Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fiascos that Ensued....

Dear Friends,
If there are any of you left who are still checking in to see what we've been up to, even though it's been so long since I last posted, thank you so much and I am so, so, so very sorry it's been so long.

As you can imagine, after Chloe's birthday things really started to pick up around here: we were in the throws of juggling two kids and getting ready to start our annual travels for the holidays. Thanksgiving was wonderful; B was actually spared from working, so in the 11th hour I threw together a turkey and fixins' (side note: I will NEVER go to Wal-Mart the day before Thanksgiving ever again, especially with two young children). Two weeks later, my brother graduated from Police Academy so up to TN we went. It was a great day and a proud moment for all of us. The next week, we again traveled to TN and spent a few days with B's family. It had been since July (maybe August?) since we had last been up. The kids did great, and B and I just marveled at how well Calvin traveled and how much Chloe has come out of her shell.

And then Christmas came. Again, B was spared and it allowed us to go home to my parents' house for the weekend. Christmas Eve we visited Granny in the nursing home (for those of you who don't know, shortly after Calvin was born, Granny fell and hit her head on the corner of her brick fireplace. She was air-lifted to Vanderbilt and never quite regained full cognitive ability. Her Dementia accelerated and she was transferred to a rehabilitation center in the hope that she would at least be able to come home to live with Mom and Dad. More on that in a minute.) and we also had our annual Dirty Santa party, but this year we also added a Tacky Sweater contest to the mix. Santa's elves had a good time! Christmas morning we all got up and did presents with the kids. Chloe was so excited! She was very good at unwrapping her presents. By lunch time that day, I noticed that Calvin was fussy and spitting up a lot more than usual. I thought it might be his reflux rearing its ugly head. By bath time, he had started to cough. And not just a dry, I'm-choking-on-my-spit-up type of cough, but a truly congested cough. From there, things just got worse. By Sunday morning, he was coughing badly, running a low-grade temp, and generally miserable. After another sleepless night, Monday morning we took him to a walk-in pediatric clinic. The NP said he had an ear infection and an upper respiratory infection. She gave us amoxicillan and off we went. Tuesday, we left to come home to GA, and he had no improvement, so Wednesday I took him to our own Ped. The ped is out on Wednesdays so we had to see the NP. She determined he had RSV, which is really bad for infants. But she also said that there was nothing to do other than let it run its course. I left worried.
By Thursday afternoon, and five sleepless nights, my little nugget had a blue tinge around his mouth and the skin between his ribs was pulling in way too far when he breathed. I took him back to the Dr. and we were whisked right back. I never want to see medical personnel frantic around my child ever again. He had two back-to-back breathing treatments to open his airways and then we waited. It worked, thank the lord, and we were sent home with our very own nebulizer. I was traumatized, to say the least.
So as we went into the weekend, I noticed Chloe seemed a little whiny and puny. By Saturday afternoon, she was running a fever and coughing, but I thought "surely not, it's been a week since Calvin got sick." Another sleepless night and I called Juju to come watch Calvin so I could take Chloe to a walk-in ped clinic on Sunday afternoon. When we arrived and they took her temp, it was 104. After they messed with her for a few minutes, it jumped 106. Again, frantic medical personnel around my child is never a good thing to see. She was stripped down and given tylenol and ibuprofen. Then they swabbed her for RSV as well; it was positive. Sigh. More breathing treatments to do, but she's terrified of "Mr. Neb," so we ended up with an inhaler. Her fever never got that high again.

So now maybe you see why I haven't blogged in so long?

Fast forward four weeks, and we've been back to the dr. once for Chloe, she ended up with a sinus infection from all the congestion, and Calvin's been fighting his own snots for a few days but no fever and (thankfully) he seems on the mend. Chloe has finally stopped coughing and her nose is almost dried up. We've also been potty-training Chloe and she's been doing very well. #1 was a success within a few days, and #2 has been getting more consistent in the past week. She is very proud of herself and enjoys all the M&Ms and ice cream she's been getting lately, ha.

In the midst of all of this sickness, Granny's own health continued to decline. Her Dementia eventually led to her becoming bed-ridden and unable to swallow. After Christmas, her decline was quite steady and went quickly. She passed away in the afternoon on January 13, 2011. She was just 17 days shy of her 91st birthday. She lived a long, full life and I know that Grandpa is happy to have her there with him in Heaven. We will all miss her so much, and my only regret is that my children will never know either of them quite like I did.

So now we've started a new month, and on the horizon is Clint's wedding (in which I am a bridesmaid, Brandon is a groomsman, and Chloe is the flower girl). I almost puked when I saw the size I had to order my dress in, so I've cut my calories and have started working out at least 3 times a week. Wish me luck in not looking like Godzilla next to petite Krista in all the wedding pics.

Chloe continues to enjoy going to school and if you could hear her talk, you'd be floored. She speaks in complete sentences, counts to 15, knows all her shapes, letters (and some sounds!), can spell her name, and is just an all-around cool kid. I don't know where she's gotten any of it from, except the cool part, lol. Calvin will be four months old tomorrow (I know!!!!) and so we're off to the dr on TR for his check-up. The last time he was weighed was about a month ago and he was 14lb, 12oz. I'm betting Nugget is at least 16lbs by now. He's a good eater (we've already had to start solids for as much as he eats!) and we're working on the sleeping part. He was doing so well before he got sick, so I know a full-night's rest is in there somewhere. I feel like Calvin's not gotten the same blogging love that Chloe did when she was a baby, but we all knew that was going to happen, now didn't we? But, I am making a promise to myself, and his baby book, to keep up my entries on how he's growing and all the fun stuff he's into.

So if you're still reading, check back in and I will do my best to update you more often!

Happy Groundhog's Day tomorrow, hopefully Spring is on it's way!!!
Love, BCCC

Here's a bundle of pics from the last two months: