Thanksgiving in the Children's Hospital

First let me start by saying, this is not how I envisioned my Thanksgiving this year. I pictured Willow Grace running around and laughing hysterically at her cousins. I plans on cooking a half a dozen dishes for two different Thanksgivings, one with the Reeds and one with the Bratchers. I thought about Mom's amazing sweet potato casserole and dressing. And yet, none of those things will be a part of this day. Instead, I'm sitting her watching my little sleeping princess, looking so tiny and fragile in this big hospital bed.

Last week she started to feel a little bad, and then on Saturday she woke up with a fever, just a little one at 100.2. But by Saturday night her fever peaked at 104.3, still not alarming, as she has had high fevers like that several times before. What did cause alarm was when she started passing blood in her stool. By yesterday morning, she was passing only blood and was as limp as a rag doll, and so to the ER we went. The last 24 hours has been a journey, and it looks like we still have some ground to cover before we finally get to take our little sweetie home.

But I have so much to be thankful for:
-my friend, Leslie, who dropped everything to come with me to the hospital yesterday
-the great care she's receiving here
-a comfortable room for us all to be in, even if it is in the hospital
-our family and friends who have been so supportive
-all the prayers that have been spoken for Willow Grace and for us
-the fact that her condition is not more serious than it is
-all three of us were able to rest last night
-that I know God is holding us in His mighty hands

I could go on and on. Hopefully I'll be back here in a couple days though with a whole new list of things for which I am thankful. Thank you for your prayers.

Because I'm the Mama....

Willow Grace has been battling some little illness for the last three days, high fever which peaked at 104.3 and no appetite. I decided to keep her home today, and, of course, I can't just sit around and watch her lying there soaking up Disney and Nick Jr. shows. I've been cleaning... everything - mopping, vacuuming, washing and folding laundry, scouring the bathrooms, and basically wiping down every surface that would stand still. That's what mamas do. And maybe with a newly disinfected house we can finally banish this little annoying bug.

Today Willow Grace decided not to call me Mama, at least not mainly. I've either been Sweetie or Ariel. She decided that she wanted me to call her Cinderella and also decided to give some of the other women in our family princess names. I'll list them in case those ladies tune in here today:
Gran-Gran (my mother-in-law): Snow White
Nana (my mom): Jasmine
Eva Joy (my sister): Sleeping Beauty (I think this one fits great!)
Kara (my sister-in-law): Tiana
Meredith (my sister-in-law): Belle
She wanted to give her daddy a princess name as well, but I told her we could call him Prince Charming and, thankfully, she agreed!

I better go, my little Cinderella is calling.


I couldn't find a pic of her in her Cinderella dress, but here's our little drama queen as Belle just a month ago.

My Husband Rocks! Friday

What a couple of days we've had! Willow Grace has had a fever since she woke up from her nap on Wednesday.

Doesn't she look so tired? And yet, she still has that little hint of a smile playing around her lips. Yeah, she knows what the camera is for!

I have to tell you that my husband has shined through this experience. A couple of times her fever spiked to 104.8! It's been hard on both of us since this really is the first time she's been sick other than a cold. She's needed constant attention and monitoring. At times she been so fussy which she almost never does, and then the fever declines allowing a little of that chipperness we usually experience to bubble back to the top. There's the bubbly side. Can you believe that she had a temp of 102.8 at this point? That's my cell she's holding. She kept saying, "Hello? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh."

Chris has rocked this entire time! On Wednesday night neither of us got more than 1 1/2 hours of sleep! Still, he has been supportive, helpful, patient, and loving. Among other things, here's some of the sweet things he's done--

• prayed constantly for Willow Grace
• read her lots of books and watched tons of Disney shows with her
• gone to pick up medicine and Pedialite from the pharmacy
• built fires to help keep us warmer
• endlessly cuddled her and let her sleep on his chest
• stayed up all night with us when she just couldn't sleep Wednesday night
• remained at home with her all day yesterday, missing Thanksgiving lunch at his parents' house and dinner with my parents (I had cooked 5 dishes for my parents' dinner, so I delivered them and got to have dinner.)
• made sure I got some rest
• did whatever he could to take care of me in order to help me to better take care of her

Aren't they sweet together? It's enough to melt a wife's heart!

What a great husband! What a great daddy!

Willow Grace Wednesday

Here I finally am at the end of the day. No pictures. I've just been too busy preparing for Thanksgiving and taking care of the baby. Willow Grace has not been feeling well today. Her temp got up to 102.9! Man, was her skin hot! She is usually so happy, bouncy, and overflowing with energy. Today, she was fussy and was content to lounge on my bed and watch most of White Christmas! After Chris came home, while I busied myself in the kitchen with preparing holiday dishes and our dinner, she spent most of the evening resting against his chest and watching TV -- so not like her. She's sleeping soundly now, and her temp is getting closer to normal. Whew! We're praying for a full recovery while she sleeps. I want to see that bright sparkle back in her eyes tomorrow. It was so sad to watch her today.

I hope everyone has a wonderful time with your family and your turkey tomorrow!
Happy Thanksgiving!

My Husband Rocks!

To learn more about my husband rocks Fridays check out sweet Katy Lin's blog at the great adventure.

Yesterday I came down with a miserable cold and felt absolutely terrible by the time I arrived home. Chris took care of everything. He stopped by the Walgreens to get some medicine for me, made me a soothing cup of hot tea, built a fire for me, fed Willow Grace her dinner, played with her, and put her to bed. He even went out after I went to bed to fill up the Rover with gas and pick up a gallon of milk for the baby! What a guy!

(These pics were taken on our mini-vaca to Gatlinburg this last weekend.) I feel so safe and loved in his arms. He hugs me all the time. I came from a very affectionate family, and I am so happy that I have a husband who is the same way.

Have a great weekend!

On my mind....

Chris and Willow Grace are both sleeping soundly, and I hope that they will remain so for at least another hour. I've been awake for quite a while and quite frequently through the night. Willow Grace hasn't been feeling very well, so every little moan she utters has sent a mini-shock wave through me abruptly waking me. I already have dinner in the slow cooker. I'm making my first pot roast and using my crock pot for the first time. We'll see how it turns out.

You know how people tell you that you need to let your children "cry it out" sometimes and that if you don't you'll spoil them. Here's my answer:
1. You can't spoil a baby.
2. When Willow Grace gets too upset she vomits... a lot.
I think it may have something to do with the fact that she seems to have a really sensitive gag reflex. This is the same reason that we've made a slow process with giving her table food. Late last night at the same time that the kitchen sink decided to spring a leak, Willow Grace awoke and was very upset; she has been suffering with a bad cold and couldn't breathe very well. I actually took her to the doctor earlier in the week b/c she wasn't eating or drinking much, but it seemed to be mostly due to the fact that she couldn't breathe well and is teething. Anyway, we were trying to take care of the sink and hoped that she would settle back down and go back to sleep. When it became apparent that wasn't going to happen, I continued clearing all of the items from under the sink and sent Chris up to check on her. A minute later I heard, "Uh, honey, we have a situation up here!" She had thrown up all over everything - her bed, the floor, the massive lady bug that sits on her floor, the ottoman to the rocking chair, Chris, and herself. Bless her heart(and Chris's)! While Chris cleaned up the mess in her room, I bathed her. She loves the bath; it really calms her down. We were finally able to get her back into bed with fresh pj's and sheets but still had to go a few times to calm her down when she would start crying. Every time she was sleep-crying. She didn't even wake up; she was just trying so hard to breathe through that little stopped-up nose!

So, we're going to be homebodies today and skip church. I can't put her in the nursery, and she's too active (and sneezing too much) for the sanctuary. We'll just camp out here and catch some good preachin' on the TV.

On Friday, I was so blessed to be able to take her to work with me. I had already completed all the tasks I needed to for the week but still had to be there, so I asked if she could come and hang out with me. Having been given the green light, Friday morning I strolled her into the school with my computer bag and purse on one arm, her computer bag and a large bag of toys on the other arm, and her diaper bag and my lunch in her stroller. My work computer doesn't play DVD's, so I had to bring another computer for her to be able to watch a Praise Baby video which she absolutely loves! (I highly recommend these videos; we have 4 different ones.) What an amazing day! I was overjoyed to be able to spend the day playing with her, watching her sleep in her stroller, showing her off to my coworkers, and just taking care of her. She loved exploring the lobby where my desk is and checking out other people's offices, and I will treasure my day of memories. I expect that there will be many moments when the memory of her toddling around my work space will make me smile and give me that little something extra to push me through my day.