Saturday was AMAZING

The day started early and continued to be a whirlwind but every minute of it was well worth the lack of my normal sleeping in on Saturday morning! Paul and I left the house at 6:10am to get him to his first official organized bike ride.  He has been training for a 300 mile ride for the Make-a-Wish foundation that takes place in two weeks so this was a great precursor to all those miles.  He rode in the Holland 100, but because Jamahl had an important swim meet in the afternoon, he choose to ride the 67 mile course. 

He didn’t really need me to tag along at the start but I wanted to be along for the photo opportunity and to document his first ride.  As you can see, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. 

Not only was this Paul’s first ride, but it was also his first time to ride with other people!  He couldn’t have a better group to ride with…our friends The George’s!  This is the founding family of Team Craig (the team that has adopted Paul into their MAW team!) What AMAZING people…we are so honored to have them in our lives.  They lend us tremendous support as well as lots of good times, laughs, and memories! 

I have to laugh a little at this picture because I have a very irrational fear of Paul being hurt while riding his bike.  I know he will be alright, but it is just something that haunts me!  The George’s all promised they would take good care of him, and even before they took off, they inadvertently were surrounding him!  What a cool thing!

Some last minute details, and they were off.  I didn’t hear from Paul until around 12:30 to know that he had finished the ride, felt great, had an incredible time, and LOVED riding with friends!  I would have loved to be at the end of the route to congratulate him, but I needed to get Jamahl to his swim meet.

Jamahl has been working toward getting a State Time so that he could swim at the state meet.  Saturday was his last chance.  He needed to swim his 50 meter freestyle in 37.49 seconds and at the last meet, he swam it is 37.98…just .5 away!  So, this weekend was his final chance.  As it turned out, he was unable to get into that event at the meet and he was devastated.  After speaking with the coach, we found out that we had a chance to do a time trial Saturday morning before the meet. The coach called me that morning to confirm that yes indeed, they would be offering a time trial and he was signed up!  This was his last and final chance.  We had really talked to him about whether or not he wanted to try for it.  We let him know that by no means did he need to feel pressure from us. If he wanted to be done for the season, we could do that.  He has had a great summer season in that he has consistently taken time off of his events and he has expanded his repertoire of what he swims to include all four strokes, longer races, and even an IM race. He had tons to be proud of!  However, he decided that he wanted to give it one last shot, so away we went!

For the first time, I could see that he was nervous.  On our way into the pool, he was walking slower and slower.  I put my arm around him and told him that this time trial really didn’t matter at all.  His first job, was to make sure he was having fun, and his second job was to remember that no one cared at all if he made the time.  “Just go out there, use your nerves to pull your strength up from your toes, and swim your heart out!”  He had a chance to warm up, and then when the morning session had finished, they announced time trials would begin.  It was a very eerie feeling to watch the pool and stands empty and see your nine year old and one other boy standing waiting for the officials to to blow the whistle.  I literally thought that I was going to throw up, I was so nervous for him. Doing a time trial is a new experience for him and he was pacing around his starting block.  Before I knew what was happening, the whistle blew, he took his mark, and the starting sound sounded.  Away he went.  It felt like the longest 30 some seconds!  He was nearing the flags and I ventured a peak at the clock…30 seconds.  I knew he would either make it, or just miss it.  I didn’t look again until his hands touched the pad.  I took a quick breath and let my eyes go to the clock…36.83!  HE DID IT!!!!  I was screaming, crying, and still trying not to get sick to my stomach.  He was ecstatic as the reality of what had happened sunk in.  It was the coolest thing to watch.  We are so proud of him and the hard work he has put in to make it this far.  He couldn’t wait to hug Grammy and Poppy and call Daddy. He told us later that for the rest of the afternoon meet, he went around giving random people high fives!  His enthusiasm was contagious!  So, for now, we have two more weeks of practice before the state meet at Eastern Michigan University.  And yes, if you didn’t catch that, both  of my favorite boys have huge events in two weekends.  The State meet is the same weekend as Paul’s Make-A-Wish bike ride.  UNBELIEVABLE!!!!   Just another example of our crazy life!

It’s here!!!

Today was such an exciting day.  We finally got to pick up one of Keyan’s bikes!  She has been waiting and waiting for one of them to arrive and we got word that the one that she will ride independently is on back order until later this month.  So, when we got the message that we could pick it up, we rearranged the day’s schedule and she and I drove to get it.  I was so afraid that we would not be able to fit it in the van (it is almost eigth feet long!) and knew she would be devastated if we had to come home without the bike! The man that took the bike to refurbish it drove from Illinois to bring her the bike and fit it to her.  He had done everything perfectly and the only adjustment was to lower my seat!

 

Our morning started with very intense thunderstorms and more than once I found Keyan with her nose pressed to the window asking me how we were going to go on a bike ride if it was raining.  Luckily, by the time we got home, Paul got home, and everyone was ready, the weather was perfect to go on our very first family bike ride!  Please don’t misunderstand, riding bikes with three other six year old, a nine year old, and a Daddy who is training to ride 300 miles in two weeks was NOT a walk in the park…we only went just over half of a mile but that short ride included three falls, some tears, a lot of motivational speeches, and a lot of patience.  But, we were out there….all seven of us, with a grin on Keyan’s face that made it all worth it.

I attempted to thank the lady from Mary Free Bed and the gentleman that made all of the custom repairs but I knew I would never be able to adequately explain the joy that this was going to bring to not only our precious little girl, but our entire family.  It was just another reminder of how blessed we are.

A first

It started with a a question that for most couples isn’t that big of a deal.  “Why don’t you take Thursday and Friday off?”, I asked Paul on the Wednesday before the 4th of July.  “Do we dare take time for an actual day off instead of for hospitalizations, appointments, or surgeries?”  I can count on one hand the number of times Paul has taken time off “just because” instead of using his vacation time for medical stuff.  While on the phone with him, we calculated hours out…how many he has left for the year, how many we know we will need for upcoming Cinci trips, ect.  It would be a little risky (What if Keyan takes a turn for the worse), but we agreed to take the chance.  He called me back moments later and said it was official, he would be on vacation for 5 days!  My brain immediately went into overdrive…what would we do?????

I turned to facebook for suggestions for day trips and I was up at 3am scouring the internet for something special to do with the kids that would also accommodate our unique needs.  Anything that would require a hotel stay could not be considered due to all of Keyan’s equipment.  Anything outside would not work because of the heat, and I needed something that would work for all five kids….and than a plan came to mind.  It required some bravery, the help of some very generous friends, a lot of coordination, and a whole lot of spontaneity!  (which can be VERY difficult when it comes to our life)  We would visit the Indianapolis Children’s Museum!  We have friends that live in Indianapolis who just happened to be out of town so I called them and asked if they would mind us staying at their house and they immediately said “yes.”  All I had left to do was convince Paul, and that was a big job! 

We discussed it, we argued civilly, and we fought about it until he finally agreed to give it a try.  What was he so worried about?  If you didn’t read between the lines…I wanted to do it without taking a nurse.  It would be the first two nights in 6 years that a nurse would not take care of Keyan.  I had contemplated it all for awhile but I just needed to get him up to speed and on board!  It was something that I desperately needed.  I needed it to be just the seven of us.  I needed to know that Paul and I could do it.  I needed a break.  I love our nurses, and would not trade the relief that they give us for anything.  They have saved Keyan more than once and without them, we would get NO sleep and Keyan’s health would be at risk.  However, for the last six and a half years, we have had someone else in our house 50% of the time.  I wouldn’t change it for the world but I just needed some time with my family.  No nurses schedule, no nurses opinion, no giving and taking report to a nurse….just a family on a quick get away.  I knew it sounded crazy, but with the use of a house, and an area that has a great children’s hospital, I thought we might be able to pull it off.  I knew we wouldn’t get much rest, I knew that it would add tremendously to our busyness, and I knew that it was taking a huge chance, but I also know that while Keyan is having good days, we have to take every opportunity to embrace life.  And that is just what we did!

I had a friend here Friday morning who packed the other kids stuff while Paul and I focused on getting everything ready that Keyan needed.  We literally packed up our “mini hospital at home”, checked and rechecked our lists, and went thru every worst-case scenario.  I had to laugh when my friend yelled, “how many pair of panties do you want packed for the girls?”  My response, “Well, each girl needs two pair plus we had better bring two extras so for two nights away, we need 10 pairs of panties!!!!” We both just stood and laughed.  We never could have made it out the door by 12:30 had she not been here to help.  Everything fell into place….oxygen was delivered by noon, TPN (Keyan’s IV nutrition) was here by 12:15, I was able to cancel the nurses, we had a house to stay in, my parents could feed the dog and all of the crayfish (yes, we still have lots and lots of crayfish!), and we were off!  I was thrilled to be trying this trip and cried as we pulled out of town!

I won’t bore you with every detail of our trip.  We ate at some fun places, we played at the museum, we did a little shopping, we read books on the back deck under the stars, we laughed, we made very important memories…and we all survived!  Paul and I were exhausted, but it was worth it.  We had pulled off a trip that we previously had thought was impossible.  God had laid it all out, took care of the details and luckily, we were brave enough to take the leap…we could only have done it together…it was beautiful.  I will say though, that I don’t want to be the nurse again anytime soon!

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