Thankful

I am thankful for Today. After Trent's illness and seeing truly sick children, I am thankful for every day I am here on this earth. {Don't you just love my block T? Gig 'em!}

I am thankful for my Home. Brent and I have built a small space that is our space, and I love having a place to call our own.

I am thankful for the promise of Always from Brent. No matter how many mistakes I make and the fact that he probably shouldn't love me, he does.

I am thankful for my Nursing relationship with Drew. 11 months and going strong!

I am thankful for my Kids! No brainer on this one! {grin}

I am thankful for my Friends. My peeps bring me joy everyday, and I'm so glad they love me, flaws and all.

 I am thankful for time to Unwind for the next few days. I am still so behind at work from being out for Trent's illness, so it's nice to spend some time not thinking about how behind I am!

 I am thankful for the abundance of Love in my life. My cup runeth over.

iPhone Photo Dump

Time for a photo dump! I have lots of random photos I want to share and no real good topic for any of them. {grin}

I absolutely love taking these 2 on wagon rides. It has been so cold and wet lately we've been cooped up inside, boo. I love that T was cold and wore D's blanket like a cape. Then he wanted me to walk fast enough to make his cap fly. That boy!

Watching basketball. I foresee this scene for many years to come.

My girls. Seriously. This picture makes my ovaries jump.

Trent had to wear these ridiculous shorts for his ortho check-up last week. Brent and I couldn't stop laughing and T was getting so mad at us.

ACL Live

Alternatively Titled: Hey! I did something fun! On a weeknight! There was live music! And I had alcohol! And neither of my kids have fever!

My friend, Dena, got tickets to ACL Live through her job and brought her sis, sis-in-law and me. It was so fun, and the concert was great!

The concert {for an episode of Austin City Limits} featured Dale Watson and Kacey Musgraves, so it was really 2 concerts in 1. Both artists are native Texans but have 2 very distinct sounds/styles.

Dale reminds me of 1950s country - very Hank Williams, George Jones. There was some intense dancing going on in front of the stage during Dale's set!

Kacey's set was much more my style - much more today's Texas Country. {And if you're not from Texas and you think all country music is the same, you'd be wrong. Most of what is played on country radio stations is crap. Come visit me for the weekend, and I'll teach you the difference. End rant.}

She has 1 main CD release 'Same Trailer Different Park' that is so great. She is a very talented song-writer and during her set played the guitar, banjo, and harmonica. She played a single that is new where it was just her playing the guitar. Loved it! We all commented on her catchy her lyrics were, if a little cynical {you just gotta love a song that tells you to 'hide your crazy' while another tells you to 'own your crazy', ha}.

Overall, I had a great time, and if you're looking for a new artist to check out, go download Kacey! 

I Need a Vacation

I would like to take a vacation from life for a few days. 

I look around my house and all I see is clutter. Most of it caused by me and the kiddos {while being supervised by me}. I can't remember the last time I cooked a meal. I am so behind at work it's not even funny. Healthy eating? What is that? Oh...and Drew is sick...again. Sigh.

Luckily, we had great news at both of Trent's doctor appointments today. His infectious disease doctor was impressed by how mobile he was and how great his knee looked. She is letting us skip 1 round of bloodwork {holla!}, and we only have to come back 1 more time, in 3 weeks. His orthopedic doctor took another set of x-rays and said his knee looked great. We will see him again in 6 months, and we left with ZERO restrictions for Trent!!

I don't want to whine too much, given it's the month of being thankful, but is it too much to ask for a good night of uninterrupted sleep, for milkshakes to be healthy, for someone to follow me around and pick-up after me, and for the love...for my children to go just 1 measly month without an illness? {grin}

Randoms, Life Updates, Milestones

• Guess who is walking?!?! My baby is too big! And seriously - isn't she delicious?

• Speaking of her being big, I am full-on party planning. I have the theme, cake, and decorations all in my head. I spent way too much time planning her outfit on Etsy, but I think I've got it perfect! Girl parties are so fun!
• My sister's craftiness for our mom continues. {The crookedness is due to photography skills not her artistic abilities!}

• I somehow lost 2 or 3 pounds while Trent was in the hospital. Silver lining?
• I saw the bill for his hospital stay. Holy cow.
• It is no fun giving T medicine at midnight every night. So sleepy!
• My mom bought Trent some costumes at Goodwill. He is in heaven.

• We have follow-up appointments today for Trent. Wish us luck for good results!
• 18 months ago or so, we moved Trent into his big-boy room. I was going to blog about how it all came out but things stalled because of his behavior {we were afraid he'd destroy his room} and because of Etsy. YESTERDAY {yes, you read that right}, I got the main wall art I ordered for his room in September of 2012. Can we say frustrated? Luckily it looks great! I wonder if I'll decorate it anytime soon??

Book Club Book Review: The Light Between Oceans

Book Club met this past Friday night and had another amazing evening of wine, food, gossip..and as usual, a little bit of discussion about our latest read. {grin}

Plot: After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.


Review: This was not an easy book to read. I think you can tell just by reading the synopsis that there is no happy ending to this book {which is the type of book I prefer}. However, the story is captivating, and once it really got going, I couldn't put it down. It was definitely something outside what I normally pick, and while I'm surprised the rating on Amazon is 4.5 starts, I will definitely say I'm glad I read it.

A Calm Day Before the Storm

Friday before Trent got sick, we spent a fun evening with my parents and my sister's big kiddos {poor Mayer didn't get to join us}. I snapped some great pictures, but they got lost in the shuffle of hospital stays, ha.

The girls. These faces are 2 of the cutest ever.

The adventurous big boys. They still fight just as much as ever but beg to see each other.

These 3 have grown so much!

Cracking Pops' pecans.

The 3 Amigos this time last year!

Eating a pepper fresh from Pops' garden.

This is why I LOVE baby-led weaning.

Pops and one of his girls.

 I love watching my kids and my sister's kids develop such wonderful relationships with my parents.

We've been out of the hospital almost a week, and looking at these pictures seems like it was months ago instead of 2 weeks. It's so nice to be getting back to normal!

The Latest and Greatest

OMG y'all. Sunday and Monday were such a rollercoaster of emotions. 

Trent was doing so great on the antibiotics {except for fighting over taking them through his IV}. He was off morphine, walking {and wrestling and running and jumping}, and mostly back to normal. We kept getting different information from different doctors about our protocol for going home and when exactly we'd be going home. Infectious Disease would say one thing, Ortho would say another, General Pediatrics a third. We were told Monday or Tuesday at the earliest. Ugh.

So Sunday Brent came up to the hospital and I left for a few hours with my gurl. We cuddled and snuggled and shopped, all things a mom and daughter should do. Brent let me know we would definitely be going on Tuesday {boo} but likely with oral antibiotics {yay}. Then Trent got his first treatment of oral antibiotics. Brent updated me that we'd now go home Monday. Best news!

Drew had another slumber party with Babs and Pops and I stayed another night in the hospital with Trent. Trent had to get antibiotics at midnight and blood drawn at 6:00 - nothing I like more than pinning my crying child in the middle of the night.

Monday morning, the conflicting reports came in, and it sounded like Tuesday would be the release date AGAIN. I finally asked one of the doctors we'd seen most routinely and she decided he could go home!!! One of the tests they were monitoring {CRP, which shows inflammation} was finally back in the normal range {normal being 0.8 or less - T's results started at 5.5, down to 2.7 and finally to 0.5!!!}. We got our discharge paperwork about 3:30, got his IV removed {slight battle to keep it, ha} and we were off. I teared up a little as we walked out the doors - me to get our gurl and B and T to go buy some toys!

It was amazing to have all my peeps together under 1 roof. This week, we're going to keep Trent home even though he has no restrictions - we just wanted to give him the chance to recover and relax.

He is obviously enjoying his vacation.

So for the next 4 weeks, Trent has to take an oral antibiotic 3 times/day (and each dose is double what is usually given). This means he goes through a 10 day regimen in 3 days, and we're going to get 9 bottles of medicine. He is also getting a double dose of a 10 billion strain probiotic, and I'm doing a few other hippie mama things to keep his immune system strong.

We also have follow-up appointments scheduled with the Infectious Disease doctor, Dr. Kahn {aka the worst doctor ever}, and our pediatrician. The only real question mark left is the Legg-Calve-Perthes diagnosis and whether that condition truly exists.

Whew. And with that, I hope 'the great mystery illness of 2013' is done.

Thanks to everyone for their encouraging words, offers of meals, babysitting, toys for T and general support. My network is so strong, and I'm so thankful for the love and support we have received the past week!

Home at Last

A Diagnosis...Oh Wait, a New Diagnosis...and a Treatment Plan...Maybe?

Well. I didn't think our week could get much worse. I was oh so wrong.

*I apologize in advance - this is going to be super duper crazy long!*

So where I left off, we were heading to a pediatric orthopedic doctor. During that appointment, I noticed his fever was back {boo}. This doctor {Dr. Kahn} agreed that it was unusual for transient synovitis to be worsening after this many days and wanted to get a new set of x-rays to see if anything would show up that had developed since his set on Monday. During those x-rays, I could see a big difference in his abilities - Monday it was a little hard to straighten his leg, Wednesday he was writhing and screaming and bawling. I cried too. They couldn't see anything on the x-ray, so Dr. Kahn wanted to send us to Dell Children's Hospital to aspirate Trent's knee. {Essentially, he would make a small incision in his knee and drain some fluid. The amount of fluid and what was in it could tell us a lot.} He said normally it would be an in-office procedure but due to Trent's pain level and attitude {not good to say the least}, he wanted to put Trent under general anesthesia.

So to the hospital {next door} we went.

Hungry, thirsty, tired, grumpy, hurting...waiting for the aspiration

We got over to Dell Children's at 3:00 and the procedure was scheduled for about 6:00. Trent had eaten 1/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich by this point and was cut-off from all food and liquids. His fever was consistent at 102 and he started to BEG for something to drink. He cried, wailed, screamed... He called Dr. Kahn 'the worst doctor ever' and that this day was 'the worst day ever'. Even at his most pitiful, he is still adorable. Meanwhile, Brent had become responsible for getting Drew from school and to my parents and then packing clothes/necessities for us both and for Trent. He arrived at the hospital about 5:00. Right about then, PBS stopped showing cartoons, and things got really ugly. There were not enough distractions in the world. At 5:50, we walked Trent down the hall and said goodbye to our little guy. I started crying as we walked away - I kept thinking it could be the last time we saw him alive.

At about 7:00, we were allowed to go back to recovery, he was done! And alive! {I might be a smidge dramatic but I think most mamas would have felt the same way.} He was on pain meds and just coming to from the anesthesia and was thrilled to get to drink lots and lots of apple juice. We got to our assigned hospital room, got Trent settled and as comfortable as possible. 

We found out that Dr. Kahn was not able to get much fluid from his knee or his femur or tibia {where he also tried to take cultures} so a bacterial infection was unlikely {consistent with Monday's diagnosis}. The plan was a potential MRI the next day and the general pediatrics team would discuss potentially starting an antibiotic as a precaution as sometimes a bacterial infection shows up later.

General pediatrics came in and decided to hold off on antibiotics since all signs were pointing to this not being bacterial.

A few Netflix videos later and we got Trent to bed. Brent ended up going home due to his exhaustion from being up with Trent half the night the night before.

Wednesday night was a little rough - T didn't like the morphine administering process because it burned going into his IV and he was just overall uncomfortable. Plus, doctors and nurses kept coming in repeatedly.

Thursday was another day in hell. At 9:00 AM, the nurse let me know T was scheduled for an MRI at 'lunchtime or a little after' and to cut-off all liquids at 10:00. I couldn't get him to eat anything {consistent with his appetite all week}, but he had been drinking quite a lot all morning {yay for small victories!}. Well, noon rolled around, then 1:00. The MRI got pushed to 3:00. Then 4:00. Then 4:30. You get the drift. We had another round of begging for food and drink. Crying. Yelling. Begging. Repeat. Right before we headed back down to the surgery wing, he spent 20 minutes repeatedly whimpering 'Mommy...Mommy'. :(

Luckily, on the way down, he started to doze off and fell asleep while we waited another almost hour for the actual procedure. So thankful for that blessing! We had the same anesthesiologist and she was happy to see our guy asleep compared to his reaction to us telling him he'd breathe some 'bubble gum air' the day before. Haha.

The whole process from start-to-finish of the MRI was over 2 hours. When he finally came out of recovery, he was not our docile little sleepy boy from the night before but so angry and out of it. An extra dose of morphine seemed to help a little and back to our room we went. He was too groggy to eat but drank a lot again. Another great quote - the nurse figured out he liked salty food {because he wailed when offered a popsicle} and she said she could get him some goldfish. He looked at me and cried 'Don't you remember? Those have GMOs!!!!' Yes, my little hippie boy, they do. ;)

He fell asleep back in his room and continued to doze while I pumped {I had a good collection going in a freezer somewhere in that hospital by this point} and got ready for bed. T wanted me to stay again, so Brent geared up to leave. And of course, 10 minutes later, the nurse comes in to tell me he needed to have a pelvic x-ray. Luckily, she advocated for Trent and said they were bringing it to us because originally they wanted Trent to go BACK down to surgery. I could have kissed her.

When the x-ray technician came in and Trent was awakened, he was not happy {and who could blame him}. Everything she did to his leg was torture and I flat-out refused one position {oh sure, let's put a boy who can't move his knee at all in a frog position}. It took awhile to get Trent calmed down {including another dose of morphine} and a freakout when he realized he had a diaper on from the MRI {'but I'm not a bbbaaabbbyyyyyyy!'} and he went back to sleep.

Another general pediatrics doctor came in and told me we had a potential diagnosis based on the MRI. Legg-Calve-Perthes Syndrome. It is a childhood hip disorder initiated by a disruption of blood flow to the ball of the femur - depending on the severity of the condition, treatment has a wide range of plans and luckily we caught Trent's early because some of the more severe cases are irreversible. Oh. And remember those cultures from Wednesday? One of them was growing bacteria...so we officially also had a bacterial infection. Geez.

Sleep Thursday night was even worse. His fever, which broke Wednesday morning, came back in the middle of the night, so we had a battle over taking chewable Tylenol. We also had a meltdown at 5:00 AM for 30 minutes over a booger. Yes. A booger. IV antibiotics also got started at some point {maybe 4:00?}.

Friday morning didn't start off well - who can blame a kid who is going on almost 48 hours with a diet of 1/4 a sandwich and some chips?

Another battle over morphine and the result though was worth it!

I don't know which combination of drugs finally started to work {at this point he was on Tarodol, Tylenol, Morphine and an antibiotic plus IV fluids}, but his sweet and sassy personality returned and he wanted to eat {albeit only a little bit of dry Rice Krispies} and play with all the Transformers we brought from home. Yay!

Dr. Kahn {who had checked on Trent several times and seemed to lose his 'worst doctor ever' status with T} called to tell me a little more about Perthes syndrome and said due to how it looked we were in more of a 'wait and watch' pattern. That was amazing news!

At this point about 8 doctors came in the room {and Brent} and we began another discussion. The bacterial infection. It was classified as Strep Group B and further tests would be run to determine exactly which type, so a general antibiotic that killed about 70% of Group B would be started and as we figured out which exact type, tweaks would be made to the antibiotic. He would need them intravenously and for 6-8 weeks at home {IV or oral to be determined}. Perthes syndrome might actually NOT exist - it might just be the bacterial infection. {Anyone else's head spinning?} A doctor from Infectious Diseases would come by to discuss the bacterial infection further.

I went home shortly after this discussion to get Drew from my parents and spend the night at home with her. T wanted me to be with him, but I knew Drew was needing me {my mom said she kept rooting around on her!}. Brent texted me tons of updates throughout the afternoon, and T continued to seem to make great progress. He even went to the bathroom on the potty {instead of into a special bottle in his bed}! Unfortunately, on the way back to bed, his IV got snagged and ripped out. There was a 30 minute {and 2 attempts} battle to get it reinserted and it was stabilized with a splint. T had been fighting a nap all day, but this was just too much. 

Taking a much needed siesta.

A doctor from Infectious Diseases came to tell Brent more about the Group A {not B} Strep Trent had. They were going to adjust his antibiotics to a cocktail that would include amoxicillin {which he is ALLERGIC to} and Benadryl due to his allergy. It still could be potentially tweaked from there, duration/delivery is still unknown and we should expect to be in the hospital until Monday.

Whew.

That brings me to now.

I plan to go back up in the morning and will stay again tomorrow night, past that we don't have a plan. We're just taking everything one day at a time.

It has been hard for me to be away from Drew, and then I feel guilty for being upset about being away from her, but I have never been apart from her overnight. Luckily, a very sick looking little girl in the hospital put things back into perspective for me, and I am trying not to feel sorry for myself but be thankful for all our abundance of blessings. Trent may be sick, but he's not SICK. Drew spent 2 nights with grandparents that I know she will BEG to stay with for years to come. She was loved on and spoiled and only nursed 8 times in the 6 hours we were together, haha.

Enjoying a Babs-made breakfast - doesn't seem to be missing me, huh?

If you made it this far, you rock! Overall, we are all doing good. Tired for sure. A little frustrated at the process even if we understand it. Sad for our hurting little guy. Afraid of our Toys R Us shopping trip when we get T home {ha}. Amazed at the blessings we have around us - our family of 4 might not be together but we're TOGETHER. We have grandparents and siblings and friends willing to do anything for us. And as Hagan said today - every day that the 4 of us are alive and together and sleeping under 1 roof {okay that day might not be today but you get my drift} is a day to praise God and view as a blessing. 

So I choose to be thankful for my family of 4 and all our abundance of blessings. And I of course will keep everyone posted as this journey continues before us! Prayers welcome!!

Not the Week I Planned

The Gurleys are falling apart. I swear it is Armageddon in our house right now.

Sunday morning, Trent woke up and got into bed with me which is not unusual, but he didn't start asking for a movie which IS unusual. Then he fell back asleep. Who is this kid? We quickly realized that he was running fever - 103! When we asked him what hurt, he would only say his leg. Not his head, throat, tummy...just his leg. 

I got out Toddler 411 to find out what a high fever is for a 4 year-old and randomly saw a question about a limp combined with fever. Is it serious? Yes, bacterial infection, hospitalization, IV antibiotics. WTF?!?!

We took Trent to the pediatrician on Monday, and our pediatrician was concerned it might be that infection and sent us to the hospital for x-rays and blood work.

Being silly before x-rays

He was such a champ through everything {which earned him several toys}, and thankfully everything came back negative, so the consensus was a virus in his leg, transient synovitis. We were told he would start getting better within 24-48 hours.

Fast forward to today, and he's still in a lot of pain and running fever on-and-off. The pediatrician is referring us to a pediatric orthopedic doctor... What's so weird is during the day his mood is pretty good. He can't walk, but he's himself. At night, though, he cries on-and-off all night.

Then to top it all off...

• Drew is teething and waking up multiple times a night
• I have fever and a sore throat
• Our refrigerator went out
• I had a clogged duct and pumping so much caused a blister

We're a mess!

Grow Baby Grow {Drew} - 10 Months

Another month has come and gone! Drew is 10 months old and getting oh so too close to 1. Good thing I'm already party planning!! This month was plagued with the sickies but luckily nothing serious. A fever and 2 bouts of diarrhea meant she got to skip school a bunch but none of it slowed her down!

Stats:

Weight: ~17 1/2 pounds (from a sick visit)

Clothes: 9 months (Carter's), 6-12 months (everywhere else)

Diaper size: size 3 in disposals, all snapped down in cloth

*Busy, busy, busy - she crawls everywhere, pulls up and lets go consistently {and can stand for easily 30 seconds} but no real attempts at walking yet.

*Loves wagon rides

*Gives high 5s (taught by Daddy), blows kisses, waves - these might be the cutest tricks she's mastered yet.
*Waking up 1-2 times/night and wants to nurse. I am not loving this trick, but she won't take a paci and doesn't have a lovey so I don't really know what to do with her.

*Eating a variety of food at each meal but mostly still fruits and veggies
*Her favorite thing to eat? Paper! I can't keep her from shoving paper in her mouth.

*Says 'ma', 'da', 'ba' and 'ga' consistently.
*Starting to enjoy toys - loves her Pooh phone and stuffed animals. Anything that is Brother's is also the best!

*GAH! Look at those pigs. She does this consistently in her highchair.

*Loves to nurse, eats 2-3 meals a day {although a lot of the food ends up on the floor}
*Already interested in labor support as well {grin}

*We used to say she was so quiet. Not the case anymore, she is so noisy!  Constantly jabber-jawing!
*If you blink, she is into something. Always wants phones, remotes, my laptop, my breastpump. Basically everything she shouldn't have.

*Goes to bed about 7:00 {earlier if school was rough that day} and sleeps until about 7:00. 2 naps/day - when at home they're about 10:00 and 2:30 and almost always 90 minutes.
*Loves baby dolls. My parents have a cradle with dolls in it, and if you ask Drew 'Where are your babies?' she crawls over to the cradle and pats them. I die.

*Pushes her grocery cart all over the house - she walks until she runs into something, then turns to look at whoever is helping her, grunts and blows a kiss. Message- 'Yo, big person. Come turn my cart around. Pronto. Muah. Muah.'

*Starting to show attitude if she doesn't get her way. Will fuss at you to let you know she is NOT happy with the way she is being treated. No full-on tantrums yet, but I know they're not far away.

*Is always picking stuff off the floor to put in her mouth. Grass, bugs, crumbs of food, lint...it all goes in.
*Her 3rd tooth {top right} poked through on her 10 month birthday.

*These are the only pair of pajamas she has that truly fit. Every other pair she somehow consistently gets one leg out while crawling. So she gets changed pretty promptly first thing in the morning. Too funny.

Outtakes {grin}

Drew babe, you have captured our hearts. Forever and for always.

Happy Halloween

OMG. I have no words for the preciousness of my babies. We had a great time trick or treating. My kids are adorable. The end.

Drew wearing the same costume as Trent that my MIL made in the '80s.

We lost Trent and ended up trick or treating with Spider-Man!

Action shots on the street.