Meme's home!

Thurdsday evening, Meme came home from the hospital after being there for one month and one day. They still have the same diagnosis that they gave her the second day of being in the hospital--gastroparesis (here's a little info about it:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gastroparesis/DS00612 ) but she still feels awful and is having a hard time eating. The doctors say that they have literally exhausted their minds and run so many tests to try to figure out if it was anything else, but all tests are coming back normal and they just don't know. Hmmmm? We are baffled, she is confused, and the doctor's don't seem to have any more answers. They sent her home with the IVs for nutrition and she has a nurse visiting daily to help with that and to take her vitals and report them back to her doctor. She is still in much need of prayers. While in the hospital, she gained about 13 Lbs. but then lost a few before she left to come home. We are hoping more weight will be put on in time. We also pray for her heart. It's been acting a little abnormally--beating irregularly. Prior to coming home, she was moved to the Heart Pavilion because of the abnormal beating. We are hoping and praying that God will take care of her. Here are a few pictures of her, Hudson, and I, a few days before she came home.

Three Peaches in Beaverdam

My Mom's girlfriend, Kennon, was visiting this past week from Hollywood and had us all over to her sister, Billie's house for a BBQ on Sunday night *Billie lives in Beaverdam...near our house out here in Hanover.* Billie's house was filled with all kinds of cool, eclectic art, antique furniture, fun old Barbies...and just all around, way awesome stuff---sorta like a sweet museum with all the things I like :o). She is an artist herself and lots of the art work around her home is her own and close friends of hers. She also has her own *AMAZING* art studio there. Totally radical...and I can only hope to have my own "little spot of heaven" to create some art one day.

Her daughter, Edie, really took a liking to Ansleigh and Hudson. She took A into zeee Studio to make this cute little jewelry box, they watched Cinderella together (ummm, Ansleigh's FAV), swung on the swing set...she was just the sweetest thing. So much fun. Of course, it was great seeing Kennon...it's been way too long. She was JUST the same---fun, fun, fun.

As I was leaving, I told Billie how much I enjoyed looking at all of her art, but I especially loved that "peach picture" that was hanging out in the studio. She said, "Well then...It's yours". Ok. I have GOT to be the luckiest person ever. I couldn't believe she just GAVE it to me. I was SO thrilled...I went to Ben Franklin on Monday to have it framed. Even luckier, it wasn't suppose to be ready until August 27th...and guess who got a call today saying it was ready. Oh yeah...oh yeah...happy dance....happy dance.

Cousins

You sure would think they are laughing at something funny. Let me think. Like maybe two crazy Mom's going, "Ahhh Booo.....duka duka duka doooooo". Seriously, wouldn't it be awesome to know what they are thinking. Crazy they say...just crazy. Our cute little loons...

Hudson and Capri....aka-Huddy Buddy and Cousin Capritus Louiseee.

Capri putting the smack down...and Hudson thinking it's funny:

Whoa.

In my attempts to get our blog updated (since I'm about a month behind), I'm uploading pictures and what not, only to realize that my computer has run out of space. That means, I really DO take too many pictures and never delete the bad ones. Eeek. Once I do get this thing up and running, I'll have pictures from Nanna's trip to Virginia and our Sandbridge Beach trip with my family---all the funness in the world...about to be blogged, right here...as soon as Roy buys us some more memory.

Well, while I was sitting here trying to figure out why the darn pictures wouldn't upload, I wasn't paying attention to Hudson, Master suction dude, who successfully just gave me a hicky on my forearm (I would take a picture if my camera battery wasn't dead from the 1146 pictures I took at the beach...and if my computer would actually accept the pictures)...and I have a bite mark---that's when I realized what he was doing. (From his NEW, and third, tooth. ) Wow. A hicky and a bite mark. So, if you see me, and you see this "arm hicky", it was from Hudson...or I could just blame it on the curling iron, which I don't use.

Somewhat amusing....

Slash grosh.

Tonight, Roy went to the bathroom (a little personal, yes...and he may just kill me for blogging this...but I'll take my chances because it's too funny not to...) anyways, while we're getting personal here, it was numero dos. Ansleigh walks in and says, "Eeeeeuuuhhhh. That looks like a taco". Roy said, "??? A Taco ??? Where'd you see a taco that looks like that??". Her response--- "Wal Mart".

Yes, that's MY child. Roy said, "Just remind me not to buy tacos from Wal Mart". As if he would ever need "reminding" after that.

Hospital, again?

Seriously? So, Meme's at the hospital now. She went in last Wednesday after she had an endoscopy, and the doctor recommended she be hospitalized after they noticed that the camera from the endoscopy sat in her belly for 4 hours (which it's not suppose to do). They also want to figure out why it's so uncomfortable for her to eat and why it makes her feel so sick, and they need to to gain some weight. Well, never did I ever think I'd see my Meme *(or anyone at that matter)* and say, "WOW! You look great...how much weight have you put on!!!" Hahaha. She has a pick line, sorta like an IV, and it's giving her, what I like to call, "fat drippings" or her "milkshake". And let me tell ya, it's working. Well, she's up 10 Lbs. and now weighing in at 99 Lbs. She looks so much healthier and seems to have more energy too. They are running a million-kajillion tests, just trying to figure out what's going on. The tests are taking a bit of time, but we're being patient and hopefully we'll know something soon! Initally, they were going to take her gall bladder out once she gained more weight and "could" have surgery but now, they are just wanting to make sure they have exhausted all possibilities of what could be going on and make sure the gall bladder is IT. We are looking at it as a blessing. Please say a little prayer for her...or a big prayer and lots of them! She's had a tough few weeks with loosing Papa and now, with her own health. We're glad she's there and getting better.

Hospital and my family--so, what's the correlation there? I've joked recently about it, but seriously, we're regulars. I mean, I KNOW people. Haha--not really. Today, when I went in to see Meme, my cousin Joe and his wife, Angel, were in the room visiting. He's been having some pains in his chest and wasn't sure what was going on, so he went to the ER...when he got to Henrico Doctor's one of the ladies said, "Baldacci??, any relation to Gladys Baldacci??" He didn't even know she was there?! And I forgot to mention, when Meme was in admissions, the sweet lady behind the counter said, "Baldacci??, any relation to Edward Baldacci??" She said she knew Papa, and that his obituary was being passed around the hospital because he was a "frequent" there and so well liked. :o( Oh, I'm "blog rambling" sorry. And one more thing...while praying, please say a little prayer for my cousin Joe Baldacci too :o)

And just a few more pictures...what the heck...while, I'm mumbling off into oblivian.

Like Momma, like Hudson:

Our first bruiser

A good Mom, you say?

I was on the phone with my girlfriend, sorting through Ansleigh's and Hudson's clothes when I saw Ansleigh coming around the bend, like a bat out of..., and just about then, she tripped, and like a scene out of a movie, I leaped to grab her, only to miss. Pretty much, it was the worst thing ever. Probably even worse, I saw the whole thing happen--never good--because if you SEE it happen, you somehow think you could have prevented it from happening, since you were there, of course. I seriously thought her brains were protruding from her skull *see picture*, but hadn't broken skin. So, Momma called the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkeys running fast in the house with last year's Santa outfit on.

***(I was going through Ansleigh's closet and I was trying to pack some old things away--kinda didn't get done in the move, anyways, PLUS every time I try to pack away this Santa outfit, she pulls it out and puts it on--so that's the story behind the Santa outfit in July.)

So I took the picture because I knew no one would believe how bad it really was. The first question the doctor's office asked was: Was there an instant bruise? YESSS! Little did I know, that's good! It means it's on the surface. If your child takes a bad fall and there isn't an instant bruise, that's when you need to be worried. Hmmmm? Didn't know that! After icing it down, it started to look a ton better. Seriously, what's next in the Toone household?

Right afterwards the movie scene trip, me freaking out, and me running around in a panic trying to get a baggie of ice, call Roy, then the doctor, and find the camera (oh, to have been a fly on the wall....):

And my sweet angel after the ice did it's magic (seriously, ice is way underestimated...totally magical):

Later that night, drinking some milk (like Santa) and rubbing her tummy (like Santa), while wearing a "3/4 length shirt" and "capri" pants, Santa style--size 2T. We are all better now (Mom too, for those of you who may have been worried about my heart...stopping).