what a whirlwind of events

Well as most of you know my son Henry has been VERY sick! About 12 days ago he woke up very sick with a fever and horrible diareheaa (didn't spell that right). I didn't think much of it because we had just flown back from FL, and flying can make you more prone to getting sick. The only thing that concerned was how high his fever was getting i.e. 103. So Monday I called the nurses's line at the hospital only to be told that he is fine to keep giving liquids etc. Okay so come Wednesday I was getting very nervous. I had this instinct it was something more than just the flu. In fact Salmonella crossed my mind because of how much chicken I had been cooking because of my diet. So Thursday I make an accute appointment to take him to be seen by his pediatrician. Only to be turned away saying that he is acting fine and to keep giving fluids! Granted he was acting fine at the time but the doctor had seen him an hour after I had given him tylenol. So Saturday I decided to take him to the ER to be almost turned away again with the doctor assuring me fevers can last a week in children. I had asked the doctor to do a CBC on Henry and other blood work but because he was acting fine he didn't see it right to do the blood work. Just as he was writing my discharge paperwork he comes back in and says " I misread his vitals and because his temp was 103 we need to do bloodwork". In my mind I am thinking "thank god! Duh you idiot" Just because a child looks okay doesn't necessarily mean he is okay. So after 5 hours in the ER and 3 horrific tests later we finally are done, and was sent home with no antibiotics only motrin. Sunday we get a call back to redo his blood work because it came back positive. To make this long drawn out story short Henry has basically been a push pin. He has had 6 shots of antibiotics, his blood drawn 4 different times and poked like there is no tomorrow. Today was his last round shots, and tomorrow we start another round of antibiotics for 10 days. I think today it is sinking in how close my son was to dying. If this had gone on any longer without treatment things would be so much worse. He is starting to look better but is still pale looking from being sick. I know this may sound over the top but I have given up all meat together I have wanted to give up chicken but just couldn't do it. Now I am more ready than ever because of what has happened. One thing I have learned from this is to trust my gut, and my instinct was right. Salmonella crossed my mind I just didn't listen to it. Trust me though now I will listen to it! Lola had her MRI today and she is doing well we have an eye appointment in the morning and hopefully we get good news from that. I can't handle anything else right now! I am so due for something positive to happen in my life! I am so happy that my dad is coming to visit me on Saturday I need to see him so bad! Then next weekend I am off to the Sturge-Weber conference in Newport Beach CA. This experience just goes to show how precious life is and to never take it for granted! Henry and Lola are my angels I don't know what I do without them! I don't know where I am getting the strength from dealing with all of this because its been tough. I guess being a mom you have to be strong for your kids I am their advocate and I plan on fighting for them for the rest of their lives! So my lessoned learned is to wash your hands basically all the time! I am basically going to be a germaphobe from now on I guess!

Family

Well this long weekend is coming to an end sadly! What a wonderful weekend it has been as I have got to spend time with my family and close friends. I haven't cheated ONCE on this diet!!! I am in it to win it you can say. I just figured out how to add a picture to this post lol =) So what exactly does Labor Day mean? "This annual national holiday was created more than 100 years ago as a tribute to the American worker."

So with that being said my feelings on labor day are to thank the men and women that server our country and the nurses and doctors that work 24/7 to keep up healthy. I also would like to thank myself for being such a hard worker as a stay at home mom!!! lol... I am preparing America's future star in my house right now!! Her name is Lola Happel....and in 25 years there will be the most outrageous invention to date made by the one and only Henry Happel! I love my kids so much...I have realized that my son loves the ladies....He loves to smile and coo at them already! My diet is going really well although I will say I am very nervous for Tuesday's travel to FL!!! I am nervous because before when I got bored I was always running to get something to eat!! On a plane there isn't much to do so I am going to have to keep myself occupied! Lola is very excited about seeing her family she asks me about 3x a day when we are going to FL! I wish that I was coming home under better circumstances! You know it is weird I have come to accept grandpa's passing very quickly! When I feel like I am going to get sad I know that he wouldn't want me to dwell on his passing. I am not coming home to mourn I am coming home as a celebration of his passing on into a better place. Some might call me crazy or maybe even shallow for thinking like this but I truly believe this is how he would feel. I did mourn his loss don't get me wrong but I know he wouldn't want his family in pain or sorrow. Grandpa just wasn't that type of man. Grandpa was a hard worker all his life. I can see him thinking "dammit Shirley move on" as he licked his fingers and turned the pages of the newspaper. I worry the most about my dad being able to get over what he saw as grandpa took his last breath. I don't know how I would handle seeing someone take their last breath. It for sure would leave a lasting impression on me.

So my brother and his girlfriend finally got to Chicago and in their new home!! I am so excited and yet jealous that they get to live in such a great city! I have said this many times about my brother and will say it till the day I die! He is a genius! He can write better than anyone I know! Don't get me wrong my brother knows how to annoy the heck out of you! But I am fascinated at his views and ways of life! My mom shines through him a lot! Ooooh my mom what can I say about her?? Well the older she gets the funnier she is I think! She comes up with some of the best one liners ever! She is the neatest person I know! I wish I could have inherited that from her! I just don't have the organization skills she possess! My mom has the biggest heart of any person that I know! She constantly is doing for others, and in actuality I just wish she would do for herself! I think that I have inherited that gene from her...I am the type to give give give to people and I often don't get it in return I think. I do have friends that would bend over backwards for me. I actually don't mind being the giver it makes me happy to see someone happy. There is something about seeing someone close to you smile that completes me almost you could say. Let me just talk a second about my dad he is also a workaholic! As he gets older though he is learning to cut back and take days off! Aaaww my daddy.....he passed on many great traits to me as well....my personality and wittiness tends to be like my dad! My dad is also a giver! My dad is a funny man! The older he gets the more fun he is! I guess there is something about seeing your dad with your children and him grinning from ear to ear! My family has had some rough moments but you know I wouldn't go back and change a thing! If we hadn't have gone through all of this together I might be some boring old hag! lol....Our struggles have made us closer and more fun! I mean if life didn't have a struggle it would be so boring! So...tonight I close this by saying "laugh a little" "say sure why not" Today at the zoo with my friends I just said yes to everything and it was awesome!! I wasn't stressed and I had a great time. Life is meant to be lived not for it to just pass by, because before you know it you will be either living in assisted living or a nursing home wishing you would have enjoyed your youth years a little more. Okay not everyone will live in a nursing home! Mom/Dad/ Mitch I promise not to put you in a crappy nursing home.. LOL .....jk ya right if I can all three of you will live with me!! I will have to hire someone though to wipe your butts! I love you guys! I hope that everyone has a wonderful Labor day!

"Live a Little"

Amanda

Life

Today has been a day I will remember forever. The loving godfather has passed away. We as a family knew this day was coming but you never prepare yourself for the day it actually happens. I mean can you ever really prepare yourself for a loved one to die? Life is so precious I say this constantly but I never practice what I preach so call me a hypocrite I guess. Constantly I am telling people "live each day to the fullest" "you only get this one day live it up". Grandpa was the optimise(didn't spell that right) of what I am talking about. I mean he was walking everyday, reading, you name he did it! Then for the past 10 years he battled Alzheimer's disease. He has the body of an ox but his brain was just not there. I will carry some great memories of him though. Grandpa was the one that introduced me to malts! Let me tell the man could make a mean malt!!! His favorite gum was juicy fruit, and he loved basketball! Its funny my dad used to love to get him fired up about politics! He would get so worked up and my dad and uncle would just coax him on!! His favorite candy was chocolate covered cherries! Many holiday seasons we would give him this as presents. There are so many memories that we have created together the list goes on and on....I refuse to remember you as a man in a nursing home not knowing who I am! I know that was not the real you it was the disease......It saddens me to know that you suffered your last breaths and were in pain. I am glad though that you were surrounded by loved ones.... Grandpa wherever you are in heaven just know that you will never be forgotten Lola and Henry will know what a funny and sweet man you were. Grandma is in good hands as well. Its funny tonight I was driving home and Lola didn't say a word the whole way home (which is not like her) and there was a sense of peace that came over me (not because she wasn't talking lol) Like I knew you were gonna be okay. The moon was so bright tonight as well and all I could see was one bright star next to the moon. CA I don't see that many stars like you do in FL. Were you watching over us already?? Grandpa please give Rambo and puddles a kiss for me! Make sure everyone up there is taking there vitamin E! I love you and cherish the time we got to spend together. You are gone but not forgotten!

Family

Families are a pain in the ass but man are they the greatest! Michael and Melanie just left my house a little while ago and I miss them already. I seriously don't know how those two function together but watching them interact with each other is really cute. They are made for each other. Melanie loves my brother very much and you can see it when she looks at him, and my brother is just as equally happy as he does his "love picks" as I like to call them. Man they are annoying as hell but if he didn't do it you would be like "WTF man" lol. My brother is one of a kind smart, funny, intelligent, and very caring. I love my brother very much and the older we get the more he grows on me and the more I love him. It only took 26 years for me to realize this!

I know this is off topic but I am so confused on what my next step in life is....do I go back to school? Do I get my personal training certificate?? Do I stay at home and raise my children? I just don't know what to do!!! With my current schedule I am getting VERY bored and am at a cross road right now of figuring out what is next. People say enjoy this time when your kids are young cause they grow up so fast but what about my sanity? lol... I mean maybe I should get a part time job at night? Life in general can be so complicated if you think about it. But why do we as humans make it so complicated? Why don't we just say okay I want to do this I don't care what it take I'm gonna do it! Take school I would LOVE to go back to school but if I wasn't already $30,000 dollars in debt I would go back in a heart beat! Now I'm questioning myself going do I need to get into more debt? Todays post has been a lot of nagging stuff! Maybe I need to think about what I am going to say before I just start typing away lol!

I am starting my 3rd week of dieting and things are going okay I am anxiously awaiting my next shipment which is suppose to be here on wednesday...... I have to go to the vitamin store to buy something called Biotin..... supposed to help with dieting etc! It's crazy how fast you lose weight on this diet! Well I am off to GNC!!! wooooot woooot! Happy Monday!

dieting and it sucks right now

Well as many Americans of todays society I have jumped on the band wagon and am now dieting. Today marks the end of my second week ( what I would like to call hell week). I am currently doing the medifast diet and am learning so much about food. This diet is very easy to follow and it actually does work! I have lost 12 pounds! Now I weigh every morning if I weigh during the day I might be a pound heavier due to water etc. I am not sure how I am going to fell about being skinny again. My biggest fears is that I will put in all this hard effort on this diet and a year from now screw it up! I can't help I love to eat! And it doesn't help that my husband eats for two just himself. Food has run my life for to long and it has got to stop. No longer will I look at an overweight person and think "jeez fatty get off your ass and do something about it!" Cause guess what I was right there with them. I loved food and food loved me back. Food would never talk back to me, yell at me, scream my name, it would always listen to me you get my drift. Food was my comfort something for me to turn to when I needed a little make me feel better type thing. Looking back 10 years ago when I 16 I never imagined I would be this heavy. I just remember me in a bikini soaking up the uv rays trying to be the tannest girl out of my friends. Time after time though I would turn to food and not even realize what I was doing "ooh I will just start walking tomorrow" When I became pregnant with Lola I gained 60 or 65 pounds I can't remember the exact. I will never forget going to my 37 week appointment and the midwife looking at me like "damn gina" lol.....She politely said "do you drink a lot of juice?" I said to her " I love me some milk mam...." then she said "well you might want to cut back your gonna have to take this weight off after the baby you know?" aaaahh the joys of pregnancy! I became smarter with Henry because I was already starting overweight and I could not and WOULD not gain 60 pounds! I walked everyday with him. Okay so now that you have my background on how I became fat you get a better understanding of my situation. I had lost all the baby weight when I began Medifast. Medifast contains soups, shakes, bars, pudding, oatmeal etc. Without the help of family I would never be able to afford this program. In my first week I lost 6 pounds! The first wasn't that bad I got very jittery and couldn't really sleep. This week my 2nd has been a true test. Oh and of course when you are dieting the commercials on tv have to be about food not just one but every single one is about FOOD!!!!! So the second week has come to an end and my total weight loss is.....drum roll please....12 pounds!!! That is amazing and crazy... I am finally back in the 1's! I never imagined I would say I way 210 pounds! I mean that is absurd.
Medifast food is nothing to brag about the soups are just okay and the oatmeal is something that I look forward to every morning! I am on what is called the 5&1 plan which is 5 medifast meals a day and 1 lean and green meal. The more I diet right now it seems it is getting harder. Just watching a Pappa Johns delivery car go by made my mouth water!!!! talk about nuts.....I am constantly smelling the fried food. Everyone on medifast that I talk to says it gets easier but when people?? I am afraid I might eat a gallon of ice cream purely because insanity drove me to it! lol.....Nick comes home tomorrow so hopefully he will notice a difference in my body. Probably not cause he is a guy and they don't notice nothing. I am sticking with this diet for the long haul! I am ready to be skinny and I want my kids to remember me skinny! Now if only I could work on being more productive during the day? my next blog is going to be about that!

Lola

Hey everyone just wanted to post some news about Lola. Lola is doing wonderful and continues to amaze me everyday with what she is capable of. She is going for her final laser surgery in the morning at UCSF! Nick and I couldn't be more happy that she has come so far with laser and are ready to put laser behind us. The technology now is amazing and from what I have researched laser surgery last for up to ten years. The only thing that she will need in the future is touch up laser surgery which is so intensive as they have been. UCSF is a great medical school and has amazing doctors that care for each of their patients. My pregnancy has been going very well other than some swelling in my feet and sleepless nights already. You have to wonder if it is mother nature letting you know that you probably won't sleep through the night for awhile when the new baby comes. Halloween is just around the corner and I am very excited to be able to take Lola for the first time out trick or treating. Last year Michael took her out while I was in school, and Nick was deployed. Lola often asks for Michael, Breauna, Gigi, Grandpa, Suzy and Pops. It breaks my heart each time I have to tell her that we will see them soon and I can't produce them in seconds for her. Luckily, we have web cam and I can show them her. Although, she thinks everytime I am on the phone with one of them that they can see her. Lola is such a special little girl. I know that she will go on to do great things in this world and will touch so many people along the way. Last night we took her to Petsmart to see the fish. She loves animals and Alli is her dog. She loves her doggy so much. Next time I post I will put pictures up of her laser surgery and let everyone know how things went. Also tonight we are staying at the Ronald McDonald house so we should save about $400 by being able to stay there. The city is so expensive!!!