Anyone still out there?

Well, I can't believe it has been close to one year since I last posted!!  CRAZY.  I have missed it, but life got so busy and then with a very SLOW and temperamental computer it has been rough to get anything done on here.  I started realizing though how much we use this site for our own family reference of pictures, recipes, things and events we have done in the past and how much we enjoy looking back on it!  Plus, I feel bad too because with so much of our family on the east coast it makes a very nice way to keep them informed and up to date on all the latest in the Hartsell House, especially since sending pictures and writing letters to everyone all the time doesn't happen very often!  So....I am hoping to start doing some posting again and I am even going to try to back-post events from the past year so I can archive them here.  So stay tuned and get ready, if you are still out there!  :)

Taylor Jean

Well, for those of you who have NOT heard....my sister Caitlin had her beautiful baby girl on June 12th at 940am. Taylor Jean weighed in at 6 lbs 14 ounces and 19.5 inches long and dark hair. The Sullivans are all adjusting nicely as a family. I was glad to be there for the birth and really enjoy it from this end!! Enjoy the pics!

Apologies

To all our family members who have texted, called and emailed with reminders of updating this blog.....apologies!!! I cannot believe it has been almost TWO months since I posted. Life took a hold and we just got BUSY! But get prepared for lots of back logged updates headed your way...if I can find the time to do it! I know this is a way for you to feel connected especially when so much distance separates us...so I hope to get some updates up soon! Miss and love you!

Family Photo Day

A few weeks ago we finally made it into the picture studio to get our pictures done...here are the good ones.....

Michaela's Baptism Pics

We have 8x10 of all the girls in a similar pose as the first pic

Emma's Two Year Pics

Catching Up

Well, our January and February have definitely been a few weeks of colds and sniffles and trying to get better. These cold bugs have hit us hard. I had a sinus infection and since Sunday have been feeling yucky again and today think it is another sinus infection. Whenever I get a cold it settles in my tonsils and they get so inflamed and swollen and sore. I spent THREE hours at Prompt Care last week for them to say it was viral and go home! UGH. But thinking I may need some drugs now....
We also had a not-so-fun experience with poor Angel. So last month when we took the girls to Prompt Care, the doctor said she had an ear infection with her bronchitis. Well these past couple of weeks we had been joking that Angel was starting the "selective listening" game because she would not respond or was saying "what?" a lot! Well....one day she was acting a bit off and then I took her temp and she had a high fever and still the cold, plus had gotten a red rash all over her belly. So we took her to the pediatrician and they said that she now had a bi-lateral ear infection and that the right ear was REALLY bad....they said the Prompt Care doc did not write ear infection in her chart and that the meds she had been on didn't even treat the ear...so basically this infection had been there for so long and now gotten so bad and the reason for the rash on her belly. I was so mad and poor thing really couldn't hear with her bad ear infections!! Talk about mama guilt!! I guess we are not taking her to Prompt Care unless we have to, but only to pediatrician!! UGH.
I just took her in for a check up this week and ears are looking better, but still has a cold. I took Michaela in too because she has a yucky cough because of her cold. Everything from lungs to ears etc were fine though, so just the sniffles....PLEASE GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE SOON. Ready to be better. Have a lot to catch up on!! It has been warm here and today the girls got to go to the park and run around and play, they loved it!!!

Found

Finally, Ameer and Emily, were found! You can read the article HERE, but their bodies were found in some plane wreckage and still strapped to their chairs. So we believe they must have died on impact. Thank you for all your prayers, at least now they can properly be buried and family's can have some closure. A MARINE buddy of Jason's has put in a request and plea with the MARINES to arrange them to fly Ameer's body back to NYC so his mother can have him buried. Hoping that works out. Ameer's facebook page has been inundated with people listing their memories and pictures of him, sounds like an amazing young man who could play a mean harmonica!! He will greatly be missed....I liked this poem that one of his relatives in Egypt left:

When this life I'm in is done,

And at the gates I stand,

My hope is that I answer

all His questions on command.

I doubt He'll ask me of my fame,

Or all the things I knew,

Instead,He'll ask of rainbows sent

On rainy days I flew.

Remember how the runway lights

Looked one night long ago

When you were lost and found your way,

And how-you still dont know?

And when the goals are reached at last,

When all the flyings done,

I'll answer Him with no regret-

Indeed, I had some fun.

So when these things are asked of me,

And I can reach no higher,

My prayer this day - His hand extends

To welcome home a Flyer.

Ameer Update

The search and rescue has been called off for now....updated HERE in this article. Sounds like ACE (the company) is still searching for the two pilots. A fishing boat found an empty pilot chair in the water along with the co-pilot (Emily from Seattle) backpack with her things in it. Please continue praying for these two young people's families and that their bodies can be recovered for a proper burial and family closure.
Jason spent time with Ameer in NYC where they were stationed together as MARINE C130 Flight Mechanics. One of their missions was to Greece and this picture was taken of the two of them then. They went to Gouverneto Monastery and went to mass. (Ameer is originally from Egypt and a lot of his family is still there. His mom came to US with he and his brother so they could go to school. Ameer was in the Reserves attending NYU when he got called up after 9-11). Jason and Ameer went on a big touring bike ride and the monks took them to visit the Cave of St. John the Hermit. Jason has some good memories and stories of his time serving and being friends with Ameer. Ameer had recently just gotten in touch with him about coming to visit as he was going to be doing some flights to the Seattle area. It has been sad to read his facebook page and see everyone's comments and prayers and sad to see his family in Egypt asking for updates. He sounded like a very strong, funny, friendly and caring young man who will be missed. Continued prayers for the families, for their finding, and for those who are touched and saddened by his loss especially my hubby.

Updates all around

Ok, I already gave an update on sweet Michaela, so I figured I would on the rest of us too.

Angelia - is...POTTY TRAINED. Finally. Really she probably would have been earlier but I was not willing to do it. The last couple of times I tried she would resist or do it sporadically. Then the last couple months of my pregnancy I was so tired and with Michaela's arrival and the holidays....just didn't feel up to it. So after the New Year, I went cold turkey on her....took away the diapers and into underpants we went. For Angelica, I knew it was just her will deciding she WANTED to do it, she had been ready for quite some time, just didn't want to do it consistently. I am so proud of her. We have gone NINE days now with no accidents. We had a sticker chart on the back of the bathroom door which she loves....she got small star stickers for going pee and big smile face stickers for going poo. That which she hated now she LOVES to do. The poo was the hardest one to get done....so I decided she needed a little more of an incentive....so every time she went she got to pick out a "money". We have a coin basket and she got to pick one out and put in her "potty purse" which was a gift from Marmee the first time she went poo poo. SHE LOVES THIS. She has even told us she is getting rich...which she was. So today actually we decided that from now on she will only get a "money" when she wakes up dry in the morning. We are wearing the underpants during naps but for nights I still have her in pull ups....but so far she has had SIX dry nights too....so we shall see. Once she is completely dry she also gets to go from the thick training underpants to her pretty princess ones so she is excited about that too! It is such a HUGE freedom to not have THREE in diapers anymore. I do still hold my breath while we drive places or are out and about but know accidents will happen, just hopefully not often. My "baby" is getting so grown up!

Angelica is doing so well writing her letters and starting her numbers. She still loves to read and she loves to sing and help me cook now too. She memorizes EVERYTHING and is such a huge help and loving older sister to Michaela who lights up in smiles when she sees Angel.

Now to Emma....oh my sweet, strong tempered, funny and confusing Emma. She just had her well child check for her two years. She weighed in at 26 pounds and 35 inches tall.....so still considered long and lean. She is learning the potty routine too and I don't think it will take her long because she wants to do everything big sister does. We are still struggling with her picky food habits. So funny as Angel is such a good eater and always has been....this is new territory for us. Emma still loves her yogurt, cheese, fruit, PB&J etc....but mostly she just makes me mind up that she doesn't like something without trying it. So....I have started to only offer her what we are eating and even force feeding her a bit. I did this one night with spaghetti and after a couple forceful bites, she ate the whole bowl. Another night she didn't eat at all during dinner and then later when I made smoothies and Angel was enjoying it.....she decided she would then eat her cold dinner bowl and downed it in 5 minutes so she could partake of some smoothie too. So....it will be a process but hopefully be expanding the food selections! Screaming....well working on it...her temper gets the best of her....so it has been a time out chair of late and she is learning.

We did have a WEIRD and hard week with Emma a couple weeks ago. Since August when she started sleeping in her own bed she has LOVED to sleep. She would sleep 12 hours at night and want to go for naps and sleep for several then too. She took 3 minutes tops to put down, NEVER fussed, NEVER got out of bed and would ask to go! Well, one night at 2 am she started SCREAMING. I went in there (thinking it was a fluke) and got her back down. However, for the next 6 hours....every hour....she would wake up and SCREAM and wouldn't calm down to even talk to me or answer my questions. We thought it was shadows on the wall, so I turned on another night light. Then she started getting out of her bed, wouldn't get back in, didn't want covers on, would stand by the door and scream etc. She kept repeating that she would Fall Out...but she has Never fallen out of her bed. It was definitely a scared and terrified screaming and attitude. We felt so bad for her and consoled her as much as we could. But as parents it was hard too...we didn't want to completely change her routine because with Emma....she would then expect and demand the new routine. So while we really only wanted to bring her in bed with us or go lay down on the couch....we didn't. It was a LONG week of no sleep, a very unhappy little girl but consistency finally won. Jason and I figured out that what had to have happened.....we think she had one of those dreams where you feel like your whole body is falling and you jump awake....and because this happened and when she woke up she associated her bed and going to sleep with falling and being scared. So I think it took the consolations and time rocking and reassurance about her bed and then just TIME to get her to forget about it and adjust to her bed again. I realized one night when I went in there that it was no longer a scared reaction or crying, but was now a battle of the wills....she got use to me coming in all the time that she wanted and expected it. NO MORE for this tired mama who needed to be with baby. So for one night I would go in there, pick her up wherever she was....immediately put her back in the bed, give her a kiss and leave the room. Three times of this and she stopped. It has been over a week now and she is back to normal....it takes me only three minutes to put her down and she sleeps straight through. WHEW....can't imagine going through a child that has night terrors or such! Hard.....I have to give credit to all the saints and angel I was praying to.....especially St. Catherine, St. Therese, Mary and I even sent my guardian angel to help her out....whatever you did, THANK YOU.

Jason continues to work hard at Boeing. He is thinking of taking on a new position which would be different for him, because it would be more with instrumentation and electrical aspects of testing for the planes....and he has been doing mechanic work for 12+ years. But he likes the idea of not smelling like fuel everyday and getting other experience...plus this department would have some more opportunities for growth and they also get to destroy the planes...so what guy wouldn't like to do a huge demolition like that? So he has been in some training classes and such lately for this new job...we shall see what he decides.

I have been busy trying to figure out our new routine and schedules, a work in progress. I am still enjoying the Pampered Chef business and Martha Ministry and appreciating the blessing that I get to be home with my girls.

Well, that is a bit of our life and fun times, just in case you were interested!!

Michaela Update

I CANNOT believe that Michaela Marie is already two months old!! She has been the most perfect baby...if I was guaranteed they would all be this easy I would for sure have a dozen! :) She has the sweetest and most easy going personality. She is smiling a lot now and really gives the big grins to her sister Angelica who loves to sing and talk to her. Her little face looks more and more like her papa to me and especially has his pointy eyebrows! She still has a lot of hair, although has been losing some here lately....however, it has already lightened up in color and appears to have some red highlights, so we shall see. She is my first baby to sleep on her back and because of that has a bit of a flat head on the back. More tummy time for her! She is starting to coo and make noises and loves to gurgle back at us. She LOVES her swing and for the first time we finally feel like we are getting our money's worth out of it!! She has a bit of baby acne and cradle cap going on but nothing major like her sisters had. I am so blessed because she sleeps so well. We have yet to ever "walk the halls" with her or have a crying spree. She sleeps 6 hours straight at night and looks like a little mummy. She likes to feel secure still....so to sleep she is swaddled in the miracle blanket (it is AWESOME, love it more than my swaddle me wraps), then put in her boppy in the bassinet and she is ready for a long snooze. I still have to get a picture of it, so funny! Michaela has NEVER cried during her baths, she loves them and we joke that she likes blow outs just because she gets to have a bath. She is a very strong little girl, with a tight hand grip and already holding her head high. We love her so very very much and it is amazing to see our little family growing and the relationships between the girls get stronger and stronger.

So.....yesterday Michaela had her 2 month check up and here are her stats:
-22.75 inches long (50% - same as Angel was, Emma was 23.25)
-Head 39 cm (50% - same as Angel was, Emma was 41)
-13 lbs 5 ozs!!!! (97%!! - yikes, likes her mama's milk....I was shocked...Angel was 10.11 and Emma was 11.8)

So we have a very solid baby on our hands!! Or she takes after her mama, short with some reserves!! Very healthy little girl!! We don't do any vaccinations at this point, so we got her vitamin drops and were good to go!! Here are some pics of her over this past month and some cute smiling videos (other already a bit outdated!) Enjoy.

(gotta love Emma pulling her hair)

2009 come back!

Ok, so I know many of you (family members mostly who I won't name) have been begging me for updates, pictures etc. I am so sorry...but as crazy as the end of 2009 was, 2010 hasn't been much easier!! We had a great Christmas season and rang in the New Year with some new friends to the area! However, we all ended up getting sick after the New Year. Angelica started with a cold, then fever then cough. Emma got a cold and cough and put on meds for sinus infection. Mama (me) got a cold then her first sinus infection ever....not fun...lasted awhile....eye sockets hurt, hear hurt, bad cough, teeth hurt...so when Mom is sick everything comes to a stand still. Jason even went in for a sinus infection and bronchitis. So....we are all finally on the mend. That coupled with putting Christmas decorations away and getting back to a "routine" has made the start of 2010....interesting. I hope to give updates on everyone soon along with recaps of our Christmas season. Sorry late, but better than never!

'Tis the Season

I cannot believe that Miss Michaela Marie (my M&M girl) is 4 weeks old today!! My mom came over to watch the big girls today so I could go to mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with just Michaela. Listening to the readings and wonderful homily about how Mary was conceived without sin made me reflect even more holding a newborn on how Mary answered God's call to give birth to Jesus and is such a perfect example of Motherhood to follow and strive for! These last few weeks have been challenging with recovery, adjusting to a newborn again, keeping up with the two toddlers, a hubby working 12 hour shifts for a week, trying to keep house....and then with this time of year I always seem to get stressed anyways. I tend to be a bit OCD (ok, I know my family members are saying, a bit?) and like to be organized and have everything just so in my little world. Well, I am slowly learning that God probably gets lots of chuckles out of "our plans". So my advent activities and Christmas decorations and fun things I had wanted to do for this special time of year are not happening. And I am learning that that is OK and that next year will come and I can try again. Right now....the season for me is exactly what it is...my duties and responsibilities as a mother with all the nursing, changing diapers and constant care comes first. If I happen to get in a fun craft project or event then bonus points to us. I am learning that with each additional child not only do routines get changed and rearranged, but priorities do as well and so do my expectations of myself. I came across this poem the other day and truly enjoyed it...these baby moments and little times with my LITTLE ones are short and fleeting and I truly want to cherish them as long as I can. So especially today when we remember how perfect and immaculate our Blessed Mother is and a great example to model after and during this Christmas season when we remember how Mary said yes to conceiving and accepting the responsibility of being Jesus' mother....I too want to thank Jesus for my girls and say YES to my vocation as a mother and try to live it out as best and fully as I can. (And now the people in my life need to remind me of this Post when I get stressed out and overwhelmed!!)

BABIES DON'T KEEP

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Three Weeks Already!!

Ok Ok Ok, I know I haven't given many pics or updates on here about Miss Michaela Marie, my little M&M. I am mostly updating her site (so go check and leave her a message) but thought I would post an update and some fun pictures...I know newborn pics all start to look the same, but a mother has too many favorites....trying to pick one for a birth announcement...hard to post a newborn!

Michaela turned THREE weeks old yesterday, I cannot believe it!! I already feel like she is getting big....starting to get some chubby little thighs and more alert. We are waiting to see if her dark hair color stays. Jason thinks it is starting to lighten a bit, which he wishes it wasn't. She doesn't have nearly as long of eyelashes as her sisters and I am hoping she doesn't lose all this hair she has!

At her two week check up, I was hoping she would regain her birth weight of 8 pounds 5 ounces as she had dropped to 7.12. She weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces!!! She also measured 20.25 inches long (from 19.7 at birth)....both 50% for height and weight. So so far a strong and healthy little baby!!!

Three Weeks to Go

Emma went to the doctor's today and I got to see the x-rays. Luckily the fracture and the bulge are not serious but still needing time to heal. So, she now has a hard cast (still pink!) on for the next three weeks...then we will bring her in and do x-rays again and hopefully be cast free. She is being a trooper but life has become a bit more difficult with normal tasks. I am hoping she doesn't keep hitting the baby in the head with her hard cast...whenever the baby decides to make her grand entrance.

Another first (hopefully last!)

So Friday I just wasn't convinced Emma's "Nursemaid's Elbow" was the only cause behind her pain from her fall the other night. She would still not use her hand in certain ways and would grab her wrist area saying "ouch, mama, ouch!" quite often. So to Urgent Care we went that night. They did x-rays and sure enough.....Emma has a fractured wrist and a bulge in the ulna. Luckily no huge breaks, but close! So the doctor wanted to hard splint her so that everything can heal with no further injury. All the doctors have been amazed at how she reacts to the pain and them poking her....she has a very high pain tolerance and just gives them dirty looks when it starts to hurt. She was such a trooper through the exam and x-rays and then getting the splint on. Of course after they put on the hard cast part and wrapped in in the ace bandage I told them I was concerned she would undo the pins and unravel the cast....so they put some great pink bandage wrap over it and so far so good. Poor baby though....having a bit of a hard time figuring out how to eat, grab toys, use her fingers etc. Although, it doesn't slow her down!! We can't take it off or get it wet, which makes her fun bath times very interesting. So far she is sleeping OK with it and Angelica loves to give it kisses. The clothes situation is becoming interesting as nothing fits over the huge arm now! Amazing how things as "easy" as clothes, eating, bathing etc can become such a challenge. I have to call the pediatrician tomorrow to see what she wants to do, but the doctor said most likely do another x-ray sometime to check progress, possibly hard cast (although this is pretty much the same thing) and could possibly on for 3-4 weeks! So maybe her big TWO birthday present will be getting her arm back! I guess God just figured we could use or need a little more excitement to add to the arrival of a newborn any day! I really was hoping I wouldn't have to experience this phase of motherhood yet...but at the same time not surprised that Emma is the first!! Hopefully our little monkey girl will slow down a bit! (Ya right as this morning my mom was rescuing her from climbing the stage steps at church!)


Here is Emma sporting and modeling her new fashion accessory:

Showing it off to Big Sister (who by the way, cried for Emma when she got the cast on!):

Enjoying the tons of stickers the nurses gave her:

And everything is better with a strawberry smoothie, right?!

Some more updates

So these past couple of months have been SO busy. Jason, as you know, went to Virginia to help with his mom and then has been working a lot at work. His day is always longer just due to his commute in Seattle anyways....but he has worked some long days and weekends! He is hoping to maybe take some classes again this Fall, but we shall see. This past weekend he has been hurting from loading, unloading and stacking several cords of wood! But my parent's neighbors had a ton of it and need to get rid of it so we cannot refuse free wood, especially how much of it we have gone through these past couple of cold winters. So trying to get that all done NOW so Jason isn't having to chop, stack or search for wood in the snow this year!

Lots of you have been asking and many of you know....but our home search continues. Lately we have the problem of just having the time to go looking and searching....so hopefully we will have some of that soon. After several weeks of hard work getting estimates and prices and such on that property we were so excited about...Jason went in to make an offer on the land to find out the seller removed it from the market the day before. After a long talk with him, he is wanting to build himself and try selling that way. So it was a big bummer for us especially since we were so excited about it and could financially afford what we wanted!! So now back to square one with the searches....needing to start my novenas to Saint Joseph and my saints Catherine and Therese. In the meantime, trying to reorganize and arrange things at the house we are renting to fit our needs with the new baby and starting school and such. I hated to get rid of our dining room table but we barely ever use it and it took up the whole room, so we gave it back to my parents and turned the room into a playroom, music and school room. The girls are really enjoying it. Soon we will outgrow our kitchen which has a small eating space so that is one major feature we are looking at with a new house. So with the rearranging we are hanging new pictures, organizing and cleaning out as I go. I am going to keep the baby in the bassinet in our room for the first several months for sure and then will probably move Emma in with Angel and give the baby the nursery....one move at a time.
Emma is doing so well with her toddler bed. As long as she has her Gracie (giraffe) and passy and music and fan going....she usually only fusses for a minute or two at nap time...and still will milk it at night time but usually only 10-15 minutes. She loves to say her night time prayers and we give lots of different kisses....mama kisses, Eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses....and sometimes we rock for a bit. She usually wakes up really early between 4-5am and wants to come into mama's bed and for now that is fine. I figure the more she gets used to her bed and getting herself back to sleep that will get better as well.

Angel is SLOWLY working on the potty training (really hating this stage more than I ever thought)....just has her mind set against it most of the time. So we have a potty chart and stickers and rewards etc....she keeps telling me she will before the baby comes, so we shall see. She is very excited about starting some preschool learning and doing well. We have mostly just been reading books and doing letters and our normal learning routine, but I have some neat curriculums I bought to experiment some with this year and next for preschool (I will do another post on those).

I am getting so ready for this baby to arrive. We are still tossing around some names....ones that end with "a" to go with AngelicA and EmmA. So we have tossed around Isabella, Maria, Michaela, Gianna etc. We shall see. This little girl is SO ACTIVE. I have been having some anxiety that she is making knots in the umbilical cord or wrapping it around her neck (as Emma did). Her movements are so consistent and strong that I am worried I will not get any rest with this baby! I have been feeling good overall, just tired more easily and some sciatica and just feeling HUGE and not knowing where this baby is going to continue to grow....so I won't be surprised if she is early like her sisters!! We will keep you posted. All those little to-dos I put on my lists now seem like I need to get them done immediately or I will have to put them off for a long time....NESTING!!!

Alli and my dad are in the CSTOCK production of Little Women....totally need to go check it out...I need to do a post about that as well....

Hope all is well with you and yours!

Long Overdue

Well, I am finally getting a chance to sit down and do some updating. First and foremost wanted to give an update on Vicki Hartsell, Jason's mom. After he left Virginia, she was moved to a PT rehab facility. For awhile there, it was as if she was making 100% improvements each day....everyone is still pretty amazed at the recovery that has taken place. The doctors have said that as hopefully the brain bleed gets reabsorbed a full recovery will be possible, but can take anywhere from 6 months to one year. She did get a UTI in the rehab center which wasn't any fun....but slowly is speaking better and moving better. She still stutters and is slow to answer some questions but one day at a time! Then due to insurance stipulations....Vicki had to leave the rehab facility today so this is her first day at home! She lives with her mother and brother so please pray that she can do alright on her own for the most part. It makes me nervous and I wish she could have stayed longer in the rehab center. She is not allowed to cook, work or drive yet and could be awhile. I just hope things continue in this positive direction and no more falls or setbacks. We may never know all the answers as to why things happened.....but thanks to all the prayers, offerings and well wishes.....she has pulled through and we all felt so much support from friends and family during that difficult and scary time. So a BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!

Slowly but Surely

Well, over the past couple of days Jason's mom had made incredible progress and slowly improving. The nurses and doctors are quite amazed as things looked so bad originally...so keep all those prayers coming! She is off sedation, off the ventilator....has regained some movement in arms and legs....can speak some words and answer most questions although slow and jumbled at times. She did have a stroke but the kind where it doesn't kill the brain area it occurs just paralyzes it in a sense. MRI results yesterday didn't show any change.....brain separation or shift still there and blood bleed still there....but nothing worse or new. Could take awhile for brain to absorb the blood and explains the memory, speech and motor issues she is still having. Today she had an angiogram and didn't show anything major to be concerned about. She sat in a chair and did eat some (as Jason called it) "mushy chicken soup". She told him she loved him, which made his day! The doctor still will be doing some tests and he may never know exactly what caused this or the fall etc. She might be in ICU until Tuesday and is hoping to have a PT assessment done that day as well. They are thinking she will need to go to a PT rehab facility for several weeks.....but after that....well one day and decision at a time. Thanks for all the love, support and prayers! Jason has definitely felt them and we KNOW they have helped his mom.

Updating Again

Jason arrived safe and sound in Richmond and thanks to his sister Kim for picking him up. He went to his parents house (too bad they are in NY for a wedding) and picked up the car and house keys. Then he headed to ICU to his mom. He isn't sure if she recognized him but as he was talking to her and holding her hand she squeezed it, so who knows. She has some movement back in her hands and legs but hands are restrained so she doesn't pull anything out if she does regain that much movement. She still has the ventilator in although it is not on, so she is breathing on her own and it is available if needed, it is helping keep her airways open. They may try to remove it again tomorrow. She has another tube going to her mouth for nutrition and if they remove the ventilator will probably move the nutrition tube to her nose. They may do another CAT scan tomorrow and I know Jason is curious as to what the bleeding and things look like...although at least she hasn't gotten worse, kind of no change at this point. Still hard to tell what permanent ramifications are or what progress might be. She is not being sedated anymore but is in and out mostly. Hopefully now that Jason is there he can talk to the docs and maybe get some of his questions answered and clarified....thanks for all the prayers for him as well they are working! I will definitely be hugging my little ones a little tighter tonight and they already miss their Papa lots!!

Update

Well, we got Jason on a plane this morning (nothing that $700 bucks cant fix...crazy...we even called the airlines for emergency family tickets and they were $1000!!). He is in the air now and should be with his family in Richmond by 10pm Virginia time. From what we know for today...Vicki remains the same. She was put on a feeding tube this morning and they are hoping to try and remove the ventilator and see how she does since she already has lung/COPD issues and they worry about pneumonia settles in. We are waiting for them to do another CAT scan today and see what those results show!! Thanks for all the thoughts and emails and most importantly PRAYERS....keep them coming!! Will keep you posted!

Prayers Please

(note: some of you have written and asked if this has anything to do with the breast cancer etc....that was Jason's stepmom Mary Hartsell who we glad to report is doing well.)

Friends & Family:

It is with a sad heart I write to you asking for prayers!! This morning started very early with news that Jason's mother, Vicki Hartsell, is in the hospital. She had not been feeling well for several days and was told it was a virus. This morning at 3am her time (in Virginia) she fell and hit her head. Her brother called 911 and the ambulance came and she was completely unresponsive and took her to the hospital. When they realized it was much more serious and she was bleeding in the brain she was airlifted to MCV Hospital in Richmond. She has had CAT scans and some tests done. We still have a lot more questions than answers but basically what we know is:

She is bleeding internally in the brain and the lobes have separated about 7mm already. Most of the bleeding appears to be in the area that affects speech as she is not able to talk or move her body. She is in ICU and they are keeping her sedated except for every hour they wake her up to see how she responds. At this point she can open her eyes and communicate by blinking. The neurosurgeon has basically said that right now he is focusing on treating her now instead of trying to figure out how this all happened. She has no external signs of the fall causing this trauma so they are thinking the bleeding had been going on and caused the symptoms she has had over the past couple of days and maybe caused the fall. He mentioned a possible aneurysm or something, but we really don't know. He has told Jason's sisters and grandmother who are with Vicki that the next TWO days are super critical to watch what the bleeding and brain swelling do. They are thinking there is most likely permanent brain damage but again hard to tell right now.
All your prayers would be gratefully appreciated....for Vicki's healing, for the family and especially Jason during this difficult time. We are trying to figure out trying to get Jason out to Richmond so at least he can talk to his mom while she appears to be coherent at times and get through the next two critical days. We will keep you posted...thanks for all the prayers, support and love.