It has been a really great 2011 for the Christiansen family so far. We hope the same is true for your family! We slipped quietly into the new year without too much fanfare. Then we went back to work/back to school and got back into our old patterns.
For the preacher and myself, however, we were plodding towards a date that we both dreaded and celebrated: Jan 9th. Well- really the 9th and 10th. Greta became sick on the 9th and we spent the night under observation at the hospital and the 10th was the day that it all went to hell- pretty literally. I'm not sure I can conjure more of a hell than that day. Life and death on the line. Helplessness. Uncertainty. Inability to communicate with our child. Yeah...pretty much what I now think Hell must be. Anyway- you all know this. We spent some time thinking of what would make those days redeemable, livable, hopeful. We came up with the idea of giving blood on the 10th so that we could acknowledge the gifts others gave our daughter and hopefully help someone else ourselves. A very good move. The preacher ended up having to wait 2 more days before he could donate...but it felt good to have this plan and to mark this painful day by giving the gift of life (Have you donated lately? It is no big deal and can help so much...). That afternoon I went down to the hospital for a meeting. Totally weird that on the anniversary of Greta's hospitalization that I would be there. At the same time- it was totally good. I loved that I was there volunteering my time to help other families' experiences be tolerable. That night we prayed a heartfelt prayer of thanks to be a year out and in such great health.
We then turned our attention to Greta's upcoming birthday party. We were determined to make this one a celebration of many things and celebrate we did! Granny & Gramps flew up and surprised Gboo on Friday and helped set up for the party. The whole family and 16 preschool kids joined us for the pirate adventure and it was fantabulous. Happy, carefree, celebratory, wild. We all needed a new memory and I'm happy that this birthday memory can at least be placed side by side with last year's birthday as a counterweight. We had an amazing day.
Greta & Wes have also been to the doctor for their well visits (4 yrs old/9 mos old). Both are hitting their milestones just as would be expected. They will both go back in 3 more months to follow up on their height/weight, but we left happy (except for the shots/blood draw at the end of the visit...ouch!).
I'm sure there will be more to report soon. We don't have any big travel plans here for the next stretch, but that doesn't mean things won't be interesting around here! We hope your new year is filled with happiness & health. More soon!
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