Keeping Up With The Joneses: He's not finished with me yet

yay!!! I'm alive!! this is my post-surgery blog by the way. Just a recap, I had my large intestine (colon) removed on August 18th due to Crohns/ Colitis. Doctors still haven't been able to pin-point exactly which one I had. But I am feeling great! I can't believe the life I am living now compared to the one I have been living this past year. I regret I didn't do it sooner.

The surgery was a success and I only had to stay in the hospital for 6 days. The pain however, was a different story. I was extremely sore to say the least. Apparently when you remove something as large as the colon from your body, your other organs have to shift and find a new place to settle, which was weird feeling that. I couldn't stand up straight for about 2 solid weeks. I was really scared that I would never stand up straight again. But I am, thank you Jesus. I was seriously eye-level with my 4 year old. For the first couple of weeks, I couldn't really stand up for longer than 20 minutes without starting to hurt. Therefore, I sat....alot. My actual first trip to Target post-surgery I had to use the motorized cart thing. I almost killed about 3 people, so I am pretty thankful for the gift of walking.

I am so appreciative of the prayers and support. I seriously would have never made it without my family and friends. I am enjoying my life so much now. I still get tired about the middle of the day, but I get to nap with my girls (advantage of a stay-at-home mom). I am gaining weight because food is all of a sudden really good!!! I feel like I missed out on so much this past year and am really ready to enjoy the holidays!!! Fall is such a busy time for us and I am excited to have the energy to do things! Sittre Paige turns 5 in November and my baby Stella turns 2 in January! Then we have a Disneyworld trip planned for February. So we should have some fun the next few months! yay!

Health is so precious. I feel I know what it is like to have it taken away. I have had the opportunity to realize the important moments that truly matter in life. I have never loved my husband more than I do right now because he has shown me how to truly love. I have never wanted to squeeze my kids more than I do right now because I didn't have the energy to a year ago. I am so thankful that God chose to heal me through surgery. He's not finished with me yet.

Here are some picture of things we have been doing since I feel good.

This was our family trip to Homestead Hollow. And this is how my children take pictures now. Look how sweet and loving they are being to each other (kidding)

Sittre Paige's 1st spend the night company. They had such a great time, started the night of at Pump It Up for a birthday party, shopped at Publix for some cereal and then ended the night with a movie.