Update on Nanny and Gandy

The past two weeks have been a total blur. I have seen more of I-40 and the TICU waiting room than I care to talk about and eaten so much fast food that I will almost certainly be a hospital patient soon myself. 

My sweet Nanny is making progress. It is hard to see when I am caught up in everything going on, but when I am able to take a step back, I can see improvement. The ventilator was taken out of her room on Saturday and she has been on a CPAP machine (commonly used for sleep apnea) since then. She is much more alert and interactive and extremely frustrated to be laying in a hospital bed. She understands she has a couple of surgeries left and we can see that she is getting stronger. She is battling one infection and we are prayerful that this will be the only infection while she is at the hospital. She has asked where Gandy is and is anxious to see him. 

Gandy went back to the orthopedic surgeon today and surgery was scheduled for tomorrow. My mom and Caroline have been with him the past few days and now he is stuck with me again for a few nights. He is still really sore and also not happy to be in a hospital bed. Hopefully after surgery, his recovery will speed up some. 

I am so thankful for all the prayers over the past two weeks. I am thankful for friends that dropped what they were doing and kept my little boy, for loving in-laws that have now spent 4 nights with him,  for a friend that rode with me to take pictures of the cars, accident scene, and to meet the trooper, for church families in Nashville and Memphis that are praying for them, for sweet Memphis friends that let us spend the night on short notice, and for so many other things along the way. 

Andrew is doing great. He conveniently contracted Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease probably from the church nursery and became symptomatic the Friday after the accident. He is well now and we are excited about celebrating his birthday in less than 3 weeks!

On Thursday afternoon, my grandparents, Vernon and Lynnie McBride (aka Gandy and Nanny) were hit as they traveled on Highway 70 in Haywood County on their way to Jackson. A lady apparently had a heart attack while driving and swerved off the road to the right before re-entering the highway and hitting them head on. My grandfather was driving and tried to avoid her by swerving off the road to his right, but was unable to avoid the collision. They were both taken to the hospital in Jackson and my grandmother was airlifted to Memphis after it was discovered her injuries were more numerous and serious than my grandfather's. At this time, my grandfather is in fair condition in Jackson and will undergo surgery in 2 weeks (after swelling has subsided) to repair a broken right leg. He has a couple of other less serious injuries, but is mostly anxious about my grandmother. My grandmother is in the TICU at The Med and we know that this is the best possible place for her considering her injuries. Meggie, my aunt and I were able to see her Thursday night and she was alert at that time and trying to smile at us despite being intubated. We expected her to have surgery to correct a pressing circulation issue in her legs/feet Thursday night. This surgery actually didn't take place until Friday, but she tolerated it well. She has 2 small bleeds in her brain that the neurologists are not concerned about, however, she has to stay more sedated until they resolve. She has a fractured sternum and multiple broken ribs (flail chest) which are very concerning. She has multiple breaks in all extremities. We are obviously very worried about Nanny, mostly right now about the risk of pneumonia associated with being in the ICU and on a ventilator. We can tell she is very frustrated, but the meds are keeping her as comfortable as possible.
Until Thursday, I did not know what people meant when they said, "we covet your prayers". I now know exactly what that feels like. Seeing my grandfather so worried about his wife and seeing my grandmother laying in a trauma bed are the two saddest things I have ever laid eyes on. My family has been TOTALLY showered with love and prayers since Thursday. We are so appreciative, and we still covet those prayers. Both Nanny and Gandy are servants to so many people, both family and friends in their community, and I just can't accept that God is finished using them to accomplish His work and show love to others. I will try to update as we learn more. Thank you so so much for all of your prayers.

March

March was the month of friends. We started the month in Birmingham with our Memphis friends and I ended the month in Chattanooga hanging out with girlfriends from college. I didn't take any pics in Chattanooga, but if I had they would shown us either eating or watching movies like...

Very interesting. I especially enjoyed Bayar's older brother who is sort of a bully but entertaining to watch.

 It was a rainy weekend and the house that looked so nice on VRBO turned out to be in sort of a loud neighborhood and was not within walking distance of downtown as it claimed. It was also James and Andrew's first weekend alone and they both survived! I came home to rearranged living room and kitchen and both look great :). 

Andrew has had a really good month. He has become much more proficient at feeding himself, which is good considering he had dropped to the 8th percentile for his weight. He loves his rubber ducky and he figured out where dad keeps all his cash. I can't believe he will turn 1 next month! Crazy! He's not walking yet and I'm glad because we are a little behind on babyproofing.

James has been on a light rotation this month AND had a week of vacation so we have really enjoyed all the good family time. Back to reality next week though as he starts OB.

Here are a few pics of the little man, mostly for Aunt Caroline's sake.

And James and I watched this Sunday night...

This was an eye-opener. 

Birmingham Reunion

We met our Memphis family in Birmingham last weekend and had a blast! The Lokeys were kind enough to host all ten of us plus three dogs! Craig and Anna took lots of pics and they represent exactly what the weekend consisted of...eating (Buffalo Chicken Dip, Homemade Rosemary Flatbread, Spinach Dip, Oreo Balls, Sausage Pinwheels, Homemade Lasagna) playing games (Nertz, Rockband, MarioKart, Scribblish, Quelf), and hanging out. 

James and I are so thankful for these "forever" friends. Memphis would have been a total bore without them, and I am so glad that despite all the boys' crazy schedules we have been able to get together twice now since graduation. We look forward to many more weekend reunions and hopefully living in the same city again somewhere down the road.

Baby Day

Today was the Baby Dedication Celebration at Otter Creek. The service was really special and Andrew was lucky enough to have sweet cousin Kate with him on stage too. Being a parent is a daunting task in itself, but striving to raise a child to love and serve the Lord truly takes a village of believers. James and I feel so blessed to be at Otter Creek and are so thankful that Andrew has a family and a church family that are committed to walking with him on his spiritual journey.

James and I with the little man

Cousins!

More cousin love!

And I can hardly believe this little guy is now 9 months old!

West Tennessee

James worked nights last weekend, so Andrew, my mom, and I headed to west Tennessee to see my grandparents. We also made it to Memphis on Monday, in spite of the snow, to see my friends at Ruch Clinic. I miss them so much and I was so happy to be able to stop by and visit, and of course introduce them to Andrew. We were able to eat lunch at Holiday Ham which was great, but we missed out on Muddy's cupcakes as they are closed on Mondays. Next time we will have our priorities in order :).  We made it home just in time for it to snow again...

I love snow, but I am very ready for the warmer temperatures to come and stay.

We also got to hang out with the Graves family last week. Kara and I were college roommates and she and her husband, Josh, are parents to sweet Lucas. I hope Lucas and Andrew will be friends for a long time.

Andrew is VERY busy these days. He no longer picks up toys just to chew on them. He figured out this week that the basketball will actually go through the hoop. James and I are thrilled that at this point in time, basketball is favorite sport :).  We had our first stand-off this week as he sat and looked at the electrical outlet, then back at me, then back at the outlet, etc. This went on for a couple of minutes until he finally crawled away from the plugs. I was using my best stern parent voice and I guess it worked this time :). I know this is just the beginning, though. 

In other news, my family (parents, grandparents, and Meggie) is headed to visit Caroline later this week. It will be my grandparents first trip south of the border and I really wish I could be there to witness it, as I am certain my grandfather will have lots of ridiculous things to say. They will do some sightseeing in San Diego and lots of playing with the sweet kiddos at the City of Children. I am hoping they have such a good time that they want to go back.

Happy Valentine's Day! 

On my heart today

There is lots of December blogging I haven't finished yet like the best weekend of our lives with our dear Memphis friends and the little bear's first Christmas, but there is something else on my heart and mind today.This morning,  I read this article about some thoughts on adoption. Lindsey and Logan Thrasher, a couple that James and I knew at Lipscomb, had linked it on their blog. The Thrashers adopted THE CUTEST twin girls you have ever seen last year (you should definitely see for yourself). Adoption is an ongoing conversation between me and James. We are still thinking and praying about it and forms of child sponsorship for our family.  I pray that God will guide us as we think about our family's future and that things like this article will continually be presented to me so that I may be reminded of the things that matter to God.