All Smiles

What can I say but every time I think of Lauren I have a smile on my face. I can't believe that I am a Grancie and I am so excited about it. She is so precious and such a blessing to us. James & Scarlet are the best parents I have ever seen. They are so caring and gentle with Lauren, tending to her every little whimper. I spent the afternoon holding her and stealing her kisses. She is just absolutely perfect. I can't say enough good things about her, and certainly can't get enough time with her. I think James and Scarlet might get tired of me before she is grown!


This weekend I also got to see my favorite little niece Mallory, she came down to see Lauren and welcome her into the world. Of course my sister, Jen brought her! It was so nice to see them both, espcially with all that has been going on with mom. I love having our girly times together. No men allowed! Mallory loves coming to Aunt Cheles to sleep on the "Wavy bed" (that is what she calls our waterbed) Of course she also loves the fact that she gets to sleep with Winnie! She is such a joy and I love her beyond words. She makes my heart melt with those big brown eyes... she reminds me so much of her mommy..I remember so much of her childhood being that I was nearly a teenager when she was born. My family is such a blessing to me.

News on Mom!!!

I am so relieved that words can't tell you how I feel...My mom has been taken off the ventilator!! I am jumping for excitement right now-and the good news is that she is holding her own (with the help of a Bypap machine). She seems to be coming out of this nightmare we have all been living in -it has been a week and half but it seems like several months.

Today she recognized my dad and she also knew her birthday-She also wanted to sit up and when asked if she would like her hair washed she shook her head yes! This is a day I have been dreaming would happen. The nurse also asked dad to bring moms dentures as she wanted to eat something soft....I understand it was a piece of cake! Mom when you get home we will bake you all the cakes you want-

I called dad and his spirits were pretty high today-you could hear the relief in his voice. He put the phone down to moms ear so I could talk to her-of course she couldnt talk back due to the by pap- but I told her I was laying on the sofa with Little Lauren on my chest-dad said she shook her head yes. I can't wait to get down there so I can see my mom and help my dad with the recovery process.

All I can say is that God does work miracles and he answers prayers

May I Introduce.....

My most beautiful Grand daughter.....Lauren Michele Ellis, she was born on Tues 2/10/09 at 1:49 am. She weighed 7# 14 oz and 20" long. She is absolutely the most beautiful baby ever. She has the same little dimples that her daddy has. She is so adorable, I just cant get enough of kissing her and loving on her.

Lauren's arrival couldn't have come at a better time, as we had been off working a show in Oklahoma City this past weekend. I was terrified she would come while we were out of town. She has been my strength this week with all that is going on with mom. My mother will absolutely adore her when she gets to meet her.

I have been spending every waking minute with little Lauren, holding her and spoiling her as much as I can. I spent the night last night-she wasnt a happy camper-she had a little tummy ache...thank goodness for Gripe water per the kids-they finally gave her some after being up many hours listening to her cry and trying to console her. This morning we went to Tyler to the Dr for her first weight check,
she weighed 7# 10oz-the same as when she left the hospital 2 days ago...that is good news since Scarlet is nursing her. However-while we were at the office Lauren wanted
everyone to know she was there, she was screaming to the top of her lungs.
Dr Melton was examining her and told us she was pooping her diaper-can you believe that the Dr. changed her diaper..I thought you wouldnt find that much. Once she got it changed-well Lauren filled the second diaper while Dr was still messing with her! She changed that very messy diaper as well! Lauren has to go back next Friday for another check up. She is so perfect in every way!

A Daytime Nightmare

Well let me start by saying that yesterday...was the most Horrific day in my life. It started out to be very good, but gradually got worse and worse.

As most of you know my mother isn't in the best of health as it is, but yesterday she really gave us a scare. Her and Dad are off traveling in the wild blue yonder. She wasn't feeling well over the weekend when I spoke to her, she said she thought she had the flu. So she was laying around, I told her not to get too bad because of her episode last winter when they finally put her on oxygen. I gently remindedher how she felt then...dont let it go there again. She promised me she wouldn't! Well so I called yesterday morning around 10:30 our time, dad answered her phone. He said she hadn't slept much the 2 nights before and she had finally gotten to sleep Sun night around midnight. She was very lethargic and could barely stand on her own. He was going to let her sleep a little bit longer and then wake her up...if she wasn't feeling well he was taking her into the ER to be checked out. Well he went to wake her up and she wouldn't wake up...he called 911, the ambulance picked her up and took her in. She wasnt in good shape none at all. Her blood pressure was 41/25...yes that is right...she nearly had no BP. She was in a terrible state. They had to intubate her as well. Apparently the Dr.s told dad it wasnt good....he called me very upset and very emotional....Mom isn't doing good he said...of course, my heart just sank into the bottom of my feet. First of all that my mom was barely hanging on and second that my dad was so upset. The worst part of it all is that they are in FLORIDA...to far to get in the car and reach them in 10 minutes like when they are at home. I immdeiately said I am coming down there...I will call Jen my wonderful sister and we will be on our way. He said NO not yet. I said you need your family to be with you, which thank god some of their friends are there and went to the hospital with him.


So I called Stoney and told him what was going on...he was very quiet and worried..of course being that he is a paramedic he knew the duress her body was under and said it doesn't sound good at all...I knew in my heart, but just couldn't imagine life without my mother. The tears flowed and flowed.

Ok, so I finally got Jen to give her the news, her coworker drove her home and she got on the phone with me and dad trying to make sense of all this. I also called my Aunts Linda and Brenda, they immediatly came to my rescue along with my Mother in law. They did not want me to be here alone. I called my best friend Sandy and asked for her to pray for mom. I called my brother also...I had so many phone calls to make, I am not sure who I talked with and who I didn't. However, after working on Mom for several hours, they managed to get her BP back up. They had told dad she had internal bleeding as well...in her stomach.

Jen decided to go down and be with dad as well as Rusty went also. Thanks to Cheryl who is one of Jen's college friends that works for the airlines...she got both Jen and Rusty a buddy pass so they could get down there reasonable. They were both able to fly first class... I feel terrible that I did not head down there, but I have so many different directions I am spinning and don't know which way to turn. I don't want to leave as Lauren is not to far from being here, sure as I left she would come, we are suppose to go to OK City this week, which that can be cancelled. But Jen and I decided that she would go down and then when she came back I can go down. This way someone will be with dad at all times...I just hope my mom understands why I am not there. Mom is a fighter and doesn't give up...she has survived 2 bouts with cancer.

The last report I got last night was that she has Pneumonia, a blood infection, bladder infection and congestive heart failure. They were draining the fluid off of her and going to move her to ICU. Dad went back to the bus to get some rest as he was up with her all weekend, I know he was physically and mentally exhausted. So it will be good that Jen and Rus are going to be there.

Once I knew what the prognosis was, I called my boys to let them know. I know I should have called earlier but I didn't know what to tell them. I did not want to upset Scarlet since she is having problems with her BP as well. They were both so sweet to me, and wanted to come take care of mom...which is just natural for a child to want to take care of their parent...it is hard to see or hear them soooo upset. James called back to offer me a ticket to fly down there, I told him it wasn't that I couldn't get the ticket, I just dont know which way to turn. Both he and Justin were so very consoling, it made me realize that when we get old they will have some compassion with Stoney and I.

So here I am this morning, went to bed at midnight and awake by 4 am. I can't sleep, my eyes burn so bad that I can barely close them. I never want to relive a day like that again. It was horrible beyond words...I don't know if I will ever be comforterable with mom and dad traveling again. They need to be close to home so we can get to them and take care of them. We might be grown adults, but what I realized yesterday is that You will ALWAYS NEED YOUR PARENTS. Life is fragile and we should all appreciate the fact that God gave it to us. I ask everyone to stop and say a prayer for my mother that she has a miracle recovery and that she makes it home to see my baby grand daughter Lauren make her way into the world. She was so excited about being a great grandmother, I want to share that experience with her.