later that evening, C stayed with his nana while Hubster and I went out to dinner to catch up with two of our fantastic college friends. We hadn’t seen them since they got married in June! I didn’t take a picture, but here’s one of the four of us from a few years ago.

Love them!
Hubster ended up having a horrible, sleepless night filled with severe abdominal pain. On Sunday morning, I dropped C off with my parents and we drove two hours back home to take him to the ER. Normally, I love our insurance coverage, but the fact that it didn’t cover anything in the area we were visiting was not helpful. Gotta love HMOs…
We arrived at the hospital at 12:30pm. Hubster was given a room in the ER at 1:30, and then we waited until 5:00 for him to have an ultrasound of his abdomen. Shortly after that, we discovered that his gallbladder was infected, inflamed and filled with gallstones. He would require surgery to remove it that night.

It was hard to see him like this.
It was 6:30pm by the time he was wheeled to the OR prep. I was able to stay with him until about 7:00, when he was wheeled off to surgery.
I almost broke down when he was being wheeled off, but quickly busied myself with finding food. I hadn’t eaten since before noon and could tell my blood sugar was quite low. I ended up with a delightful vending machine dinner, since the cafeteria had already closed.
The waiting room was quiet and dark. Except for me, there was only one other person occupying it. I chose my own side of the room, made some phone calls, sent some text messages and waited in the quietness.

I didn’t feel very Christmas-cheer-like, despite their best efforts.
I had been completely fine emotionally throughout the day. I was in “go” mode and didn’t take time to process anything. But sitting in the quiet, waiting for the surgeon to come out to tell me my husband, father of my son, and father of my baby-to-be was okay…that was tough. At that moment, I wished I wasn’t 2+ hours from family. I wouldn’t have wanted them to make that long drive, but at the same time, I don’t know what I would have done…

Wearing Hubster’s ring while he was in surgery.

Crappy vending machine salad, darkness, quiet waiting.
I’ll let that thought go. Because the surgeon did come out after 30 minutes to tell me that the surgery was very successful. They were able to remove his gallbladder laparoscopically, so his recovery time would be quick. In fact, he would be able to come home that night!
After an hour, I was able to see him. It was about 9:00 when he got his own room, and shortly after that, he was drinking, eating a popsicle and walking. We made it home at midnight on Christmas Eve.
Our last couple days have been quiet, filled with thankfulness and recovery time. I’m so relieved that Hubster is recovering well and should be feeling much better without that pesky gallbladder.
I hope that your Christmas was a little less eventful than ours!
Hubster had a BRILLIANT idea this weekend. After we ran errands, we picked up some dinner and took it to a park so that C could run around and enjoy the outdoors.
C had a lot of fun running around, but it was pretty chilly. He kept walking over to the car, so we decided to pack up early since he wanted to leave. Poor kiddo!
I’ve been pretty MIA in social media this week, and I’m going to keep things short and sweet here as well. I came down with C’s cold over the weekend and I’m still feeling miserable. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that this won’t turn into a sinus infection, because my sinuses are killing me.
Hubster is such a sweetheart, though. I woke up to find this yesterday morning along with a note wishing that I feel better soon.
Hubster got his first full-time professional paycheck last week! I’m so proud of him for all the hard work and dedication that he put in to get to where we are now. I’m so thankful for his support and trust in me that I could make these past two years work for us financially (not that we had much of a choice, because daycare was so flippin’ expensive). It wasn’t easy living off of a grad assistant’s income, letmetellya!
Anyway, he decided that he really, really, really, really wanted a Mr. Coffee frappe maker. And me being the doting, appreciative wife that I am, despite wondering if this would be a frivolous appliance, decided to say, “Yes dearest Hubster, you may get your Mr. Coffee frappe maker that you so desire.”
I’m a pretty awesome wife, huh? I’d like to think so.
So the beloved frappe maker arrived this week and Hubster tore into that box with tremendous glee. It was pretty funny, actually.
It’s a longstanding tradition that Hubster’s extended family spends a week on vacation at a camping resort. I went with him a couple of times, but his work schedule has kept him from going the past few years. He was excited to find out that his schedule here doesn’t get crazy until next week, so he was free to take a vacation day and spend a long weekend there.
Now, I make no secret of the fact that camping is NOT my thing. I don’t like dirt; I don’t like heat; I don’t like bugs; I don’t like sweating unless I’m exercising. I’m very partial to a private bathroom and shower, and not one of the camper variety. I’d rather stay home and get some stuff done.
Anyway, I was not into going camping, but told Hubster that he was more than welcome to go and take C with him. I know how much he loves it and treasures those memories, and I wouldn’t want to keep him from sharing that with C. So that’s where they went for the weekend.
Hubster texted me a picture every now and then. I loved seeing what they were up to, but it was also sad because I missed them! Here are some snapshots from their weekend:
C loves his dada so much, and it makes my heart smile. Every time he hears the door to our apartment hallway open/close during the day, he looks up at me, smiles big and says, “Dada?!” It breaks my heart when I have to tell him that Dada won’t be home until dinner time. (Please excuse the grainy iPhone pic. I thought it was too cute to delete!)