Dad

A couple weeks ago, dad went to the hospital for chest pain. They gave him some nitroglycerin and it took care of the pain. They ran an EKG and a stress test as well but couldn't find anything wrong. At first they thought he had another stroke but these tests ruled that out. Yesterday he had a cardiac catherter done. I was a bit worried because the hospital he had gone to didn't have bypass back-up. If something were to go wrong, they said they would medivac him to Hershey. Not the right answer in my book but my dad went ahead with the procedure. I took Ethan to the cath lab with me to see my dad before he was taken to the table. Ethan wasn't sure about what was going on. I think it scared him a little to see my dad in a hospital bed. After a few minutes, we left the room as dad was taken to the table. We waited in the waiting area with my mom for about an hour before they called us back to see dad. He seemed to be ok. The doctor then sat with my mom and I and showed us on the computer what they had done. It was really neat to see. It was a video image of my dad's heart. He had three blockages. Two in front and one on the side with over 70% blockage. He received 2 stents and will need to have a third stent in the next few weeks. They couldn't do them all at once because of the dye. It's dangerous to have all that dye filter through his kidneys. Trying to explain what happened to pop-pop to Ethan was a little difficult. He was worried and asked if pop-pop would be okay. I told him that pop-pop had a couple of balloons placed in his heart to open up his arteries. He thought it was silly to put balloons in the arteries. He then asked me if I remembered when the doctors made him pee in a cup and how that was yucky. LOL! We recently had his physical for him to start Kindergarten in the fall. Due to the stents being placed, dad had to stay overnight. He should be going home today.

Ethan says...

Yesterday, Ethan told me that I "almost" look old. This morning he tells me, after kissing my shoulder, that my muscles are beautiful. LOL!

My mind said not to

Ethan came to the office while I was working on the computer and he decided he would pull the skeleton key out from the desk and hand it to me. I panick when I see a missing skeleton key because we've already lost one from a cabinet in a move that took some time to have replaced. So when Ethan handed me the key, I asked him, "Ethan, why did you take the key from the desk?" His reply was, "I don't know; my mind told me not to do it but I did it anyways." I was laughing so hard b/c he was so cute. When he referenced his mind, he actually took his pointer finger and placed it on the crown of his head. LOL!

The Toilet is Mad at Me!

Another story featuring Ethan and the toilet. LOL! About a week ago as we were preparing for the day and getting ready for school, Ethan came rushing downstairs to the kitchen screaming and crying. I couldn't understand him at first and eventually I make out, "the toilet is mad at me and it keeps spilling and spilling..." through his cries and sobs. I rush upstairs to find our bathroom flooded with about an inch of water!!! It took about 10 towels, beach towels, to finally get it cleaned up. I am surprised the water didn't leak down to the floor below because there was so much.

Electronics do not like to Swim in the Toilet

Spring break has been glorious for me. MedSurg just wrapped up and I was ecstatic seeing a grade of 91 on my final exam. Never before had I had such anxiety before an exam. I could actually feel my heart palpate as I went to bed the night before. As Spring break comes closer and closer to it's end, I am constantly trying to find motivation to actually get into the basement and spring clean. I was able to do a little yesterday in-between phone calls/texts. I ended up leaving my cell phone in the basement and forgot to grab it as I left to pick Brian up from school and Ethan from day care. It felt weird not having my phone with me. Over the years it seems to have become a part of my daily life and I felt naked without it. Anyways, after collecting the children, we went to visit my parents for about an hour before heading back home. Once home, Ethan got upset with Katheryn and told me she pushed him. She hadn't but Ethan was adament that she had and when I didn't punish her, he became frustrated and screamed and eventually told me Katheryn had put his Nintendo DS in the toilet. I told him she would never do such a thing. Minutes later, he came back screaming some more about his DS being in the toilet. I sent Katheryn upstairs to check and sure enough...his DS was in the toilet! I didn't have time for this. I was rushing to make lasagna for dinner and get Brian ready for CubScouts. I had 10 minutes before we had to leave. I tossed Ethan's DS into a bowl of rice, threw the lasagna in the oven and loaded the kids into the van. Brian managed to get his Cub Scout shirt on and I had grabbed his kerchief, clip and hat on the way out the door. We were 10 minutes late to the meeting. As we entered the room, I quickly threw Brian's kerchief on around his neck. I still hadn't grabbed my phone and figured I would check it once I got home. When we arrived home, my mission was to find my phone. It wasn't where I had left it. Katheryn recalled seeing it in the basement so she went to grab it. It wasn't there. Hmmmm. Where could it be? I used Katheryn's phone to call it and Katheryn went searching. She heard my phone ringing in the bathroom..unfortunately it was in the toilet. The toilet was lit up with every ring from the phone. It had to have been in the water for at least 2 hours. I thought it was doomed. I quickly grabbed towels and a hair dryer and dismantled the phone. I threw it into the bowl of rice that the DS was already sitting in. Ethan still denies throwing either one into the toilet. I was able to revive my cell phone however, the DS is not working still. It may be beyond repair. Ofcourse, this is not the first time Ethan has done this. We just recently had Katheryn's cell phone replaced because Ethan decided he wanted to see if it would float in the toilet. And Matt's blackberry issued by work took a dive in some Cherry snocone syrup...courtesy of Ethan. He doesn't know that what he has done is wrong. He's just a boy being a boy I guess but I surely cannot wait until he grows out of this. A friend shared with me an acronym for the name Ethan. "Everything Trouble Has a Name....ETHAN!" lol.

Hamster Rescue

Every attempt I make to study has failed. Life just keeps happening around the house and I want to be part of it. This morning, the kids slept in and it was so peaceful. I made myself a cup of tea and sat at the computer to "begin" studying and I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It's Brian. "Good morning, Brian" I say and he responds that he is hungry and would like pancakes or waffles. I made him a waffle and went back to the computer. I then hear Ethan talking to Brian in the living room as they watch tv. So I go in to say good morning and he responds, "I am a good boy." Uh-oh! That means he did something. I ask him why he is a good boy and he says that Kia, the hamster, is not in his cage and he is in my bedroom. Ethan said he locked my bedroom door. Great! I don't know how long Kia has been out of his cage or locked in my bedroom. I rushed upstairs to the boy's room and there is no hamster in the cage. I then go to my room and as Ethan promised...the door is locked. I unlock the door and start looking in the corners and behind furniture. No Kia. So then I yell down to Ethan to help me. He comes up and lifts a bowl that he had Kia under. When he wasn't there, Ethan says, "oh, he disappeared!" aaack!!! We searched and searched...finally, I found Kia under our bench in the bedroom. Ethan scooped him up, because I'm not touching him, and put him back into the cage. I don't think I'll ever get any studying done. I think I will recommend to the nursing department that summer is not a great time to schedule pharmacology class.

Father's Day 2010

Matt enjoyed going out and golfing this morning with my dad and brother. When he came home, the kids had their homemade cards ready to give. We all sat around the coffee table while Matt openened his father day gift...a mini fridge/heater that he can plug into the car or under his desk at work. We thought it would come in handy for him to keep his lunches cool or his AMP drink cool for his long ride home from work. Matt kept asking where we were going and to keep it a surprise, I had to tell the boys we were going ice skating. So they were blabbing away that we were going ice skating and Matt kept questioning what to wear b/c he knew we were not going ice skating by seeing the kids wearing shorts and t-shirts. None of us had ever been to this place so it was a new adventure for the Gillespie's. While Matt was golfing, I packed up the van with lunches and extra clothing. The plan was to have a picnic lunch and do some hiking. We drove to Rocky Gap State Park. The drive was beautiful! You could look out and see farms below in the valley. When we arrived at our destination, we unloaded and found a shady spot under a tree on the hill that overlooked one of the beaches. We ate lunch and decided to try canoeing. The kids did not want to go and once we were in the canoe, Brian freaked out and told everyone to sit still and not rock the boat. He didn't want it to flip over. Eventually he warmed up to it and when our hour was over, he asked is the kids could paddle next time. :D We then went for a hike. We walked up to the aviary and saw owls and falcons in the aviary and then we continued to hike to the Canyon Overlook. It was beautiful! Ethan was our trail leader. Once we returned to the picnic area, we changed into our swim suits and headed to the beach area. The boys and Matt enjoyed swimming in the lake. Brian was fascinated with the minnows swimming nearby and Ethan was riding on Matt's back....Matt was a dolphin. Dinner was at Friendly's and once home, we lit up the firepit and it seemed the entire neighborhood was in our backyard for marshmallows. It was an awesome day!!