Just for the record, I do not go around wearing ginormous flowers on my head...

we were at a Halloween party.

So before I literally fall asleep sitting up I wanted to post about Devins surgery. The Dr's worked on him for a little over 4 hours; longest 4 hours of my life! I am SO grateful my parents hung out with me the whole time helping to make the time go quicker. Finally the surgeon came out and filled us in on what is going on. From all of the procedures Devin has had done on his esophagus it has transformed it into a non healthy, abnormal esophagus. At the bottom where it should be very thin and pliable, it is like a piece of leather and very very thick. So think in fact that they think that the tear is in there, but didn't go all the way through. He had lots of air in his chest cavity on both sides, which they removed as well as decompressing his stomach (taking all the fluids out) The cut him open (which the nurse just informed me that it is said that this surgery is a more painful recovery than open heart surgery because of the muscles they have to cut through) and went in through his side to try and repair the tear, but were not able to find it. So here we sit in the ICU, a chest tube on both sides for everything to continue to drain, a huge incision, a feeding tube out his stomach, the ventilator coming out him mouth, another tube out his nose, heart monitors, cuffs on his legs to keep the circulation going and an IV in his wrist and vein in his neck. WOW! A lot to take in that's for sure!

It is all just a waiting game now. He will be here for 2 weeks, no food, no water, to allow everything to heal. The hope is that his body will heal itself and poof, no more tear. They will do some tests in two weeks to find out if that works, if it doesn't work, it will be a really big bad surgery where they will remove his esophagus. So I am trying to stay focused on where all my kids are and pray that he gets better. It's going to be one day at a time. I have been the most sad all day that he has NO IDEA that any of this is going on. The last thing he knows is that they were putting in a tube to help him breathe, he is not going to be a very happy camper tomorrow...rightfully so!

How did we get here??

I will try to make this as short as possible, but lets face it, you know I'm long winded! So last night I am sitting in class and Devin calls 3 times in a row, so I text him to see whats up. His response was 911. So I book it into the hall with my phone and dial his number only to hear him completely distraught on the other end. "Kristina, I choked and I'm coughing up blood, I called an ambulance" So of course I run in to let my professor know that I gotta go (hope I can retake the quiz we had) and I race home. I get there just as the paramedics are going into the house and I find Devin hunched over spitting blood into a bowl. He tells all of us that he was eating rice, choked, tried to clear it with water and it felt like something exploded and he started coughing up blood. Now let me back up a min, Devin has had problems with his esophagus for over 10 years. He has been treated off and on over the past 10 years, going in for several procedures where they actually stretch it open; lasts about a year and then they stretch it again. When it starts getting bad, choking on food, we go back to the Dr and he has it done again. I have been telling him for MONTHS to go to the Dr.....why couldn't he just listen? So that brings us back to last night. We get to the ER and they don't really pay much attention to him, they just put him in a room and give him a bag to puke the blood into. The pain continues to get worse and worse despite their efforts to control it. Since the pain is getting completely out of control he is becoming more and more out of control and not being able to keep calm. They do a chest x-ray, and it's clear. And they still leave him to sit in horrible pain. Finally at midnight they take us to endoscopy to stick a camera down his throat to take a look. After about 10 min the Dr comes back and lets me know that before he got very far he ran into a lot of blood and clots and didn't feel good about continuing the procedure. The decision was made to send Devin to the ICU and put him on a ventilator and sedate him. It was for the best; he could barely take a breath and was in tremendous pain, and being in that condition was not going to allow the Dr's to run tests to find out what they need to. At 1:00 he was peaceful, finally, a little too peaceful if you ask me! This is probably one of the most horrible visuals I will have with me the rest of my life.....seeing my husband completely passed out hooked up to a ventilator. I am used to being able to give him a kiss on his forehead while he is sleeping and have him respond in some way, whether it be a smile or a touch, but always a response. It is awful to touch and kiss him with not even a twitch. I hope things go by fast!

I love this boy!!

I was just going through some pictures and found so many cute ones of Ryker I just figured I would put them all together in a post about this cute boy I'm in love with!!

Ryker has been climbing out of his crib for probably 4 months now. It is really funny to find him in all sorts of places and in all sorts of positions after he falls asleep. This was by far my favorite!

Emmy helping Ryker brush his teeth. So cute that she was having him say AW (mouth open) and EEEEE (mouth closed) just like I do!

My poor baby got really sick in December and we had to give him breathing treatments three times a day. He fought like crazy the 1st few times, but after a while he would just sit and watch TV with us while he had his mask on. How cute is he?!?!

Rykers 1st head injury...OW! We found out later that Brigham picked up a tire iron and swung it at him, mean big brother!! He was such a trooper!

I love hanging out with my girls! We went to the mall about a month ago with Tiffany Kayla & Korryn. I'm pretty sure that the employees of Tillys were not to thrilled with us! The girls were trying on glasses, hats, necklaces and whatever else they could get their hands on. They are such cute girls and I hope they want to hang out with me FOREVER!!

Pinewood Derby 2010

I just downloaded all the pictures from my phone so I am going to just post away and try to get caught up; I'm not even going to worry about going in order! So the pinewood derby this year was SO awesome!! Our stake did some really cool stuff that made it really great for the kids. It was Masons 1st year which he was so so so excited about, and Hunters last year, so it was bitersweet. They both did great, and both placed 3rd in their pack. (they had awards per pack and overall) It was short, sweet and had yummy treats....what more could you ask for!

Great day!

Today Austin was set apart as the 2nd counselor in his deacons quorum. As I sat waiting for his turn, I reflected on the Sunday he was ordained, and actually realized that I had not blogged about it yet and what a great opportunity it would be to do it today. It was a great day when my 1st son was ordained to the office of the Aaronic priesthood. I remember thinking that this would be the 1st of many great days in our lives with our boys. Many priesthood ordinations, callings, responsibilities, all would open a new chapter in our lives and bring great blessings to our family. Today I sat and thought how incredibly grateful I am for my boys. I always want to have a boy first and was so thrilled when we started out with 3!! I am so blessed that I get to see the priesthood through the eyes of my boys. I think every time things in my life change I learn more and appreciate more the amazing things that come hand in hand with the priesthood. First as a girl, experiencing Fathers blessings whenever I needed, watching my Dad in his callings. Then as a wife, having a husband to give me blessings, take me to the temple, serve in callings and participate in several amazing priesthood callings. Now as a mother, to watch my boys learn about it, embrace it, and take it into their own lives. I was overcome with gratitude that my family will not only be blessed for and by the priesthood that my husband holds, but I have 5 boys that will bring blessings into our family through their own priesthood. What an amazing blessing!!!

(looking for the pictures from his ordination)

So I was introduced to a blog today that tugged at my heart in such a tremendous way. This sweet family has been struck with incredible tragedy and despite the horror they are going through at this time, this wonderful woman is sharing her experience. I am so grateful for her sharing, so I can remember how important life is! I think most mothers (including myself!), in some way or another, are guilty of doing things that take precious time away from our children. I am grateful to remember, through her terror instead of my own, that there is nothing in this life that is more important than our children we have been given stewardship over; not a book, not homework, not our favorite TV show, not a blog, or facebook, or ANYTHING, that is more important than our kids. Believe me, I am not preaching to anyone, I am taking a major look at my own mistakes and realizing how many times I think "just 2 more min, then I will check on them, or it's just a sec, they will be ok" or any other thoughts that are quite frankly, not worth it! We don't have to be paranoid and keep our kids under our arms every minute of the day, I am just one of the lucky ones that my "just a minute" has never ended in tragedy. I hope her story will help each of us to love our kids a little more and hug them just a little longer.

http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/

New adventures for the Tietjens!

(sorry about the silly pics; my mom called my kids and told them to make sure they took pictures of mom on her 1st day of school! LOL)

So a new year has to bring new adventures right?? Well, we are definitely headed into some uncharted territory for us, and only time will tell how this will turn out. I think the events over the past year of loosing everything due to this wonderful economy, has caused me to reflect on how things could have turned out different; my solution was a college degree. I felt like if Devin or I would have had a college degree then we would have definitely had more options and definitely Devin would have had many more doors to open to try and look for work. (not that he would have necessarily found it; I know its really hard right now for even those with amazing education resumes!) I reflected on what I could do to try and help our family if times like this rear their ugly head again. (not that we are through the woods yet!) So school kept coming back to my mind and I tried to talk Devin into it. Telling him that I felt that we have been given an opportunity to get an education and we should jump on it. We don't have a mortgage, or car payments, so why not? (not too sure how much more poor we could be, so why not be poor college students and get something out of it haha!) Despite my best efforts Devin wasn't thrilled about school, but I decided that I could at least take a few classes. So I got all set up, which was SUCH headache, and started classes the 1st week of January. It took a week & a half of me being in school for Devin to catch the bug! He actually came to ME and said, "I'm kinda jealous, I want to go to school..." I laughed so hard while I listened to him tell me all the great reasons he should go, and how fun it would be to go to some classes together! (guess how many of the things he said were the exact words I used to try and convince him of this 6 months ago?!?!) So last week we spent scanning all the classes that were open for Spring late start, got all the financial aid stuff figured out and TADA!!! Devin and I are BOTH students! We are actually only taking one class together, but mostly due to the fact that that there were very few choices for him. So I am taking 3 classes, English 101 (LOVE LOVE LOVE), Computers (with Devin), and Food & Culture (online, just started, looks very promising!) Devin is a crazy person and decided a FULL schedule was the way to start off! He went from not wanting to do school, to deciding to just be a full time student? How does that happen LOL! So he is taking weight training, English, Macroeconomics, History, & Computers. We are both really excited, but ask me around finals & we will see how fun this is. Not sure how everything will work out, 8 kids and two parents in school, BUT I know this is right for us.....crazy, but definitely right!

Oh, I forgot

I started a blog about my diet; there is a link on the right of the page. Check it out. Plus, here is a copy of my facebook posts from 2009 I thought it would be fun to make sure I kept it all.

A new year

2009 was seriously the WORST year of my entire life! I don't usually say things like that,

I try to be a positive person, but I'm not gonna lie, it was truly horrible!!!

Thank goodness we learn from our trials!
I am thrilled to be welcoming a new year! Not many times in the past have I very literally felt a welcome feeling when ringing in a new year. Devin and I both said SEE YA 2009, and are so excited about this next year! I know it is going to be wonderful! A new body, school, finding more work and all sorts of things are waiting for me this year. I am excited to work more with Devin at finding more work, strengthening our family and starting school! He truly is my best friend, and we have been through not only a difficult year, but the most challenging time our relationship has ever seen, so I am thrilled about what this new year has to offer us! I wish everyone all the love and happiness that life could possibly bring!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!