Back Home!

We are finally back home.  Man, how glad am I to see this silly face again!

She is, for sure, glad to see us.  She was a little clingy today. As well as, testing her boundaries again or maybe she was seeking extra attention. But, whatever, I was glad to be able to give it to her again.

 Mr. Cool here also loved seeing his big sister again.  The last night in the hospital, I showed him some videos on the computer of him and his sister. Immediately, he began whimpering and stroking the computer. He missed her so much. I was hoping the videos would make him happy...but it, for sure, had the opposite effect.

They, really, couldn't get enough of each other.  They even had a sweet lil' kiss. I will have to show them this picture in 10 years when they can't stand each other. I will make sure to remind them of how much they missed each other when separated these past 4 days.

Today we basically stuck around the house. Owen and Bethany played with the balloons and toys his aunt and uncle and cousins got him.  These balloons for a great hit!

They went from toy to toy playing, spending quite a bit of time in their sunglasses.

The amazing neighbors on our street has organized a meal-drop.  I totally don't feel worthy of such of an expression of compassion and charity.  They are totally amazing and thoughtful people. Their charity is just overwhelming. I am so glad we moved here four years ago!

Tonight's dinner was awesome.  Owen loved the taters and corn the best! He was even spoon feeding himself.  Plus the fried chicken was amazing. Seriously, who knows how to fry their own chicken breasts these days.  I am thinking that Miss Becky might be able to put KFC out of business.

                                       

Overall, the four of us are doing pretty good. I will have to tell you, that this has been the longest week of my life. I still can't believe all that Owen has been through. I've asked a lot of questions at the hospital about exactly how some aspects of the surgery went down and when I heard what this boy has been through. With what those doctors did to his head...I am amazed. I am simply amazed that Owen has recovered so fast.

This week has housed the both the absolute worst day of my life and one of the best moments of my life. It was a complete whirl wind of emotions that are still trying at times. 

Seeing Owen in the ICU, moaning and moaning. Calling out my name. That was the lowest. The lowest I have ever been. It was hard to see him suffer so much. To see him uncertain, afraid and in pain. That was just the worst thing I've ever had to deal with. I don't know how people deal with that on a daily basis with their children's health failing.  That was miserable. I don't know how God deals with that on a daily basis. We are all his children...and millions of people are suffering everyday.  I just know that with prayer...we made it through that day.

Owen recovered pretty fast and his need for the morphine was over before we knew it.  I just hope we don't ever have to see our kids suffer as much as Owen did while he was recovering.  Once he continued to do better with his pain, we had to combat his swelling. The swelling brought me to another low. It wasn't as difficult to see that as it was to see his pain.  But it was difficult to see him so scared and so angry.  He was just plain mad when he couldn't see.  But the horrible swelling that was supposed to leave him without his vision for at least a full day went away within hours. That is one thing that I can only attribute to the hundreds of prayers being said for our family.  God was certainly listening to all of the out pours of prayers. How amazing!

Once Owen's vision came back, he started to be less frustrated and more complacent. This leads to one of the best moments of my life.  The Mommy/Son picnic we had on the Day 3 of the hospital was amazing. Owen sat on the floor of his hospital room.  He played with the toys that were delivered to him earlier in the day.  Then his food arrived. He devoured those pancakes as if he were preparing for the next All-You-Can-Eat-Pancake-Contest.  He even tried to pull up on my shoulder.  That was the first time he stood in three days.

At that time, it became clear that he was better. He wasn't suffering nearly as much physically. It was clear that even emotionally he was better. He allowed himself to get down and start acting like a normal kid.  When we played and he ate, I sat in awe. I soaked in every moment of that significant turn around.  I felt blessed that God was feeling our son.  There are hundreds of children in that hospital and our son was being healed.  While I don't feel worthy of that, I can and do fully appreciate God's hand in Owen's recovery.

So we are now home. We are working on getting thing back to normal. While I feel like I have always been grateful for my children. I know many people that have struggled to have children or people who have lost children.  I never tried to take either one for granted. But after our stint in the hospital...I am just so grateful that that these two have been placed in our lives.   I don't ever want to take one day, one hour or one second of them for granted.  They are just too precious....And I thank God for placing them in our lives.