SMILE!

There's something empowering about smiles. Have you ever tried to be mad in a room full of happy people? Have you ever tried to do just the opposite?? 

I got a little bit of a late start today, but it was kinda nice. I walked to Doernbecher and the sun wasn't just rising.. it had risen. It was a great start to my day, and it made me feel like, today was going to be amazing. There were people walking around the halls and I noticed something strange. Not one person looked as if they were happy to be there. Not one person even had a glimpse of smile in there eyes. Later today I finally got out of the room a little bit. {dude got his middle chest tube out!!} As I was roaming the hospital gift shop, I noticed the same thing. There wasn't any laughter, or happy chit chat. There weren't even any smiling employee's. It started to bring me down a little bit.

Somebody wonderful once told me, no matter what is going on in your life, you can choose your mood. That wonderful person is the man I'm going to marry, and he's absolutely right. {it's funny how when he tells me that, I'm usually throwing some sort of fit and I don't want to hear it :)} Today it really hit home. So I did a little experiment.

Have you ever noticed that whether or not you know someone, if you look at someone walking by, that person will look right back at you. I made it a point to make eye contact with people walking by, and smile. 9 times out of 10, they smiled back at me! Then I started to notice something else... it was infectious! Quicker than the flu, people were catching my smile.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in the drama and negativity of life, that it's hard too look up and see what really matters the most. Sometimes we have to deal with things that are hard, and hurtful and are just plain not fun... and embrace those times because we wouldn't enjoy the sunshine if we didn't have any rain. Just remember not to go chasing the clouds.

Yesterday we got moved out of the ICU and onto "the floor". This is great news for several reasons.
A) the room is WAY bigger :)
B) Dominic needs less care.
C) He isn't getting bugged as often and is finally able to get some rest.

We have already made this room our home and we don't expect to leave for at least another week. After that, it's on to Emanuel for some in patient rehabilitation. I would have updated last night, however, we had so much going on, we were both exhausted. We are trying really hard to stick to our schedule to keep our sanity, but it isn't easy!

Yesterday, was a hard day for me. I had all of these fears float to the surface all at once and I couldn't help but cry. It's so hard to watch your baby struggle to move, to talk, to feel... to everything. It's also hard when you try and comfort them and your touch doesn't mean anything, when just a week ago, it was the only thing they needed. It's so hard when you can't tell if they even know where they are or who you are. Yesterday I was so filled with fear that it was so hard to see the other side. The good side. Then he showed me... yes HE SHOWED ME, that everything was going to be okay. I put the phone up to his ear so that he could talk, and he smiled a big juicy Dude grin. Then he followed my image across the room. Later on, while he was in one of his screaming fits, I just grabbed him, tubes and lines and all and just picked him up and he stopped as if to tell me, that's all he really wanted. He comforted me yesterday more than I could have ever comforted him.
Today has been more positive {but slow} progress. He got to talk to his brother and sister on the phone. The first word out of Alaina's mouth, and a tear rolled down Dominic's face. There has been so much crying,  but no tears. This was the first emotion filled cry that I have seen. It was one of the sweetest things because I could tell that he just needed to hear that she loved him and wanted him back home. Then Toren got on the line and he lost it. He misses his siblings so much! It will be such a wonderful surprise when we can get them up here to see him. He also got his middle chest tube and all of his pacer wires out today. That means that they are confident that his heart is going to be just fine and his drainage is slowing way down. As far as his heart goes, he is doing remarkable! If it were just that, we would be coming home next week. That's great news!

As far as his brain goes, we still don't know a whole lot. One step at a time. All I know is that we will be learning our way around a whole other hospital, and it's going to be an adventure! Thanks everyone for your continued support and prayers. They are working! God has a plan for us. A very beautiful plan.

-whit