Christmas, New Years, and More

1/3/2007
Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope your Christmas and New Years was blessed! Ours was for sure. It was good to be around our family. It was hectic, but good. We had 11 children 11 and under at our Christmas gathering. Nine of those children were boys as well. Next year there will be 10 with our addition of Titus. We are just becoming the boy family. Justice this year loved his toys, but didn't get into the unwrapping. Next year I am sure we will have him more trained in the traditions of Christmas. After Christmas we hosted our two eldest nephews for a day and night for which most of it was taken up playing Playstation. They don't get to play very often so we figured the aunt and uncle could treat them to an all you can play night.
Justice returned to being sick the day after Christmas unfortunately for which we ended up taking him back to the doctor. It turned out that the medications he had been on had not fully taken care of the infection and his white blood cell count was elevated once again. So, we took another round of antibiotics. Thankfully yesterday and today he has not had a runny nose or much of a cough. It is the first time in months his nose hasn't run. It is a huge deal to me.
Our New Year was pretty uneventful. We watched a movie and as I got into bed I wispered to Ron Happy New Year. The day after we celebrated Auburn's win over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl. I love the holidays, but I am happy to be getting back to a normal routine and starting this new year. I am planning on getting the preparations going for Titus, getting the bassinet, stroller, and clothes ready for him in the next couple of weeks so I won't have to do those things with a big belly, although it already feels big to me. I am excited and ready for what this year has in store for our family. Blessings to yours!

WHAT A WEEK!!

Well, we did have quite a week this past week. It all started on Wednesday, when I woke Justice up at 9:15 a.m. and found him to be really, really sick. He was very lethargic, not wanting to get up or move. I let him lay on my chest for awhile then decided to take his tempurature and it was 101 degrees. His congestion had been really bad the day before and was continuing. And, he was spitting/throwing up liquids I was giving him. So, all in all I had a very sick boy on my hands. I called the Pediatrician's office and in desparation asked if there were any appointments. The nurse fought on my behalf to create an appointment for me as she could here the distress in my voice. Upon arriving he just slept, not a good sign since he doesn't usually sleep other than in the dark in bed. The doctor discovered that he had a bad infection of some sort with a high white blood cell count and decided to hospitalize him. I almost started crying when she said this as I had my precious son in my hands and we were taking him to the hospital, seemingly very serious. The next three days were a blur of IVs, vital sign checking, hospital food, lack of sleep, and having a restless baby cooped up. It was so tough. The toughest part was having my son injected with an IV in his wrist and having his blood taken. He just looked at me, his daddy, and mamaw as they did all this. He went back and forth with tears streaming down his face yelling for "momma" and "dadda," and not understanding why were not doing anything to get rid of and take away his pain. It was torture! And to top it off, the IV came out that night and they had to reinsurt it at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. Thankfully, Wednesday night his fever broke and he began looking better and by Thursday afternoon his color was restoring and his eyes began brightening up. The fluids and antibiotics they were giving him were working. Friday morning the doctor came by and said that they would see how he did during the day and make a judgment over whether he should stay another night. Ron and I were completely drained and at our sanity's end on Friday having had two terrible nights of sleep with Justice having a lot of trouble getting comfortable and dealing with congestion. The Lord was the only thing keeping us from losing it. We made it to Friday night and the good doctor let us take our baby home. I knew things would be better having him home to get some good rest since you cannot rest in the hospital. It is impossible with vital signs being take every few hours, people coming in take the trash, bring the meals, bring ice and the newspaper, etc. Friday night was a victorious night! Saturday, we saw the doctor at the office and he was so, so pleased with his progress. He said that if he did not know he had been in the hospital he would not have suspected it and would have thought he was healthy other than a cough and runny nose. So, our battle was over after a long week. We are keeping him home until Christmas to get him fully better. We are still deciding what to do about making our home more sanitized and what to do about taking him to nursery. We understand that we can't isolate him forever and it is impossible to keep him from getting sick all the time, but we never want to have him in the hospital again and if that takes keeping him home more, than so be it. We shall see and we are praying for God's wisdom in how to best care for our little boy.

Busy, Busy, Busy

We have been so busy lately that posting has been on the backburner for awhile now, but I have missed it and have been meaning to get back. So, first off we are all pretty good. Justice continues to struggle with congestion and a runny nose, which has been going on for a month and a half now. We have been to the doctor twice and nothing is really helping. So that is no fun, but we are and have been completely walking for a few weeks. This is a picture of him walking outside at my mom's farm on Thanksgiving. Shortly after 15 mos. he began taking steps and about a week before Thanksgiving he became committed to walking full time, which has been exciting and challenging. I am glad he finally got it down even with the challenges it brings. He wants to walk all the time now, even in stores, which makes trips longer and more stressful. With the walking comes more things to get into and keep him from so my days are more tiring, but it is worth it to see my son reach that goal. He is a cutie walking, I love it. He is so short and petite that it is just amazing to see such a little guy upright and walking.

Thanksgiving was fun. It was a huge gathering with a good bit of my family including my Uncle from Panama City, his wife and two little ones, my great Uncle from Birmingham, and my stepdads brother, wife and two little boys. We had 5 children under the age of 4 on Thanksgiving. There was lots of joyous chaos. Justice wanted to be right in the middle of it all. He is quite the social bug. And he had a little event including a busted lip and a bruise on his face after an incident with one of the other kids, not anyone's fault, but it was an event. Boys I think just will have spills, bumps, and bruises along the way and I am handling it in stride. I can't protect him from everything. All in all it was a wonderful day. I spent a good deal of time in the kitchen more than ever. I even had a great deal of involvement in the Turkey, which turned out beautifully. We tried a new recipe I had gotten off the 700 Club show and it was divine. I also did creamy potato bake and a dessert as well as assist my mother in the meal preparations. I felt like such an adult and not a kid anymore. It was fun!

Since then I have been managing my jewellery website with the Christmas shopping season boosting sales. God has truly blessed us and I give Him all the glory for the provision He has given us. It has been exciting to watch Him work. I am truly thankful.

Titus is doing well in my tummy. He moves a lot, which is very reassuring. I go back next week for a checkup and an ultrasound to monitor his development. I am 26 weeks along, so only 14 weeks to go, which I know will fly by as it did with Justice. I am just giving it to the Lord to help us manage it all, a newborn and a toddler in a two bedroom home, trusting God to provide for a family of four and keep us all sane, I am resting in His peace.

Hopefully it won't be this long between posts again, but I wish for a blessed Christmas season until I return.