In just a shade more than 6 hours, the Atkinson-mobile will roll out headed towards all points south! It is fully loaded with all of our luggage, the portable mobile version of Atkinson General hospital loaded into the back of the Denali, “entertain me” bags for the three big kids stowed by their seats. i wish i was the kind of organized mom who had made up cutesy little personalized color-coded bags with wrapped gifts for the girls on their way down there…Yeah now i’m feeling more guilty.
Ok no time for that!
What we DO have is a boatload of excitement! It was a little tense this afternoon as I went to finalize the girls’ bags that they packed the day after Christmas (they were a teensy bit overzealously excited!), and realized that they had pretty much NOTHING in their bags that was usable. For instance, Kaylen had 14 long sleeve shirts, and 1 pair of pants that matched exactly none of them. Plus two pairs of mittens. And a swimsuit that was too big for Karissa so she graciously passed it on to Kaylen. (For the uninitiated, this would not work. Karissa is a very skinny size 7, and Kaylen is a short but stocky size 5. It was interesting to say the least…) So i had to spend a whirlwind hour re-packing all three big girls (because by this time Ben was home and wanted to pack up the car). Got them all packed, finalized my and Kendall’s suitcase (I couldn’t find her Cinderella dress and holy crap I just realized I don’t have her glass slippers either!!!)
Luckily I had spent a couple hours yesterday getting Kendall’s meds all sorted and bagged up, making sure her “go-bag” (it’s like a diaper bag on crack – has all of her emergency/needed supplies for all of her tubies and attachments) was up to date, updating the paperwork for the travelling chart, etc. I “think” think think everything is set up and ready to go. At least as much as it can be. I am nervous for half my family to be driving without me (not that Ben can’t do it all masterfully – i just hate when we are split up!) I am nervous for getting Kendall and her redonk amount of meds and fluids and STUFF to be screened through TSA. i am nervous for her health. We found out that her blood counts had taken a nosedive in three days (between admit day on sunday and regular lab day on Wednesday.) She is hovering barely above the level she needed transfused at a couple years back, and her body’s stores to make more H&H (hemoglobin/hematocrit) are abysmally low. Overall, she is holding her own against these low values and I am really hoping that between our amazing prayer warriors, our amazing God who hears them all, and a little Disney magic thrown in for good measure, that all of this will be nothing more than the nervous worryings of an over-thinking momma.
Even right now, as I type this in preparation for packing up my laptop to take the trip with Ben in the car, i can hear her upstairs whimpering in pain, coughing up a lung like she’s been doing for a couple weeks now. She will be ok, because she always IS ok. But it hurts my heart a little bit, if i’m completely honest. I just want her to have the trip of her dreams, meeting her princesses, seeing the castle, experiencing the magic of the Happiest Place on Earth.
It’s gonna be awesome. no matter what – it’s going to be an awesome trip. Because we will all be together, and making memories, and laughing and smiling and in general being crazy. I can hardly wait!
I have a busy full day tomorrow. Running a few last minute errands to get the rest of her medical equipment in place, packing up our airplane bags, finishing up the laundry and cleaning the house so we don’t come back to the chaos it is currently in after a very crazy afternoon. Meeting with a good friend to go over our plan of attack for seeing as much as we can in the two days we are at the park. Just breathing.
I hope I can actually sleep tonight. I’m SO excited for my babies, for all of us! I know some of you are just about as excited as we are – and I can’t tell you how much that means to us! To have so many of you rooting for us and with us! We will do our best to keep things updated – either on the blog here or on one of the Facebook pages that are over to the top left (Terra Talking the Blog page or Hope For Kendall page). Prepare to be buried in bajillions of pictures!
Ok i better go try to figure out something for littlest miss, make sure all the snacks are ready for the car, see if i can get some sleep before waking up at 4 to help get the big girls loaded up in the car!
Thank you so much to everyone who has been a part of helping us get where we are going! Your love, prayers and support mean so much!
Til next time – where i’ll be coming to you live from Orlando! –
T-crest.
(Photo credits to Google Images/respective copyright owners)
I’m thrilled for your family. May they have the time of their lives and make many happy memories.