It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

At the Whitehead household.  We don't have a very big house and we have an eleven month old, so there alot of decorations that won't be going up this year, but what we are doing is looking so good.  I don't know about Sid but I think this is the best we've decorated so far.  Bailey, on the other hand, acts like the big lighted tree that appeared in our den is no big deal.  Maybe it'll stay that way.  What she does like is her great big snowman stocking that I wish I hadn't bought simply because of the place I bought it that I'm glad she likes. 

My all time, must have, even when we don't have anything else, like last year when I was pregnant and not doing very good, is a real Christmas tree.  But this year we decided to get the artificial tree out of storage and use it because of Bailey's breathing and asthma.

The actual ornaments aren't on it yet, but this is what it looks like so far and I'm pretty happy with it.  This is totally different than anything I have ever done.  That stuff is kind of orangey-red-gold, not orange like it looks in the picture.  On the front of our house we have three sets of double windows, so we put wreaths in the middle of each with the same mathing ribbon net stuff and white lights.  Plus, Sid got us two topiaries on Black Friday, which I have wanted for at least the past three years, for a great deal and those on the porch with white lights.  I'll have to take pictures of the outside tomorrow.  Sid has some yard decorations but he hasn't mentioned if he is going to put those out yet or not.  Oh, and I know the tree skirt doesn't really match all that well, but it matches mine and Sid's stockings and I've seen what's out there now, and I don't think we could do much better.

Our door is sort of in the corner of the porch, so we decided  not to do anything to it since it would be all smashed together right there in the corner.  I LOVE this netting ribbon looking stuff though and I could put it everywhere if Sid would let me.  We got it at this place in town that is just a local "everything" store and they had all kinds of colors.  Made me want to have two or three trees so one could be all hot pink and then one could be State colors.  How 'bout that Bulldogs, by the way???

So, in other Christmas news, I think we've decided on Christmas cards AND I think we are slowly marking off names on the shopping list. 

So, what does that leave?  Oh yeah!  A birthday party for a soon to be 1 year old that we all know and love.  I have no idea what theme we are doing yet and I really don't know how we are going to fit everybody in our house but we are going to do our best.  My solution was to somehow "screen in" the carport and have a heather out there so we could use that space too.  I won't say on the blog what Sid told me we would look like.  hehe!!!

Can I Just Say

That my head hurts. Why you ask?  Because I've been working my little heart out trying to figure out the best solution for Christmas cards.  We wouldn't need a solution if A.) I didn't have the cutest kid in the world, thus making it hard to narrow down pictures and B.) I didn't want the most expensive cards on the world wide web.  Google has not been my friend today. 

On a positive note, I do have one artifical tree up, fluffed, and with lights on it (we figured it would be better to have a non-real tree rather than a real-live tree in the house with Bailey's breathing problems right now) and some decorations outside only in need of an extension card, AND some decorations still swirling around in my head that have yet to see the light of day.  Bailey doesn't know what to think of the tree but LOVES LOVES LOVES her stocking.  Too bad it came from the worst shop in town last year.  I should call the lady and ask her what her return policy is because  I don't think I can stomach looking at that stocking for the next 75 plus years just knowing where it came from.  Even though I wish I had not bought it where I did, I'm glad Bailey loves it and we will love it forever and ever, Amen!

If you have any good tips on Christmas cards, let me know.  Until then, it's already after 10:00 and I still have some devotional reading to do and baby that will probably be up just as soon as I get done with it since she's boycotting sleep these days.

And, to end on a sad note, it doesn't look like Sid's work will slow down anytime soon.  For those of you that don't know, he didn't even get to come to Thanksgiving because of work.  I just saw on the news that there was a fatal car crash here in Neshoba County- a 14 year old driver who escaped with only a few scrapes, but an 8 month old baby was thrown from the car during the crash and did not survive.  Pray, people, pray!  That's all I can say because otherwise I have no idea what the world is coming too!  That, and I'd like to see my husband at some point this Holiday Season!

I need to also say that I have a new format on blogger with all kinds of neat things, but there is no spell check.  We all know that if life was made up of spelling and math I would have had to call it quits a long time ago!  Fortunatly it's not, so you all just get to deal with on the blog.  Sorry!

Black Friday

So, did you go out shopping?   I didn't.  I'm not a true Whithead.  I think NeNe and Kylie were out and home before the sun came up.  I talked to NeNe about 9:45 a.m. and she sounded like she had been run over a time or two.  She always seems to make the news on Black Friday though.  I prefer to do most of my all of my shopping online on Black Friday.  Although, today I didn't buy too much.  Didn't buy any gifts as a matter of fact, and Toys-R-Us made me mad.  They had some deals, like free shipping on orders of $49 or more OR buy two get one free OR get $10 off your $30 or more purchase, BUT here's the deal:  the free shipping items have to be select items, the buy two get one free have to be select items and the get ten bucks off was if you used that "buy now, pay later" feature.  I never could get my select items to match up so I just gave up and didn't buy anything online. 

Bailey and I left about 2:00 heading back to Mississippi and she had about twenty nine meltdowns on the way home and about three once we got home.  I only stopped once and I was glad I did.  I stopped at the rest stop right before we get off the interstate on the Mississippi side of the trip.  Anyway, Bailey was so mad that she was having to follow the law and ride in her carseat that she had pitched such a fit that she was broken out into hives.  Scared me at first, but once I got her calmed down they immediatly went away.  I don't know when she'll learn that she will have to ride in that carseat no matter how mad she tries to get.  She is feeling better and I can tell that, but I can also tell that she doesn't feel 100% better.  She got up way early this morning (she's a true Whitehead) and Dad gave her the morning bottle and such.  He said she coughed up a huge chunk of junk so I guess that's a good sign.  I just feel bad for her and hope she turns the corner on this nastiness sooner rather than later.

And finally, I wanted to share mother's decorations.  She does such a good job and I wish I had taken a picture of the table before I left today because she is already gearing up for Christmas!  Part of the magic of holidays at my parents is the decorations because my mom just has that touch!

The sideboard, which is new, and I love it by the way!

The dinner table!

The dessert table!  I bet Mom spent every bit of four days or better fixing up this table.  See all that stuff under the glass of the table?  It's pictures, pictures from all throughout Mother and Dad's courtship and wedding, pre-kids, pictures all throughout each of our childhood's and now pictures of all the grandkids, too!  It was really neat.  She made two fudge pies (I mean yum, yum, yummy!  Nobody makes a fudge pie like my mama!)  and a pecan pie.  I don't think any of them or left a mere 24 hours later!

I'm not really sure what you call these big things, but they were used outside the church at Maggie and Bo's wedding last Christmas and mom has added her own touch to them for the holidays this year.  They are really cool!  Ok, so here's a "mom story"!  We all had linen napkins in a sterling silver napkin holder and I noticed as I walked by one of the place settings that there was an engraving of initials, something like E.M.P.  I didn't ask.  But later into conversation, over fudge pie, one of the boys asked why their napkin holder was engraved "jane".  Mom proceeds to tell us that she wanted sterling napkin holders and has just randomly collected them from here and there, not worrying that they were all engraved from someone else's lifetime.  We laughed at her, but secretly, I was thinking it was really a neat decorating idea because they were all different.  Dad says that next year we are going to report on what "our person" has been doing for the past year.  Only problem is, mine wasn't engraved, I got the only blank one at the table.  The other night when me, mom and Leslie got Chinese, my fortune cookie didn't have a fortune in it either.  It's a good thing I don't believe in those kinds of signs because I'm thinking those signs wouldn't be good ones.

I have another funny mother story but we can only handle one at a time so I'll share that one and those pictures maybe tomorrow.  We love you Mom and thanks for always making our Holiday's something special!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Ok,  so I 'm learning as a Mom that we often set our expectations high for things such as holidays.  A great example would be Baileys first Halloween when she was sick and we didn't get to take her out that night.  We were, however, fortunate to have the Fall Festival at church so at least she did get to wear the "halloween tutu" that I stressed so much over.  Case in point, I stressed about the tutu, she wore it to the Fall Festival on the Wednesday before Halloween, got sick on the Friday before Halloween and the tutu never touched her body again.  I was disappointed, but babies get sick and so there you go!

Moving right along to Thanksgiving and if you've read you know that she has been sick for a few weeks now and everything has finally culminated into pnumonia.  So Bailey hasn't felt all that great this week.  She has still been sheer joy but it's quite frustrating for me to have an ill baby as she is NEVER ill and so when she is I don't know how to deal with her.  We've been in Alabama since Sunday and that's along time for this little girl to go without  seeing her daddy, too, but she has become quite the Mimi/Poppy T lover. 

This would be her pre-Thanksgiving snack, right before she decided sleep would be better than her first Thanksgiving dinner!

So, anyway, Bailey slept the best she has slept in a long long time last night, probably because she does feel better.  Which meant that her nap time was not as early as usual.  Which meant right about the time it was time for Pap-paw to say the blessing, Bailey finally sacked out.  We ate Thanksgiving dinner without her.  I sure did want to wake her up, but knew better.  It was a total let down for me to be eating Thanksgiving dinner with my family present and her be asleep down the hall.  She woke up after about an hour, so basically just slept right through eating, but didn't miss any of the chit-chatting!  That's my girl!

I would like to add here that if I had tried to control the situation, such as having a lunch time set earlier or later, just to work around her nap and avoid this disappointment, she would have done something like not taken a nap all day or something to make the stress and worry of it needless.  It never crossed my mind that she might be napping during eating time, so therefore, it happened.

But you know what?  On this Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for this little girl.  I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us and let Sid and me have her for some time and that He has entrusted her little life to us.  I am so thankful that inspite of her breathing challenges since birth, she is a healthy, happy baby.  I am so thankful for her daycare that loves her and prays over her and treats her as if she were there own, thus encouraging her to grow and develop.

I know this picture is blurry, but her body wants to walk so bad.... her brain just doesn't tell her she can yet.  She can walk all over as long as she has something to hold onto, but if she wants something and there is nothing to hold onto to walk to it, down on those knees she goes.  Poppy T says she is the world's fastest crawler!

Back to being thankful, I am so thankful for my family and for Sid's family and for Sid.  For our health and our house and the fact that we are able to turn on the heat at night during these cold months and have blankets on our bed and we don't have to worry about where the next meal is coming from or if we have shoes to put on our feet.  I am thankful for our awesome God and His ultimate gift, the sacrifice of His own son so that we can have eternal life.  The fact that if I were die today, I believe in that place called Heaven and that I would see loved ones again.  I'm thankful for intelligent doctors and modern medicine that help our children when they are sick.  I'm thankful for all those other little people in my life - Mason, Brady, Erin and Andrew. I'm thankful for Hashbrown Casserole (and a husband who learned how to make it just as good, if not better, than my Mama) and Dr. Pepper! I'm thankful that life is so good that I can be thankful for the small stuff like that.   I'm thankful that I was born and raised in a free country and I'm thankful for that freedom.  I am thankful for the forgiveness of sins, that Jesus saves.  I'm thankful for our vehicles and that we don't have to rely on public transportation or that I don't have to worry when I get ready to come home for a visit. I just get in the car and go. I'm thankful for age old friendships that pick up right where they left off and for good books to read.  I'm thankful for unconditional love from my parents and the unconditional love that Sid's family has accepted me with.  I'm thankful for the love that is bestowed upon Bailey from everyone and for the best grandfather in the whole wide world.  I'm thankful for all the many blessings that I take for granted every single day!  There's just too much to list here.  I've probably already lost you all by now anyway. 

Sid has had to work so much the past two weeks and today was no exception, so he didn't get to come for Thanksgiving.  That made me really sad and I was upset, but at the same time thankful he has a job.  But I don't have any pictures to share other than the ones I already did from Bailey's first Thanksgiving except what I've already posted.  And I reminded myself early today that Halloween was a bust and although today was by no means a bust, she just slept through Thanksgiving dinner, that I mustn't set my hopes too high for that birthday party and Christmas that is jsut right around the corner.

I'm falling asleep typing this but stay tunned because tomorrow I'm going to write all about our Dinner today and post some pictures of the dinning room.  If I didn't know her personally, I'd say Cindy Self hired a decorater to help her with all that she did.  But I know better and you are in for a treat to see some of her stuff.  Check back tomorrow.

We do sincerley hope that you had a great Thanksgiving Day spent with family that loves you as much as we are loved!

Update on Bailey

Well, we met the local pediatrician in Oneonta today. I really liked him, but I did not like what he had to say. Bailey has pneumonia. He did say it looked like her ears were responding to the current antibiotic, but changed what she was taking to something that would cover both the ears and the pneumonia. I don't know what it was, but it was like the instant she got it she started to feel better. She hasn't even coughed that much. Needless to say, we didn't get out much the past two days, but Bailey has gotten her some much need Mimi and Poppy T time! I told Mom tonight I think she likes Poppy T more than any of us. That's probably because he plays the guitar for her!!!

I don't know when we will head back to Mississippi. Friday at the earliest!

Erin and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things that we needed, not related at all to cooking a Thanksgiving meal, and it was WILD! W-I-L-D!! Why? Why do people wait until 6:00 the night before to go do all that shopping? I was a bit stressed when we finally got out of that place, so much so that I forgot the one thing that originally prompted the trip to Wal-Mart, and I had a list. That's pretty bad.

On a funny note, Dad has been waiting all day for this thing to come in that he ordered for his Christmas lights. They have shrubs all along the house that look like mini-Christmas trees so they are prefect for lights. There are seven of them and he ordered this thing to make them dance like they are set to music. They probably will be before it's all over, but anyway he waited by the door like a little kid and the UPS truck never came. When I left for Wal-Mart about 4:30 he was just so disappointed thinking his stuff wasn't coming today. Well, when I pulled in Wal-Mart the UPS truck was just sitting there so I stopped to ask them how much longer they would be delivering and it just so happened that the UPS guy let me get Dad's treat. But boy was Erin confused. This is what she asked me, "Aunt Bah, how do you get stuff from the UPS guy that you don't even order?" I guess the poor little thing was asking in a nice way if I had just robbed the UPS guy! And the sad thing is if I would have just let the UPS truck deliver, Dad would have gotten it way before we returned it with because once again, people wait until the night before to do major grocery shopping for the biggest meal of the year. CRAZY!!!

Happy Turkey Day Eve!!

Sick Babies

I don't think I had mentioned this but last Friday I got a call that Bailey was running a high temp at daycare. I thought surely it was just her teeth because the day before she had seemed just fine. But Friday night during the night, I got a little scared, as she ran a VERY high temp and I had to put cool rags on her body to get it come down, the tylenol and motrin were not doing their jobs. So Saturday morning we headed to the urgent care to find that she had a bad ear infection in just one ear. Armed with an antibiotic and some numbing ear drops, we head to Bama on Sunday morning. She has been fine, not totally fever free, but not fussy and playing and such since we got here. Until today....she woke up fussy, had a worse than normal cough and after nap was running a VERY high temp again. I have an appointment to see the pediatrician here at 9 in the morning.



Leslie got a call from Andrew's daycare this afternoon that they thought he might be throwing up. So she spent the afternoon at the doctor with Andrew. Good news he is not throwing up, but the bad news is his reflux is back and does have a slight cold.

After going to Erin's program this morning, I brought the sweet girl home with me.

Well, home after we had lunch at McDonald's. She and Bailey took a GREAT nap together and so tonight after the babies had been medicated, they all played together for a while.



Then they all three took a bath together and got ready for bed. Poppy T came in from guitar practice and I'd say these peeps look like they are done for the day - a day where they didn't feel so well.





I've enjoyed seeing this little man this trip!



He's turning into more of a little boy and not a baby anymore. Could you not just die for those baby blues? Those are the bluest eyes I have ever seen on such a young child. They are so blue they don't even turn red when you take a picture of them. He's gonna get anything he wants from his Mama with those eyes, you just wait and see!!!!

Our Little Indian

Bailey and I are in Oneonta for the week. I've needed this trip home to spend more than a mere 30 hours at a time but then again in the process it makes me a little sad to be away. Mom let me sleep in the morning AND she slept with Bailey so not only did I get an uninterrupted night of sleep, I also got an uninterrupted morning of sleep, too! She said that won't happen the whole week and I'm sure it won't because she has lots to do to get ready for the big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.

We spent some time with Uncle Will today, which is A-MAZING because he's always so busy throughout the weekends when we are here that we rarely see him. It's such a shame that he'll forever be a bachelor because it amazes me at how babies and children, and I suppose women, take to him. Bailey acted like she was used to playing with the boy on a daily basis. They'd be for sure pals if there were around each other daily. We also got to eat lunch with Poppy-T at Cafe On Main, one of Daddy's favs when in town. Bailey has sweet potatoes, broccoli and rice, and carrots. She burped and had broccoli breath pretty much the rest of the day.

We also have plans to go see this cute little Indian in a very short (the note said be there at 10:30 and if you get there at 10:32 you might miss the show) Kindergarten program in the morning. Then I'm not sure what we will do.

 

I should have taken the camera just to put it on the blog, but last night I got to participate in an old timer tradition. My friend Rosemary has forever cooked Sunday night supper, for as long as I can remember, and I used to have a standing reservation at their house. So this past Sunday, Bay and I made the trip up the mountain to see the Atkinson's and have some of Rose's good cooking. I think Bay enjoyed it more than I did (the cooking I mean), but as always, the meal and fellowship lived up to it's reputation. Just another thing that makes me miss home. I don't think I have one friend that I can just up to their house, make myself at home, feed me and my child, etc. in Mississippi. So there defiantly is something about being able to come home.

We will be here until at least Thursday afternoon, possibly even later, but we miss Daddy and hope he gets some time off soon to go hunting. Everybody in the Philly area that was in jeopardy of dying pretty much did just that at the end of last week. So, he ended up having to work the entire first weekend of hunting season and it wasn't even his weekend to work. At last count, I think they've had 9 funerals since Friday. So we hope people take a break off from the thing that gets them some business and he comes for Thanksgiving dinner and gets to visit awhile.

Still no final decision on Bay's birthday just yet, other than the date, which is Dec.19th, so save the date.

Thanksgiving Time

I bought two books for Sid and I to read together this Christmas season. The first one is called "Why the Nativity" by David Jeremiah and it is made up of 25 reasons why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. I'm sorry to disappoint my friends, but we don't celebrate Him for ourselves. We celebrate because Him because he came to save us, to redeem us from ourselves. So I look forward to taking a more in-dept look at the biblical based reasons for Christmas such as why Mary? why Joseph? why the stable? And so forth. The second book is a book of daily devotions specifically for the Christmas season. We have so much going on. Bailey's first birthday. Bailey's first Christmas where she is actually at home and we can celebrate with her. I already feel us getting caught up in the commercial reason for Christmas and as a Mom, now more than ever, I want to start some traditions with my family and one of those would be to remember the real meaning behind Christmas and I want Bailey to grow up knowing it's not all about her and how many presents she can collect under the tree. This year, it's me that needs to remember that because she has no clue if she has one or twenty. I'm the one who is getting out of control for her first Christmas. What I would like to do is determine how much we actually spent on her and then every year after this, make a donation in her honor to some type of charity for a portion of that dollar amount instead of spending all the money on her. She is a well blessed child and I want her to grow up knowing that.

Ok, moving along.....it's almost Thanksgiving and just in case I don't have time to post much next week because I plan to be in Oneonta, I wanted to share this:

December 22, 2008, Bailey's Birthday


December 27, 2008, The vent was gone for good and she finally got a bath and some clothes on!


May, 2009, On the vent after in the PICU after the surgery on her airway.


Oh! Are we ever thankful for this sweet baby and for the blessings she brings to our family every single day!

Oh Steak!! Where Have You Been My Whole Life???

I have just been sitting here working on a post that took me about a good 30 minutes to write. And all with the stroke of one key, and I wish I knew which one, the darn thing disappeared. I don't even have the words to express the madness appropriatly. So here's the gest of it: Bay's got some massive teeth coming in. See -




And because she can chow down, she got her first taste of her daddy's steak tonight. See -





Wish I was more enthusiastic, but I'm mad! I cannot believe that I have no idea what happened to the big long huge post I had was two words away from posting.

I Was Like A Kid In A Candy Store

Or toy store actually. So, Sid and I went with Ben and Kylie (his brother/my brother in law and sister in law) to do some Christmas shopping. First, just because I know he reads I would like to say that it is VERY sad that I've been here for almost 2 1/2 years and I never, ever would have guessed in a million years that my brother in law was a comedian on the side. I laughed at him the entire night. Kylie, I must say that you have your hands way more full than I ever knew. Anyway, we had a GREAT time and hopefully we will be able to take some more Christmas shopping trips together before the season ends. I also learned that my sister in law puts her tree up way before Thanksgiving....because it's up already.

Anyway, we went several places and had a great dinner. But when we went to Toys-R-Us, I think I had an out of body experience. Kylie and Ben wanted us to show them some things for Bailey's birthday and Christmas and we needed to do the same for Mason. I've shopped for Erin for the past five Christmas's and that's always been tons of fun. But I never knew it was so neat and stressful all at the same time to pick toys out for your soon to be one year old. We found several things that we knew would be great for Bailey and I promise you we walked around that store for at least an hour with me saying "I just really don't know, I don't know, I can't decide, Sid you decide...." I know Ben and Kylie were thinking for the love of all that is Holy would you pluuuueeesseeee make up your mind.

Then I didn't feel so bad when we left there and spent the next two hours or so going to not one but two Wal-Marts looking for a specific bike that they needed for Mason.

We didn't leave Philadelphia until later in the evening because of course Sid had a funeral and a long one at that simply because we made plans in advance. But that was ok, we still had a great time. But did ya'll know that there are Wal-Marts in the world that don't stay open 24 hours a day? I didn't. But I do now because we were in one in Meridian at MIDNIGHT when they started to close. Of course, our shopping trip may not have had us out til almost 1 a.m. if 1) We'd had a waiter at O'Charley's that was coherent and drug-free, 2)They hadn't messed Sid's food up at O'Charley's and we had to send it back, because bless his heart, he only eats meat, cheese and bread and for SOME reason, probably b/c it all sounded good to our non-drug free waitress at the time, his sandwich had onions, peppers, and mushrooms slathered all over it. (I'd have sent it back, too.) 3) We hadn't have taken a tour around Meridian to see old haunted houses that were, yeah, "in the hood" and finally 4) We hadn't have stopped off in the hood for some ice cream at the local hood DQ.

Of course the trip was almost cut short when NeNe, who had the kids, called Ben to tell him that Mason WAS NOT going to sleep with Pap-paw. See, Mason is 4 1/2 and I don't know how long he's been spending the night with NeNe and Jerry but ever since he has, he has always slept with NeNe. Then enters Bay to the picture and who is she going to sleep with? Everybody tried to tell him he'd have to sleep with Pap-paw so Mam-maw could sleep with Bailey and at first, he wasn't listening to it, but then he finally relented and all was to be well. UNTIL, it was time to go to bed and he had to actually get into the bed with Pap-paw. Let's just say that they both ended up still spending the night, Jerry has a "new" bed buddy that is NOT Mason, Mam-maw got no sleep because she felt compelled to get up and check on Jerry's bed buddy every hour and all is well in Mason's little life, bless his heart! I was proud of Ben and Kylie though because if they had called me and told me Bay wanted to come home, I'd have dropped everything, including all those toys labeled for one year old's and made a bee-line to get her.

We learned something else on that trip, too! Or I did anyway, I am too old to stay out and up that late. I just know I'm gonna crash tonight before Brothers and Sisters goes off and that's gonna make me so mad.

A Comment

My friend Val left a comment on my last post about her son being in daycare when he was a baby and about how she is one of those mother's with big binders on not one but both of her children. I am forever amazed at Val AND her children everytime I read her blog. I know, or knew, both Val and her husband when we were in highschool but have seen neither of them in a long, long time. But anyway, Val's two children have Cochlear Implants, both for very different reasons the way I understand it. And it is amazing to me how much of an advocate she is for them and also how she teaches them to advocate for themselves. She's one of those that just inspires by her very words and in fact has written a book. Going through what she has as a parent has got to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting, but Val just keeps on pushing through and educating the entire state (and beyond it seems sometimes) about CI's and deaf education. You have to go check her and her darling blondies out here: http://www.deafkidscanhear.blogspot.com/ (I don't know how to link to another site!)

But I just wanted to say that what she had to say in her comment is why I thought about keeping a journal or notebook of all Bailey's medical stuff, too bad I just thought about it too late! She says that she can reference something really quick and I imagine it's a good thing to have to kindly remind all these docs and therapists of conversations held.

The thing is, I do a GREAT job of housing all this info somewhere in the back of my brain. So when a doctor, like the one yesterday, says "so what's going on with Bailey" and I say "well let's start at birth", the information just freely flows. So much so that yesterday I was asked to hold on so that the poor man could write. My info was flowing faster than his doctor scribbling could go. And once he was done getting her history from me, he was getting ready to take a look at Bay. But before he did, he took the time to tell me that treating an 11 month old is sometimes tricky because they can't tell us what the problem is or how they feel. He, as a doctor, has to rely on what I, as a mother, tell him in order to make the best diagnosis and treatment plan possible. This lead him to ask what line of work I was in and I correctly told him special education. He laughed a puffy "hummm" laugh and said, "oh, I thought you might have been a nurse. You are very knowledgeable and aware of Bailey's situation."

I may or may not have told him that's because I rush as fast as I can to the nearest internet connection after meeting with a specialist, or any doctor where something new is being discussed, and google everything I don't understand so that I can better understand it, and thus file it away for the next time I'm asked, "so, what's going on with Bailey."

And Val, thanks for the encouraging words about daycare. I am a huge advocate for daycare (if you are in a good one and trust the people you are leaving your child with) simply for the socialization factor. What I'm not a big fan of is parents who want take off from their job to keep a sick child home, but will take off for something like a shopping trip or vacation. They don't realize that one sick child in a daycare setting can equal lots of sick children eventually and lots of parents off of work. It's an inconvience to say the least. My mother has had to come stay for many days and my mother-in-law has had to take time off from her own job to help us out with Bay. But we get it done out of respect for those other babies and their families. I just wish everyone else would do the same. Ok, so that's my soapbox for the day.

I started reading Isaiah today. It's been pretty powerful so far. But when I get done, I'm going to get Beth Moore's book that is based on a few verses from a chapter in Isaish. I wanted to have the background for it first. Has anyone read it yet or done the study?

Pulminologist Report and Chick-Fil-A

You know, I've had children on my caseload before who were so medically and educationally challenged that their mother's had huge 3 ring binders that housed all of their medical and educational records. Sometime during the summer it crossed my mind that I should have probably done a better job at keeping up with exact dates of things and conversations with doctors just for the record. But I didn't and Bailey is no where near as medically challenged as those I refer to here. But anyway, we visited the third or fourth specialist, possibly the fifth one, since 12/22/08 today. And I loved him. His name is Dr. Haltman and he assured me without me even having to ask that he will take as good of care of my baby as he possibly can. We got a good report, basically just some bad asthma, and maybe some "healing" that is still taking place from the crycoid split in May, which I have my doubts about, but anyway.....We will stay on Pulmicort twice a day, Cingulair once a day, go back on the Prevacid because reflux can either trigger asthma or make it worse, (I got confused), and do Xopenex as needed. She sounded great and we go back in December to see how things are going. Oh, and of course he tried to make me feel as guilty as he possible could about how bad daycare is for babies with repiratory issues. Hmmm, oh well, life happens, and thus, so does daycare! He did follow up that sentence with something like "statistically babies who are in daycare have better immune systems in the long run because they have been busy building it up by catching everything that goes around." So yeah, that made me feel tons better.

We discussed RSV and RSV shots and he didn't seem to think that her getting the shots would help things in this matter. So, whatever on that, too!

Bailey and I went to Chick-Fil-A after the appointment and she had her very first happy meal. The little bugger ate all four chicken nuggets, about three waffle fries, and some ketchup. She got a hold of my cup when we were done and you should have seen those arms and feet a-going when some good ole cold Dr. Pepper finally made its way all the way up that straw and into her mouth. She's been trying for weeks now, but today she finally got it. It seems like overnight she has just grown up so much.

Ok, either my computer is ready for bed or blogger is acting a fool, so I'm done I guess. I've just got some things that are heavy on my heart right now and I'd appreciate some positive thoughts and maybe a prayer to the Big Guy on my behalf if you wouldn't mind. It's nothing I won't work through and of course, as always, I have the best husband a girl could ask for. So that always helps too!

Ok, I so didn't mean to end this on a sad/what the heck is going on kind of note, and I probably should delete the post and start over......

Can You Believe It?

The Holiday's are here, and guess what that means? We have an almost one year old on our hands. Oh, the stress of birthday parties and what to do, what to do, what to do is about to begin. We've been thinking on it for quite some time now and I was just almost sure we'd do the generic "hey look I'm 1" for the first party since she isn't old enough to tell us what she wants. But last night, Sid had a light bulb moment and reminded me that Bailey LOVES her some Mickey Mouse Club House. Not just plain ole Mickey Mouse, but Mickey Mouse Club House and Handy Manny. We vetoed Handy Manny right away because my little girl's first birthday party will not be themed around a maintenance man and his talking tools. But Mickey Mouse Club House was a great idea, except it's just not very girly. So I've been doing some searching and I know these pictures won't tell the whole story of what the party would be like, but check out these themes and let me know what you think.



So, there's Minnie from Mickey Mouse Club House. So we could throw some girly stuff off in there.






And here we have some spin off's of the "hey look I'm 1" theme. Not bad, but just generic. I was thinking if I did this then I'd have a big vase of fresh cut flowers as the center piece and maybe a 1 birthday cake decorated with flowers and such to match which ever one we chose. Oh, and there's that "hey I'm 1 AND a princess". I don't really like it though because I'm sure she will want a princess birthday party soon enough.



Here's a cupcake 1 theme. I sort of like that because I can use it as a cupcake themed birthday party and have her big cake be a big cupcake and her little cake that she gets to dig into be a smaller cupcake.

I just don't know. But I what I do know is this: She turns 1 on Dec. 22nd. I'm pretty sure we will do her party on a Saturday, most likely sometime before the 22nd. Rather we do it here or in Alabama, it's just a busy time for all. I say Alabama because I have friends in Alabama who I've helped to celebrate their children's birthdays before and I'd like to have some of them be able to come. Don't take this the wrong way because it isn't as sad as it sounds, but I just don't have many friends here. I also thought we might have it in Alabama for another good reason. None of Bailey's great grandparents here will be able to travel to Alabama just as none of her great grandparents in Alabama will be able to travel here for a party. While she is little, we could swap up the parties for a few years so all grandparents get to participate. When she gets a few years older and wants friends of her own to be invited, we'd for sure just have her parties here. I think it would be fair for the great grandparents in Alabama do some there. Also, since we'll most likely have her big party on a weekend, we'll have to do a little something on her actual birthday, which happens to be on a Tuesday this year. Great grandparents who couldn't travel to Alabama for her big, real party would most likely for sure get to see her on her real birthday whereas if we have everything here, there are people in Alabama who will be left out all together. And here's another thing, the chior's Christmas music is the first weekend in December. I had thought about having her big party that weekend because Mom and Dad are already coming for that since I'm singing. But I don't want to set the precedence of always having her big birthday party a few weeks before her actual birthday. When she gets older she won't like that.

So, in case you missed what I do know for sure, here it is again: Bailey's turning one and I'm stressing out about it. Which of the above do you like?

Random Stuff But Thankful Still

This sweet girl is sick AGAIN!



In order to be eligible for the RSV shots that are supposed to either A) keep a baby with respiratory problems to begin with from getting RSV or B) keeping the RSV from being so bad if they do get it, you have to meet certain criteria. We were told by the discharge nurse from the NICU that Bailey probably wouldn't qualify because here are the qualifications:
Babies born prematurely at 35 weeks or less
Babies who weigh 5 pounds or less at birth
Babies born with heart disease
Babies with chronic lung disease
Babies who will be around things such as cigarette smoke.



In contrast to those qualifications, Bailey was born at 36 weeks, not 35, and weighed 6 pounds, not 5. She isn't around anyone who smokes, we were careful to keep her away from wood burning heaters during the winter and were told by the nurse at her pedi office that she probably wouldn't qualify either. So we didn't push the issue.



Why do you have to qualify? Because RSV season lasts something like 5 months and the baby has to get one shot a month for those 5 months and each shot costs like $2000. So if insurance denies your request, you are just out of luck and hope your baby who was born one week too late and one pound too heavy but with lung problems just won't get RSV.



By now you know that we weren't so lucky. Bailey got RSV. And it could be completely coincidental, but we have not recovered yet. She has this insecent cough ever since and it finally got bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. After some x-rays and a few breathing treatments I was given the choice one again of the hospital or some shots and go home, only to return first thing the next morning. I chose option B, we got some shots, headed home, and Friday morning went back to the doctor first thing. As a side note, when we got home from the doctor Thursday, Bailey got in her highchair, ate a good supper, cried to be picked up, threw up all over me and the floor and fell asleep. I didn't think things were looking to promising for us to stay out of the hospital over the weekend.



I usually don't get up in the middle of the night for any reason unless I just have to but I did get up and make sure she had those breathing treatments like they told me to do them. Thankfully, on Friday morning, the doctor felt she was doing much better....BUT....said something has to give....the coughing and wheezing just isn't good and she is defiantly having lung/breathing problems.



So next Thursday we start yet another journey with yet another specialist in hopes of getting a handle on the situation. We will see the pediatric pulminologist out of Jackson. Until then, we are doing breathing treatments every 4 hours and Bailey is ill as a hornet.



And I intend to write the company that puts out the RSV shots and the insurance company. I know it's too late this year. But we can not have another RSV season like this one. I know she didn't meet the immediate qualifications, but surely with all these documented problems, and a possible diagnosis of either asthma or lung disease, as I did hear that mentioned from the doctor on Friday, surely there are other circumstances that can be looked at. Mom inquired about paying out of pocket for the shots, like she has $10,000 for some RSV shots, and was told that insurance won't even let you pay out of pocket.



Whatever the case, I intend to beseech the insurance company on my daughter's behalf so that maybe we don't go through this again. Just pray for us and with us that we get to the bottom of what is going on. I'm not sure how long her little body can tolerate all these meds being inhaled into her heart and lungs every 4 hours.



And just think of these pictures you've just seen. Such a picture perfect baby. And she is, she is the sweetest, most innocent, biggest reason to rise in the morning that my life has ever experienced. She is the epitomy of God's unending love for us. Not only to give His son for our sins, but to give us our own children to love and watch grow on a daily basis. I pray for her daily those sweet hands will grow to learn how to use to them to serve God and others.




But until she can use those hands herself to serve, I intend to keep them as happy and healthily as I possible can. So, to the maker's of Synagis, aka the RSV shots, get ready for a few pictures of this sweet girl along with a very nice letter from the sweet girl's mama. I have to have answers. Hopefully, Thursday we will get some. Until then, please be safe with your children. Wash their hands, don't let them put stuff in their mouths if you don't know where it's been. Shopping carts and restaurant highchairs are the worst. And most of all, if you have a sick child, especially one with RSV, please please please keep them at home. RSV is nothing more than a cold to healthy children. But to kids like Bailey, it can be deadly. RSV season is in full swing and we got it rather early. Just be safe and careful this Fall and Winter season.

And I hope you enjoyed the pictures of our sweet princess. We had them taken by a sweet friend and have many many more to share.

Little Angel

I still have tons to post about the weekend that we had Bay Christened. But before the times get too far gone, I just had to share this picture. It is my VERY favorite of the ones that I took of Bay. But before I share it I have to tell the story behind this picture. I did not plan very well the morning of the service, because if so I would have gotten to the church way earlier than I did so that I could take pictures of us with Pappaw and some of Bay at church. But I did not. We got there at 10:30 and still had to dress her once we arrived. And Mom was a little later getting there so I had to dress her myself in that big long dress. I was just a teeny bit stressed. Well, then we got up to the front to take a family picture and one with Pappaw, but I think Pappaw got a teeny bit stressed because the choir was coming in and we were still up taking pictures. He wanted us to sit down and appropriately told us so. But right before we were going to sit down, Mom said to put her on the cushions on the alter. So I did but when I backed up to take my picture, there were several others right there trying to get pictures too. Namely, the grandmothers. So in a not so nice tone I informed them that if they would please back up I might could get some pictures of MY baby. And then I snapped this picture. So I sort of feel like her facial expression was a reaction to my commotion. But I got the picture I wanted to I guess mission accomplished. Since we are on the subject, sorry Mimi and Mammaw. I just wanted a picture of her on the alter before Pappaw really made us sit down. I think in the end we all ended up with pictures that we are happy with. I hope so anyway.



I mean, could things get any sweeter than this?????