Love When They Visit!

I am so lucky that my sister, Amy, and her family live close by. Her friendship is such a sweet gift to me and her family is a blast to hang out with.  Because we live so close by, it is great when my parents come for a visit because it is automatically a big family affair.

My parents came for a quick visit over Labor Day and it was so great to see them! It was also wonderful that my Grandma was able to come with them too! I am just sorry they had to make the 11 hour drive to get here! But we were so glad they did. It was fun to get to show them our house for the first time and to get to treat them to a little southern hospitality. We love to eat around here so most of our plans revolved around good eating :) All in all, I think we had a blast!

On our way to church! (Dad had to stay home with my nephew who wasn't feel so good... what a good Daddy Bob!)

She is the best Grandma a girl could ask for!! I appreciate her more than she knows!

Tyler's parents are always so wonderful when my parents come to town. They always go out of their way to host all of us at their home. Here are a few shots from dinner at their house.

Sisters and Best Friends!  We missed you Meg :)

Daddy Bob and Daniel.  This little guy loves his Daddy Bob!

Robby has so much personality!  He wanted me to take a few pictures of him on my phone and this was our favorite. What a funny guy!

My birthday isn't actually till the end of the month, but my parents wanted to take us all out to celebrate before they left.  They took us to my favorite, local restaurant Julep.  I am in love with their honey glazed fried chicken and mash potatoes... it's true I am definitely a southern girl these days!  We even had birthday cake (ice cream cake of course, a regular Baker tradition).

 Yummy!!

He wanted to give me a birthday kiss!

Thanks Dad, Mom, and Grandma for coming to visit! Can't wait for us to all be back together for Christmas with the Sapp clan too! 

This One's for you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!  Tyler and I were recently talking about family traditions, which happen to be one of my favorite things, and were laughing about how different ours were growing up!  One tradition I love is Mother's Day breakfasts.  My sisters and I would "scheme," along with the help of my dad, to get together all the ingredients we thought would make the perfect breakfast for mom.  Typically it involved pancakes, eggs, bacon, and all the basic breakfast yummies! We thought we were so tricky and we would get up a little early that Sunday morning, head straight to the kitchen, and whip up our creations.  Despite the kitchen being right next to our parents bedroom and the fact that three girls in a small kitchen is not exactly the most quiet thing, my mom was somehow always still asleep when breakfast was ready to be served to her in bed. Man were we good!  I hate that this year we won't be there to treat her to breakfast in bed, especially since now that we are older and actually know how to cook, she might actually enjoy it!

But even though we aren't together, I hope my mom knows just how special she is to me and to my sisters. I know managing a home with three girls couldn't have been easy. Just imagine the excellent referee she had to be!  But through all the hair pulling and fights over "borrowed" clothes, my mom helped make each of us into the women we are today (which Tyler says is something my mom should be proud of considering the awesome husband I managed to rope in.) But all joking aside, my mom was an extremely devoted mom. She sat through swim meets, cheerleading games (also know as football games-- but we all know who the real stars are), piano recitals, and so much more and she was always our biggest fan.  Looking back, I can now see many of the sacrifices she made for us as we grew up and I have a deep sense of gratitude, that words can't real descibe, for all of my mom's love, provision, and support.

Today's you're day Mom!  I love you!

And she is so pretty too!!

"Vacation" Update

It's day three for us at the hospital and we are getting more encouraging news everyday!  Your prayers have been such a blessing and over the past several days we have so clearly seen the faithfulness of the Lord.

To fill everyone in....

After my parents left us in Mississippi they headed to North Carolina to stay for a week or so in mountains. During Dad's time in Mississippi, he had begun to suffer from severe headaches. Not being used to Mississippi, he thought he might be allergic to the pollen or something else in the air. But the headaches stayed constant.

Nevertheless, this didn't stop Dad! While in North Carolina, my Mom and Dad went on several long hikes and after one in particular,  my Dad (whose pain tolerance is higher than anyone I know) finally said he thought he needed to head to the hospital. They hopped in the car, thinking they would return later that evening. However, as soon as the doctor saw him and took a CT scan, they decided he needed to be moved to another hospital where he could be treated by a neurologists. The ambulance transported my dad (during a tornado, might I add) to a hospital about two hours away and they immediately rushed him into surgery. It turns out that his brain had been hemorrhaging.... for awhile.

About two months prior, he had felt extremely sick, fainted, and fell and hit his head. When this happened, my mom was out of town and so my dad didn't want to "bother her" with the details of his fall. He stuck a butterfly band-aid on it and said he was just thankful that most of the blood had landed in the shower-- obviously that made the clean up easier (typical male?).

Not knowing exactly sure what this hospital visit would entail, my sister Amy and I hopped in the car first thing the next morning and my sister Megan hopped on a plane from Oregon so we could all be together. When we arrived at the hospital, we were able to see Dad for a few minutes. We got the chance to pray with him, but he was very tired from his surgery and didn't respond much at this time. During the surgery, the doctor had drilled several holes in his head. This helped to relieve the pressure causing the severe pain and it also gave them a way to remove a lot of the blood surrounding his brain. They also put in drains that would drain blood away from his brain over the next several days. We had to leave the hospital so he could get some rest but we got there early in the morning to speak with the doctor and ask several questions. Turns out, when my dad fell and hit his head he suffered from a sub dura hematoma on both sides of the frontal lobe of his brain.  We are so lucky that he finally went to the hospital because had he waited any longer the results could have been bleak.  The doctor prepared us for the worst, warning us that if the brain did not stop bleeding, they would have to perform a second more in-depth brain surgery and remove the bleeding portion. But today, the nurse took out the drains, which is a great sign that the bleeding has slowed and now we hope that the brain can begin to heal. We are so thankful to the Lord for His provision! 

Overall, the doctors seem to think that his recovery is going smoothly and that no additional surgery will be necessary. They have reinforced, however, the idea that he will need to take is slow which if you know my dad, you know this will probably be the most difficult part of the recovery!). Once he is discharged from the hospital, he will be released into the care of a neurologists in Florida where they will closely monitor him to be sure that the bleeding does not start up again. 

I cannot tell you how thankful my family and I are for your prayers.  I am sitting here writing this post and listening to my dad joke and laugh about his bald head and I couldn't be more thankful!  The Lord heard your prayers and He has answered.  What a faithful God we serve! Please continue to pray for his healing and for his safe travel home.