highs and lows and highs

Monkey finally had his mouth procedure taken care of on Friday morning. There was something about my kid being “put under” that really freaked me out. The anesthesiologist called me the night before to go over the proceedings. The call was meant to calm and inform me, only it hyped my state of worry up about 10 knots. I slept like 3.5 hours on Thursday night I was so worried he would respond to the medications like I had; horribly.

On Friday morning Mr. Dunbar flew in 45 minutes before Monkey’s appointment, so my dad picked him up from the airport and they met us at the dental office. *Thanks, Dad.* Seeing Mr. Dunbar calmed both Monkey and I.

The anesthesiologist was really good with Monkey. He talked to him, told him (in kid terms) what was going to happen, asked him to show off his big strong muscles, and made the initial drug part as painless as possible.

I think it was the fact that I sort of knew more of what to expect than Mr. Dunbar did, that I was able to just sort of throw him in the hot seat. It made me feel better, but not Mr. Dunbar. I know, wife of the year over here.   After this initial shot, Monkey got this glazed look in his eyes and went right to sleep. Xrays were taken after Monkey was asleep and we were able to see him again, while the pediadontist explained what the complete plan of action was. They took us back to the surgical room once he was already under. That is a vision of my son that I hope to never experience again. (no picture here) His eyes were taped, they had the tube thing coming out of this mouth, lines hooked up to his IV and arm. It was alarming and I thought I was going to vomit right there. But the doctors were very good, explained each step, showed us his xrays, and said they’d be out soon. My heart was racing fast and furious.

Monkey’s procedure took longer than expected with a few curve balls thrown in the midst of it. Here he is coming out of anesthesia and Mr. Dunbar holding him.

Friday afternoon the minutes just ticked by. Monkey was really dizzy and grumpy for the first few hours. He couldn’t watch TV or really do anything because he was seeing double and each time he would get up he’d fall right back down. But as the hours progressed and we got some food in him, Monkey started to come around.

The doctor called me around 7pm and I expressed my concerns over Monkey’s recovery and he reassured me that Monkey would only feel better since all of the infection had been taken out of his mouth. He was was so right.

The next morning this is what he looked like. Himself.

And since Monkey was pretty upset that his brother was at Grandma and Papa’s house for the weekend we let him go as well. He begged and begged for hours. Finally Mr. Dunbar and I figured he’d be happier there then home.

We high tailed it to our annual Marriage Getaway. This was the 7th year in a row we’ve gone and seriously it is such a great investment even though we missed about half of the conference.

Saturday afternoon we made it to one morning session and then it was Date Day. We had a great Pho lunch with one of my oldest friends and her husband. Then Mr. Dunbar and I vedged out in our hotel room. We seriously watched Bull Durham and laughed over and over at the silly 80’s jokes. It was such a luxury to just “be,” with no interruptions or butt’s to wipe or anybody making demands. It was especially nice since we were both so exhausted after a stressful super busy week, I fell asleep and by the time I woke up it was Dinner Party time. I even let Mr. Dunbar wear jeans, even though I guess somewhere in the directions it said, No jeans. (Sorry, Bill- There’s always next year.)

Here I am with my Comrade of Comrade’s. The woman who seriously has invested hours and hours and has poured buckets of love and time (along with her husband) mentoring Mr. Dunbar and myself in our marriage. She’s one of my best friends. She offers grace like no other. She does everything intentionally. Last week was a crazy week for her and she still made the time to call and email and say “What do you need help with? What can we do for you since Mr. Dunbar is out of town?” (Hugs, E!)

And here I am in the Ladies Room with some of our other friends who are great also. They thought I was nuts taking photos in the bathroom.

My dress was NOT that short when I bought it. The belly is hiking it up. And the shoes, were purchased way before I knew I was preggo for this specific Dinner Party night; they were actually pretty comfortable.

Anyhow, our church does a great job every year of putting this weekend on for us Married Peeps. There’s a floating saying around here, “Spending $350 on your marriage before it goes bad, is a lot cheaper than divorce.” The weekend isn’t even all about taking a bad marriage and making it better, its about taking a good marriage and making it great. The weekends are always a lot of fun as well.

Today (Sunday) we were awoken by somebody else's kids playing outside of our hotel room door at 7am or so. Seriously? Seriously! So we got dressed and came home.

This was our shortest Marriage Getaway ever. But again so worth it.

Then of course when we got home reality set; laundry, groceries, chores, and bills to pay.

But I’m hanging on tight to the high of a God who gives us grace, a son who is healthy, a husband who loves me, and parents who take care of my hooligans.

~mrs. dunbar