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| Adrian bought floating lanterns for Christmas this year. We lit them and sent them flying last night at mom's...so fun! |
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| My brother Cameron and I laugh as we wait for a lantern to fill with hot air and float away. |
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| Our little girls visit with Granny and Grandad Seely on Christmas morning. |
Typically, my parents go to upstate New York for the holiday. That's what I grew up doing, spending every Christmas but one with my mom's family in New York. Now that my sister and her family live in nearby Vermont, that's all the more reason for my parents to spend Christmas day up north. But this year they went up early and came home early to celebrate with us who could not take the trip. They came over to our house Christmas Eve for snacks and Adria and Johanna's dance party ;) We really did appreciate all the time with our loved ones.
Four years ago, Adrian and I spent Christmas in New York/Vermont area with my extended family for the first time since we'd been married. It was great to see many of my 25 cousins, aunts, uncles and grandma that I had not seen in years on Christmas Eve and then watch Adria open gifts with her little cousins Christmas morning.
Adrian helps Adria open a present in Vermont, the day before his first seizure.
We had no idea our lives were about to change the very next day. In fact, we did not even know that day what had happened.
The First Seizure...IN HIS WORDS
December 26, 2009. It’s not the most important date in my life but it definitely ranks as one of the most memorable. Adria was just over one year old and we had just returned from having Christmas with Julles family up in Vermont. Julle had to be back to work the day after Christmas so we had the great pleasure of spending Christmas day driving back to Delaware where we were presently living. It wasn’t too bad of a drive, but driving for seven hours isn’t my ideal way to spend Christmas. We had a good time visiting in Vermont though.
The morning of the 26th was our normal routine for a Saturday.
Wake up about 7:30, have breakfast, and then Julle heads off for work about
9:30. At this point in our lives Julle is the sole bread winner and I am the
bread maker so to speak. When Adria was born and we realized the level physical
challenges that she had, we decided that one of us needed to quit our job and
things worked out that that person was me, so I became the stay at home parent.
I had only been a stay at home parent (or Hollywood husband) for a year and was
still trying to adjust to this new role. Be an over the road truck driver with
two days a month home time? Been there, done that. Cut wood and deliver calves
in sub-zero weather? Love it and did it. Be a stay at home dad? Now there is a
real challenge. Little did I know just how challenging it was about to become.
After lunch that day I put Adria down for her afternoon nap
and then I laid down for some rest to try to catch up on some lost sleep from
our trip. About an hour and a half later I woke and knew right away that
something wasn’t right. Actually a lot of something’s weren’t right. First of
all I felt really…..off. I couldn’t think. I was very confused about where I
was, who I was, what was going on, everything. My head hurt, my tongue hurt,
all of me hurt, and as I got up off the couch and began to walk around to try
to get my bearings things just got more confusing. I found the shoes and socks
that I had been wearing when I laid down were now by the back door and soaking
wet. My pants were also soaked halfway up to my knees. Doors that had been
locked were now unlocked, coats that had been in the closet were hung on
chairs, and other strange things had been done. It appeared that I had gone
sleep walking and that putting on my coat, unlocking the door, and going
outside was all part of it. Fortunately, we lived next to my parents and I was
able to call them to come watch Adria and help me try to figure out what was
going on. Although we didn’t realize it at the time, this was to be the first
of many seizures to come.
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