Tuesday, February 11, 2014

10 Weeks at home.....together

I know, that sounds like the start of a terrible horror movie. And believe me, I almost thought it would be horrible. But it turns out we like each other a lot more than I thought. 

These 10 weeks at home together with Anthony after his transplant have been such a blessing to our little family. We have enjoyed more time just being together than we ever have before. Anthony got to enjoy plenty of quality time with each of the kids, not just the 2 hours he sees them after work and before bed. What a difference that makes. To him, and to them. Anthony and Aspen really bonded, and he got to learn even more about Lincoln's amazing personality. They truly are amazing little people.

The best part of this has been Anthony's new appreciation for me...the stay at home mom. Before he would come home and look around the house in it's messy, and usual, state and make off-handed comments like, "What did you do all day?" These ten weeks have truly opened his eyes to the amount of things that we do on a daily basis, me and the kids. Moms aren't just moms. We are teachers, doctors, nurses, mediators, referees, short-order cooks, maids, playmates, wives, women, and mommies. There is no free time to sit down. We don't just spend the day lounging in our PJs in front of the TV. Ok, many days are spent in our PJs but that's just because they're comfy! We're definitely not in front of the TV, ever! No time for that!

Anthony now comes home and is more appreciative of me, and what I give to, and for, the children. He says thank you more often for the meals I cook. He understands how tired I really am after a long, hard day of screaming children and he offers to bring home dinner so I don't have to do one.more.thing. He calls at lunch to check up on me to make sure the morning is going smoothly, or offer condolences when it's not. Then he rushes home to love on the kids so I can get a break. Nothing will heal, help, and support your marriage than when your husband appreciates all the little things you do, day after day. It's amazing what just this time at home as done for our family. We're nicer to each other, we respect each other just a little more, and we have a greater understanding of what it's like to spend quality time together. 

We did tons of fun stuff while Anthony was home with us. Here is a VERY short, and VERY abbreviated list:

We went to Christmas parades.


We saw Santa!



We went to Boone.


We went to Gatlinburg, TN with the kids for the first time.

We had a beautiful Christmas together.



WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!!!





We made cardboard cars.


And so much other stuff I can't even remember. So much of that time was spent just being together. We took lunch trips to the mall, just because we could. We had movie night in our PJs, because it's fun. We ate lots of Sweet Frog...no explanation needed. And we loved each other.

I am so thankful for this time our family has enjoyed. We have been truly blessed. God has taken care of Anthony, and of our every need and I am thankful every day.

Anthony went back to work on January 22, 2014. He's doing great and feeling wonderful. He's traveling to Baptist Hospital's Transplant Clinic every week or every-other week for blood work and testing. They're always checking his blood for the level of medicines and creatanine, the yucky stuff that your kidneys filter out. Nurses call back every week to tell him how to adjust his medicines to keep everything on the right levels and even. So it's just a process. Slow and steady, right? Hopefully soon he will be able to only travel to Winston once a month to get checked, but they're still keeping a really close eye on him right now. I am so thankful that we have such a great team of doctors taking care of him. Our family sure does need him.


1 comment:

Shanon Crawford said...

This is such a sweet little family. It's amazing how getting to know a little bit about the struggles one goes through can change your perspective on another human being. I know she probably won't see this, as we aren't fb friends, but Kyla and Anthony, you have been in my prayers and I check your blog often to see how things are going. May God continue to bless your happy home!!! (Cut and paste of the comment I posted on fb sharing your blog.)