Catching up

Yes, it's been 4 months since I have posted a darned thing here. I'd like to say that I won't let it go that long again, but who am I kidding...it will probably happen! So, I'll try to briefly catch up for the moment.

I last posted right after Alec started school. He's now almost done with the first half of kindergarten! I really had NO idea how busy things could be just in the first year of school. He has had projects or homework most every week, and not that it takes all that much time but it does seem to add to the usual busy days around here. He has been doing very well in school and truly seems to enjoy it. The first few weeks were tough I think - he really didn't talk to too many of the other kids - but that did not take long to change. And it is really amazing to see not only the development of his reading and writing skills, but his understanding of prayer, God, and friendship. We have had our struggles at home but the good news is none of that seems to show up at school. Given the choice of tantrums at school or at home, I'll take home every time! He had a great time at Christmas, and pronounced very spiritedly "this is the best Christmas EVER!!!" It was nice to see him so happy.

Cece's been doing well this fall. She's had a couple of bugs, including a bout with mycoplasma pneumonia and a nasty cold. But she managed to get through both of them without hospitalization, thankfully. We also have suspected that she's had some minor sickle pain on a couple of occasions as well, but nothing that didn't go away quickly. We can only pray that trend continues for her. She is growing like crazy and is quickly moving out of all of her 3T clothes! She's also starting to learn her letters and numbers really well. A few days ago I witnessed her doing a real drawing of a person for the very first time - i.e., something other than just scribbly lines - and it was so neat to see! We still have not overcome her sleep problems but perhaps that will come with time, and that is very minor in the whole scheme of things. Her imagination has become so incredible lately. In fact her favorite Christmas gifts were the $1 a piece dinosaurs that I picked up for her stocking. Little did I suspect that would be the winner of all the many packages!!!

We've had a couple of opportunities to promote the Ronald McDonald House recently, and that's been a lot of fun. Last week we were interviewed on the local news and the kids thought it was SOOOO cool! None of us had ever been in a TV studio previously so it was a great adventure for the whole family. We were mildly concerned when we found out we would be sitting 20 feet from the news desk while they did the newscast...silence is not our family's greatest virtue, you know?!?! But the kids did really well and were quiet until the end. They were watching themselves on the monitor while we were on camera, and every time Cece would go out of view she would say to Fred, "Where my Cece???" The newscasters were so nice and even let us take pictures of them with the kids! If you are interested in the news piece, you can find it here. Cece is also the feature story on the House's website as of this posting - not sure how long that will last, but for the moment you can find that here.

A few snapshots from Christmas...

Milk and cookies for Santa!

Digging their new chairs...

and tearing into their gifts!

Fun with the new toys

These are MY favorite gifts.

Wishing you blessings during this Christmas season and for the New Year!

School's in!

So, I'm breaking out of the hospital posts and on to just your average, every day, family craziness!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. Alec started Kindergarten just over a week ago! He's done pretty well with the transition, but I will fully admit that we are all tired and a little thrown off by the new schedule and all. Fred and I have split our work schedule so that I am going in earlier, while he takes Cece to day care and then drops Alec off at school. Then I leave work early to pick Alec up and then Cece. By the time we get home, the kids are excited to see each other but picking on each other at some point during the two block drive home. Apparently three minutes in the car is much too long to spend without playing "I'm not touching you!" And Alec has done a fantastic job of paying attention and following directions at school, so once arriving home the unrest unleashes onto his unsuspecting mother. And sister. And perhaps the cat.

Anyway, we have now made it through the first full week of full days of school, and we are still standing!

Ok, some of us are sitting...and two are sleeping. You know what I mean.

Today it was finally NOT RAINING when we got home, and the kids decided to run up and down the driveway. Amazingly the significant expenditure of energy made a huge difference in our evening, and there were NO time outs tonight!!! In fact, Alec fell asleep in my arms on the couch. That is a true sign of exhaustion...

Cece is doing very well. She had a post-hospital recheck a week ago and everything looks good. We still have no idea what caused her nasty but short-lived fever...but whatever it was, it appears to be gone! Here's hoping for more than 8 weeks before the next hospital run. But regardless, we're just enjoying each healthy day with which we are blessed!

First day of school!

Cece was sad...Alec tried to make her feel better.

Ready to head to class...

And this is when Mommy started to get a little weepy...

We are so proud of him!

Home!

We are home!

And exhausted.

Well, two of us are...the other two don't want anything to do with bedtime.

Thanks for thinking of us and for all of your prayers! We are very grateful. I have a few cute photos of Cece after receiving her "going home" notice today...will try to post them later this week! For now, I am going to go find my pillow and crash for a few hours.

Good night!

One more night...just one more night

No, I'm not channeling Phil Collins.

We're hoping this is just one more night, and that tomorrow we will receive our get-out-of-hospital free card!

Ok, not FREE. But whatever.

Since the source of Cece's fever has not been identified we will need to wait until tomorrow to ensure that her blood cultures are negative. Her pediatrician stopped in this evening and said that she fully expects negative results. Time will tell, but I will say that she is definitely acting like herself...including still being awake at 11 pm. After no nap.

Yes, that's our girl!

Tonight she took a bath, danced between the bed and the cot, ate cereal, drank milk, and watched both Madagascar 1 and 2. I am hoping that sleep will approach soon. I know it will for me!

Thanks for checking on us.

Back in the saddle...

It's been a busy summer. And it really was never my intention to make this into a "I'm only posting when we're in the hospital" blog. But for the moment, I guess that is what it has become!

So yes, Cece is back in the hospital. We came in through the ER at about 6:30 last night, and about 6 hours later we finally made it up to our room in Peds. Not sure why it has become such a long wait to get from there to here but it was 6 hours when we were here 2 months ago as well! In any case, her temp was 102.8 so we followed the usual routine...pack up...call the hematologist...drive to the hospital. Only this time, she started crying as soon as we walked in the door because the memory was a bit too fresh. I guess that's just going to be the way things are as she gets older and remembers things more clearly.

Her temp was up to 104.5, with Tylenol, at 1 am this morning. But for now she's at 100.1, playing with her new felt farm toy, and watching Winnie the Pooh. So all is good for the moment! They've done every test under the sun and everything has come back negative. So she'll stay on her IV for at least another day and then we will wait and see what the doctors recommend. With any luck she will get to sleep in her own bed on Wednesday or Thursday night.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Yeah, we're still here...

So, I seem to be a bit tardy in posts these days. It's a bit funny, really, because there hasn't been much going on...so I really have no excuse. Well, perhaps the fact that the children don't want to go to bed until the sun goes down has something to do with it! By 9:30 at night my brain isn't working all that well anymore, and so I haven't been keeping up with our blog.

But yes, we're still here.

We had a good vacation at the end of June/beginning of July. We headed to the suburbs for a couple of days and had a fun time taking the train downtown Chicago. The kids played in the fountain at Millenium Park and we got plenty of walking in between the tall buildings and along the Chicago River. We then headed to Door County, Wisconsin and enjoyed a few nice summer days there. The kids had a fantastic time at the fireworks on July 4 and we were treated to a ride along the bay in a big ferry boat! It pays to have friends who know people who own ferry boats!!!

Alec will be starting kindergarten in about 5 weeks. Oh...my....gosh. How can my baby already be going to kindergarten??? It seems like just yesterday that we brought our little man home...

Ahh, memories...

We have his supply list, and I've ordered his uniforms, and yesterday we purchased fabric and supplies to make a Transformers nap mat! Sure, I could have bought one, but it seemed too easy. Ha!!! Actually I think it will be a lot of fun and he will enjoy helping me put it together. You've got to love free patterns on the Internet!

Cece's doing great. She has scraped her knees and fingers up numerous times over the past few weeks and we have been concerned that she might end up with infected owies, no matter how careful we are with cleaning and slathering with Neosporin...but I tell you, that girl is an amazing healer. Perhaps the knees look a little worse for the wear but her skin is as good as new. We had her appointment with the pediatric orthopedic doctor last Friday to check out her flat feet. It's all good news...no orthotics, no special shoes, no braces, no worries!!! She will see the cardiologist in a month or so and hopefully after that appointment, we will be able to check that specialist off of the list as well. One of Cece's favorite new phrases is, "Mommy, look at my happy face!" And with good reason, it seems!!!

I'm having a lot of trouble uploading pictures, so here are a few from our Chicago trip...I hope to post a few more later this week.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Home sweeeeeeet home

Cece was sprung from the joint released from the hospital at about 1:00 this afternoon. She had an utter and complete meltdown upon removal of her IV, and then did not want to be put down at all while I attempted to pack up 3 days worth of our collective stuff. But she was at least willing to stand on the bed and just look at me with teary eyes for a few seconds so I could wrap it all up! We arrived at home and promptly went to bed...both of us got a nice nap.

Of course, now she has no interest in going to sleep. Oh well.

It is GOOD to be home. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!