Sickness

I think one of the most helpless feelings in the world occurs when you have a sick child. This is made worse when you are in the hospital with a sick child, and even as the doctors and nurses are doing everything they can to help, your little girl seems to be getting sicker and sicker. About two weeks ago, Abby got a cough and fever that I didn't think too much about. I took her to the doctor Saturday morning. They thought she had pneumonia because she was having trouble breathing, her heart was racing a million miles a minute, and her oxygen levels were really low. We were sent right to Primary Children's Hospital. We spent 4 hours in the ER while they observed her. I am so grateful to a dedicated nurse who watched Abby carefully. We were almost released twice based on the doctor's observations, but the nurse who was in charge of us had some reservations which lead to Abby being admitted. For the rest of Saturday and until Sunday night, she seemed to get worse.

In addition to the fever, cough, respiratory issues, and accelerated heart rate, Abby had red eyes and sores in her mouth.

They drew blood, sucked out snot, did nasal swabs for all kinds of tests, and consulted infectious disease doctors. They threw out all kinds of possibilities: pneumonia, mycoplasma (walking pneumonia), adenovirus, atypical measles, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, and Kawasaki Disease. Everything they tested for came back negative.

Sunday morning she was moved from a regular room to a negative air-flow one since they couldn't figure out what was making her so sick and therefore didn't know how contagious it was. They never were able to figure out what she had. Apparently there are all kinds of viruses out there that they don't yet have tests for. It's not that unusual for a baby/small child to get an unidentified virus which will cause the fever, cough...but Abby's situation was so strange because of her eyes and mouth.

Finally on Monday morning she was almost back to her normal, crazy self. The purple tongue below wasn't part of the sickness, although that would have been another interesting symptom.

I love Primary Children's Hospital, the doctors, nurses, techs, etc. are amazing. As we checked in they told us that we could order any food for Abby any time during the day. When Rich told me that the first time he called, they answered "Food service, what can we do for Abigail today?", I started crying. I know this is such a little detail, but it meant so much to me. She was released on Tuesday afternoon, but had to stay in "quarantine" for an extra week to make sure she didn't spread anything.

I am so glad this is over. We owe a huge thanks to my mom. She was so sweet to stay with us and help so that Rich and I could spend as much time at the hospital with Abby as possible.

I am also thankful for the many thoughts and prayers, cards, gifts, meals, calls and visits we received. We know how lucky we are to have family and friends who care.

A Summer Summary

It can't be nearing the end of summer yet, can it? Luckily we have been able to do some fun things, here is a little sample...

What would summer be without a trip to Lagoon? Abby was in heaven as she rode all of the little kids rides, which were basically all the same thing: a ride dressed up as a car, boat, airplane, etc. that goes around in a circle.

We were also lucky enough to spend some time with old friends at Heritage Park. Abby and Josh had so much fun, we wish they lived closer!

Abby was the photographer for the bottom left picture, but it was the only one of Kim and I together- sorry to cut you and Nathan out, Kim!

Abby was also able to go to a couple of summer camp classes that were offered by her upcoming preshcool teacher. One of the days they learned all about pirates...

...and the other day they studied France and French artists. Ab made her own impressionist painting and ate crepes. I want to go to preschool.

The very best part of summer?

All of the shaved ices and slurpees that turn your mouth colors that don't really exist in nature.

War Stories from Nursery

A couple of weeks ago in nursery, Abby was playing with a toy that another kid wanted. Abby wasn't in the mood to share and after a moment of wrestling, the kid PUNCHED Abby in the eye. Luckily it wasn't that big of a cut and Abby recovered fairly quickly.

One!

I am not sure how it happened so fast, but Matt turned one a little over a week ago.

Matt loves to put things on his head (including Abby's pink hat, and his socks).

Matt is awesome. He loves to eat, loves the computer mouse, and our house is never, ever clean while he is awake.

We chose to celebrate Matt's birthday quietly, with just the four of us this year. He's a pretty introverted kid and we didn't think he would like a lot of people watching him as he ate his first cupcake (which he loved- of course).
Happy Birthday, Matt! We love you!

Naughty Little Monkeys

I guess our kids are pretty typical; they are into EVERYTHING!

Not too long ago, I was congratulating myself on raising Abby to know better than to get into things like lotion, bath products, etc...good one.
The top two pictures are what we found one night after letting Abby fall asleep in our bed. The next morning my mom asked Abby what she had all over her. Abby's response: " I don't know, I hope it's not lotion." My favorite part? The tiny, greasy hand prints covering our bed.

The bottom two pictures are of Abby one morning after she found our band-aid boxes.

And, Matt. Matt is a mini tornado. If he sees an organized room, I think he considers it his mission to destroy. He can rip a room apart in 5 minutes.

Knock-Knock!

For anyone who misses elementary school humor...

Whew!

After an extended absence, I think we are back! The last 6 months have been really hard. Rich was on the job market, and for econs this is a lengthy, involved process. It began in October & November with Rich sending out applications for roughly 100 jobs. In January, he went to a big Econ meeting and had 17 first round interviews. This group of interviews included some government agencies, a few universities and a consulting firm. From there, he was offered the chance to fly out for 8 second round interviews (he only took 6 of those). In the end, he received 3 job offers. And the one he accepted was . . . . . (drum roll, please) . . . . . a research faculty position in the medical school at the University of Utah (Utah man sir, a Utah man is he) with a joint appointment at the Salt Lake VA Medical Center! Rich wanted me to add that he will be making hundreds of thousands of dollars, so here goes: Over the course of the next x-amount (read: MANY, MANY) of years, Rich will make hundreds of thousands of dollars.

All joking aside, we actually feel very blessed in this process. It was a difficult year on the job market. Rich received many emails from places where he had applied saying that due to budget concerns, they had suspended their search. The three job offers he got were good ones and it was a hard decision to make, but we feel like Utah will be a good fit for him.

So, with all of this job stuff, the normal winter sicknesses and other random things, we have been going nuts! I am hoping I will get back into the blogging groove soon, we will see.

Abby Turned Three...A Couple of Weeks Ago

Abby at 3, loves:

the colors pink and golden
movie: The Sword in the Stone
songs: Saturday Night, "The Train Song" (Midnight Train to Georgia)
her buddy Guido (a blue monkey)
dancing
food: beans and rice, and anything sweet
dressing up like a princess

Weighs: 24.5 pounds, and is 34.5 inches tall!

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Mini Giant

Oh, our little (huge!) Matt. We love this crazy kid. He's now 6.5 months old and his growth doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. He is a few ounces short of 22 pounds and almost 29 inches tall. Both measurements put him above the 97th percentile for his age! We now start taking bets on when he passes Abby.

He also has a very special talent, which he performs with great gusto.