Ben update....

Ok, well as most of you know, we had some serious family emergency stuff happen in the last week.
Ok, so all of the kids got strep, me as well. Well, after a few days, Ben wasn't doing so well. In fact, he even seemed to be doing worse. I had been giving him his antibiotics religiously for four days. On Monday afternoon, he complained his knees hurt and he had a temp of 102. So I called the doc and they told me to take him to the ER. Once there and examined by the doc, I noticed his lymphnodes (sp) were so swollen, they looked like golf balls coming out the sides of his neck! The doctor immediatly called in his pediatrician and an ear nose and throat guy, took a CT scan of Ben and found his whole throat to be super infected! His tonsils, adinoids (sp) and back of his throat tissue was all abcessed and swollen!
All I felt like doing was crying! I thought he was getting better! The doctors assured me there was nothing I could have done because the infection just affected him differently. They admitted him to the hospital and he stayed there on antibiotics for a whole other 24 hours. After no change and his temp practically skyrocketing to about 105, the doctor (who I was told was the best in the state) recommended emergency surgery. So on Tuesday night at 7 pm, they took him and removed all of the above mentioned tissues and drained the abcesses in the back of the throat. His adinoids had died, they just died. So all that dead tissue had to be removed, his tonsils which were super infected had to come out and he has a huge sinus infection.
After spending one more night in the hospital, he was up and running again. Not on all eight cylinders of course, but I brought him home where for the last four days he has been in pain and slowly recovering. He did hit a snag and his whole face and body reacted to the medication he was put on. A raspberry rash and swollen eyes don't go well with him.
I just wanted to say a big thankyou to all the ladies that have brought food and all the prayers people have said not only for Ben but for me and my sanity. Checking temps every two hours around the clock, having to help with a pouty little sister and keep my wits about me seemed impossible. Having someone take care of a meal is more of a blessing that they will ever know!!!
Thomas went to stay with his Aunt Melissa and her family for a few days, and from what I hear has been fitting right in. He talks as much as Melissa's daughter Brianne so they just jabber together.
I will keep you updated as things progress...
Also very big news....my sister Sarah had her baby the same day Ben had his surgery. 1:21 AM February 2, 2010, 6 lbs and 10 precious ounces, Alliera Kay was born perfectly healthy! I can't wait until EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is back to some sort of normal state so I can spend time with my new neice! Ok, so that is all the news thus far from the Chase world!

sick days

Ok, well its ironic. I was sitting at my make shift office here at my parents home trying to put into words how chaotic it is here stateside living here and a play by play account of what happens. From school schedules which vary greatly, karate lessons, appointments, prayer groups, moms groups, work out schedules and even about getting up first thing in the AM and wondering what is going to be for dinner. Also about how I was just getting used to the hectic routine and how I found my groove. Well, just to let you know, I should have kept my mouth shut. As of Thursday night, all five of the children plus me had strep throat. So I am just going to say this, I won't complain again. On top of the strep, there was head colds that moved down into the chests. But its not so bad now, the weekend has been crazy (not to mention the laundry pile!). But thankfully, the kids are now ALL sleeping through the night. We should be fully recovered in another few days or so. I have pictures which I will post as soon as I can find out where I put the camera.....

Christmas photos explained

Ok, so since I can't make a post with words AND photos (trust me I plan on doing that someday) I will write in a different post so its not all crazy like!
Anyway, we started out Christmas Eve making sugar cookies and decorating them. The kids had a blast with all the frosting and sprinkles. Ben got cold and had to sit by the fire a while! Than later that night we decided..or more like I decided that we would do a Christmas play. We did them when I went to Catholic School and it was fun. So with all the kids running around, we decided to put on a little production of the nativity. Don't you just love my three Wise Men? Katie played Mary and Abby played a sheep, although since we didn't have a costume, she was more like shaved sheep moving around the barn and she DID keep tipping over the manager because she was fascinated with Katie's baby Jesus!
It really tuckered the kids out! When I was reading them the Night Before Christmas, they all fell asleep listening to it, to me they look like they are dreaming of sugar plums!
We all got dolled up to go to mass than we opened gifts afterwords. Then on comes the royal feast. We ended up having salmon and ham this year, we were kinda "turkeyed" out! But it was a lot of fun, the kids enjoyed themselves. Stay tuned for photos of the winter wonderland that befell us on New Year's Day!

Christmas photos

Drum roll please.....

Today we took Abby to have her very first hair cut! There is a lovely lady who does it outside of her home and she really enjoyed doing it! Abby didn't complain the whole time! She just sat there and loved it! We kept her first scrap of hair and now KC, if you are watching this, she no longer looks like Mad Madam Mim! She just looks so grown up with that hair! What a blessing this little girl is! Enjoy the pics guys!

Hello all, since I can't offically say when my man heads home due to security purposes, I put up the Christmas countdown because I am HOPING that he will infact, be home for Christmas. If he isn't well I will just have to settle for whenever he does. But for now, we are waiting for that time frame. I have pictures of the last few weeks. So, stay tuned and I shall have it up soon!

And...were off!

Ok, now its countdown to when my flight leaves. I am sure going to miss all the people here, but I will back before you know it! I am going to love the states!
KC has to say good bye to the kiddos and me tomorrow for a whole year. I am going to need a lot of support from everyone. My get up and go will get as soon as wheels touch down in SLC tomorrow night. I am anxious to be back home and ready for the new year to get here. Bring it on, as fast as you can! I have alot to catch up on with family and friends, and I ask you all just to pray for KC and ALL our brave troops and their families. And if you can....a few for me and the kids as we will be in the air like 14 hours (+ 4 hour layover!) tomorrow! Cheers!