Christmas Recap

Christmas this year was a little unusual, compared to the norm. Christmas Eve Day, I dropped Carter off at my parents' house and spent a good chunk of the day with Eric. The hospital is no place for a 2 year old, and I was desperately in need of some time with Eric to absorb the events of the week. So I spent the afternoon with him, and then headed over to my parents' house for Christmas Eve celebration.

My brother's girlfriend was spending time with her family, so it was almost like "old times" with just the four of us......and Carter as our entertainment. ;) We cooked up some good finger foods, enjoyed some laughs, and opened some great gifts.

My little dinosaur lovin' boy.

One of my favorite things he got was an easel. I love that he's artistic and creative.

Christmas Day, I received the best gift I could ever ask for: my husband was discharged from the hospital. Granted, he has a 6 week road to recovery, but he was able to come home to spend Christmas with his family.

Carter's Santa present wasn't exactly presented in the usual fashion, but he was a very happy boy nonetheless! He LOVES his race track!

By mid-afternoon, Eric's family arrived at our house and the feast/gift opening began.More laughs were had. Stories were told. Games were played. And bellies were FULL.
Saturday evening was my dad's side of the family's white elephant gift exchange/Christmas celebration. There were 2 other little guys there for Carter to play with, and he had such a great time!

Someone is feeling a little better! My brother and his girlfriend, Tracy.

Carter playing with Fox and Brennan.

Have you ever tried opening a present without asking Carter if he wants to help? It doesn't go over well, trust me. Look at the glare on his face!!

But he LOVED having little friends to play with. A glimpse of his loving nature with a younger baby around? Most definitely.

Let me tell you something about Christmas this year.....I didn't even care about the presents. Not that I usually do, but this year was definitely a year to cherish family. This Christmas could have turned out completely different had one minor thing gone wrong with Eric's injury and treatment. I could have been burying him. Instead, everything went extremely well and I get to keep the love of my life around.

And more importantly, my little boy gets his daddy. And that's the best Christmas present I could ever ask for.

**Another Update**

Today was another day of big improvements for Eric. First thing this morning, they removed his chest tubes (there were 2). They also brought in the machine for the echo and got that out of the way. They basically just want to make sure the hole they didn't repair was healing on its own and NOT getting any bigger. It was about the same size, but definitely not getting any bigger. So that was excellent news. He is still being discharged tomorrow - hopefully first thing in the morning!!! That would be the most ideal since he was going quite stir crazy today. Carter spent most of the day with my parents so I could focus on Eric and the doctors. The hospital is definitely not a place for 2 year olds! So, if everythig continues on as it has been, he will be home before noon tomorrow - which is pretty damn amazing if you ask me, considering he had a nail IN HIS HEART Tuesday afternoon.

{Cami, Charlie & Coleton}

Little Coleton has been a favorite subject of mine for a while now. He's such a little cutie and has some amazing, blue eyes! I have done two sessions with him, and this is the first one of him with his mommy and daddy. They were so much fun! We walked around the Depot, trying to stay warm and avoid the other large groups getting their pictures done.

**UPDATE**

So here is the x-ray I was talking about last night, where you can see the nail. As I said, it went through two chambers of his heart. We aren't sure what stopped it from going all the way through the heart, but whatever it was, that's what saved him. The nail was essentially acting like a plug, keeping all the blood inside the heart.

I went first thing this morning to visit Eric. He's doing extremely well - making progress well beyond what any doctor expected of him.

He's out of bed and walking around - entertaining every staff member who stops by to see the "guy with the nail in the heart."
He's in great spirits today - laughing and asking for coffee. Just like Eric. If he continues on with this progress, he will be home Friday morning. A true Christmas Miracle, indeed.

Goofy non-stop.....nothing has changed. :)

He's Alive

My day started out pretty normal. Got up, got myself and the child ready, went to work. All things "system go". And then 9:37 a.m. rolled around and my world got ROCKED. I got a call from my husband, who informed me that he just accidentally shot himself in the heart with his nail gun. With a 16 penny ring shank nail, which is 3+ inches long. The longest nail you can get. Into.HIS.HEART. Here is what one looks like.

How do I know? Because this is the one they removed from his heart. FROM HIS HEART. I'm going to keep saying it because it's still so surreal to me.

So he went on in the call to tell me that he loved me more than anything and that he didn't know if the ambulance would make it in time. Basically the call every wife NEVER wants to hear. EVER. It will resonate in my brain every day for the rest of my life.

So they transported him to McCall hospital (he was working in Donnelly), where they performed a preliminary x-ray of his chest. The doctor decided to forego all additional treatment, and they life-flighted him down to Boise. He was taken into surgery immediately.

The nail shot through two chambers of his heart. Naturally, the surgeons didn't want to just pull it out, so they had to open up his entire chest cavity to access the heart. They were able to remove the nail and repair two of the holes. There is still a hole between the two chambers, which SHOULD heal on its own.

So he stays in the cardiovascular ICU at the hospital through Christmas. He will be off work for four weeks after that. He has a long, long recovery ahead of him. Please keep him in your thoughts.

(these are pictures of pictures.....obviously I wasn't in the OR with him)

I do have an x-ray picture, but for some reason, my phone isn't sending the picture to my e-mail at the moment. So I will post that picture as soon as I can. In the meantime, think happy thoughts and remember to tell everyone you love them every chance you get.

A Weekend Recap - Picture Style

This weekend has been nothing short of busy.....as it usually is this time of year. Eric was actually in town the entire weekend, so we were able to get lots done. Friday night, we went out for pizza. After that, we came home and just laid by the fire, watching Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with Carter. We did take time, however, to let him shake some of his presents. Horrible parents, I know! How mean!

I simply love our tree this year. I think it's the best one we have had in quite a while.

And the fireplace? It's certainly my best friend.

Saturday afternoon, I had another family photoshoot (pics to come in a couple days). It was chilly outside, but nothing we couldn't handle. So we hustled and got out of the cold, and then it was time to head to Eric's family's Christmas party.

Carter and his Grammy Michelle.

Me and my MIL.

Someone didn't waste ANY time diving right into the food. Shocker!! Michelle and Janelle.

GG Dort sneaking up on Carter. He was giggles and squeals all night long! And then the karaoke madness began.

Carter playing with is Auntie Ashley.

I'm sure this was one of the Michael Jackson songs......everyone seemed to know the words to those.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted! We crammed too much into one day.....however, that's pretty much how we have spent life for the past 8 weeks since Eric has been working out of town. Another 2 to go and hopefully we are done. Until then, let the madness continue!