13) & {p, h, f, r} vol 56: The Cancer & Surgery Edition

By bobbi
January 13, 2013
4 Comments

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

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{pretty}

The view from the window of Brian’s hospital room.

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It has been a crazy last few days and I am actually typing this now in the hospital as Brian is trying to rest. Here’s the scoop in a nutshell. Brian has been sick on and off for awhile. He had a few infections but antibiotics took care of them. However, he was still getting pain in his stomach and sides. On Friday he was scheduled to have some testing and procedures done to check everything out. They found three polyps (an abnormal growth of tissue) and were able to remove the two small ones during the procedure. The third was larger and suspicious for cancer. He would need to schedule surgery in the next week or so and have it removed and analyzed.

He came back home that afternoon but by the evening he had a high fever and severe chills. He went to the ER and they suspected a perforation from one of the procedures. They kept him overnight. In the morning his fever was down and the chills stopped but he was still in some pain. They decided to do surgery right away and take care of all the issues he’s dealing with. So tomorrow/Sunday morning at 7:30 AM (PT) he is having surgery. Please pray that all goes well, that he recovers quickly and that the polyp is not cancerous. (Update: It was cancerous but the surgery removed it all.)

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As a side note, my sister BC called me Wednesday night and said she and my other sister JC wanted to make a last minute trip from So Cal to spend the weekend with us. I told them that we’d love to have them. I told her that Brian had some tests on Friday but he was scheduled to be back at work on Saturday so that wouldn’t be a problem. Little did I know I’d actually be sitting in a hospital room on Saturday instead! The Holy Spirit must have prompted their trip because he knew I could really use their help with Brian’s unexpected situation. And thanks to my sister BC’s generosity, she rearranged her work schedule so she could take time off and stay here to help me with the kids while Brian is in the hospital. (His surgery’s recovery time is 3-7 days.) I told Brian God was making arrangements for us before we even knew we needed them!

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{happy & funny}

I haven’t taken many photos this week but I borrowed these that my sisters took while I was in the hospital with Brian. I am incredibly happy to know the kids are in good hands while I am busy.

Matthew is exclaiming his new favorite phrase, “I did it!”

Andrew was having a blast.

My sister said, “This picture was taken before Matthew had his feet in John-Paul’s food!” (JP was not very pleased!)

My sister said, “Matthew could not believe Captain America was in the house!”

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{rea}

This is an old photo but I brought Brian our favorite small icon to his hospital room. I asked Our Lady to watch over him and Our Lord to give him strength and peace of heart.

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At 9:30 PM tonight Brian received the strength he needed at that moment. Our parish priest came by to see Brian and give him Anointing of the Sick. I am so glad I happened to be there so I could join them in prayer. Brian was really touched and I know it gave him peace.

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Speaking of peace, I am not sure what is wrong with me. Normally I would be completely stressed out over all this and dramatically picturing the worse case scenario as a funeral scene plays through my head. (Remember when I thought Matthew was going to die?) But strangely, I have not been worried at all. I have been praying but haven’t freaked out once. (If anything, I am freaking out because I am not freaking out.) I told my sister that either God is pouring buckets of grace down on me or I am in a huge state of denial. I think I’ll go with the grace. At least it has allowed me to stay upbeat with the kids so they are not worried and just think daddy is having a reeeeeally long doctor visit.

Please keep us all in prayer and for those already praying, thank you so much! I’ll keep you posted.

UPDATE: An Update on Brian (1/15/13)

2012 in 12 Photos / {pretty, happy, funny, real}

By bobbi
January 3, 2013
12 Comments

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

Today’s {p, h, f, r} will be joined with Dwija’s fun 2012 in 12 Photos. Enjoy!

{pretty, happy, funny, & real}

2012 was the year of embracing being a mom and homemaker. I worked on organizing my cluttered house and started the year clearing off Mama’s corner.

;

In February we had a stay-cation and visited Pebble Beach.

The view from our deck in March. You’ll often find the fog rolling in from the ocean until it completely covers the hills behind us.

In April our little Matthew (aka Matty) celebrated his 1st birthday. 🙂

In May I started walking more and found the beach to be one of my favorite spots.

In June we went to Point Lobos for Andrew’s birthday. I held back a tear as three of the kids walked hand in hand.

;

We love our family walks. This little path in the woods makes one think they’ll come across a hobbit or an elf.

;

In August my sisters visited us and we had a fun day at the beach with the kids.

In September the three eldest went back to school. This “mama” rose and “baby” rose reminded me of Matthew and I spending our last year ( or two) at home alone before he’s off to school too.

;

In October we were visited by three awesome munchkin superheroes – Spidey, Captain America and Thor.

In November we visited my family in So Cal and made our annual Disneyland trip.

On December 8, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I launched the new Revolution of Blog site. 🙂

That was fun! Next week for Making It Count Tuesday I’ll write about how I used my 2012 {p, h, f, r} photos to make a Shutterfly photo book. Come back and check it out. 🙂

Saturday Evening 7 Quick Takes (12/22/12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} Mash-Up

By bobbi
December 22, 2012
3 Comments

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

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I’ve been away from the blog all week. It has been crazy busy with Christmas and family things so I haven’t had time to post. I’m catching up a little today by posting a {pretty, happy, funny, real} and 7 Quick Takes Mash-Up. I only have half an hour, so I’ll set the timer…and start.

I just made a post entitled Ways to Help the Victims of Sandy Hook & Newton. There’s info on the Snowflakes for Sandy Hook, #26 Acts of Kindness and the letter from the sister of Fr. Luke Suarez, who is a priest at St. Rose of Lima parish, a Catholic church just down the road from Sandy Hook Elementary. Ten of the children killed were their parishioners. (Fr. Luke is the younger priest in the above photo.)

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I’m still shaken up by the Sandy Hook tragedy. The other day my mom called and when she started talking about it I couldn’t speak. The tears wouldn’t stop. I keep holding onto that feeling every time I start to complain about something. I just think of those grieving moms. They would give anything to have my “problems” as their only worry. Consequently, I’ve just been wanting to spend time with my kids and embrace our family life. Since I love snapping photos, Beth Anne’s #adventphotoaday has been a welcomed distraction to the news. Here are my favorite photos of the week.

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{pretty}

#adventphotoaday Day 15 – Something rose or pink. I saw this small pink rose on an almost bare bush at a local church.

#adventphotoaday Day 16 -Candle. From the Mission’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

#adventphotoaday Day 18 – Heart. This is my favorite icon in our home, the Sacred Heart/ Divine Mercy. We bought this on our honeymoon when we visited the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Redwood City. (It was New Year’s Eve of 1999. Everyone thought the world would end with Y2K. We figured if we were going to die, this was the place to be.) Now look, we survived Y2K and 12/21/12. God still has work for us to do. 😉

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{happy}

On Wednesday we had two Christmas performances scheduled. Here are my three performers.

A class of 3 year olds singing is both sheer cuteness and unintentional comedy. I love this shot of John-Paul afterwards.

Andrew was my little angel. So precious.

My sweet Bella sang with her class and I am still astonished that she is growing up so quickly! Wasn’t it just a short time ago I was cradling her in my arms??

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{funny}

I found Trader Joe’s at the end of the rainbow.

#adventphotoaday Day 20: Free Day. Matthew was dreaming of a White Christmas so he used the flour to make one. Ugh.

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{real}

#adventphotoaday Day 17 – Christmas tree. When I go to look for a tree I usually drive Brian crazy as I look for the “perfect” one. This year I rolled the dice and bought a tree that was wrapped up and didn’t open it until I got home. I got lucky. It was perfect.

#adventphotoaday Day 21- Christmas tradition/ decorations. Every year we add a new ornament to our tree. Here’s a few of my faves – 1. House – for the year we moved out of an apartment and into a real house. 2- Our 1st visit to Disneyland as parents with our own kids. 3 – Baby angel for the two babies we lost in miscarriage. 4 – A little stocking for the year I was surprisingly pregnant with Matthew.

For 2012, I added a set instead of one ornament. To represent this year of really embracing motherhood & homemaking, I have four knit animals to represent my four kids. (Thanks to Target, natch). There’s an owl for Bella, my oldest girl. An owl for Andrew, my oldest boy who is so fond of Bella. A bear for my John-Paul who can be cute & cuddly bear but also a grizzly when he’s mad. Lastly, a fox for my mischievous Matthew who can cause trouble but then give a cute smile and win you over.

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Okay, time is up and I’m 5 minutes over. Have a wonderful weekend and last few days before Christmas!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} – vol 54

By bobbi
December 13, 2012
6 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Here are my favorite photos and instagrams of the week.

{pretty}

From Day 12 of #adventphotoaday – My favorite photo of Mary. I think I already mentioned this icon when I redid our bedroom but it is still one of my favorites. I got it shortly before I met Brian and I took it with me to all the kids’ births. Whenever we travel, it is always set up in our hotel room.

Our Lady of Guadalupe that hangs in our home.

{happy}

Andrew was sporting his James Dean hair for 50’s Day and he was excited to be holding the cookies he decorated at school. (He made sure to decorate four so he could give one to each of the his brothers and sister. That is so sweet…even though he didn’t bring one for me. 😉

{funny}

We keep our shoes on a shelf by the front door. It works out well until Matthew decides to rearrange the shoes. Brian texted me from work and showed me what he landed out wearing that day. That gives whole new meaning to casual Friday. LOL.

{real}

Speaking of my little spit fire, it’s been awhile since Matthew has tried to give me a heart attack. He is usually not allowed in the bathroom but one of the boys left the door open and he made a run for it. The kid is a fast worker.

Have a great evening!

Saturday {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol. 53 / 7 Quick Takes (12/01/12) Mash-Up: Disneyland & Thanksgiving Recap

By bobbi
December 1, 2012
No Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

AND

– 1 –

Is It Really Dec? – I just looked at the calendar and noticed that it says December 1st. Is that correct? How did that happen? Then as I browsed Instagram and I noticed a number of bloggers that already have their tree and pretty Christmas decor up. Meanwhile, I’ve got scarecrows flying around the front porch during this winter storm and I’m tripping over plastic trick or treat pumpkins as I’m still doing laundry from our Thanksgiving trip. I’ve got until tonight to get all the fall decor down and at least get the Advent wreath and calendar project done so I’ve got to make this a fast 7 Quick Take/ {pretty, happy, funny, real} mash-up sharing a few highlights of our trip.

– 2 –

We’re Never Doing This Again!…Until Next Year. – For the last few years we’ve had the tradition of spending Thanksgiving week in So Cal. We are at Disneyland the first half of the week then we head to my family’s house for the rest of the week. The kids and I count down the days and debate which ride we will go on first (even though it is always It’s A Small World.) Brian on the other hand, well, Disneyland is more of an exercise of erasing any time he may have accumulated in purgatory.

However, to be honest, as much as we love the staff and larger rooms at Howard Johnson, there is always a moment (or two) during our hotel stay when I ready to lose my mind! At that point everything is usually chaos…the kids are hyped up and jumping from bed to bed, Matthew is emptying out the mini fridge again and pouring milk into our clothes drawer, not to mention that I forgot to pack a family member’s undies (hence, I even have to make a Target run while on vacay.) I remember at one point I told Brian that he should video record this moment and play it for me anytime that I have the ridiculous idea of taking this trip again. But he knew it was of no use since, as usual, a little time passes and I forget all the horror moments and only remember the warm and fuzzy times. Heck, it’s only been two weeks and I’m already marking off the calendar for next year’s trip! So with that, enjoy the photos. 🙂

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

– 3 –

I hijacked this collage photos from my sis Jacinta!

The kids in front of It’s A Small World.

One of the evenings we camped out on Main Street to countdown the lighting of the Christmas Tree and Main Street, followed by the Christmas parade. Granted, we had to bribe ourselves to sit there on the hard sidewalk with coffee, hot chocolate and churros but it was worth it.

Andrew and Bella

Main Street

– 4 –

I think the kids were most excited about going to Disney California Adventure and seeing the new Cars Land. It is so cute!! For lunch we ate at Flo’s V8 Café where the boys got Christmas Lightning McQueen kid meals. They couldn’t have cared less about the food, they just wanted the car!

John-Paul

– 5 –

I loved that we were able to meet up with family members while we were at DL.

My brother Jacob helped babysit his nephew/godson Matthew.

It’s a sisters (& Bella) day out!

Somehow I didn’t get a photo of my bro Rob with Maria & Max. Ugh!! And as for my parents, well, they are old school in thinking that you keep your private life private and not post it for everyone to see. Go figure. 😉

– 6 –

On our final night there, the lights were off and I was trying to get the kids to sleep in vain. Then at 9:30 pm the fireworks started pounding the sky so they crawled out of bed to watch from the window.

(Taken with my iphone while I was still in bed. LOL.)

– 7 –

Finally, Brian was rewarded with his favorite part of the trip…leaving all the crowds and the noise and getting to the quiet and subtle beauty of the desert where my family is now living.

Brian

The boys were in heaven with their dirt play time, especially Matthew.

The kids also got the treat of watching the original Star Wars for the very first time. Of course they then begged me for their own light sabers, and being the sucker that I am, I made another quick Target run.

John-Paul and Andrew

My favorite is this action shop that my brother IC snapped.

All in all, it was a lovely trip and we had plenty to be thankful for, especially for (almost) all the family being together and for the new friends/loved ones that shared the day with us.