Remembering

My family.




My sisters




A week after getting out of the hospital the last time. This hospitalization was the longest at 5 weeks.




A week after the hospital stay--enjoy some time with the kids.

The long hospital stay. My family had a baby shower for little sister, Tami, in the hospital. The put some makeup on me and fixed me up a bit. It was wonderful!

Holding the little one. I remember that I was too weak to actually hold him, so my sister propped him up next to me so that I could enjoy little Kayden.

Following the first (and second) shunt surgery, my kids cut the remaining hair from my head.

Before the shunt surgeries when my head was really hurting.

Right after the first shunt surgery. The kids cut my hair, as pictured above, a few days later.

Following shunt surgery in March

It feels like the work week should be done. I am exhausted! My fault. A busy day Monday with work and our office Christmas party in the evening, and then work and Christmas shopping with my mom and an office appointment in the evening on Tuesday put me under. I am thankful that I got through it all, even though the shopping trip was entirely done from the wheelchair. But I paid for it pretty well on Wednesday and still have that "headache hangover" feel today. Not terrible, but not something I would choose. But I am thankful that it isn't worse today or that I wasn't even more miserable yesterday. Can I call that progress? A little, perhaps.

I love the Christmas season, but I am so very tired with all the extra's that it will be good for me to settle back into a little more quiet and steady life in January.

As I write this, I realize that my two year anniversary for the first shunt surgery was just yesterday. And the first shunt surgery, that I thought would be the final answer, was just a first of many, with the second surgery only a day later--two years ago today! So perhaps seeing some pictures from then and now would be a good reminder for me to be thankful that God has richly provided and that although I am not great, I am certainly better than I was.

I am obviously computer challenged. I decided to put on some pictures after writing. However, I couldn't seem to get them below this writing and they went on in the wrong order. Oh, well. The point is the same. From the first pictures (that was going to be the last) to the last I can see that I am looking much healthier. I really do have much to be thankful for this Christmas season!