The Worst Date Ever!!!!!!!

Ok, so we went from the perfect date with my last post to the worst date ever this post. No, this has nothing to do with my amazing husband who once again planned a truly wonderful date for me this past Friday. **Warning** this can get graphic and yucky :P**
It started off with a wonderful dinner at a small Italian restaurant downtown. It was beautiful and the atmosphere was very romantic! After that we headed to a small comedy theatre downtown. They have family-friendly comedy nights but unfortunately this wasn't it. Needless to say we won't be going back but it was still a beautiful night. As we were at the comedy place, I said to Dave ooh, my back is hurting - maybe it will be a heating pad night. Well, within 20 minutes of leaving the theatre I was in horrific pain and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what this was - a kidney stone! It was a 35 minute or so ride home and poor Dave had to stop the car halfway and pull off to the side of the road and let me vomit. For about 3 hours I proceeded to writhe in pain and vomit 6 times. It was awful! Saturday brought more of the same but a little more tolerable and Sunday - more of the same until.....
YAY, a stupid stone the size of a (I know this sounds gross but it is truly what I thought of) tick.
This small thing caused all that crazy pain that obviously my body could not handle! This stupid thing is what caused pain (I know some may disagree but I have had natural childbirth twice with only 1/2 dose of Nubain - I say this because with contractions you have a minute or so in between your worst contractions before it builds again - with a kidney stone, there is no letting up!!!) worse than childbirth!!! Well good it was finally gone - now I could get back to normalcy again with some residual kidney flank pain. Not so much....
Later Sunday evening I started feeling really crappy and lo and behold I spiked a fever. Time to call the doctor again. He ordered an antibiotic and told me to come see him on Monday. I continued to break fevers all day Monday and saw the doctor Monday afternoon. He said that my urine showed no signs of infection but that he wanted me to continue on the antibiotics because it could be that they already started to work. He also said it could be my body's way of responding to the trauma of what just happened with passing the kidney stone. He sent me home and told me to come back to see my regular urologist (he was an associate) on Thursday after another x-ray to see what was going on. May I remind or let those of you know that did not know I still had 3 kidney stones left in my left kidney as of last year after my surgery and experience with my first kidney stone ever.
As of this morning I have almost been 24 hours free of fevers which I am very excited about!! Also, Dave and I went to get my x-ray yesterday and lo and behold now there are only 2 stones. This is good to me on 2 levels. NO new stones have formed and there are now only 2 left that I have to deal with. I go to the urologist today and will update later and let you know how it went and what his plans are. Many thanks to those that have been praying!! God is truly my source of strength in something like this so I thank you for interceding for me!!

A Perfect Date...

Late Friday afternoon I was on the phone with Dave and asked him if he was going to take me out on a date?! He said, well only if you put a cute little dress on! HA - I said bye, hung up the phone, and raced upstairs to the shower :) (now before you get weirded or grossed out by the fact that it was Friday afternoon and I had not taken a shower, I worked the night before and had just gotten up from sleeping not that long before :P)
I locked the door so he could not come in and see me - silly me, I felt like a schoolgirl getting ready for her first date except mine was to a man I see almost everyday of my life and have been married to for almost 13 years!! I must tell you that we had not been on a date in a very long time - probably almost a year, so it did feel kinda like a first date, to me anyway! Anyway I came down all dressed and ready to go! He was excited - hehe :)It truly was a fabulous night! We went to eat at California Dreaming which has amazing views right on the water and then we went and walked hand-in-hand on Folly Beach. It was such a beautiful evening!
We just enjoy God's creation so much - the sound of the crashing waves, the crazy noises of the seagulls (not that I am that big a fan of seagulls - haha), picking up seashells and treasures from the ocean! Ahhhh, this was truly bliss!
After a long walk on the beach, we headed back home but first was a stop to a nearby Sonic for some yummy dessert! For me, a Strawberry Limeade Chiller (oh my goodness, I love these things!) and a Reese's Blast for Dave.
It truly was a perfect date - the perfect dinner (I love California Dreaming's salads and the yummy she-crab soup), the perfect walk on the beach, a yummy dessert, with God's most perfect man for me!!!!!

Yep, the perfect date!

Bittersweet!

As some of you may know, Dave and I are kid-less for a month. It is truly bittersweet. It gives Dave and I more alone time together but we find ourselves calling just to hear Andrew and Kira's voices because we miss them soooo much! We do feel blessed for family that loves them as much as we do and have been keeping them busy doing many more exciting things than we would have planned for them. Thank you mom and dad and mom and dad B. for loving our kids so much - they love you and are so excited to be hanging out with you this month!!

Home Again

I had the awesome privilege to go home the first week in July! It is always fun and exciting to go home and this time I got to meet 2 little family members for the first time!
Monday, June 28...
We arrived late Monday night after flying from Myrtle Beach -- the drive is about 1hr-45min for us but we saved a huge amount of money flying out of there than from Charleston. The flight went great except that my poor son has inherited allergy/sinus issues and his ears really started to hurt on the descent. I just held him and told him to swallow and for the first time ever told him to chew his gum like a cow - lol :) Once we were on the ground, he did great.
Tuesday, June 29...
YAY - time to meet the babies! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to meet these amazing 2 babies of my cousins. They are both 1 year now and it broke my heart that I was not able to see them for that first year! They are amazing!!
Savannah is walking all over the place, she loves to eat, and you have got to see this girl dance :). She wiggles her shoulders and her hips back and forth, not your typical baby bouncing up and down dance and I loved it!
Isaac is amazing! He constantly claps for you - total moral booster! He is practicing his walking everyday and even went the length of an entire hallway when I was there! He loves to give Savannah hugs and he will yell and sing and has become very good with keeping his grandmom's pitch (which she is very proud of).
More pics to come of these precious gifts of God...

Tuesday night I got to see my cousin Matt's band - Compelled - which comes from the verse - 2 Corinthians 5:11, 13-15. They are awesome and led such a beautiful time of worship during a summer camp site for teens! Please if you have never heard them, take a listen here -- www.facebook.com/CompelledBand?v=app_178091127385 -- You may soon hear them on a Christian radio station near you :) Don't ask me why I did not take any pics - maybe because I was too busy worshipping our amazing God!!
Wednesday, June 30...
On to Mom B's for a time of swimming and relaxation. I know there are so many negatives out there about mil's but I truly have a wonderful one! Don't get me wrong, we have had our moments but she is truly a blessing to me and loves me and our kids so much!!
Thursday, July 1...
More of the same as we spent time in the pool and ate some yummy homemade potato salad! I love the fun, crazy candid (and sometimes posed) pics my kids come up with :) Warning: these pics are intermixed - some may be from Wednesday as well :)
Thursday night, I got the opportunity to speak to my cousin's Bible study group about Gospel for Asia and all that God is doing through them - I just can't help but get excited about GFA!! Please pray that God would raise our support soon so we can go be used by Him!!

Friday, July 2...
Today we woke up from mom B's and had a wonderful blueberry pancake breakfast and then my parents came to take us to see my grandparents - my kids great-grandparents. I am truly blessed that 3 out of the 4 of my grandparents are still alive! We had a great time going out to eat and just enjoying them - they are such a huge support and encouragement for us in GFA!!

OK, this pic cracks me up - my grandparents are such good sports :)

One thing that was really neat about today is that we got to go back to the house that I grew up in and take a tour! I walked up to see the house and the owners were in the back and I apologized and said that I used to live here and just wanted to see the house -- the woman said "Are you a McCool (my maiden name)?" I said yes - she said she and her husband were the ones that bought the house from my parents. She actually invited us into the house for a tour and to let my kids see where I grew up! It is weird to walk into a house that you used to live in but looks nothing like what you remembered growing up in! It was a neat treat though!
Friday night Andrew and I went to see dad play softball - yes, he is still playing softball - crazy man! It was great b/c the babies were there and I got to love on them some more!!

Saturday, July 3rd...
We had a blast Saturday! We hung out for the morning and then got to go to the Camden Aquarium that evening and for a special treat got to see fireworks over the river after touring the aquarium. We had a great time - It was Mom, me, Andrew, Kira, Uncle Dave, Aunt Lori, Matt and Kelli and Isaac, and Krystal and Savannah!! We had a blast and loved the fireworks afterwards!
Sunday, July 4...
Today we all got up and went to church - what a blessing it was to be at my family's church! A great time of worship led by my cousin Jon and his wife Bek, and then a great message. After church I headed to Krystal's house to meet another family member I had not met before - their sweet lab, Toby! After meeting Toby, it was on to my parents house for a fun-filled July 4th picnic with everyone. We ate and ate and then ate some more! We played games, watched movies, and just enjoyed being a family. Even my grandmom got to come - she is incredible and I just love her so much! These are the times I miss being so far away!
Monday, July 5...
The party continued on...
Those that could make it back to mom's on Monday were welcomed with more food and fun! Dave, Lori, Matt, Kelli, Isaac, Brent, Maria, Free, and us all had fun just enjoying each other and our time together again! More games, food, and singing were included today! Of course, no day would be complete (at least according to Andrew) without a hockey tournament :) (see pics below)
Tuesday, July 6...
Today was such a bittersweet day for me. It was the day I went home -- excited to go home to see my hubby but sad to leave my family and the kids for a month :( I miss them so much but it is the only time during the year that Dave and I ever get to really go out! I had to take some pics before I left of us together and yes, Andrew requested a mohawk the day I left - silly boy!
A big thank you to my family for such an awesome time and a big thank you to my amazing husband for giving up his wife for 8 days!!!!!!