Painting Chevron and Monograms

Tonight, Brooke came up to join mom and I at Wine and Design to paint our monograms with chevron on a canvas. It was nice for me to get out with two of my favorite people! We drank wine, ate munchies, and painted. Once the painting started, the stress begun! We were all doing our best to not make a mistake and it was just a bit stressful. But I sure had fun when it was done! Mine was not perfect at all and it had lots of mistakes but after a while, I got tired of fixing it all. My favorite was before we started painting and after we finished painting. We were all less stress then! But hey, now I have a canvas with my monogram and chevron! What more could a girl want! ;)

Drinking wine beforehand (mom found these cups with wine in there already at Walgreens)

Let the painting begin!

Our finished products!

Road to Recovery...

I am not going to lie! Recovering from open heart surgery has been very HARD! Each day (and at time each moment) was a struggle that came with many tears! My chest was constantly in pain and I did not understand why it wasn't getting any better. Oh the energy it took to walk the road in front of my house. I hated taking all my pills and had to consistently be sure I took my pain meds religiously! I napped daily and wore my pajamas all the time (which I am in love with). My first outing was freeing but when I put on real clothes I cried because I just wanted my jammies back on. It was hard not being in control of everything and I just didn't understand why I wasn't better! It has been a hard road for sure! And I am still not done! I am still traveling this road! As I am writing this, I am thinking "you sound like you are done but you are still in pain and some obstacles are still hard". This will be a road I will be walking for a while but each day I feel a little more human. I am actually typing this in real clothes! But I could have not made made it through these past almost 3 weeks without my mom! She has taken amazing care of me and put up with me through a lot! She gets my meds ready, helps me with my baths, tucks me into bed each night, gets me anything I need, and loves me through it all! Thank you mom! I don't know what I would have done without you!

Dad and I on our first walk

Michele came to visit!

Brooke came to take care of me while Mom and Dad went out for their Anniversary and to church

Oh Zoe! She has been a different dog since I got home! She has been CRAZY protective and will take out anyone who gets anywhere near me! It has been quite stressful but when she is calm, the snuggles have been nice!

Have loved the fires, movies, and time spent with my parents at home

Last Saturday, we took my first big outing to the Mebane outlet malls! We didn't shop long and I spent most of the time in a wheelchair, but it was nice to get out!

Oh and it snowed that day! While it was too warm to stick, it was gorgeous to see falling!

I met Olaf at the mall and even got my picture taken with him! Hehe! ;)

I took this picture because I really felt like a human! I was so excited to feel human again!

But Tuesday was not a good day as I woke up with hives!  We kept an eye on them but as the day went on, they spread throughout my body and hurt worse! So we went to Duke Urgent Care and they sent us to Duke ER! After lots of doctors checked me out, they decided it was due to an allergy (mom and I are sure it was due to stress).  They gave me steroids and luckily sent me home. About a day later the hives were all gone!

Hives on my knees

This hand hurt the most! It ballooned and the skin was really tight! Every movement hurt!

Christmas Day!

Each Christmas, we wear Christmas themed jammies and we stay in them all day long! It is a Killom tradition that we kept up this year even though we will celebrating from afar! I had Elf jammies and Paul had Santa jammies from years ago. So we were the Santa and Elf! ;)

Christmas morning breakfast was stuffed french toast and sausage

After breakfast we opened our stockings

 

Then we opened our presents

Can I just tell you how much i love this picture! Zoe looks shocked, embarrassed, sleepy or just plain irritated! Love it!

We burned all of our wrapping paper in the fire place

Later we had our Christmas dinner which was amazing and made by dad!

First up was cauliflower cheese soup and it was amazing!

Then we had our meal of green bean casserole, stuffing, Cornish hens, and potatoes au gratin with potatoes and sweet potatoes. It was all very yummy!

While I had lots of energy all day and felt pretty good, this is the point where I realized I am still the girl who just had open heart surgery. My body crashed and I became very tired! So I had to leave dinner early for a nap.

But after I woke up, we ate my dad's delicious pecan cranberry pie. Then we watched The Chef and took a walk! All in all, it was a great Christmas Day spent with family I love so!

Christmas Eve!

Aunt Jeanne flew in Christmas Eve so the four of us had a low-key but fun Christmas Eve together!

Dad made us a yummy dinner of open faced roast beef sandwiches and french onion soup!

After dinner, we went to this neighborhood where these four houses had their lights synchronized with music. It was neat to see!

 When we got home, mom read the Polar Express to us!

Once the stockings were stuffed, we snuggled in bed!