Never Lose A Single Moment with the People you Care About the Most

This past week was the hardest week of my adult life (except giving birth of course).  My youngest son and I were recovering from the crud the week before and were finally starting to feel better towards the end of the weekend.  But on Monday my other son, Gabriel, started to get sick.  It was the high fever, stomach bug, couldn't keep anything down sort of sickness.  By Thursday I knew something was really wrong so I brought him to the military clinic.  After three hours there it was evident I needed to take him to the ER.  It was very obvious he had severe dehydration, but with the addition of other presenting symptoms, they were also considering appendicitis.

This was a VERY scary time for me.  This is the first time that either of my kids have needed more medical attention than for bronchitis or a bumped head.  I watched as he got his first IV and had blood taken.  Held his hand as he cried with a painful ultrasound on his abdomen and reassured him as they prepped him for a CT scan.  But thankfully, his other symptoms were all stemming from the dehydration and whatever bug he originally got ~ and it was not something more serious (like appendicitis) that would have required surgery.  Had he needed surgery, I know we would have gotten through it, but I thank God he didn't.

In the midst of our hardships this week, we also had many positive things happen to be thankful for.  Our house is now rented (woohoo), my husband finished his last assignment for his Masters Degree (DOUBLE WOOHOO), and we have our living situation for our move to Florida finalized.  But more important than all of that, is my family is all back home safe, sound, and on the road to recovery.

Don't every get caught up in all the things that "must" get done or too busy to do the things that matter the most with the people who are everything to you <3

So this brings me to what is okay and what is not okay to take photos of?  While my little guy was in pain, I was 100% not thinking about taking photos.  But while he was resting and I was just staring at him, I wanted to capture that moment in time.

These photos were all taken with my iPhone with some minor edits in Photoshop.  The photos are not good quality, there is quite a bit of noise in some of them, and the composition is lacking... but they accomplish their purpose.  Maybe my son will want to see them when he get's older, maybe not.  But I have them in case.

And here he is feeling much better <3

While we were waiting for many of the tests and results, I kept telling Gabriel how brave he was being.  I told him it was okay to be scared and it was even okay to cry.... that I would be there right next to him holding his hand.  We made it through this, our most difficult challenge yet and our family is stronger for it.

Capturing the Moment,

Corrie <3