As you may have noticed, I’ll be posting later when the holidays are here because I truly believe in setting down the phones, the computers, the noise. I feel that we need to be in the holiday not in our phones. As a Warrior mom my life is full to the brim and beyond. I choose to take days, and for sure holidays to take a turn having life without all the interruptions. I do enjoy the messages of glittering Christmas Trees and other fun pictures. But when I engage ,like most people I’m on a website soon, then I’m reading my email, then I’m whisked to Facebook and then a half hour has been taken away. With all the interruptions of being mom, host, grandmother, and the Warriors we are I decide to draw the line. I encourage all of you to set some limits, it is worth it.
As the holidays come around so does the chaos. There is so much more to do. Even if we limit our giving and our cooking there is still more. It is a fun “more.” As such I try to take in the time of family and stop. I sat with Anna on the couch a little more, I made cookies with her in the kitchen listening to very old fashioned Christmas songs. Try “Buck Owens” Country Christmas, for example. We took in the festivities despite the rush and the chaos.
I picked a Christmas movie and Paul picked one as well. They were both watched with Anna sitting in her cozy pjs propped on the couch with her toys tied to the arm of the futon. Anna will sit on the couch with me for days in a row if she was able to do so. She loves to sit by me. We actually create many of these blogs together with her sitting by me.
We have our Christmas Day on the Eve of Christmas. We plan Christmas Day to be a chill day at home with fun traditions. This is important because Anna needs to enjoy the holiday and since she can’t voice her desires, a homebound day makes a happy time for her. Paul makes homemade French toast on thick Texas Toast bread and we have thick sliced bacon to go along with it. We play Rummy and eat snacks, and then we have an easy leftovers dinner to end the evening. We exchange a few gifts and enjoy the coziness of the season.
Not everyone gets to enjoy these times in the Warrior world. We were in the hospital on 12/21/16 for Anna’s transplant. We stayed for ten days, coming home on New Year’s Eve. We know what it is like to be away from your own place on this holiday. It is not easy. We were grateful for the care and the transplant. There are families who are there right now. They had to go in before or had procedures planned. We never take for granted being home on the holidays now. In fact, we take nothing for granted. A dinner we can get through without a crying jag or a soiled diaper and visits and car rides that go well. We learn to really appreciate, I mean really appreciate when things go well. It makes them extra special. It makes the season even more special. Not everyone right now has that luxury.
I have a friend who is also a Warrior, and also is experiencing this admission to the hospital as I write this. She has been there since BEFORE THANKSGIVING. We are so grateful to have medications and IVs to help our kids, this is true. But it wears you down and is hard to keep up the spirit at times. Her family also had their car broken into while having her in the hospital during this rough time. These are the times of digging deep down for strength, waiting for the next rounds of doctors and the next idea. She might be transferred to a National Hospital. I think of her and I hope for her, this could be any of us with the medical severities we live with everyday.
I ask all that read this to please send them the prayers they need. Anna and I will visit soon when my work schedule allows. When our children are admitted for this long it becomes a new way of life. We endure because we are these moms and dads. I hope the doctors find a way to help her soon, to stop the severe inability to keep food down. Please think of Lily and I’ll keep my prayers strong for one of our own.
Merry Christmas to Everyone
Thank you for Reading our Blog
Thank you for thinking of sweet Lily.
Your post is SO wonderful Jackie—and I LOVE your beautiful photos. Prayers lifted for Lily and her family.
Thank you for the updates you send our way. You have a lovely family and friendships who encourage one another. Merry Christmas to you and family.