Hippity Hoppity

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A quick update on Easter weekend... Mom & Dad arrived in town to visit and we kept busy as usual with activities and home improvement projects. Saturday morning was the town Egg Hunt with many friends and it was the typical stampede for the eggs so Ike was happy to get a few in his bucket. We had a super fun visit on Saturday night from my cousin Molly and her husband Alex in town from NYC.
A family gathering for Easter dinner at Kyle & Bing's house was very nice. Ike got to visit with his second cousin (sort of), Pete, and I know they will be buds soon enough.
Mom & Dad had to cut the trip short to head back to Charleston as Grandmother & Grandfather had some medical issues and needed them. We were sad to see them leave but hope to see them again soon as their visits are so fun!

Powerful Stuff

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I have friends in Wilmington, NC and a few months ago I was clicking on links to their friends blogs and somehow I ended up on this blog, Confessions of CF Husband. I must tell you that it has changed me forever. Nate & Tricia are a young couple from NC and Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis (a fatal, geneticially-inherited disease) and as she was preparing for a double lung transplant last year she found out she was pregnant. Their daughter, Gwneyth, was born 15 wks prematurely in January. Tricia is now back on the transplant list and she and Gwyneth reside at Duke hospital in Durham, NC. Watch this video to hear Nate tell their story:

Even though I don't know these people, I feel like I am with them each day when I check their blog. Not only does it make me appreciate each moment of my healthy life more, I am truly shocked by the power of a blog. Nate is on a crusade about CF awareness, organ donation and premature birth and I KNOW HE IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE by all the people he touches. Nate's blog is currently nominated by Blogger's Choice as Best Blog of All Time and he is expecting 2 million hits to his site in the near future. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Fun at School

Monday, March 17, 2008

A few great shots from Miss Terry that I had to share.....

Lucky Lady

Happy St. Paddy's & 91st Birthday Grammie!

Sorry we missed the celebration over the weekend (Dad sent us pics) but what a treat to have Page & Emory in from Atlanta and Molly from NYC. We all hope we look so good at 91!

L->R Brad, Rob, Kelly, Molly, Page, Grandmother, Grammie and Kolleen

Grammie with Taylor & Emory, 2 of her 5 (almost 6) great-grandchildren.

TRACTOR!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Ike is desperately trying to say TRACTOR as it is really what he lives for. Boys will be boys plus he is genetically pre-disposed to love John Deere's as my Grandfather, Grandpa Bob, worked his entire career for John Deere in Moline, IL. He enjoyed some quality time with "The Boys" and the tractor this weekend working on the rock retaining wall behind the barn at Kyle & Bings. Click here for more pics.

15 1/2 Months

Ok, better late than never. Just wanted to do a quick 15 month update for the file. This month has had more downs than ups but hopefully things are on the mend as Spring is soon to be sprung. Ike's illness saga didn't end after he got out of the hospital. His persistent ear infections required a short surgery on Friday morning to put tubes in his ears. The dr said there was no choice and we really hope this will do the trick for him. He was a very good sport about going back to the hospital and a little "baby cocktail" of tylenol and something else before they took him back seemed to work great! He was back to his antics by lunch and now we just wait to let to tubes do the work. We also think he can hear better and sharper now as they removed all the fluid in his ears so it is going to be interesting to see how that effects his vocabulary. Ike can totally understand what we are saying to him and his favorite game is when you give him something and say "take this to Daddy" etc etc... he thinks it is so funny. His most frequent words are "bye bye" and "Dadda" (of course) the rest of the time it is a mix of Ikeyisms that don't totally make sense. Sleeping has been less than normal around here as a result of all the time in the hospital and being sick so we are desperately trying to get that back to normal. In the meantime, we are pretty tired.

He has enjoyed being outside this past weekend and it makes us all look forward to warmer and more sunny days! It will be so fun for him to really be able to play and run around outside this Spring and Summer!!!!

Bladerider

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Sick, Sick and More Sick!

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Since my last posting, we have had a rough time in our family. The long and short of it is that Ike ended up in the hospital this week with a severe case of Rotavirus- a common virus causing gastroenteritis. Insane diarrehia caused Ike to become dehydrated thus requiring hospitalization. In addition, he had bad ear infections so he needed IV antibiotics. It all started a week ago Thursday and by Monday we were in the Yale Children's Hospital Emergency Room getting IV fluids. They sent us home on Monday night and we were back in by Tuesday morning to be admitted and we didn't get home until Friday night. We had to ride out the virus and he needed the IV fluids off and on every day in order to maintain the volume of outs versus the ins. I need not say more, it was NOT PRETTY. It was a rough week for poor Ike but he really was a trooper.

The story gets better.... Harcourt came down with the virus on Tuesday and was totally sick all week too. Thankfully, my mom came in from Charleston to keep me company and help me with Ike in the hospital and I wouldn't have survived 4 days in the hospital without her help. I think she now has a touch of the virus too so we of course feel terrible about that. They now have a vaccine for Rotavirus which is good news for kids who can avoid what Ike went through! I must say though that spending 5 days in a Children's hospital really makes you realize how lucky you are and how much your heart goes out of people with children with chronic illnesses. I knew that Ike was going to get better and for that I was very grateful. The virus seems to be completely out of Ike's system know and he is 95%- it is truly amazing how kinds bounce back!

Pics are from my Blackberry so not great but you can get the idea....

Enjoying some Einstein movies!

Ike enjoyed looking out the window. He wasn't allowed out of the room as they didn't want him to infect others so we definitely felt "couped up!"

The palacial room! We were lucky that he couldn't share a room because of the virus so there was a bed for Jimmie and a bed for me.

Thanks to all our friends and family for their thoughts, support and prayers this week!!