Our 4 Littles See Daddy!

The day before Jon's surgery, my incredible sister Melanie drove down to OC and picked up all 4 of our kids and took them to Temecula to stay with her family until Jon was out of surgery and stable.  When the kids left, they knew 3 things:

1) Daddy wasn't feeling good so he went to the hospital

2) The Dr found a bump on daddy's head

3) Daddy was going to have surgery to remove the bump

Because of my mom's illness with Frontal Temporal Dementia, my kids are very aware of the brain and how it can effect you if there is something wrong with it.  Knowing they were going away to Temecula for several days, we opted to not use the word "brain" in our explanation to them, fearing they would probably worry the entire time away - wondering if daddy was going to be ok.  We instead used the word "bump." They knew surgery was a big deal, but they were pretty comfortable with the fact that dad would be ok, so off they went to play at their cousins house.  And to say they had fun would be an understatement.  They had the time of their lives!  My sister and her hubby and kids loved on my kids in amazing ways.   My sister has 4 kids of her own, so she was caring for 8 KIDS for 5 days!  Their church stepped in in incredible ways and even brought meals for them while they cared for our littles!  The Body is beautiful.

Well today the kids came home.  They were SO ready to see daddy, and Jon and I were SO ready to see them.  Jon got moved out of ICU and into the PCSU (Progressive Care Stroke Unit) last night.  This is awesome because the kids got to see daddy in a less intense setting - no huge machines, beeping sounds, no IV in his neck, etc...  Before they went into the room, I got to have a special talk with the older 2.  I told them more about the surgery.  I used the word brain.  I told them how strong their daddy is.  And that even though he's super strong, there are certain parts of him that are feeling weak right now and will take a little time to get stronger again.  They really didn't care about the details.  They just cared about the bottom line : Daddy is OK!  Now let's see him!

The reunion couldn't have been sweeter.

These kids adore their daddy almost as much as I do.  ;)

What a gift to be together today.