VALENTINE TREATS

Well, good thing I was planning ahead and organized when it came to these Valentine treats for the kids classes this week. Long story short...Kenidi was taken to the ER this past Sunday night around 3am for her inability to breathe or catch a breath. It was one of those moments as a Mom when you panic like you've never panicked before. At one point, as the shallow breathing became shorter and worse, I contemplated calling an ambulance. Brent, myself, poor little Brennen, and Kenidi Grace all rushed to the local hospital as quickly as we could. Luckily, our nearest ER is only 10 minutes away. I had Brent put the pedal to the metal since I wasn't driving. No matter how fast he got us there, I wouldn't have been satisfied. After some chest x-rays, the doc confirmed that Kenidi has pneumonia. I just feel so bad for her. Pneumonia of all things. The child just can't catch a break. I had noticed for a couple of weeks now that she has had some shortness of breath-especially when sleeping. However, I kept trying to reassure myself that it was just my imagination. The hard part is not being able to communicate with Kenidi. Because of her developmental delay in the speech area, she can't tell us when something is wrong or when something hurts. We have to base it off her mood, her cries, etc. It's so heart wrenching to know she has had this and we had no idea.

We are now home and hunkered down - taking it easy - as her healing process begins. Luckily, the medicine that they gave her seems to be working like a charm. PRAISE GOD!

So...unfortunately....she won't be able to give her little valentine treats to her classmates until next Monday. The doc wants her out of school all week this week. At least they are made and ready to distribute though. Brennen will get to give his to his class on Thursday during his Valentine's Day party.

On a good note - well in a "sick" kind of way - I have an idea for this weeks Self Portrait "BLUE" challenge already. In the midst of rushing to get dressed and get Kenidi out the door, in the car and to the hospital at 3am....I managed to wipe out on our 3 little measely stairs from our kitchen door inside the house out into the garage. The bad thing was...I was carrying Kenidi in my arms when I fell. By the Grace of God, I managed to lift her up high enough during the fall to where only her feet hit the concrete floor. In the meantime, my right knee and my left ankle took the brunt of it all. Needless to say, I look as though I have a growth coming off my ankle bone that is the size of a small softball. It was one of those painful moments in life that hurt so bad it makes you want to vomit immediately. I instantly felt nautious and sick to my stomach. I never cry over injuries. At least I don't remember crying when I've gotten hurt in my adult life. However, this time I bawled. It hurt soooooooo bad. However, Kenidi, aside from not being able to breathe - was safe from the impact of my fall. I scared Brent to death but hurried him into the car, assured him I was ok, and that if it was broke we were headed to the right place. (the hospital)

I told Brent that I'm just going to cut my feet off because I can't seem to walk right anymore. I almost wiped out on the bleachers at Brennen's game a couple of weeks ago. (with Kenidi in my arms again) Luckily, by God's grace once more, some kind stranger caught our fall on the way down and "saved" us. Last summer - I totally bit the dust in front of everyone at one of Brennen's football games. I guess those old beat up jeans and rockin' heels aren't always best to wear every day - especially at a football game. Then, about two years ago, I wiped out in front of everyone at Brennen's old school in the middle of the parking lot and ripped a complete hole in my jeans at the knee. We were headed inside for back to school night. I definitely made my appearence known - unwillingly - for back to school. I'm sure the rest of the year I was remembered in the halls when people passed me as "The chick that wiped out on the pavement at back to school night." Great! At least I got my 15 minutes of fame somewhere in life. I'll take it however I can get it. Ha ha! Ok...I'm lying now!

I know you are laughing at me at this point. I'm laughing as I reflect back on all of them. That isn't even the half of them either. I hear you saying..."No we aren't laughing at you (and your clumsiness), we are laughing WITH you Angie. The moments mentioned are just the ones I remember the most because I happened to do it in front of hundreds of people at a time. UGH! Humiliation is not the word. You know those moments when you stand up and pray that no one saw what just happened-what went down-or that YOU were what went down??? You know em' - come on - I know someone is feelin' this out therein blog world. You look around ever so cool and gracefully and "pretend" that nothing just happened. You totally fake the fact that you are in pain. HA! Well, all of those times that I wiped out, I didn't even bother to stand up and try to look graceful. I knew that way too many people had just witnessed my "ungraceful" legs fall out from underneath me and I didn't dare confirm the number of people stairring. Brent teases me all the time because I just can't walk. I am such a klutz. God help me as I continue to age. I'll be breaking every bone in my body.

So..stay tuned...I'm going to use the Self portrait challenge to my advantage this week when it comes to "Blue." In the meantime, pray for me that I can remain standing, walking, and on my feet in public. Will ya? :)
Much love,
Angie (a.k.a. - the "klutz")