Chronic Diesease

I am wife to a man with a chronic disease. Robyn had Crohns Disease which I have mentioned before and I have gone into some details about before as well...

What I don't think I have ever really gone into is just how it effects our family and truly how it effects me as not only the wife but as the mother too...

Its hard not knowing when your spouse will be debilitated by pain, when your spouse will be confined to a hospital bed on IV steroids, when he will be able to eat, when he will be able to rest without fighting pain all night... but you know that all of this WILL happen. Its a matter of time before you have to watch him wince in pain as his digestive system attacks its self and makes every meal more difficult than the last.

I will never know personally how it feels to have this disease, I will never understand how he copes with it all everyday, I will never truly know the pain, but I certainly have my fair share of the worry I have my share of the pain, and most of all I have more than my share of the stress.

As wife and stay at home mother I have my role here in the house of making sure that the house is clean, the laundry is done, the meals cooked and the children and the husband cared for. Crohns throws a monkey wrench in the works of my life. When Robyn is admitted to hospital (and he has been twice in this past month) I have to split my time. I have to split time between our home and the hospital, I have to split time between him and the kids, I have to split time all the time. I have to plan even more in advance than I normally would because I need to plan what will be made for all meals, who will watch the kids, how I will get to the hospital, when I will get back. I have to plan what night am I going to stay late at the hospital so that I can get home early another night, I have to plan what he needs and what I have to bring to him, I have to plan when I am doing the laundry so that I can bring home his dirty cloths and get it cleaned and back to him. All this while taking care of me too... and lets just say that I am the last to get cared for in these situations...

I sleep less soundly when I am alone in our bed, I crave more sleep and admit to rolling over and trying to sleep in a little even knowing the kids are awake and ready to start their day. I have to find things to completely capture my attention throughout the day so I am not calling for updates every ten minutes. I have to be busy all the time to distract myself from feeling helpless in his struggle, alone in our relationship because his concentration is on his health.

Back when it was just us, me and Robyn, when we had no kids, no rings, nothing but each other I could spend every moment he needed me in the hospital next to his bed, and I did. I would go to my college classes and then straight to the hospital where I would do my assignments and homework with him and stay as late as the nurses would allow. Back when it was just us, I had no idea what to expect and foolishly thought that this was rare and that hospitalization was an occasional thing and once you were better you were better and that was it. Back when it was just us, it didn't matter if the laundry was done, it didn't matter if the supper was cooked it didn't matter that no one was at our home at any given hour...

Now though with our little family in tow, I must do all of those things. I must make sure that the family is taken care of and that things run smoothly with Robyn in the hospital. I must help the kids not to be afraid of the IV and the big hospital room, the Doctors and the patients that may share that room with Daddy. I must ensure that both the kids and I are taken care of at home to make getting "better" his only priority. No matter how long he is "better" for.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Today is Hubby's 33rd Birthday!

I am so excited to have our little annual family celebration!

We always make a cake, blow up balloons, hang a banner and have a great little family party together! I am extra excited because this year I am giving Robyn a gift that I have wanted to give him for a while but in one way or another it wasn't possible or it was not available at the places I had looked...

This year we are giving him a "DAD" ring...

This may sound silly to some and many men who don't wear jewelry may turn their noses up but this is something that Delaney and I have searched for for quite some time...When we picked up this lovely little gift for him I suggested that we have a look around and see what one was best for her one and only Daddy!

When we went into the first store I did all the talking and I made sure that I was clear on what we were looking for, a "DAD" ring in white gold, stainless or titanium, and something in a size 10. After not finding what we were looking for in the first store we left letting the lady know that we may come back. In each store after Delaney walked up to the lady at the counter of the store and said "I am looking for a Dad ring for my Daddy's Birthday..." and then she took over...

In a way I am so glad that I waited to get this gift for him so that Delaney can have the memory of giving it to him, the memory of shopping for it and the feeling of being all grown up and getting her Daddy his Birthday gift!

I hope you have a lovely Birthday Robyn and that you enjoy the day as only you can!

Tell the Truth Thursday! My Husband Makes Me Lazy...

So back a few weeks ago I mentioned that you may see this post coming up and well here you go...

This is my Hubby!

Yep that's him in all his glory... It's crazy but this photo really is him...

Anyway the truth is when he is at home I feel drawn to him like "Dude lets just sit on this couch and watch Doctor Who and How I met your mother forever... never mind that the laundry is piling up, the dishes haven't been done in a week and the kids require food..."

I just like to be with him is that so crazy... Well the TRUTH is YES, YES IT IS! Especially since he was off for almost 2 months this summer.... so not only did I just want to sit on my behind with him eating popcorn and watching TV but also I wanted to comfort him and help him through the tragedy our family had just experienced... 

Let me tell ya two months of wanting to be lazy with your husband makes you pretty lazy...

Whats the TRUTH about your husband? Share your story in the comments!

The Post I Don't Want To Write...

I have been putting this post off for a while...

Truthfully I haven't been posting for a while just to avoid this post...

It's not that not writing this post makes my life any less real or any less painful.

It's not that I have to write this post, I can leave you in the dark about why I haven't been posting, and to be 100% honest with you you're not going to get the whole story, but I feel like its time to get back to the blog and time to get back to my life and this I feel is the first step to doing so.

On June 30th our family suffered a major loss.

My Father In-Law was in a major car accident and passed away.

We were shocked and stunned and rocked to the core. Myself and the kids were on a Canada Day Camping trip and expecting Robyn to come pick us up in the morning when I got the call. Of course we spent the next week with Robyn's Mom and siblings while the kids stayed at home with my Sister.

We have been at home now for almost 3 weeks which has passed so slowly, and we are trying to put our lives back together and find a way to feel normal again.

So please bear with me while I get back to a regular schedule and back to posting on a regular basis.

Kid Craft! Father's Day Hand Print Art!

So its almost Father's day... what a great chance to celebrate daddy for all the amazing things he does! (Or in spite of all the things he does or doesn't do that drive you nuts... )

Since we made some hand pint art for Mother's day I thought it would be nice for grand parents to have a matching set of hand prints and well I guess our daddy deserved one too!

So here is our Daddy's day hand print art in 5 easy steps!

Paint your kiddos hand with the colors of your choice in stripes and then place their hand on the paper. (Remember its very important that you use a paint brush to paint their hand so that you get all the ridges and lines in the hand and so you don't end up with a mess!)

Once its dry add your greeting. You can have your older kids write this themselves or for younger ones like ours write it out and get them to trace it over with a crayon or a pencil. (Easy way to sneak in some learning with the fun!)

 Then add your eyes and a smile with a marker, again your older kiddos can do this themselves!

Have the kiddos draw in some seaweed or other fish friends. (You could have them paint this part too.)

And the final step wait till Father's day to show daddy! (This one is a little harder with a three year old!)

Our inspiration for this one came from a google search and I just had Delaney choose from a couple of options. The original idea for this art work (which I thought was brilliant) came from Hand Print and Foot Print Art! Stop by and check out Amanda and her great hand print art!

What are you crafting for Father's Day? I'd love to see all your awesome Daddy inspired art and crafts so post a link in the comments!

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Fathers day!