Sometimes if you don't laugh...

..you might just cry!

Home from the hospital and on very strict restrictions this morning brought a trip to the far north side of the big city to a recheck for Finn. Had I not been so worried about him I probably would have tried to move it, but being that I had Mom to drive and carry people and things, I thought I we could do it!

We made, a bit late, but we made it! The bathroom was a much longer walk than I remembered and I'm guessing it wouldn't have fallen into the "you can get up and walk around the house a couple times a day' orders i had from the hospital. But Dax and I had no choice..we had to go. By the time we made it to the office I thought I might pass out, Dax helped things along by flipping the light on and off while the Doctor talked to me, a little bit of a strobe light effect, it was cool.

The doctor kept asking me if I needed a wheel chair to get back out to the van...I must have looked really good! She must have posed this question at least half a dozen times!

I sat with Dax waiting for mom to pull up to the door. He repeatedly pushed the handicap button to open the door...you know I don't seem to get to far with a soft spoken, "Dax, please don't do that". He seems to know there isn't a darn thing I can do right now. I'm afraid a few weeks from now he's gonna think I'm really mean.

Mom came. She looked a little sick to her stomach as she mentioned something about a flat tire. yeah, really. A completely flat tire a half hour from home when I'm not even actually supposed to be out of the house and we have two boys acting slightly like heathens running the van.

We called Mike...God love this man. You know, I bet he's hoping I never call him at work again!

He works about 20 minutes away. We sat. Good thing I don't drive a clean van. Cleaning the trash up gave the boys something to do. Occasionally you heard "Oh! Smarties! one for you, one for me" coming from the back seat. God love Mrs. Addis and the occasional leftover smartie. God love my mom for not being totally grossed out. Thank God for laughter.

For a moment I thought what in the world is God doing? Really, really a flat tire? It was actually off the rim. My mom looked at me and said, "you know, we could have been on the highway on the way here." She's right. We sat in a parking lot. We all had blankets. My car has slightly less trash and lots less leftover goldfish hanging out in the carseats. Mike came. He changed the tire in his good coat and his work clothes in 20 degree weather. He never complained.

We rebuckled. We headed out looking for a gas station to check the pressure on the spare. Nobody mentioned that the excess fluids in my body after all this would come with a vengeance. We had to pull into a hospital as we drove by, because I was afraid of having an accident...I'm 34. Dax, he needed to go too. Nana took him, he came out after visiting the snack center with a bag or Cheetos, Frito's, and a box of Jr. mints. Finn squealed with delight. These are the days.

We made it home. I sat down on my bed to take off my shoes. Next thing I know it was two hours later. I guess my body wasn't ready for gallivanting around the countryside. But it was not without a purpose!

Praises!

We made it to the doctor and home with only a few bumps and bruises and a lot of answers!

Finn's bloodwork came back with real black and white answers. He has probably not had pneumonia over and over. He has been experiencing extreme asthma attacks. These attacks have been brought on by only one thing and it is concrete. His allergens are all very low, except one. He is extremely, intensely allergic to mold. This is no shock. There was massive flooding in our home in early September and all of these attacks have come since the end of September. We have some new meds that may help hold these reactions back for the time being but we know that if we can get him away from the mold we can stop this. **insert prayer request** when we moved here we rented this house thinking it was perfect for the three of us. Our family grew. The neighborhood is nice, it's close to the schools, it's safe. Mike is not one to move forward without a very good reason. I looked at houses, we stayed. Our landlord passed away in September. Her husband has taken over the property, and although we have made several phone calls we have tried to stay pretty patient because we know he is going through a lot and we did not want to be thorns in his side. But now we know, with 100% certainty that this house is making our baby sick. It's time to go. Easier said than done, there is no fountain of wealth hanging out in the backyard and as a stay at home mom we make a lot of sacrifices financially for me to be here. But as we have learned over the past days over and over again, the stuff, it doesn't matter, the people, they matter. We have been so greatly blessed and we know God has a plan and a place for us. Our eyes and ears are open. That house, it will come. But you know, I'm not even slightly above asking you all for your prayers!! =)

Wow, that was long and rambling! I should end this with my favorite moment from today when I just wish I had my camera with me! Mike opened the back of the van while we were sitting in the parking lot. Both boys (Finn in his crazy jester hat)went running back yelling "DADDY!" They leaned over the back seat and asked questions and just watched as he prepared to save the day. I wish I could have snapped that picture...the hero and his little followers! =)