My favorite time of year

October has been a busy month. We've picked apples, played in the pumpkin patch, jumped in the leaves and done all of that good midwestern autumnal stuff. It's been great. I can hardly believe that the month is 2/3 of the way over already!

I've always loved the fall. I'm not really into summer...something about sweat that doesn't thrill me, I guess. But now, here we are as the days get shorter, and colder, and flu and cold season is coming soon - and I start to worry.

Yes, we've had 6 months of hospital-free existence. It has been AWESOME. So now I'm writing as I listen to Cece cough in her crib and wonder, how long will it be?

How long before we make the decision in the middle of the night that waiting for the pediatrician's office will just not do, and we'll run to the ER at 3 AM?

How long before I feel her sweet, curly head and notice a burning fever that will send us into Peds for a week?

How long before I will once again have to hold my darling down as she screams so that she can be poked, prodded, IV'd, cathed, xrayed and more...and how long before she'll forgive me?

Ah yes, during those trips to the apple orchards and leaf piles, I forget. It's a great form of amnesia. Sick? Who's sick? Not my kid. Look at her. She's just so full of JOY. But eventually, I feel her little hands and remember...don't let her get cold. She could end up in a pain crisis. Don't let her pet the animals in the petting zoo. She could end up with a bacterial infection that she wouldn't be able to fight.

But I guess most of all, I have to remember...don't forget to let her be a kid. Or to let her experience life. Or to enjoy every single precious moment. Because precious they are.

Right now, Abby's back in the hospital herself and struggling with yet another infection. Please keep her and her family in prayer!

More prayers, please...

Once again, not too sure that anyone reads this...but just in case someone does, please say prayers for Abby and her family. They are being tested in so many ways at this time. You can read about them at http://www.riggsbunch.blogspot.com/. As much time as we've spent in the hospital over the last two years, it does not even hold a candle to the trials that the Riggs' have undergone in recent weeks. God bless all of them!