1st Kindergarten Program!

Thanksgiving 2011 is Christian’s first year in school...real school. I was supposed to visit my sister in Indianapolis, but unfortunately did not make it because of Hen’s scare with the Staph Infection. As disappointed as I was to not be able to visit my sister. The one positive that came out of the whole debacle was I would be there for his first school program...Thanksgiving Program.

I was not sure what to expect from this program being he is older and not in a pre-school environment, but it was adorable. They put on a show about the Indian and Pilgrims. The meaning of Thanksgiving and how it all started. I had no idea that the children had different parts in the program and that OUR son had the leading role! I would of been so sad to have missed it! He played the preacher and his lines were...”Praise the Lord” whenever prompted to scream it out loud. I almost peed in my pants I was laughing so hard. His L’s still sound like W’s sometimes and at first I had no idea what he had said out loud. It was the most adorable thing EVER!

Praise the Lord!

His teacher...Mrs. Pace

They sang a few songs and than had a slide show of all the kids saying, what they were most thankful for this year. I had tears in my eyes because it was just the sweetest thing to watch these little angels be thankful for so many things. We then had a thanksgiving snack that the children prepared and passed out to all their families. It was so much fun and I think he enjoyed having us all there to watch. Plus, they got to keep their cute outfits they all made!

Thanksgiving 2011

The past few months have been extremely busy for our family. I think we try to pack so much in on a regular basis that sometimes time just passes to quickly. During this time of year it is easy to forget what really is important in our lives...God, family and friends. Without these three things nothing would matter, at least not to me. God allows me the time I have to spend with those I love the most. I do not ever want to take that for granted and try to remember it daily. I love my family and friends dearly and thank God everyday that I have them in my life.

As I reflect on Thanksgiving and what it means to me I am so very thankful for so many things in my life. I am thankful for God and his son Jesus Christ who died for us, so we could live our lives. I am thankful for the men and women who fight for our freedom to live as we choose too. I am thankful for my family, our health, happiness and safety. I am thankful for my friends to whom I lean on regularly for strength and encouragement. I am thankful for my church and the people there that help me become a better person every day. I am thankful for this beautiful world we live in and try to cherish the quite moments that help me see it! There are so many things I am thankful for that the list could go on for miles. I hope that everyone took a few moments to look around this Thanksgiving and remember what they were most thankful for and how truly blessed we are no matter what is happening in our lives!

The day was very low key and uneventful for our family. I wanted to relax and take my time. I get so tired of the hustle and bustle of life that is is nice to not be in a constant state of hurry. We were going over to my Sister-in-laws house that morning for breakfast/brunch. All the kids enjoy each other so much right now, we really wanted them to spend time together. It also helps that we love spending time with Julie and Steve too!:) Julie had made a yummy breakfast casserole and they drank mimosas...I just watched the drinking part!:( The kids played and we just all sat around and talked out on their new amazing back deck! It was wonderful, relaxing and not rushed.

Around 1:00pm we headed over to my parents house to spend time with the family. I had both my aunts in town as well as my cousin and her son too. Everyone just relaxed, talked and enjoyed the company. My mom made a fabulous dinner, like always! I ate as much as I could without being ridiculously uncomfortable and took extras home.

It was a wonderful day and what made it even better was the time I took to enjoy it! My love to everyone who helped make it a great day! I have no pictures because I was tired and did not take out my camera one time! Sorry!

Wrestling...here we come!

Anyone who know my husband knows that he loves wrestling! I think from the moment we found out that we were having a baby boy he saw visions of state championships, wrestling matches and coaching these little ones to be the best!

We recently started this program and here is the first video!

Staph Infection?

Who ever knew that there was staph bacteria running rampant all over the place and that all it took to get this deadly bacteria infection was...to have an open cut? Our family found out the hard way! A few weeks ago Henley got attacked by some ants outside. She had bites all over her bottom and upper leg. It was nothing to be alarmed about and just put medicine on it for the itching. A week later I noticed a bite on the side of her leg that had gotten a little red. It had a pus head on it, so I popped it. I thought this would make it better because it usually does. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning. One day after getting tubes back in her ears, she developed a really high fever. I thought this had something to do with her ears, so we went to the doctor. The doctor thought it was maybe a virus?

In the meantime her leg started to get really red and the pus and yuck that was coming out was absolutely disgusting. The poor girl was limping and would not even let you touch her leg. Back to the doctor we went! Honestly, I was tired of doctors by now because this was the 3rd trip this week. I took her to a clinic in our neighborhood. It is not a doc in the box, but an actual clinic, a satellite office from a hospital. The doctor there told me it was a staph infection! What? I thought you only got those in hospitals and usually people die from them! This particular doctor told me not to pop or squeeze it anymore. They put her on a strong antibiotic, Bactrim. This is the antibiotic of choice for these type of infections.

My sweet angel limped out of there and we started her medicine. The next few days the area proceeded to get extremely worse. The medicine did not seem to be helping at all. I decided to take her to her pediatrician now. He cultured it, drained it and kept her on the antibiotics. He got a lot of yucky stuff out of her leg, so he thought now it would get better. The best way to heal staph infections is to drain them and let them ooze! The other doctor was wrong! We went back home and I continued to monitor her leg. Staph infections are so scary and can go from bad to worse in an hour.

Now, keep in mind my poor baby had been in a doctors office almost everyday this week. Her leg was in so much pain that you even looked at it and she would cry! On Saturday, I went out to run some errands and when I returned home she looked really bad. Her fever was still sticking around and she was just flat out puny. I decided we needed to go to the ER! I called the nurse and she recommended it as well.

I have to tell you that if you ever want to get into the ER quickly...tell them your child has staph! I never even sat down and we went straight back. Once they saw her leg they told me that she would more than likely be admitted overnight for IV antibiotics.

The doctor came in and looked at it and that was the first thing she told me. Looks like we were spending the night in the hospital! Thank God I dragged my mom with me! I just could not take one more time of holding her down screaming without some support! Brian stayed home with Christian.

The nurses came in and put some numbing patches on her legs and arms to start an IV. They also were not sure if they would have to cut open her infection to drain it better. They were talking about doing surgery and putting in a drain...my head was spinning at this point. How in the world had an ant bite turned into this?

After her loratab and IV! Feeling a little loopy!

The IV was not to terribly bad. There was crying, but the area was numb, so not so bad. She did extremely well considering this was the 5th day with a doctor! They started her antibiotics there and then moved us to a room.

They have a numbing patch over the opening...that is cream under it!

The room was small with two chairs and a bed. Henley cried and cried because all she wanted to do was to go home. How do you explain to a three year old that you have to stay overnight. Finally around 11pm she fell asleep! My mom stayed with us too! Bless her! She slept in a pull out chair. I told her to go home, but she wanted to be there in case I needed her. Being 61/2 months pregnant and staying overnight in a hospital is not exactly something relaxing. I had to sleep with Henley in a child’s bed and that was not comfortable! I thought it is only for one night, I can handle this.

The next day was Sunday and if anyone has ever been in the hospital on a Sunday...well everything is just a lot slower! We waited forever for our pediatrician to come and talk to us. When he finally came it was not the news we were hoping for. She had been on IV antibiotics every 8 hours, but her infection was not looking that much better. The doctor told us that she had to stay in the hospital until it went completely away. These are not things they like to mess around with. Needless to say, we were there for two and half days! We left the hospital with her leg looking so much better. They felt like we could come home and continue to treat it from here.

Sound asleep...worn out!

We have antibiotics for 10 days, we have to use a special cleanser and we have to give her clorox baths! The doctors don’t know exactly why she was so susceptible to getting staph and may not ever get it again.  We did learn that it is common, it is out in the public everywhere and the only prevention is wash your hands a lot!

Here we go again with Tubes...

It is apparent to me that our daughter is going to follow in her momma’s footsteps when it comes to her ear issues. I had tubes four times and have almost gotten them two more times, once in the past few years.

Hen’s tubes came out in May and she has had multiple infections since then. There is also lots of fluid on her ears too. We went for a visit to the ENT and he recommended tubes go back in her ears! He also recommended her tonsils come out because she gets strep all the time too. We decided to wait on the tonsils because we feel she is to young and the recovery sucks!

The next week on Monday we went in for her to get tubes put back in her ears! Thank God that is all because later that week she was admitted to hospital for something else! Read the next blog! Here are some pictures of her at the hospital in her cute gown!

My Nastics...

This is the second year that Henley has done gymnastics. It is her absolute favorite thing to do and she looks forward to it every week. Last  year was a mommy and me class and this year she is able to do the class by herself. It takes her a bit to get warmed up in the beginning. In fact, she will sometimes not even participate in the warm up? I am not sure why? Maybe she thinks it is silly or maybe she just does not want to do that part? Regardless, after the warm up she loves to do everything else. Brian and my mother have come to watch her and you can bet she is making sure they are! I sometimes utilize this time to catch up on an email or get some things done, but if she sees me not watching her...well she will scream at me!

They do all sorts of things from balance beams, the parallel bars, floor work, climbing and jumping into a big foam pit, trampoline. The kids have a blast and she loves it. I have tried to see if she wants to take dance class, but no, just gymnastics or “my nastics” as she calls it. We will continue it as long as she wants too. Who knows, she might be the next Mary Lou Retton?