Going Home TOMORROW!

Drs. Broudine and Seligson both came by this morning and said that if mom has no major set-backs today or tonight, she could leave the hospital tomorrow! Woohoo! This is great news, as we all know that mom will heal and gain strength even faster once she is home at DeTray's house. Mom has been in great spirits all morning and has been up walking on her own ... generally in great shape! Getting to go home tomorrow would be a wonderful start to the New Year!

A Good Morning

After a scary night last night (see Libby's blog for details), mom is doing really, really well this morning! They just extebated her (removed her breathing tube) and while she still can't talk, she looks much more comfortable and relaxed. It will be awhile before she can talk, as her throat is raw from the tubes, but it is just great to see her without that thing in her mouth! Dad, Andy and I were all in the room with her after her tube came out and were talking about her progress. She made the sign for "thank you" and then pointed up. Thank you God. That says it all.

Little by little

Mom keeps improving a little at a time. However, she still has a long way to go and is still very, very sick. Please keep praying for her to heal. Andy and Libby are keeping their blog updated with mom's progress a little better than I am. :) http://hinemanranch.blogspot.com/

Progress

Throughout the day yesterday, mom made slow but sure progress. This morning, the pulmonary doctor was very encouraged. Her blood pressure and heart rhythm are much improved over yesterday. Today, they hope to begin decreasing the oxygen they are giving her and the "PEEP" which also has to do with her lungs. Hopefully by decreasing these a little at a time, if her blood pressure stays good, then she will come off of the ventilator in a few days. She is looking much better, and we are all encouraged! Please continue to keep mom in your prayers!

Prayers for Mom

Mom's surgery on her heart went well on Thursday, but her recovery hasn't gone as well as everyone had hoped. She is still in the ICU and had to be intebated again yesterday. They are currently putting a balloon pump in her heart to help it pump more easily. This will give her heart a rest and help with her kidney functions. Mom has been so strong. She can't talk with the tube, but she has still been communicating by writing and hand gestures. Please say lots of prayers for mom to heal and recover quickly.

Getting Settled

Wow! A lot has happened since I last posted to our blog! I'm happy to say we have been living in the house for over a month now and it has been awesome! Here is what has happened in the last month and a half:

Moving in! ... it started with just the basics, but now we are getting more settled. :) Of course as you can see, most of our rooms are still in need of rugs, pictures, etc.

Ralph checking out his new home! He thinks the stairs are his own personal jungle gym. :)

The view down from the loft ...

Our laundry room! Woohoo! It's funny the things I have gotten most excited about - like having my own washer and dryer!

Below that, you can see that Emily's room is starting to look really cute!

This last weekend, in preparation for what looked like a really cold forcast, Gage got up on the roof to install the chimney (despite 50 mph winds!) It was quite the ordeal, but we got it done! Just in time, too - the weather turned cold on Sunday and turned really cold yesterday - 8 degrees with a wind chill of negative 9 degrees! I don't think our poor little furnace could have kept up!

Amazingly, once we got a fire roaring, we haven't had to turn our furnace back on. In fact it is downright HOT in the living room and loft. We may have to open the windows. :)

After letting the fire die down last night, and leaving the furnace off, it was still 72 degrees in our bedroom this morning - 12 degrees outside! Looks like we won't be using our furnace much any more. We don't have our radiant heat floor hooked up yet - our pump was backordered - but once it is hooked up, we should be able to keep the fire low and have a more stable temp. Otherwise, I may have to start wearing shorts around the house!

Now with the stove in, last projects include: finishing the stonework behind the wood stove, installing interior doors (!) and finishing my kitchen counter!

Here is our cute little kitchen - we got the range hooked up last weekend, and it has been wonderful getting to cook with it! Of course, it will be even better once I have a sink and dishwasher. :) ;)

We also got our lights installed over the island - see picture below...

You can also see in the pictures above and below the walnut planks that Gage has cut and oiled in preparation for installation - it is going to be beautiful!

The only problem now is trying to stay motivated to finish our last few jobs while resisting the temptation to snuggle down in front of the fire and just enjoy our house. :) I suppose there is always time for both ...

My last picture is of the first snow on our house. Merry Christmas!