Jimmy turns 10!!!!

I can not believe that it has been 10 years already! I feel so old saying this, but time really does fly! Since it has been a whole decade since he was born I thought that I would take a trip down memory lane and talk about the day that he was born.

Ten years ago right now I was still enjoying that cute, fat 10 lb baby boy. He looked perfect and exactly like Phil. Who knew that at 9:15 that night my world would be turned upside down when the nurse woke me up to tell me there was a problem with the baby. By 10:30 they were wheeling him into my room in an incubator and living off of a machine. The nurse was telling me that I should tell my baby goodbye. I stuck my hand through the little hole on the side, grabbed his hand and told him how much him mommy loved him. Five minutes later he was in a helicopter on his way to Rockford Memorial. He was diagnosed there with Transposition of the Great Vessels and sent immediately to Christ Hospital in Chicago. Phil and his family followed the helicopter all night long from Woodstock, to Rockford, and finally to Chicago. I was in my dark hospital room, with a huge incision from the cesarean, with my mom. She gave me an extra pillow to put on my incision, climbed into my bed, held me tight and told me to just go ahead and cry. I became the baby in my mom's arms that night. I don't know how I would have made it through the night with out her.

Three days later I was on my way to Christ Hospital. Now it was my turn to be strong and be the mom. I stood by Jimmy's bed as long as the nurses would allow me to. They kept getting angry with me and telling me that I was doing too much being that I was post op. I knew better. A mom can never do too much!

At six days old he was taken into surgery. Again the doctors' and the nurses' told us that we should have a moment with the baby. Phil told him that he loved him and had to leave the room. I leaned in reaching around all of the tubes that were keeping my precious baby boy alive and whispered Our Father and then Now I lay me down to sleep into his ear.

His surgery lasted 6 and a half hours. Those were truly the longest 6 and half hours of my life. I just sat there, numb, without any emotion staring at the carpet. Still today I have the design of the carpet ingrained in my brain. When it was finally over they said that Phil and I could go in and see him.He had a whole room to himself. Here he was this tiny little baby on a tiny little bed in a room filled with machines. Each one doing a different job to keep his tiny heart beating and lungs breathing. He had tubes every where. Not even his bald little head was spared because that is where one of the IVs was located. I was not allowed to speak because every time that I did his heart beat would go through the roof. I just sat silently rubbing my thumb along the top of his hand. We were only allowed to stay in there about 10 minutes.

When we went back into the waiting room and I saw my mom the flood gates finally broke. The emotions of the day just flew out of me as I fell into her arms. I was inconsolable. I had been so scared all week that we were going to lose him and I had held it all in wanting to be strong. Now that the worst was over, I could let go.

He ended up spending 3 weeks at Christ Hospital. There were ups and downs through that time but nothing like the actual day of surgery. Poor Joey was being bounced around like a beach ball from family member to family member. Thank God he was an easy going 2 year old and that we had such a helpful family. Phil and I never could have made it through this on our own. It was with family at our side every step of the way that we made it through.

Jimmy has never really stopped giving us challenges. He was the much fussier infant, the impossible toddler, the super attached preschooler, and the student that hates school. However, if you doubled all of the drama you would have the joy and laughter Jimmy brings into our lives every day. I still thank God for our little miracle!

Happy 10th birthday Jimmy, I love you.

P.S. My sister-in-law Kate captured the whole couple of weeks with pictures. At the time I remember telling her that I was never going to want to look at these again. However ten years later I am grateful to her for that. So, here are some of the pictures of that time. Thanks Kate!!

Molly and Phil ~ Visiting Jimmy in the NICU
Molly and Phil ~ Visiting Jimmy in the NICU
Baby Jimmy in the NICU ~ That adult hand is Phil's

Joey and Jimmy meet for the first time 12-20-97
This is the first time I held Jimmy 12-17-97 He was still hooked up to some machines as you can see. He went home 3 days later.

Update on Joe's "growth"

We went to the Dr. yesterday and walked out still not knowing much. The Dr. looked at it for about 5 seconds, looked up at me and said, "Is there any skin cancer in the family?" I told him that there is skin cancer all over on my mom's side of the family. He said, "Hmmmm??? We are going to need to take a culture of this."

As he was taking a culture I showed him another one that was growing right on above the current one. It is really tiny and flesh toned. I explained to him that this one looked exactly like that when it started. He looked up and me and said, "Yeah, that's not a wart. Wart's don't look like that."

So, he sent us home with some cream to apply twice a day and we need to keep band-aid's on there. He is thinking that we will have the results by Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

Now you know what I know! Does anyone in the medical field have any thoughts on what might be going on?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Well I just have my village left and I will be all done with my Christmas decorations. It has taked me 3 days to get to this point. I really love our house at Christmas. Every single room gets decorated in every way. I literally remove the pictures from the wall and hang up Christmas pictures, or huge Santas, or wreaths. Christmas decortations are put on every shelf. Every banister is covered in garland and lights. It is like being in a new home for a month.

This is truly my favorite time of year. I love driving through the neighborhoods looking at all of the decorated houses. I love the music on the radio. I really love the giving spirt that most people have.

Last year we started a new tradition of staying home for Christmas Eve instead of going to my aunt and uncles with the whole family. Joey is turning 12 and we just feel like it is time to get some traditions in place for the four of us. This year we are going to do the same thing with a little twist. Instead of just sitting at home, cozy in front of the fire, we are going to go out and do some good. We are searching for a soup kitchen in or around Rockford that we could go to and serve some meals. After that we will come home and have our Christmas movies and fire just like last year. I really believe that this will show the boys the real meaning and spirit of Christmas. Not to mention that it will really make them appreciate the Christmas that they get here at our house.

On a medical note Joey has got something strange going on with his back. A few months back he showed me a growth on his lower left back. I told him that I thought it was a pimple and that it would go away. It was still there a few weeks later and I said that maybe it was a wart and we would keep an eye on it. Well it has continued to grow and is now changing color from flesh toned to red. I of course called the Dr. and we go in tomorrow at 2:00. Hopefully it will be something that they can remove right there in the office and we can be on our way. I will keep you updated.

Congratulations to my MOM!!

For those of you who don't know, my mom got a new job with Pace Bus Co. She was hired on a couple of weeks ago and has been training since. She went to Elk Grove Village yesterday and passed her 2nd big CDL test! The first one was about a week ago when she got her permit. It is official now! She has her CDL and will begin shadowing for the next couple of days and then will be driving on her own.

We all know that it is hard to start something new, especially when that means tons of learning and studying. Please send her a little note of congrats when you get a minute.

Way to go, Mom. We all love you!

Take off your shoes!

Well, I registered for next semester yesterday. I am really excited because I got all of the classes that I wanted and they are all on Tuesday and Thursday. I will have the rest of the week to do my studies and keep up my house. The other bonus is that out of 4 classes I only need 2 books! That is the best news and is going to save us tons of money. So next semester I will have Math, Speech, Psychology, and Art for teachers. I am looking forward to having some new classes and having a change.

Dawn and I went to David's Bridal today and got measured for our bridesmaids dresses for Amy's wedding. They were beautiful and we were both so excited!! Good choice, Amy!!

The boys are good. They have both had colds this week but still went to school. Joey is working on having perfect attendance because Phil had it when he was in 6th grade. They know that because they found the old award in a box down stairs. :-}

So, funny Jimmy story. While we were out trick or treating my niece Ellie ran up to us half crying and saying she didn't want to take off her shoes. We looked at her really surprised and said, "Of course you should not take off your shoes, we are trick or treating outside." She says, "But Jimmy said that we had to take off our shoes." I look up and there is Jimmy with all of his buddies in stockings ringing the person's door bell. I said, "Jimmy what on earth are you doing in you socks?" He says, completely seriously, "The sign on the door says 'TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES'" At this point all of the adults are laughing as I turn to Jimmy and say, "Only if you are going IN their house, Jimmy!!!!" He turns around to look at me, starts to blush and says, "OH!" All of the kids bend down, put their shoes back on and run to the next house. So, if you ever wondered where blond jokes came from, now you know!!!! This is the child that wants to go alone next year???

P.S. Let me know what you think of the new layout. I try to change it up every once and a while.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Good morning everyone! Or afternoon or evening depending on when you are reading this. Today is going to be super crazy for me but I am going to enjoy every second. I have school until 12:00. I have to rush out of there and pick up a few last min things for Jimmy's classroom party. Speed over to Jimmy's school and run his party.

Then we need to hurry home do all of the homework that they have and get everyone in costumes for trick or treating. This won't be as big of a deal as it used to be because the boys are pretty much on their own for that. We will then spend all evening trick or treating and visiting with friends and neighbors. We will get home again around 8 pm. We will finish up the boys homework, get them ready for tomorrow and get them in bed aroudnd 9. Then, I get to start my 2-3 hours of math homework. Pray for me! I can already predict that Belle will not be getting her 5 am walk tomorrow, I will be too tired.

I am going to enjoy every second of this because this is my last year to go trick or treating. We let Joey go alone for the first time last year when he was in 5th grade and Jimmy hasn't forgotten it. He has mentioned it many times this month that he IS going alone next year just like Joey did. So, another chapter in my life is about to close. That is the thing with Jimmy, every one of his lasts are my lasts too and we have totally seperate emotions about it. He is thrilled that this is his last year and all that I can do is remember that little baby dressed like Pooh Bear that wouldn't even walk up to a door without me!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Where have I been???

I can not believe that it has been almost a month since I last blogged. Thanks for the scolding, Amy! Life has been crazy, crazy, crazy around here. It just doesn't feel like there is a spare second in the day. So, I will update you by family member.

Phil has officially quit smoking and I am so proud of him. He has gone with the patch which is doing some really crazy things to him. He said that he is having the strangest dreams since he has been on it and we have talked to other people who experienced the same thing. He is going on day 4 now and it actually seems to be getting harder on him instead of easier. He's doing it though and the boys and I could not be happier.

I got my mid term grades the other day. Two A's and two B's! I would love to pull those B's up to A's so I will have to work extra hard in Biology and Math.

I have started yet another diet. I am sure that it will be blown on Saturday at the party, but at least I tried right!? I just need to be more disciplined with myself which all sounds great until I see the food or pass the coffee shop at school. I just can't resist a huge plate of pasta or bowl of ice cream or my French Vanilla Latte. I honestly think that if I lived alone I could do it because I just wouldn't have those things in the house. However Phil is not ready to give those things up so they are all over the house. I have been up and down so many times in my life and I just wish that I could find the diet that would work for me. Ahhh, someday! Not too much else is going on with me.

Joey is doing great in school. He has another dance tonight which he is excited about because he had a lot of fun at the last one. He is getting pretty good at playing his sax. No mind you it is only Mary Had a Little Lamb, but you can tell that he is comfortable with the instrument and the notes are just flowing out of his hands. It isns't like he has to sit and think about each note as he goes along. He sees it on the page and just knows. I think that is great because I never had a talant for any instrument. He will have a Christmas concert in December and I can't wait to see how the whole band has done.

Jimmy is also doing well. His football season ened last Saturday on a good note because they won the game in overtime. The over all season wasn't that great, we lost 6 and won 2. Jimmy only got to experience a win one time because the other win was on the day of Mary's wedding. He went on a field trip yesterday to Midway Village. Midway Villge is litterally a step back in time to the 1890's. It is the size of a village with homes and the old time bank and merchantile. There is also a one room school house where the kids spend half of their day doing their regular lessons in old time style. Writing on slates and getting the dunce cap. The kids went to school dressed for the times too which is so fun. All of the girls looked like Laura Ingalls Wilder. They even had to bring their lunch that way. The only thing that we had for Jimmy was a plastic coffee container because we don't buy the metal ones anymore. Besides that and his Converse shoes he looked the part. All of the tour guides there are great because they never step out of their roll. Jimy said that a boy in his class mentioned his PS2 and the lady looked at him like he was from outer space and asked him why he was talking with letters and number mixed together. He tried to explain which just got him in deeper because she pretended not to know of a T.V. or a controller, ect. ect. The kids got a lot out of the trip. I am posting a picture on here and I hope that it ends up right. (I have tried and tried and I can not get the pictures at the end of my post. So, scroll back up and now those pictures will make more sense!!!)

Well that's all of the Gorski Happenings for now. I really promise to try to be better.