Holy molly, what a summer it has been. I can not believe that it is almost over... and I am not even a teacher anymore! In June I made a list of all the wonderful, fun things were were going to do this summer... and I can say we have only done about half of them, time just got away from us. We have had so many adventures this summer that I have wanted to talk about, but no time to tell me stories. So here is a recap of our craziness.
*Summer started with our awesome trip to Key West.
*When we returned from vacation, I had two really busy weeks at work trying to make up for taking the week off. I worked 4 jobs and Mike worked 2 this summer... so anytime we had time off the following weeks were a little extra busy.
*July 21 and 22 we went to Annapolis to visit my college roommate for her son's first birthday party. I was off from work the following week, so I thought it was a great start to a week I was going to spend doing fun things with Ryan. It was a great visit, but ended with a twist.
*On the way home from Annapolis I started getting a weird pain in my back. By time we got into New Jersey the pain wrapped from my back, around under my ribs, to my stomach. We were still an hour away from home and I felt like I was going to die! My whole body was in spasm, I was having awful contraction like pains, and I couldn't breath. I really felt like it was a heart attack. I knew I couldn't make it home, so we typed Emergency Room into the GPS. To make a long story short, I ended up being admitted into the hospital and stayed there for 6 days. I took them from Sunday-Wednesday to figure out what was wrong. I had ultra sounds, MRI's, x-rays, blood test, a hida scan (worst experience of my entire life... by far worse than labor!), and an endoscope. They tested pretty much every organ in my stomach area, back, lungs, etc. The problem was, the pain continued but none of the tests showed anything wrong. By Wednesday, after several consults with different Docs and Surgeons, we finally decided that based on my symptoms it was my gallbladder. Thursday I had the surgery and was finally discharged on Friday. Luckily the doctors was right and when they took out my gallbladder it was inflamed and filled with a crystal substance that was causing problems. It was such a hard week being so sick, far away from home, and away from my baby. Luckily my mother in law was able to take care of him for the week and Mike and my mom came to spend most afternoons and nights with me at the hospital. It was pretty nuts.
*The following week I spent recovering from surgery. I still had to watch what I ate, was super weak and fatigued, I couldn't lift/push/pull anything, no driving, and lots of rest. Well all of those rules are pretty hard to follow when you have a toddler. Basically I was not able to be home alone with Ryan at all. Since Mike already took time off when I was in the hospital, I needed to find other people to help me all week. Thank God for friends and family who all took time helping me with Ryan and helping me recover. The light at the end of the tunnel was that we were leaving for another vacation that following weekend.
*The first week of August we went to the OBX with the Arzonicos and the Eberhardts. It was the perfect week, lots of sun, beach, pool, and relaxation. The kids loved having play buddies all week, the adults loved not having anything to do... it was awesome. We have decided to make this family vacation an annual trip and we are already looking forward to next year. I'll probably post something else about the trip so I can add pictures.
*When we returned from vacation, I was determined to make the most of the summer. Up until this point we did not have a single normal week. I can't complain because we did go on two great vacations, but in the hecticness of our lives we really had not enjoyed summer. We had 3 weeks and they needed to be great.
*Of course it was not that simple. On Monday night after vacation, I came home from work to a very sick Ryan. He had a 104 fever and was super cranky. The fever stayed high all night and he woke up the next morning even worse. He was so lethargic, and just whining and crying, and he wouldn't eat anything. I did end up taking him to the doctor. He definitely had a virus, and the Dr. believes it was Coxsacky. That afternoon was so sad, he literally layed on my chest in and out of sleep for hours. This boy never sits still for a full minute, never mind hours. He had such a sad, pitiful look on his face and he was just plain miserable. By Wednesday the fever was a little bit lower and he was coming back to life a little bit. But then on Thursday, he woke up covered in a rash all over his body. He still wasn't eating really, but was starting to seem better. I would say by Saturday he was back to normal. Bottom line, I am glad he is feeling better but disappointed that we missed another week of summer.
*So pretty much that brings us up to the last week or so. I have been packing in activities. We went to the beach, Blue Claws game, the park, Popcorn Park Zoo, story time at the library, swam in the pool, and we are planning a BBQ for Saturday afternoon. In addition, I have been working my butt off... the last few weeks of summer are the busiest of the year with all the back to school hair cuts!
That was our summer in a nutshell. Lots of unexpected events, but overall we made the most of it. I am actually looking forward to September, still have some warm weather so hopefully we can do a few more things from our summer fun list. Plus its time to start planning my favorite fall activities... apple picking, pumpkin carving, my 30th birthday, friends Thanksgiving...bring it on!
