Another Unexpected Life Moment ~ Mom Style

First off thank you all so much for the sweet messages I received regarding my previous post. It's comforting to know that so many of you understand where I'm coming from and thank you for appreciating my work. It ALWAYS brightens my day!!! It's seriously IRONIC that I did that post and the. very. next. day our life would take another unexpected turn!

Monday was like any other day, got some work done, worked out, enjoyed a relaxing bath with a much needed glass of vino and was catching up with my sister on the phone around 8:30pm when Hayley started knocking on my bedroom door. When I opened it I could tell something wasn't right. She was crying and yelling that her stomach really hurt. Of course we went thru everything that parents do - do you have a stomach ache? Are you going to throw up? Etc. Etc. The pain was in her lower right abdomen and at this point she is hysterical. My gut just told me we needed to take her in whether it turned out to be nothing or not. We all loaded up into the car and headed to the ER. (luckily the hospital is literally maybe 7 mins away from our house) When we got there they were all wonderful. They started an IV, took some blood and said she would need to have a catscan so she had to drink a butt load of fluid for the contrast for the catscan. At about 11:30PM they took her in for the catscan and even while she was in there I kept thinking how I know they will say it's nothing, just a stomachache take her home yada, yada, yada. We had to wait an hour for the results to come back and as you can imagine we were all exhausted and the time was just creeping by. The doctor came back about 12:35am and told us she had appendicitis and would need SURGERY!! WTH?!!! We weren't prepared for that!

The look on her face still haunts me. She was devastated, terrified and crying. It took everything I had in me to NOT cry with her, to be strong and make her believe that this was no big deal, everything was fine...when all I wanted to do was have my own terrified break down. Then they broke it to us. This hospital has no pediatric unit so they would have to transfer us to a hospital 20 mins away via ambulance in flash flooding and downpours. SUPER! Can it get any better? Um, yeah, they could tell my daughter she has to go alone in the ambulance while she's already panicking and we will meet her at the hospital. Ugh!!!! She was even more of a mess! Luckily we had the most amazing nurse who felt sooo bad for Hayley that when the ambulance arrived she talked to them and they agreed to let me ride with her. Phew, one bullet dodged! She was a little more relaxed after they gave her some good drugs and she had me along for the ride.

Sorry..only had my crappy phone and a phone photographer, I am NOT!!! LOL

Seeing your baby like this just makes you wish it was you instead of them!

 We didn't get to the other hospital until about 2:20am and when we got there they were working on managing her pain until the surgery team came down to meet us and go over everything. In the mean time her heart rate was thru the roof. It was probably a combination of nerves and the pain so they worked on getting that under control for awhile. At 4:50am they took her back and that had to be one of the hardest moments as a parent. She was petrified and crying and I'm hugging her and saying goodbye, trying my damnedest not to lose it. Then came the process of waiting for the surgery to be over. All I could do is rock in my chair and watch the clock pass every second by. Finally around 6:20 am they came out and told us that everything went perfect and she was in recovery and we would be able to see her in about 10 mins or so. Well evidently her pain was hard to stabilize so we actually didn't get back to see her until about almost 7am and she was a crying mess. I felt sooo horrible for her. I know where she's coming from pain wise having had 2 surgeries and it's not fun! After they got her settled down they moved us into our room on the pediatric floor. The staff was absolutely amazing there! Everyone was so sweet and accommodating, they made it much easier to be stuck in there.We were all beyond EXHAUSTION having been up for over 24 hours.

 We spent that day taking cat naps and just trying to keep her pain level manageable. We knew half way thru the day that she wouldn't be going home. She started running a fever and she wouldn't eat anything so luckily my parents made the drive down to see her and pick up Casey to take him home with them. (yep, a plus to living here...having family close to help out in emergencies) She ran a fever all thru that day and part way into the night but by morning was fever free and was willing to do a couple laps around the unit and eat a few cheerios. (she was determined to get out of there) LOL. We got discharged at noon on Wednesday and literally came home and CRASHED for hours! My body is seriously just recovering from everything. She's doing much better but still in some pain.

I still can't believe a normal day took such a turn but we are so grateful that everything turned out the way it did and that we took her in before it ruptured because it could have been soooo much worse! Someone should tell you before you have kids that they will definitely give you ulcers, scare the crap out of you and make you cry more times than you can imagine!! She is sooo worth it and if anything, it has brought her and I even closer together. It just puts everything into perspective even more to enjoy each and every day with your loved ones. You seriously have NO idea when something could take a turn for the worse and something unexpected could happen.

Now I'm ready to enjoy a baby shower weekend with that beautiful sister of mine. Have a great weekend!!! XO

A Stunning Momma to Be and Life Reflections!

Hello my lovelies! Well, I'll just be honest, because let's face it....I try not to sugar coat it and no one should think that everyone's life is PERFECT because it's not. I've definitely had a rough 2 weeks. Rough being non stop tears, sad, melt downs almost. every. day. Yep, I have been very home sick for Arizona, my old life, my friends etc. Who knows what prompted it more in these last 2 weeks because quite honestly I think about AZ at least 100 times once a day! ;) Whatever it was, it hit me like a ton of bricks and it was horrible. After some good self loathing reflecting on everything that I should be happy about (health, my kids, amazing parents, my childhood bestie, siblings all within either a 2 hour flight or a short drive) I finally snapped the he** out of it and thought 'wow, it sucks to be this miserable'. I didn't even want to be around myself. My mom has been such a good support because she gets 'it'. She gets how hard this move has been for me and she doesn't look down on me for feeling this way. I know eventually we will end up back on that coast but for now I need to stop and enjoy those who love me, support me and are always there for me. This definitely won't be my last rough patch, because it's a day by day struggle and yep, check back in winter and I will probably have 20 one or 2 melt downs a month. I don't think I will ever 'LOVE' it here, but I'm definitely finding shoot locations that are spectacular. Which totally leads me into this post of the most gorgeous momma to be. EVER.

My sister should seriously be a maternity model. She just radiates beauty inside and out. She is also one of the main things that keeps me grounded being here. Getting to share in this part of her life is so absolutely thrilling, there are no words to express how happy I am to be here with her. There are years between us but we talk on the phone almost every day and it's like I'm talking to my best friend. Thank you so much Sam for being there for me during this transition and for just being wonderful. You are the best sister (even after all those years of Amie & I excluding you and picking on you) and I can NOT wait to be an Auntie and with all of the upcoming shoots, we will be spending even more time together!!! XO

 **Yes, my brother in law does have a head, and I did get pictures with him completely in them. I'm just respecting his wishes of not 'being' plastered all over the internet. (he's a little shy) LOL  Thankfully I love that guy so much I don't mind granting his wish. Have a great week everyone!!!!

Vacation with the Besties - Part 1!!

Two posts relatively close to each other!!?? That is pure craziness!!! ;)  Especially with how insane our lives have been this last month. Well our long awaited visit from our (me and mini me) besties has come and gone. BOO!!! It's unbelievable how you count down the minutes days till they get here and in a snap it is O. V. E. R.  We had a jam packed, full of fabulous fun, 2 weeks though!! That is for sure. Of course that means that it won't all possibly make it into ONE post....hellllooo...you can IMAGINE the amount of pics I took over a 2 week period!! So here is part 1 of our FUN!

The girls when they first saw each other! Hayley and I had been hiding by baggage claim, (probably looking overly suspicious with my big ole camera dangling around my neck and all the ducking we were doing) and then when we spotted them, it was pure happiness!!

We spent the first couple days hanging at home and the kids had to finish their last couple days of school, so we did a lot of relaxing on the back deck. :)

The girls were nailing their 'modeling pose' down!

We HAD to show them our 'Duck Dynasty' side too!!! LOL

As you can see, the Cali girl got right on there and had no problem showing her stuff!! :)

On the last day of school there was a school dance, so the besties got to share that adventure together...

It was a Hawaiian theme, but as soon as they got there and saw no ONE else in any type of Hawaiian...yep, you can guess what part of this outfit was ripped off faster. than. you. can. imagine. in the car! KIDS!

After all of the school hoopla was over, we headed out for a full day of heat and sun at Dorney Park. (I will spare you pics from that because I don't take my camera to that park...too much work!) 

We had just a day to recup from all the amusement park madness and then we were taking our West Coasters to the 'other side'....the Jersey Shore baby!!! Yep, 3 days of East Coast life at the beach!!! LOL! I have to say they were good sports. The East Coast is nice, but sorry folks...it's NOT California!!! ;)  

BEST Salt Water Taffy!!! :)

BEST Ice Cream!

This was CRAZY! We were walking back from dinner and literally the moon was red...

It definitely wasn't a Cali beach but we sure did have a fabulous time!!!! I can cry looking back at the pics because my heart hurts from missing them sooo much already!!!

Have a great week!!! Be back soon with a STUNNING maternity session and maybe even a little pin up girl action!!! :)  XO