Feeling better... and acting crazy!

I asked Nathan if I could take a picture of his new booboos from the IV's and blood draws from this last week. He happily obliged. Poor kiddo!

Then he said, "mommy, can you take a picture of naynay growling like a nakee baby bear? Naynay can crash in the blankies and grown and mommy can take a picture." And of course that's just what I did. :)




And if that's no enough silliness for one day, I leave you with this pic... "Nathan, what does Bailey say?"
He's starting to feel better!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Today's update

Today was a bit better for our little man! His personality and spunkiness was back quite a bit more and he was interested in playing! We had a very fun morning and even did a little tot school! His fever came back during the afternoon and spiked around 103.1 so he was much more interested in snuggling this afternoon. We now know he doesn't have mono or a bacterial infection. I also learned that false negatives are common on the respiratory panel so it's possible he does in fact have the flu. It's looking like a virus, but which one? Is it treatable? Dangerous? I don't know the answers to these, but I'm trying to remember to trust in the Lord who does know those answers. This trust is an hour by hour process of surrendering my need for answers and fixes and trusting that HE knows what is best. Perhaps Nathan's illness is for the sole purpose of teaching me to rely not on my own abilities, knowledge, and fixes; rather to place all of my trust in the Lord???

It was fun to see Nathan playing a little bit more today. He was very into these puzzles and sang his ABC song every time he completed this one!

He also got a haircut today, by the ever so skilled hair-cutter named mommy! Have you ever tried to cut your child's hair with buzz clippers while they stand in an empty bath tub? Not a good idea. Normally I do it while he sits in a chair which is a much better idea. Let's just say that the moving and shivering and freaking out about all the fur he was "growing" resulted in a horrible hack job of a haircut. Especially since I tried to fix the mistakes... see?

Thankfully, hair grows quickly and Nathan loves hats! :)

Happy Birthday Colton!

We celebrated a week early with Colton at his 2nd birthday party, but today is his actual 2nd birthday! Happy birthday little man! We're so blessed by your friendship! Thanks for having such an awesome party! We had a blast!

Playing in the snow... well sort of.

Friday night and Saturday morning (while we were haning out in the ER and children's hospital), we got 8.5 inches of snow!!! Nathan hasn't been feeling up to playing in it, but yesterday we managed to talk him into going outside for a bit in the white stuff, which is quickly melting. With Nathan snuggled up in the backpack, holding his blankie (which he's newly attached to 24/7), the 3 of us and Uncle Matt and Emily and Bailey headed out for a walk in the lovely white stuff.

This dog loves the snow and was born for it!!!
Family snuggle
Aren't they cute?
walking and throwing snowballs... thankfully I was safe since I was carrying the camera!
Love is in the air... can't you tell?
Thanks Matt and Emily for coming to hang out with us, bringing us yummmmmy food, and frolicking in the snow! We love you guys!

Where have we been???

What a week it has been!!!! The Lord has been teaching me to trust in his sovereignty over the last 7 days! During Sunday School last week, our teacher challenged us... when life throws you a curve ball, how do you handle it? Do you complain and ask "why me?" or do you trust that the Lord has a plan for that curve ball? Do you trust that you are not in control and God IS? Do you trust that the Lord has a plan for you and that it is a perfect plan? Little did I know just how often these questions would come to mind in the days that followed...

That's Nathan, laying in a bed at the second ER of Friday night, hooked up to an IV looking pitiful. This pic was taken around 2am (okay so really it was early Saturday morning). So why in the world was little NayNay at the ER? Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we went to visit my mom Tues-Thurs and Tues night, Nathan spiked a high fever. We stayed for a few days, thankful for company as Chad was out of town in FL for the week. I guess I should mention that Thursday of the week before Nathan was diagnosed with strep and sent home on antibiotics). The fever was unrelenting and Nathan grew more and more weak, so Thursday morning, we headed back home to take a visit to the pediatrician. When we arrived at 330, Nathan was pitiful. His fever was 103.9 and he had no desire to eat or drink, but was still compliant to drink when asked. The doc said he most likely had the flu and prescribed tamiflu, and sent us home quarantined and she told me to keep him hydrated and let him rest. Thursday night was awful and Nathan was up (like the nights prior) every 60-90 minutes fighting off this really high fever. He began to show signs of congestion and was really lethargic. By Friday afternoon, he was too weak to walk and I had to force him to drink pedialyte by holding him down and shooting it in his mouth via syringe. This obviously upset him and I happened to notice he had no tears when he cried. He was also burning up and had a fever of 104.8 (we'd been doing motrin and tylenol alternated every 3 hours for days so why did he still have a fever???). I called the pediatrician and they sent us straight to the ER. Now, it's Friday late afternoon and the biggest snowstorm in forever had begun to descend upon our southeastern state. Chad is still in FL on business and it's snowing so hard I could hardly see across the street. I called my neighbor Kim and she was happy to come with us to the ER. Nathan was too lethargic to care where we were and he just hung on me, listless and burning up. He'd lost 2.5 pounds in 24 hours (likely all fluid). His fever was 104.8 and he was well past dehydrated. Thankfully, they were able to start an IV and load him up with fluids. Within a half hour, he was charming the nurses with his funny demeanor and asking for yellow Popsicles. An hour later he was barely able to talk and moaning. They made the call to send us to the local children's hospital for admission. At this point, Chad's flight back to NC had been cancelled and he and three other guys had rented a car to make the 12 hour drive through the snow back home. The doc told me they wanted to transfer Nathan via ambulance to the hospital and I declined and begged them to let me drive him. I thought the ride in the back of an ambulance without mommy would be too traumatic for him. The doc agreed and then came a need for a new plan. It was after midnight and there was a good 4 inches of snow on the ground. Bethany, my best buddy, didn't need to risk exposure to whatever Nathan had, but her sweet hubby happily agreed to drive nathan and I through the snow to the children's hospital and stay with us for a while. When we arrived at the ER, the ran a battery of tests and ruled out many of the scary things, but the tests themselves were pretty scary for Nathan. A chest x-ray, neck x-ray, catheter to get urine sample, blood work, rectal temps every 2 hours, nasal swab for respiratory viruses... and it just continued. Tim stayed until after 3am helping support us and keeping Nathan calm.

Around 530am we were finally admitted into a private room and about 15 minutes later, Chad made it to the hospital. Nathan had been up all night and was combative (understandably) and distraught. Poor kiddo. He was so happy to see his daddy and before long, he and daddy were both snoring, curled up together in the crib in Nathan's room. So sweet!

We were discharged around noon on Saturday, and thankful to be headed home where Nathan could rest and recharge. We've been home since Saturday, but the fever has remained. It's the worst at night, and last night was higher than it'd ever been. He's congested and has a hard time breathing through all the snot and so night time is tough on him. He still wakes about every 1.5-2 hours and needs help settling down. Last night was a bit scary as his respirations were super high as well as his heart rate, but the Lord was faithful and helped settle Nathan to sleep which he desperately needed. This morning we went to the pediatrician and they ran a few more tests and ruled out a few more things. At this point, here's what we know...

This little boy is tired of feeling poopy! He's had a high fever for 7 days and is not able to kick it!

He doesn't have pneumonia, spinal meningitis, the flu, h1n1, rsv, or an abscess, and the strep is gone. He has a slight cough, congestion, his belly and head hurt and often he has body aches. His throat is red and swollen. So this leaves us waiting on test results to see if he has mono or something else I can't remember. Please keep this little guy in your prayers...

Back to God's sovereignty... it's been so amazing to go through this for the last week and KNOW that God is in control and that I have nothing to fear. I have been able to fully trust that the Lord knows what is going on and that he has a perfect plan for us. It's been so comforting to face this battle knowing that the Lord is right by our sides. I was never alone, and the Lord's peace and comforting arms were constantly there. I'm so thankful for this insight and way of thinking. Why complain that N is in the hospital when I can use this opportunity to proclaim God's goodness and his love for us. He doesn't want Nathan to be sick, but this is not a perfect world. What He does want is for me to trust Him and believe that He knows what is going on... and that is exactly what we are doing... every step of the way. This curve ball is one that hasn't knocked me off course. PRAISE JESUS!!!

bubbles and a fever

What do you do when you come to visit your mom and your tot develops a fever (103.7-104) and keeps it? Well, a bubble bath of course... in Yaya's "hot tub".

I think I added too many bubbles... what do you think?

Wordless Wednesday

Really, daddy? Are you going to take my picture in Izzy's pj's again?

Silly pics from dinner

This weekend, Nathan got the biggest kick out of making silly faces for Chad to photograph on his phone. Aren't these hilarious? In the middle pic you can see his newest molar on the bottom right... there are 2 more making their way up as we speak. Couple that with strep at the end of last week and this weekend and you can understand even more why this fun picture/silly face time at dinner was so fun and extra meaningful! :)

Look out Texas!!! Shelby has arrived!

I'm really going to miss Shelby and Madison (and Jason too). They are in TX now, but it won't be long before you see pics of Madison and Nathan together again. You see, I'm a girl who loves road trips... and Shelby! So we'll have to visit soon! In the meantime, here's a picture from our last playdate. All these mommas are awesome and so much fun to hang out with. It's fun to watch our kiddos growing up together. They are all getting so big so fast!

Wordless Wednesday

I love this boy!!!

Thank you for the joy you bring Nathan!
You make my heart so happy!

Nathan you are amazing and I love you so much! I want to remember all of your little nicknames so of course, I decided to write a post about it!

Our nicknames for you...

NayNay

Little Man

Doodle

Baby Boy

Buddy

Little Pooter

We love you so much and are so thankful for the blessing of raising you!

Farewell to Shelby and Madison

Shelby and Madison,

We will miss you guys so much! Texas is a long way away, but don't think we won't come to visit! Thank you so much for your friendship over the last year and a half. We've had so much fun getting to know you guys and spending time together. You are a great momma and a wonderful friend and I know you will meet some fabulous people in Texas who will love all of your amazing qualities just like we NC friends have! I will miss your contagious laugh, your cloth diaper joys and woes, watching your little "Mad-a-ma" grow, your hilarious stories, and so many other things. We will be praying for the adjustment as you move, for new friendships to develop quickly, for baby G to grow strong and healthy in your belly, for Madison to adjust easily, for an easy flight, for Jason's job to be a blessing and for him to make friends as well, for a preschool, MOPS group, and moms to have play dates with, and that you will trust in the Lord's sovereignty and love for you during this crazy time. We WILL see you soon and we love you much!!! See you soon friend!

Love you girls!!!

Loving on Baby Piper

Baby Piper gets plenty of love... especially from her big sis Izzy!!! Izzy is a fabulous big sister and has certainly made the days of colic and screaming much easier on her mommy and daddy!

Nathan has surprised me with his loving attitude toward baby Piper. He is infatuated with her. Every day he asks for her, wants to hold her for long periods of time, wants to bring her toys, sing to her, read to her, you name it. It's so rare to see these sensitive calm quiet moments from this kiddo and I truly treasure them!

Even when Piper fusses, Nathan (nor Izzy) is not scared or phased. He just says, "it's okay Baby Piper, NayNay got you."

So sweet! I want to remember this forever! :)