The last coupla weeks....

So, September turned out to be a pretty eventful month for us. We started off by celebrating both boys' Birthdays:) Evan turned 6 on the 12th, so we had a fun little day for him. Made him some Mickey Mouse pancakes, opened a few gifts, made him some cupcakes to take to co-op day to share with his friends, and went out to Ihop, his fave place, for dinner:) We gave him most his gifts there that night. He couldn't quite figure out where his friends were or why we weren't having a party on his actual day. He is so funny. Here's some pics from his special day. Still can't believe I have a six year old!!

New Angry Birds shirt. He loved it!

One of my fave pics. Miles picked up E's card in his toes and E couldn't quit cracking up:) M is a funny one, that kid.

Evan, 6, on his birthday:) 9/12/12

Gettin' ready to party down at Ihop:)

Me and Evan:)

The Fam

Twins

I guessed right...his lil 2 dollar scratch art was his fave gift of the night:)

Miles wouldn't stop taking pics. This one was actually sorta centered:)

another one from Miles. Not focused but funny:)

2 crazies that came w/ us

Evan, w/ mouth full 'o' pancakes, being sung to by the staff:)

Miles, always the funny guy

 So we decided to have the boys' combined birthday party on Miles' b'day on the 22nd, Saturday. We had a great turnout and Liz and the girls came to stay w/ us for a few days too. We had lots of fun. I attempted to make my 1st shaped cake, a big Jake & the Neverland Pirates pirate ship. Also whipped up some cupcakes and tried to make them look like ocean waves w/ shark fins in them. Pinterest comes in handy for birthday ideas:) The cake/icing were off the chain, as I made homemade buttercream again. Needless to say, September wasn't a good month for weight loss.

The party was a blast. Randall rented the biggest waterslide he could find, called the "tidal wave" and it was super fast!!! They delivered it the night before and Mike and his kids, Liz and the girls...heck, 11 of us were on the slide for a few hrs the night before the party. It was crazy fast and fun. I was worried a smidge about the kids getting hurt, but we established ground rules for at least one parent up top and down below controlling the kids, telling them when to go. Randall got most the tree house done before the party too, well, enough for the boys to go up and try it out. STill needs a roof, windows and the slide put on. Think we'll throw the hammock chair underneath too. They were excited.

Treehouse Daddy made from pallets

The cake:)

One side was for Evan, w/ 6 cannons, one was for M w/ 4:) we lit the candles to look like cannonballs shooting out:) so cool!

back o the ship

shark fin/wave cupcakes

Cousin Trevor even came from AZ to the party. Hadn't seen him in a couple yrs:)

Evan taking a turn

Randall...need I say more?

Cake time surrounded by friends:)

wonderful party

think it was good

Evan didn't mess around. He downed lots of cake and icecream

Miles wouldn't leave the gift table...couldn't stop staring at the big pirate ship toy:)

This is the part where my youngest son starts hump dancing to his musical card...wow. Hilarious! 

The boys w/ G'ma and G'pa....everyone still in one piece.

Lil ditty I drew up for the party

the dreaded goody bags:)

Evan:)

 So, the party was great. Prob'ly one of the most relaxing and fun parties we've had. Everything went great and I was just thinking how relieved I was that the kids were safe and all was well. Things were winding down. It was around 5 and only about 3 families were still over. My Dad goes and changes into his swim trunks and I was like wow, cool! Didn't know he was gonna get in on the action. So he gets up there and does a somersault!!? I was taking pics and was like, DAD??!! Goodness. Doesn't he know he's too old for such shenanigans, yet I couldn't stop laughing. I guess he got the bright idea to do a bigger and better flip the next go round, so dove way out and did a flip. When he did he landed w/ his head all the way down to his chest and landed right on his neck on the hill of the slide. Needless to say, he heard 2 loud pops and felt intense pain. He'd had neck surgery 10 yrs prior to fuse his C4-7 vertibrae. I was celebrating the good pic I took of him so didn't notice he'd hit wrong. He was off the slide leaning against it w/ his head down in serious pain. We figured it out soon enough, thanks to Liz telling me "I don't think your Dad is okay", and we got him over to the lounge chair to sit down. We decided after seeing him shaking violently and breathing heavily from pain that the ER was in order. Mom told him to get up and get changed so we could go. He couldn't even get outta the chair:( So, I went in and got the phone and dialed 911...still feeling pretty calm, thinking he'd pulled something or strained something. Luckily the ambulance was in the area and were there w/in about 4-5 minutes tops. They did a few things to test his reflexes, movement in his limbs etc....Mom and I threw some snacks and I though on some clothes so we could follow him to the hospital.  It was feeling a little scarier...

After a CT scan of his neck and talking w/ the ER doc a few times, she finally came back in and asked for my Dad's neurosurgeon from 10 yrs back who did his fusion surgery...Dad said that didn't sound good. Mom was acting pretty overwhelmed and I was staying neutral, still not borrowing trouble and hoping for the best. The dr came back in and told us he'd fractured 2 vertebrae in his neck and she was trying to get ahold of his surgeon to see what he thought. Needless to say, after she walked outta the room we all got pretty quiet. Mom just lost it. I just held her so she could get it out. I had a hard time not losing it too. I still didn't know how bad the break was...we were never shown the scans at the ER.

Long story short, after speaking w/ the Orlando doc on call, they decided it was best to transfer my Dad to Shands in Gainesville to the closest neurosurgeon around. They also were much more capable to handle trauma up there. They prepared Dad for another ride in the ambulance, which he wasn't looking forward to. They also did a head scan on him to make sure there weren't any bleeds, since he hit hard enough to break his neck in 2 places. We knew one break was fairly close to his spine, which is what worried us the most.

Mom and I kissed Dad, ran through the drive through to get a quick bite--none of us had eaten since 3 pm and it was around 10pm now...and we drove home to pack some clothes and bathroom stuff and s'more snacks and books. We didn't know how long we'd be there. After passing the exit and then finding our way finally, we got to the ER at around 1am where Dad had been told he'd find out more. We basically never found out anything in the ER and he was moved across the street to his room around 3am. Mom and I opted to crash on the floor and chair in his room bc it was game weekend and the cheapest hotel room was around 80 bucks...I called about 7 hotels:/ Needless to say, we got no sleep and the 1st dr to come in his room arrived at around 5am. If I didn't mention before, all the doctors there are young and super hot...it was like being in a movie:) He immediately started talking about surgery, like he knew this was what was going to take place. I asked to see his scans, bc I'm very visual and couldn't really figure out where Dad had broken his neck, so he pulled it up on the computer. Dad had completely broken off 2  vertebrae...not cracked or slivered, but completely broken them off. One was very close to his spine, which the doctor kept saying he was "very concerned about"...He left, another doctor came in, still talking surgery, then quickly followed by a really funny anesthesiologist ,who did a comlete intake on him, and made him sign his life away for the surgery. Then his 2 nurses came in and scrubbed him down for surgery. We were still shell shocked and zombie-tired, not really firing on all engines...so we just were like, wow. After he got scrubbed down, it was a waiting game til they came and got him for surgery. THe 1st doc casually mentioned that when the head attending neuro came on duty, they'd confer w/ him and he could say that Dad could leave in a collar but highly unlikely. The surgery they were going to do was going in from the back by his spine, so was the most painful surgery you can recover from..they told us a couple times. So we were all getting nervous, including Dad. So, after finally posting to FB and calling Dad's pastor and close family, then the main Doc decides to come into the room, followed by the 1st 2 docs and a couple others, saying "GOOD NEWS!", he'd reviewed all Dad's scans and decided that he was going to give his bones a chance to fuse back together on their own, that Dad was completely aligned so far, so he was gonna hold off on surgery and have Dad come back in 2 weeks for more scans and xrays to see the progress. Course, no work, driving or anything. Just lay around and keep a low profile and get well. He said It wasn't a done deal, that if things didn't move in 3 months that the surgery would still be the next solution, but we all sighed a huge sigh of relief!!! Praise GOD! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that all the prayers that were being offered on Dad's behalf are what saved him from surgery that day. We ended up leaving the hospital around dinner time and Dad went on w/ strict instructions to wear his cervical collar at all times, only to take it off to shower and shave. He is doing much better now. The 1st week was a little rough getting around, but he's in much less pain now, and getting around fairly good and he goes for his 1st apt back at Shands this week. We are praying for total healing, so he doesn't hafta have that rough surgery. Their church and other friends have helped out so much with meals and finances, as now they're down to just Mom working. God is good!!!

Dad decided to conquer the slide...

1st time down he does a somersault...I was like, DAD!!!??? 

looking satisfied w/ himself

Right after he hit wrong. He jumped out and did a huge flip and landed on his neck:(

Waiting for help to come

Dad, being strapped to a backboard. Nothing says exciting party like a real life ambulance w/ lights and sirens...

The saga continues but I'm too tired to write it all out now. I'll write more later. I'm convinced nothing is a coincidence and God had His hand in all this the whole time. I've been quieted and brought to a place of realizing how short life really is. Amazing how something simple can turn into a life-changer in a matter of seconds. I'm glad he is okay. God is merciful!!!