Discovering the Contents of Santa's Sack!

"I Believe"

Each year Carson bakes Santa cookies and leaves him a special note with a glass of milk. This year he made special reindeer food in his class at school, so we began a new tradition. We sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn for the reindeer to enjoy while Santa visited our house. This morning Carson woke to find snow, reindeer prints, and two special bells that had fallen off of the sleigh. Carson held the bell to his mouth and whispered "I Believe" before shaking it oh so quietly! This moment was priceless!

Santa Claus Came to Town!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Christmas Eve at Grammy and Papa's House

Each year we celebrate Christmas Eve at Grammy and Papa's house with Sarita, Phil, G.G., and Lizzie. We also have this little tradition where we all wear a Christmas Salty Dog shirt that Sarita bought us all in Hilton Head. This year our festivities began with a delicious Christmas dinner. We had a little extra touch added to our meal this year. Every couple of seconds we heard this little voice that said, "Can we open presents now?" and "Is it time yet?"!!!!! Carson found it very difficult to be PATIENT. When it was finally TIME, once again my children were very blessed with generous gifts. Carson received a Carolina Panther warm-up suit, GI Joe "soldier" figures, Christmas socks, and a couple of other little gifts. Ella received a special ornament and her first piggy bank with some money in it from G.G. When it was almost time for us to leave, Santa paid his yearly visit on the fire truck!

Christmas Eve with Bobbie

Because of our unexpected adventures with Ella, we had to miss our trip to Walterboro to celebrate Christmas with Bobbie. Bobbie didn't want to miss out on Ella's first Christmas and the excitement of a five year old on Christmas, so she decided to visit us for a day. Carson anticipated her arrival all day with such excitement. I believe he asked me a million times during the day "how much longer until Bobbie gets here?"! As soon as she arrived, Carson was ready to open presents. We thought we would add to the torture of making him wait until his daddy got home from work. The paper began ripping as soon as Daddy walked through the door. Carson was so excited to see the Spiderman web shooter that "he's always wanted", the Mickey Mouse Club House that "he's been wanting", the "cool" dinosaur shirt, and several other goodies. Daddy helped Ella open her hippo walker, cute outfits, baby dolls, and singing storybook. Carson and Ella also received some really special gifts from Aunt Karen, Uncle Charlie, Aunt Donna, Uncle Chris, and Cousins Ian and Dawson. We are so thankful that Bobbie had the opportunity to visit us for Christmas.

Boo Boos for Roo!

I was a little heartbroken that I didn't have my camera with me to capture our adventures at the doctors' offices and hospital with Ella. Those few days will be forever etched in my mind though. I did manage to capture a few of Roo's boo boos for evidence.

Carson's School Christmas Program

Each year Carson's school has a special Christmas program for family members to attend a couple of weeks before Christmas. Last year when Carson was in the three year old class, he memorized and recited the entire Christmas story from the Bible. He began preparing for that program at the beginning of the school year to ensure that he would be ready by December to recite the verses in their entirety. Well, for this year's program both Mommy and Daddy were in total suspense as to what he would be doing at all. "It was a secret!" and we would just have to be "patient". We were very patient, despite the fact that we tried to trick him a couple of times into telling us what he was going to be doing in the program. :) The program was AMAZING, and we are so proud of Carson! :)

Christmas with Rose Marie!

On Wednesday before Roo's major sickness episodes occurred, we celebrated an early Christmas with Rose Marie. I don't know who was more excited about seeing Rose Marie again - - Ella, Car, or Mommy. It was such a WONDERFUL visit. Ella LOVES Rose Marie so much and my heart breaks each time I think about taking that security away from Ella! Rose Marie gave Ella a beautiful Christmas outfit and a special book. Carson received a game, gift certificate to McDonald's for a milkshake, and a ball. We are already looking forward to our next visit together! :)

Our 2007 Family Christmas Card

Update #2

Ella's visit to the doctor brought MUCH better news today. Her blood count was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better. Her white blood cell count was almost cut in half. That means that antibiotic is working! The doctor talked with the labs, and as of now the urine and blood are looking good. I have to call on Monday for final results. Ella received another shot today of the antibiotic. She will begin another 10 day cycle of a different antibiotic tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers!

All we want for Christmas is two healthy children! :)

Update

Ella had a great night of rest! Her fever broke about 11:00. This morning when I took her temp. it was 98.1! :) She drank all of her bottle last night and about 3 oz. this morning. We will see what the doctor says at 11:30. Hopefully, her little body is conquering the nasty infection!

One Sick Baby Girl!

Today has been an extremely hard day for Ella Roo and her mommy and daddy! For two and a half weeks now Ella has been a sick little girl. We have made four visits to the pediatrician in two weeks and have been on two different antibiotics at once as well as two steroids. Today, we made one of the hardest visits that I have ever made to a pediatrician. (and Car was one sick little baby!) Last night Ella had a fever of 102. Her fever stayed at 102 with Tylenol and Motrin in her system. We had an appointment at 8:40 to see the doctor. After completing the "normal" routines of checking the ears, chest, nose, etc. the doctor ordered blood work and a chest x-ray. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the nurse drew blood (for thirty minutes) from Ella's heel. Her little foot didn't seem to want to "bleed"! We waited for some more time, and the nurse returned ready to take Roo to x-rays. Without elaborating too much, that was very painful for Mommy. One of the x-rays didn't take very well, so we had to do it all over again. We made our way back into the examining room to wait some more. The doctor returned to tell me that her x-ray showed something on her right lung, but she wasn't very concerned about it. She said that she has been on the two antibiotics that would treat pneumonia. She then proceeded to tell me that she WAS concerned with Roo's blood counts and was going to send us for more extensive tests. My heart was about to beat out of my chest at the sound of these words as tears filled my eyes. I am notorious for worrying and for automatically thinking the worst. The doctor wouldn't elaborate, but just said she needed further testing. She then ordered a urine test for Ella. After more wait time, a nurse came to lead us to another room for them to catheterize Ella. Once again, not fun for Roo or Mommy! More wait time... The doctor returns to say that the initial results didn't show anything abnormal. She then orders a flu test. Yes, more wait time. The flu test was negative. We are FINALLY able to leave and proceed on another trying journey for us all. We make it to Urgent Care to the lab where Ella is to have her blood drawn. After trying for about twenty minutes, the staff is NOT able to draw blood and orders us to go to the hospital. Ella's veins were too small, and they didn't want to traumatize her anymore than they had to. We traveled to the hospital, and within about fifteen minutes Ella's blood was drawn successfully. We head back to the pediatrician for a shot of Rocephan and to find out results on two of the blood tests. By this time it is 2:00! Yes, we had been at the doctor's office, Urgent Care, and hospital for the entire day! The nurse administers the shot, the doctor visits for a moment, and we still have NO ANSWERS! All we know is that we are to report back to the office located at the hospital tomorrow morning for another visit and shot. The doctor calls about an hour after we got home to tell us the results. The tests are showing VERY high white blood cell counts. The doctor is saying that she has some sort of really bad bacterial infection, but we just don't know where yet. Possibilities include - - - lungs, urinary tract, blood...

Roo is our little angel, and it has been so hard for us to see her this sick!!!! We pray for healing, strength, and wisdom. We are faced with some difficult decisions about childcare in the future. We do not have many options, but are praying for God's guidance.

Thank you to all that have been so supportive today with phone calls, offers, and words of encouragement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Sick Boy + 1 Sick Girl = ...

One AWESOME Daddy!

Daddy has been our family's little hero over the past five days or so. Ella was sick on Friday and had to stay out of school, so that meant her daddy had to take off work. Well, Mommy had to leave for Charleston on Sunday. In the meantime, Carson became sick and Ella worsened!!!!!!!! Both ran fevers all weekend!!!! :( They BOTH had to end up staying home from school on Monday, so that meant their daddy had to take off work again and take them BOTH to the doctor. Both children received antibiotics, and I am happy to say that there is some improvement in both. The BEST news is that MOMMY is home! Daddy deserves a well-earned BREAK! :) It was sooooo hard to leave two sick babies behind. I am just ready for WELL BABIES!

'Tis the Season...For Pictures!

Here are a few pictures from my holiday photo shoots! I made several attempts to try to get "just one" good picture of Carson and Ella together for our Christmas card. After several tries and NO LUCK, I decided that we would go another route for our Christmas card. My attempt at trying to capture the perfect pic ended when Ella feel head first onto our hardwood floor out of the "present" she was sitting in.

Friday Night Fun!

Carson had a BLAST on Friday night! He was able to see Santa for the third time this holiday season! He was able to play in the "snow" with his friends and then enjoy a puppet show with Brianna. To top off the night, he enjoyed a Happy Meal at McDonalds!

We Made It...Well Sort Of...

She had NO idea that her little life would be changing in about twenty minutes!


We sort of survived our first week of CHANGE! It was extremely hard on the entire family. Ella had the hardest time adjusting to her new "school". She cried pretty much all day on Monday. She had a hard time adjusting to all of the new sounds that a daycare brings. Every time another baby would cry, so would Ella. Pretty much any time a noise was made at all Ella would cry. Day Two was a little better. She didn't cry as much and seemed to eat a little better. Day Three brought SICKNESS! Yes, the inevitable happened WAY TOO soon for Mommy. We made it through Day Four, but had to stay home and pay a visit to the doctor on Day Five. I have been very pleased with the care that Ella receives each day. I haven't walked in the door in the afternoons and NOT found her NOT being held or rocked. I just pray that Roo's immune system builds up quickly because I don't think I can make it through another really sick baby!

Change

Main Entry:

¹change

Pronunciation:

\ˈchānj\

Function:

verb, noun

Inflected Form(s):

changed; chang·ing

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French changer, from Latin cambiare to exchange, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish camm crooked

Date:

13th century

transitive verb1 a: to make different in some particular : alter change the will> b: to make radically different : transform change human nature> c: to give a different position, course, or direction to2 a: to replace with another

synonyms change, alter, vary, modify

This one six letter word with such simple meaning, causes such immense anxiety for me! Friday brought the inevitable, but highly UNWANTED CHANGE into our lives! Friday was Ella's sitter's last day with our family. It has truly felt like we have lost a family member. I literary have shed many tears over this CHANGE! Over the last four months, Rose Marie has spent more time at our home than I have. Each day Roo anticipated the soft knock at the door with great joy! Ella was blessed with countless hours of one-on-one attention that otherwise she would have NEVER had because of Rose Marie. Each day brought special rocks, stories, feedings, playtimes, etc. Ella didn't have to compete with a mommy and daddy trying to divide their time evenly between her brother and her, or with a mommy trying to cook dinner, or with a daddy trying to wash bottles, or with her mommy doing some sort of school work whenever Rose Marie was around.

I know that time doesn't freeze, nor am I in control of life. We have prayed about this situation and have to embrace what God has in store for our family now. Monday will bring CHANGE. A CHANGE that will allow for Ella to have friends. A CHANGE that will allow Ella to go to school with her BIG BROTHER. A CHANGE that God has planned for our family.

Hip! Hip! Hooray! We Saw a Crawler Today!!!!!

...And all it took was Big Brother's monster truck!!

We were so excited to see Ella Roo crawling today! Rose Marie and Carson were both there too to share the EXCITEMENT! :)

Appreciating Nature's Beauty!

Ella Roo's First Thanksgiving! (A Photo Shoot of Course!)