The Summer That Almost Wasn't

My summer took a turn I wasn't expecting in June and I've been playing catch up ever since....

Going all the way back to May - 

 We told Riley the weekend of Memorial Day that we planned to have him repeat 2nd Grade again next year.  He was initially very upset and slammed the front door and cried in his room for about 30 minutes, but then he really came around and has been great about it.  He's so resiliant.  And a god-wink happened that Sunday - we went to TLCC for church to celebrate Ms Diana and we ran into a friend of Riley's who was born the same month, also goes to Lily B and repeated KG, so Riley and he will be in the same grade next year.  Riley offered the news to his friend all by himself over brunch at Lucile's and the friend was also great about it.  What a blessing!

Some school papers from Carter - he's started labeling his own work!

  

One of the positives of Riley repeating 2nd Grade is that we are going to stop the private tutoring he's been doing for the past 1.5 years.  We switched to a new tutor the last few months and Riley made her a card to thank her, which he gave to her during their last session together.

Before my health took a turn (more on that later) I enjoyed some breakfast and a book on the porch after a run.  This was probably the last good day I had for over a month.....

  

Marvelous Monday was the first Monday in June at Lily B.  I couldn't be there, but was sent many photos of the boys having fun.

  

On June 4th Chad & I took the boys on a surprise trip to Six Flags.  It was the first trip for both of the boys.  Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well - my  legs and arms were aching so I drank tons of water and took Advil on a regular basis all day and tried my best to make it a good day for the boys.

  

We ran into our good friends, Jessica, Keller & Mattie while we were there and Riley and Keller rode the Texas Giant!

  

The day after Six Flags I was feeling worse.  I tried to go to work, called the doctor and couldn't get in and late morning ended up at the ER.  Carter had his PreK graduation this day and I'm so sad I missed it.

 

  

Riley also received some certificates:

  

So now back to that ER visit.  My legs and arms were super achy and the ER do told me  had a viral infection and gave me a steroid shot and an anti-inflammatory shot and sent me home with a prescription for anti-inflammatory pills. 

By Monday (3 days later) I was running a fever of 102+ and could not get it to stay down so back to the ER we went.  This time I got 3 bags of fluids, a chest x-ray and some IV antibiotics because they told me I had pneumonia.  They also sent me home with a 5-day z-pack of antibiotics and told me not to work for 7 days.

7 days seemed extreme and I kept thinking I would be back in a couple of days, but I just could not get the fever to break.

Work sent flowers. 
 Friends sent flowers.

  

And still the fever kept hold.  By Wednesday I had a headache and was nauseous, so I called my doctor and was told to stop taking Advil and only take Tylenol and that I would just have a headache.  By Friday my head was pounding so bad and my fever was still there so on Saturday morning we went back to the ER.  More fluids, another chest x-ray, a head CT and a spinal tap later and I was told that I still had pneumonia and now also had meningitis.  They were not sure what kind, but I was being admitted to the hospital and they would send my labs off for cultures to try and determine which specific type of meningitis I had.  In the end I had 10 total days of IV antibiotics (6 in the hospital and 4 at home through a PICC line) and they believe it was bacterial meningitis although the cultures would never grow anything because I had already been on 5 days of antibiotics.  I'm now over a month post-treatment and I think I'm going to fully recover.  I had to take it slow at first and work my energy level back up, but I'm feeling pretty good now and practically 100%.

While I was in the hospital Nana took over the brunt of childcare for the boys so Chad could be with me at the hospital.  She also spent the last two nights at the hospital with me.

Thankfully, the boys were pretty sweet with each other and with me.

  

They did swim lessons the week I was in the hospital and got to go up to Nana's classroom.

  

Carter gave me this tiny Lego tiger, which I kept close at hand while in the hospital.

  

These were what my at-home antibiotics looked like.  I hated having the PICC line and was so relieved when it was finally removed.

While I was sick Kate took the kids to the zoo.  Super fun!

  

When I finally got back to work I had a sweet sign waiting for me.  I really did miss being at work!

  

Chad managed to design and tech a show while this was all going on and the boys went to see it with him.

One of my first forays out of the house was a swim party.  Carter had fun and would not take his goggles off!

One of the things I was trying to get well for was a July 1-3 trip to Schlitterbahn with Chad & the boys.

Chad bought a special hat for the sun.

  

We had a blast at Schliltterbahn!  Can't wait to go back one day.

July 4th we attended the wedding of Kly and Brady.  Riley would not watch a bot of the ceremony because he was grossed out and Carter slept through it.  The best part was the kids table at the reception!

  

The next week the boys attended Museum School.  This is one of the few things they ask to do and they always have a good time.

They've also enjoyed loads of swimming at Nana's.

  

Our crepe myrtle bloomed in full flowers this summer.

  

And Chad needed lots of naps to catch up after June.

Kate watched the boys the next week because Nana had a school conference.  They did VBS at FUMC and Kate took them swimming at TCU almost every day.  She wore them plain out!

I helped to plan and host an incoming KG party at Tillery Park on July 18.  It was a spy themed party and the kids had a blast!

so did the host moms......

I started drinking a health tonic last week.  It tastes pretty repulsive, but I've managed to get it down most days.  Antibiotics can be brutal on your insides and this should help to regulate my pH levels.

 

  

This week Riley has been in Minecraft Camp at TCU with Alex and they swum at Nana's most afternoons.  Carter has been exhausted almost every other day and asleep by 7:45pm or so.

Feeling super blessed to have my health and my family right now.  It's turning out to be a pretty okay summer after all.