Happy Freaking 4th Anniversary

Thursday was Archie and I's 4th wedding anniversary.  It did not start off very well.  When I went to start my car, it would not start.  So I went back inside to get Archie to help me jump my car.  When I got inside I looked down my the necklace I was wearing was undone and the chain was hanging over my shoulder.  My drop from my necklace was missing. 

 

We got my car started but I didn't have time to search for the drop.  I was very optimistic that it was somewhere in the house and that I would find it when I got home that night.  I went to work and received beautiful flowers from Archie.  Over lunch I went to Autozone and found out that my battery was bad but I did have a warranty so I was able to get my battery replaced at no charge.

 

That night we went to dinner at the Old Warsaw for dinner.  I had been there before for a Girls Dinner but Archie had not ever been.  We had a great dinner!  After dinner we headed home and searched the house for the drop without any luck.  I am so bummed!  Happy freaking anniversary.

Two Years

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the day Archie has his brain aneurym.  Last month, in August we hit the one year anniversary of Archie's last visit to the hospital and last surgery.  So there are a lot of anniversaries to celebrate in the Stewart household lately.

Yesterday I sent Archie a text that "I am thankful you are my husband and my best friend on the anniversary of his aneurysm".  Archie is definitely my miracle from God.  The fact that he is alive is amazing and such a blessing.  I always say that God definitely had a plan-the aneuryms happened when it did and we did not have any animals or kids so that our lives could be focused on his recovery.  The saying is that God won't give you anything you cannot handle.  Well that was the true test during that 2011 year, below are the challenges Archie overcame:
   - Brain aneurysm on 9/5/11

   - The coiling procedure that didn’t work

   - Craniotomy

   - Severe vasospasms that lasted weeks- they even caused him to lose control over part of his body   

      like a stroke – weakness in his face, hands, legs, etc.

   - External shunt

   - Internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital October where infections were found on the shunt so it was removed

   - Another external shunt

   - A couple more weeks in the hospital while we got the infection cleared up

   - Another internal shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in June with an infection of some sort but no answers

   - A trip to the hospital in July because of a staph infection so they pulled the internal shunt again     

     but this time he had to leave a catheter in his head because it had grown attached to scarred tissue

     and to remove it would cause bleeding

   - An external shunt that was later removed because he was processing the fluid correctly and there

     was not a need for the shunt

   - A trip to the hospital in August because the catheter has staph on it so Archie had another

     craniotomy to remove the catheter micro surgically

 

It is humbling and a little crazy to think about everything we went through.  I think about the "dark times" and am so thankful that Archie is alive and the same man that I met 10 years ago.   Our parents, my sisters and friends were amazing through it being there to support Archie and I through it.  

I did want to acknowledge the day.  I know it is another anniversary that we will live with for the rest of our lives.  Archie is an fantastic man who survived through so much.  Happy Anniversary Archie! 

     

Annual BAMM Weekend Trip

We planned our annual BAMM trip for over Labor Day Weekend.  Bethany and I were supposed to leave on Thursday night after I got off work but unfortunately the plans early on Thursday night.  Bethany's daughter developed a 72 hour virus and the doctor suggested that Bethany stay home since she had been exposed to the virus that is highly contagious.  So I left Bethany in Dallas.

Thursday night I headed do to Melissa's house to crash so that I could be closer to our final destination and see her family.  I had not met the baby before so I got to snuggle with a baby and see the other kids.  I was a nice surprise for Friday morning.  After we dropped the kids off, we ran a bunch of errands and ate lunch.  We then headed to Katy to run a few more errands. 
We made a stop at Babies R Us to get a gift and I became "that person" at checkout, I tried two credit cards and both or them got declined.  I looked like the total white trash person trying to use credit cards with no money on them.  I then paid cash for the gift when I got a text from one of my credit cards asking if I tried to complete a transaction at Babies R Us.  Then the cashier was out of change so we held up the line for another 5 minutes.  It was a crazy trip to the store.  I then called the other credit card company and there was a fraud hold on that credit card as well.  So the moral of the story is if you are traveling out of town (even if it is just 4 hours away) make sure to let your credit card companies otherwise you will be "that person." 
We picked up the other Melissa and went to the Omni hotel for our weekend to begin.  When we were a couple of blocks away there was a police escort bus parade.  Then all of the buses turned into our hotel, it was the hotel where the OSU football team was staying.  It was pretty exciting!

 

 

There was a sea of orange in the hotel all weekend long.  It was great people watching and entertainment.
That night we went to Pappas Burgers for some yummy food.  We had planned a surprise baby shower for Melissa since she was 7 months pregnant and this was the first time we were all together.  We had the shower stuff in the car so after we got the table I used the excuse that I left my phone in the car while the other Melissa said she had to use the restroom.  So I got the diaper cake and presents while Melissa got the cake.  So we walked in and said "Surprise".  Melissa was totally surprised for sure.  Below is a picture of the diaper cake and sweet treats (just ignore the beer because that was for Melissa and I, not the pregnant mama).

Saturday morning we slept in a little and then went downstairs for breakfast.  We were the only table in the restaurant that did not have orange on.  It was great people watching.  After breakfast we went to the pool.  We pretty much had the pool to ourselves and we relaxed.  I also may have had a couple of adult beverages by the pool.

We then went to the room for lunch of cheese, crackers and grapes.  It was the perfect light lunch.  We then lounged around the room, talked the afternoon away and even took naps.  That night we went to dinner at Brennans.  The food was absolutely fabulous!  I will definitely have to visit Brennans sometime in the future for sure!

 

That night we got back to the hotel and met some guys on the way in the door.  There were four guys with 21 beer cups.  Needless to say, they were entertaining and that led us to decide to hang out downstairs and people watch the OSU fans, free entertainment. 

 

 

Sunday morning we slept in, packed up and then headed to brunch.    We hit a diner in Katy called Snappys after the original brunch place we picked out was packed.  Then we dropped Melissa off before heading to the other Melissa's house.  I then hopped in my car and headed home.  It was a wonderful weekend with the girls although we definitely missed Bethany, the BAMM weekend became AMM weekend this year.