4 years ago my world stood still

4 years ago today (right now actually), my little darling daughter was having open heart surgery. I know that we all complain at times about how rotten our life is, or why can't I have more money, a loving spouse, bigger house, better car, job I love, etc....but when you experience something like this it really does give you a whole new perspective on life. I have enclosed two pictures - one taken on her first day home from the hospital after her surgery (you can still see the iv mark on her left hand), and a pic taken on her 4th birthday a few days ago.

If you ever really want a reality check you should go and visit the NICU/PICU of a major hospital. Don't get me wrong, what Grace went through was no walk in the park. She struggled to breath after surgery and had to be resucitated numerous
times. But she was so lucky compared to some of the other little ones down in Milwaukee. The one that still haunts me is the little boy that was in the room across from her. He was hooked up to numerous machines, and was fighting desperately for his life. And he was so little. And in the time that we were down there we NEVER saw anyone besides hospital personel enter his room. I don't know if he was abandoned, or if his mom died in childbirth - how heartbreaking. At one point I went in and rubbed his little hand so he would have some kind of human contact. This poor defenseless little baby fighting so hard to live, and having no support there. It chokes me up again just thinking of it.

So, next time you think your life is rotten because of some material possession you don't own, think twice about parents, grandparents, and siblings who have lost a loved one at an early age, or about the children who suffer every day due to some disease, disorder, or the abuse they suffer. We must always remember that life is really not about the material things, but that we have the love and support of family and/or friends. In the end it's the only thing that matters.

Crazy weather we're having

Ok, so I woke up this morning and the forecast said this: "fog early in the day, followed by rain until later in the evening when it will switch to snow". Huh? Living in Wisconsin, we have had snow as late as May, and have had 2 really nasty storms, so nasty we were out in the weather and my older daughter cried because it actually hurt - the winds were so strong and it was sleeting.

Well, yesterday in Kenosha they got a tornado - A TORNADO!!! That is the first tornado in Wisconsin in January in 40 years. You can see footage here:

Tornado in Kenosha

Living so close to Lake Michigan we rarely see tornadoes, I don't remember one here as long as I have been alive (33 years). We do get warnings just about every year, but the horrible devastation that these forces of nature bring is truly terrifying.

Back in 2000 we had a very severe hailstorm, so severe that one of our vehicles was totaled out due to the damage. My brother-in-law had family that live in St. Nazianz, and they had horrific damage due to hail, high winds, and a tornado.

I am hopeful that we may get at least one more big snowstorm - if my husband saw this he may hit me upside the head. Granted, I don't have to snowblow or really drive in it much. But I would love for my girls to get out there and be able to build a snowman, make snow angels, go sledding, and just have a good time. It's early yet, and I am hopeful that I will get this wish. But the way the weather has been I am not positive:)

Just one of those days (years)

Those days where you really start to wonder, what have I done to have such rotten luck? My poor hubby has had a pretty rough life. As a brief rundown:

He was in an abusive marriage (meaning he was hit) for 20 years before finally getting out

He lost his house and everything in it and 3 months later found out his then wife was cheating on him

He has a son who is Mentally Retarded and violent so he had to be placed outside the home and has never been able to meet our children due to the fact that he may hurt them

His youngest son is now in drug rehab (he is 15)

Our oldest daughter had open heart surgery when she was 4 days old.

His brother is a pedophile...but his mother chooses him over us and has never even seen our youngest daughter who will be 3 in May (he even molested his own brother, but that is not good enough for dear old mom)

So, needless to say the stress level gets pretty high at times. On Christmas Eve he had a fender bender with our car. He was given a ticket because he had not renewed his drivers license and it was past the 3 months grace period. Oh well, we never go anything in the mail but so be it. Not like we are made of money - it is so far from it. We haven't had any work done on the car yet because we were waiting to hear from the insurance company, and he was going to go and get his drivers license renewed today. We knew we had a headlight out due to the accident, but there was nothing we could really do about it until it had an estimate done. Doesn't it just figure he gets pulled over again last night. AND, he gets another $100 fine for the driver's license thing. Now that is a total of $170 in the last 2 weeks. We will go to court to fight the second one, but you start to wonder, why me?

We do have a lot to be thankful for, but this year has been pretty crappy to us so far. Hopefully things will look up soon:)

What is a film producer?

Ok, so DH and I were sitting here talking about movies. We have recently watched Million Dollar Baby which we both thought was an excellent movie! Clint Eastwood won the Academy Award for Best Director. I am pretty familiar with Directors, some of my favorites being Scorcese and Tarantino. But, after much discussion we both realized that we didn't really know what the roll of the Producer was. I decided that maybe I would do some digging and see what I could find.

According to Wikipedia, a film producer creates the conditions for making movies. They initiate, coordinate, supervise and control matters such as fundraising, hiring key personnel, and arranging distributors. They are involved with all phases of the filmmaking process from development to completion of the project. A pretty hefty responsibility if you ask me!

I think they sum it up best when the say that the producer is considered the chief of staff, while the director is in charge of the line. Under this arrangement, the producer has overall control of the project and can terminate the director, but the director actually makes the film.

Sadly, I had to do some more digging. I can name NUMEROUS Directors, but was unsure if I could name even on famous Producer -well, one that wasn't also an actor or director.

Well, I found Mel Brooks (a comical genius) in a list of Producers, the funny thing is he didn't produce any of his own films. Tim Burton is a famous Producer - I was glad I could at least identify with a Producer who wasn't just an actor/actress trying their hand at something different.

George Lucas - ok, now we're talking. But, this is cheating a little because not only did he produce the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, he also directed them and created them. The only person on the list that I didn't know as a creator and/or director or actor/actress was Jerry Bruckheimer. Wow - not a whole lot to say about the Producers - looks like the Director position is where all the glory is.

I am going to make sure to pay more attention from now on when they list the credits on movies. Hopefully some of these Producers names will start to stick with me. Either way I am glad to finally be able to talk about what their job is...funny I didn't know before now.

Happy Birthday Grace

Well, my darling daughter turns 4 today - not until 10:56 though. I thought it was the perfect day to reflect on all we have been through with her.

We never thought we would have kids. I am my husband's second wife, and after his last son was born he had a vasectomy. When we got married we discussed some options and decided to have it reversed. We went to Florida to have it done by a great doctor. Unfortunately, when we got the results back it didn't look too promising, and the chances of us having children didn't look too good. Oh well, we thought. Nothing more we can do. Imagine our surprise when I was in the hospital for an upper endoscopy and they came in to tell us they couldn't perform the procedure because I was pregnant. Totally shocked!!! But so happy. So, we started planning for our little bundle. Right from the very beginning we knew that we were having a girl, and even though we had just leased a condo they let us break the lease so we could buy a house. We had A LOT to do to get ready for her.

About 5 months in I was put on bedrest because I was suffering from pre-eclampsia, a very serious and life threatening condition. Let me tell you, I know that it sounds like a dream to not be able to do anything, but it really stinks after that long. At 7 months and almost a week I was hospitalized. Things were not going good and I was borderline toxemic. They kept strict watch on me and I had to try and lay on my side all the time. Not a small task considering how I had gained 16 pounds in one week (14 of that was water). Finally they couldn't wait any longer without putting both the baby and myself at risk. They decided that even though I was six weeks early they would have to induce me. They did an amnio (not as scary as it sounds) to make sure that her lungs were developed. Everything looked good so at 6 am on the 4th they gave me a pill to start inducing labor. I went all day with mild contractions, but nothing earth shattering (oh, before I forget I had preterm labor over 5 times and had to have it stopped each time, now she didn't want to come, lol). The next morning they started the Pitosin and also broke my water. Let me tell you, if you have never been induced it is not a picnic. After a VERY long day of labor, the doctor finally told me (after 40 hours of labor) that they were taking her c-section because I was only dilated to 6 centimeters.

The c-section went fine, and surprisingly Grace Elizabeth weighed in at 6 lbs. 9 ozs. - not to bad for being 5 1/2 weeks early. Doctor said she would have been close to 12 lbs. if she would have been full term. Her breathing wasn't great, but she didn't need to be on a respirator. And, because she was so early she hadn't developed her sucking reflex yet so she didn't want to eat. Other than that the Pediatrician on call said she was doing fine. I wish he would have been right.

When her regular Pediatrician (who was on vacation) saw her he immediately noticed a heart murmur. He said that this was not uncommon in infants, but wanted to have an echocardiogram done just to make sure everything was ok. The hospital was new and didn't yet have pediatric echo equipment so my hubby had to take her to the local clinic. When the doctor beat him back to the room, I knew that something was wrong. He told me that she had some Congenital Heart Defects, and was sending us to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. My head was spinning, and I had to be discharged (early due to the c-section) and down we went.

To make a long story short, our little peanut had open heart surgery when she was 4 days old to correct an Aortic Coarctation. If this would not have been caught, it would have killed her quickly because it was so severe. And without knowing what to look we may not have noticed until it was too late. She also has an ASD, VSD, Bicuspid Aortic Valve, and a PFO. She is doing well, but the thought never leaves me how lucky we are to have this little miracle in our lives.

Human Tetris

Sometimes I wish I had more time in the day. Ok, not sometimes, this happens to me every day. I can't remember the last time I played a video game. My sister and her family got a Wii a few months ago and it seems neat, and we have experienced Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero and Rock Band. But, to be perfectly honest neither of these really did much for me.

I know that when my kids get older, we will have gaming systems as well, and maybe I will be more involved. All I know is if you asked me what my favorite video game of all time is I would definately say tetris. Something about lining up the pieces to clear lines appealed to me. As a matter of fact, our cellphone has this and if I am bored waiting for something and don't have a book handy (which is almost never) I will play.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw Human Tetris. Check out the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84_QL1kEmH4

It really cracks me up!
Happy Friday everyone:)