Well we have been home since last Sunday night and my in-laws that stayed here for almost 3 weeks to take amazing care of my children have left to go back to Texas and hopefully never see snow again as far as they are concerned! My children were taken such great care of that Tom and I felt we could just relax and do what we needed to do while we were in China. That is a very nice feeling! Our first few days home were sort of a blurr for me as we were exhausted from 3 days of travel and not sleeping on any of our flights plus trying to change over from China time to New Jersey time. We spent the 1st few days with my in laws and just trying to chill out and let Luke investigate his new surroundings. Luke hit it off with Tommy and Paige right away and even spent quite awhile the first few days playing dolls with Paige (which made Luke even more of a great brother as far as she is concerned he is the cats meow now!) Tommy and Luke get along really well but Luke seems hesitant to try and do too much with Tommy the first few days. Wednesday night I tool Luke and Paige to Tommy's wrestling practice while Tom coached the kids and Tommy wrestled Luke sat on the bleachers with me and Paige and he LOVED it! He laughed and laughed and loved watching Tommy wrestle. When we got home him and Tom wrestled a little and I have never heard him laugh that hard (trust me he laughs a lot so this was huge) and then he wanted to wrestle Tommy and we laughed even harder. He loved it and it surely was a bonding moment for the boys.
Thursday we had a great day just hanging around the house and getting to know each other more. Thursday night Tommy had a wrestling match and I promised Luke I would bring him so he could watch the match. My mother in law was coming over to watch Paige as she had been in bed 2 nights in a row and could not make it a 3rd. I was starting dinner at 5pm while the kids were playing and Tom was finishing making Super-bowl party plans. All of a sudden I had a terrible sharp pain in my right side that took my breath away. I tried hard to just ignore it but it was crazy strong. I went upstairs to take a Pepto-Bismal and then never came back down. The pain intensified quickly and I was then unable to stand up straight. Tom said he thought I should go to the ER but I said I would be laughed at for going in for gas..... Little did I know. Luke kept coming in checking on me asking me if I was ok and he would bring in Tommy and Paige and say "Mommy is crying her belly hurts" and boy he wasn't kidding I was pretty sure I was in big trouble by this point.. then I started vomiting.. that was the straw that broke the camels back as once that started the pain intensified a TON!!! Tom saw me and immediately called his sister saying he had to take me to the ER as he knew something was very wrong. Toms mom and sister came over and his sister drove me to the ER as we were not sure how Luke would handle both mom and dad leaving as so far he would get upset if we just left the room. It was a long night in the ER and I was put in a room about midnight or so. They told me I had Appendicitis and would have to have surgery. I wasn't worried too much about the surgery but at first upset over the timing, I mean REALLY? I just got home with my new son.. I was trying hard to bring my whole family together and watch them try to bond as a new family. Aaron was coming on Friday to meet Luke for the first time from College.. WHY NOW? then I started thinking.. hmm what if this happened while I was in China? What if this happened while I was on one of the 3 airplanes we took home? Oh Lord the possibilities of frightening choices were many.. So I guess I had to let go of the REALLY and just accept it. Tom came the morning of my surgery and made it to my bedside about 2 minutes before they really drugged me up to send me off to sleep, I was surprised that they let him back there but I had just told them of our story of traveling to China and coming home Sunday with our new son and that Tom didnt come to the ER with me last night so that Luke would feel comfortable at home and not be too scared. I told them Tom was on his way but wasnt sure if he made it to the waiting room so I sent them looking for a "cute, short Deaf guy wearing Pittsburgh clothing" well I will be darned they found him pretty quick and brought him to me!! Thank you Doctors for doing that as it let me go into my surgery in peace!!!! My surgery went well and I am now home. I want to Thank everyone that prayed and thought about me and my family during this time as the prayers and thoughts were surely felt. Luke did great while mom was in the hospital and did great when Daddy left to come see me and the kids stayed home. It was nice to see that Luke is even stronger then we thought (which is sort of crazy as I already think he is a very strong boy)....
I came home yesterday afternoon to a house full of food ...thank you to my church family for bringing over meals and Thank you Pastor Maria for spoiling us so much your cooking is amazing and how many people would go food shopping for someone else. I cant Thank you enough as it was nice to not have to worry about food and have everything we need here for the kids. We have been showered in love and food and that is a great thing!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday I sat and played Uno with Tom, Aaron, Luke and Tommy and we had such a good time and laughed alot! I won which is not the norm as one of my card sharks normally beats me, guessing someone felt sorry for me. Tommy and Tom showed Luke how to do sommersaults and kartwheels last night and guess what he did pretty darn good for trying something he had no clue how to do! Tommy and him were dressed as "twins" when I came home yesterday in their matching undershirts and black swhishy pants ahahah. My kids sure are bonding well and that is great to see. I crashed early last night with my Paigey girl in bed and heard Tommy tell me this morning this story.. "Hey mom guess what Luke did? When we were in bed he laid there for a little bit then jumped up and came over and hugged me hard and then signed I love you... I love having another brother mom! Thanks" Well that sure made my morning. Right now Tommy is wrestling and we didnt get to go as I am too sore. Today we were supposed to bring Luke to church for the first time and that didnt happend either as I am too sure and we were supposed to have a fairly large Super-bowl party and that isnt happening either (Toms idea to cancel the party, not mine) and we are still going to sit together as a family and watch the game and have some Pizza and wings and Luke is beyond excited to be watching the Football game and Steelers tonight.. he doesnt know it is the Super-bowl but it is going to be a special night for sure! We are loving the way our family is bonding and shaping and thanking the Lord for the amazing match that HE made! Thank you! I will keep you updated as more happens!
In love with my family!
Tracy
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