Weekend Whirlwind

Saturday Ross and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary. It started out with the above pictured anniversary present from Hannah: It read, "Anniversary was mom and dad! Anniversary day! I love you dad and mom! I hope you have a great anniversary day!" That really could be the best anniversary gift ever! Thank you, Hannah, your gift was extremely thoughtful. It was perfect. The not so perfect part? Ok. This is a little involved. Sarah had surgery on an abscess two weeks ago and the doctor said he did not believe it was staph and not to worry about it. He drained the abscess and sent my sister on her way without any antibiotics or specific instructions. Well on Friday, mom had a place on her leg that she thought was a bug bite that started looking really badly. After going to the doctor she learned that Sarah did in fact have a staph infection and now she did too. Shame on the doctor who did the surgery for dropping the ball big time and not following up on the culture and shame on Washington Regional for not making it known either. Thankfully there are two other hospitals in the area that gives patients options. My family has already made the decision to avoid WRMC and MANA whenever possible. Ok, so back to Saturday...mom is sick and in pain with staph and daddy has the stomach bug which now means we have no babysitters on our anniversary. Luckily, Austin was around to save the night. He came to the house to watch all four kids until Blair got here to help him out after she got off work. Thanks guys, it was great of you to sacrifice your Saturday night to help us out!

Ross and I went to Noodles for dinner and planned on walking around the Square in Fayetteville and looking at Christmas lights, but mom called as soon as we were done eating and needed us to look at her leg. It looked really bad so we took her to the ER (remember dad couldn't; he was sick). Aunt Debi met us there because we had to get home to feed Jonathan. Mom ended up having her wound lanced, drained, and packed. They also gave her an IV antibiotic and she had to go back Sunday to do it again. Needless to say out night out was interrupted by more important things. What an Anniversary, hopefully next years will be better. Love you, Babe. At least we were together!

This brings us to Sunday. We had to get going early. MG and Han were singing with XLR8 as part of this years Christmas program; so they had to be there by 8:10. I did not want to get up...nothing like the kids' performance to hold you accountable ;). Long story short, I ended up sitting in the ER with Sarah all day because she needed an IV antibiotic to stop the staph from spreading even more than it already had. Needless to say, this was a whirlwind of a weekend.

Jonathan's First Birthday

This post is a day late, but I was taking care of sick kids and a sick husband yesterday while still having to make and ice the birthday boy's cake.

Happy First Birthday J Baby!! I'm glad the Lord knew we needed a son when he blessed us with you. You have brought joy and happiness into our lives in a new way over this first year of your life. You have grown from an 8 lb. 1 oz. baby into an 18 pound little boy full of adventure. Your love for stuffed animal monkeys has intrigued us all, and your laugh is intoxicating. I am excited to experience the new milestones and first experiences this next year will bring. Mommy and daddy love you very much sweet boy.

Stomach Bug

Our first attempt at painting the salt dough ornaments failed. Sadly, three of my four kiddos were stricken with the stomach at the same time. Abigail had Speech Therapy this morning and literally as soon as I walked in the door from dropping her off, Mrs. Tara called to tell me that Abigail had thrown up. Poor Mrs. Tara! Luckily she is the only one that vomited and it was only once, but MG and J both had potty issues and tummy aches all day. Abbz feel asleep on the floor at about 4:45 this afternoon and woke up for about 20 minutes before she asked to get into bed. I swear that sweet girl falls asleep somewhere on the floor when she doesn't feel well.

Tomorrow is my baby boy's first birthday so I am praying everyone will wake up feeling back to normal. I have had a terrible headache for two days now and still have a birthday cake to make...that may have to wait till morning.

On a happy note, Mandy saw my Facebook status stating my need for chocolate and she delivered. I love having a friend so close that she can swing by just to bring me chocolate without being asked because she loves me. Thanks Mandy, you have no idea how badly I needed that! Sometimes it's the small things in life that help you make through a day with 3 sick kids and a hubby working the night shift. Oh and as far as the ornaments go, next week is the new plan for painting.

Wednesdays

Today has been a long day. Not a bad day, just a long one. I made, cut out, and dried the salt dough ornaments. Now all we need are 5 little girls and 1 almost one year old little boy to paint them!
Speaking of that one year little boy; I CANNOT believe my baby will be one in 2 more days! It makes me sad.

I took Mary Grace and Hannah to church for choir rehearsal and a pizza party for all of their hard work preparing for their Christmas performance. If you are in Northwest Arkansas and need something to do on Sunday morning, Cross Church (formerly First Baptist Church Springdale) is having their Christmas Program; it starts at 9:15.

Wednesday's are always hectic. Especially since we live 25 minutes from the church. We scramble to get the on time and then we rush to get home so the kids are up too late on a school night. Although it's chaotic at times it's worth it. Our kids always love going to church which makes this momma happy. Okay I'm exhausted so I'm callin it a night.

Finish Well

Yes. It has been a ridiculously long time since I have blogged, but honestly I haven't been in the mood. Until now. Pastor challenged us to "Finish Well" on Sunday. What does that mean? It means between now and the beginning of the new year, we should strive to finish well in all that we do. Finish well personally, relationally, professionally, and spiritually. We cannot start well if we do not finish well. I intend on doing just that. I am going to follow through with the salt dough ornaments that we have been talking about doing. To ensure it gets accomplished, Mandy is bringing the girls over after therapy on Thursday so that all of the kids can participate. I'm so excited. I have wanted to start this tradition the past few years but haven't done it yet. Let this be the first of many ornaments to come. For the next 24 days, I am going to ask God to give me a life verse, complete what seems like an impossible God-sized task in me, and give me new direction over the 2011 year. I also intend on doing my everyday wife and motherly duties to the best of my ability. I am finishing 2010 well so that I am able to begin 2011 on the right path.

Shifting gears a little. Alex and Emma came over for a little while yesterday while Mandy was taking care of things with her mom. I just love those girls! It is so much fun watching Alex, Emma, and Abigail play and interact. Half the time no one, not even Mandy or I, can understand them; but I promise you they know what each other is talking about. They crack each other up which in turn makes me laugh...good times! Other smiles to share...feeding time was at 1 so this is how it went: Alex. Check. Emma. Check. Abigail. Check. Jonathan. Check. Me. Check. It was hilarious! Every time I fed one another was hungry, including myself. At least they were kind enough the patiently wait for the one before them to finish eating before the next one voiced their need to eat. I love it!!! :) Thanks Mandy for entrusting me with your little ladies.

Now I am getting ready to head to the store to get salt for our salt dough ornaments. I'm making the ornaments tonight so they will be ready to paint on Thursday. I can't wait! I hope you are all having a blessed day, and remember to finish well.

Hannah

Hannah's teacher sent home a note asking parents to write a little note describing their child. Here is my Hannah girl in a nutshell...

If I had to sum Hannah up in one sentence; she is my sunshine! Her smile lights up any room and her giggle is contagious. She is a ball of energy, but her warmth and compassion tame that energy. She is incredibly creative and dreams of becoming an artist someday. She thrives in environments that are creative yet disciplined.

Hannah likes playing with her sisters and brother, and she is a daddy's girl through in through. Her greatest like would have to be panda bears; real or stuffed it doesn't matter, she likes them all! She also likes helping others; even it is as simple as holding the door open for them.

Dislikes. It's funny because the only thing I can think of is chili and embarrassment. The girl does not like chili. She also does not like it at all when she gets embarrassed. She wears her heart on her sleeve so hurtful words and actions bring and extra sting. I hope this brings some insight into who Hannah is. She cannot wait for this year to begin, and her daddy and I are excited to see her grow throughout this first grade year.

Daddy and Mommy love you very much Hannah!

Thursday-Ross' Scope & Abbz' Results

So this morning started out early again. Ross had to be at the office by 6:45 am for his scope. When he came back to recovery they allowed me to sit with him, and I noticed a nurse talking sort of secretively to another nurse and I suspected it was about Ross. It turns out my suspicion was correct. Apparently Ross put up quite the fight this go around. He kept trying to pull the scope out. Dr. K's exact words were, "He's a strong guy. I thought we weren't going to get it done today." He also suggested that next time we might want to scope him at the hospital so they can put him under general anesthesia. Lovely husband, just lovely. There is nothing quite like apologizing for someone who has no remembrance of their actions. Other than them having to give him a hearty dose of several sedatives he did great. He slept most of the day while Blair and I went to the mall and other stores with the girls.
The good news for the day....
Abigail PASSED her scope!!! She gets to eat grapes SAFELY!!! YEAH!!! :)

Wednesday-The Creation Museum

Today was a great day. My mom surprised us by calling the Creation Museum and told them our story to see if they would be willing to give us discounted tickets to visit the museum while we were between doctor appointments. They did even better. They blessed us more then We could have ever imagined; they gave us free guest passes for the day to the museum and planetarium. Thank you, Jessie, for this unbelievable experience! It was wonderful to not only explain but also to show the girls how the world as we know it was created; how the flood explains things such as the making of the Grand Canyon to the extinction of dinosaurs, and much more. It was very interesting and I am humbled by the fact that we had this experience so that when my children are taught evolution in school I will have educated answers that support Creation. I think the exhibit I liked the most was the one that showed a child playing next to a dinosaur...pre-flood obviously.
So tonight was date night! Ross and I were able to enjoy dinner out together while Blair stayed at the hotel with all of the kids; yes even Jonathan. It was wonderful to spend a little quality alone time with each other for a few hours. Especially with Ross' scope tomorrow.

Orthopedist and Water Park

Waffles for breakfast again then off to some stores before Abigail sees the Orthopedist. We went to big Dick's and found MG a pair of tennis shoes for school that were too good of a deal to pass up. I should probably explain...there is a big Dick's and a little Dick's Sporting Good's in Cincinnati and Ross just can't contain himself. Plus the big one is nicer. As he would say, "Size does matter." Enough of the off-color humor :).
We left Dick's and headed to see Dr. Wall about Abigail's legs. We were there for about two hours and literally 5 minutes was with the doctor, the rest of the time was spent waiting. The doctor was great though. He said that all we can do is wait and see how she does. Bracing will not help. Her legs will either correct on their own or she will need surgical intervention. The important thing he told us was that her legs will likely get worse before they get better. They should be at their worst at age 5, which is when he would like to see her again. Done with doctors for today so bring on the fun!
Kristen was so kind to ask her sister if she could get us tickets to the CoCo Key Indoor Waterpark which she was able to do. We had ALOT of fun!! Thank you so much Kristen and Carrie. Words cannot express our gratitude! It was such a blast watching and playing with the kids in the water and on the water slides. It was very age appropriate for each of the kids and us grown ups had fun too. Ross and I each road with one of the big girls on the big slides while Blair watched the little ones and then we all switched. Abbz had the best time just playing in the kiddie pool under the mushroom waterfall. After swimming for about three hours we went to Chili's for dinner and then back to the hotel to pass out from pure exhaustion.

A Scope and A Birthday

We were up by 5 this morning. That wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact our bodies thought it was 4! Abigail was such a big girl. We had explained to her before she went to bed that she needed to drink one more "milky cup" because she would not be able to drink until she was all done at the doctor's. I was quite amazed because she did not ask for one drink until she was done. She is such a smart little girl. When they were getting her prepped she was so sleepy that she was fighting to keep her eyes open; so I told her that if she wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep that I would wake her before they took her back. She laid her head in my lap and did just that, sleeping through her temperature check, pulse check, and placing of the lovely hospital bracelets...she always has three or four because of all of her allergies. I woke her to give her the Versiad or " goofy juice" as we call it. That stuff literally hits her in a matter of a few short minutes. You can always tell because her body goes limp and she laughs at the funniest things. This time she cracked up when daddy inadvertently raised his eye brow while talking. Once the medicine kicks in good we carry her back to the OR where I have the luxury of holding her while they put her to sleep. She fought drifting off to sleep a little more this time; I am assuming because she is older. I say fought, but it wasn't bad at all it just took a little longer then it has in the past. Less than 15 minutes later we got the report from Dr. Putnum that she did great and that by appearance everything looked good. We will have to wait for the biopsy results to come back to know for sure. We were allowed to see her in recovery about 25 minutes after the procedure started which is about normal. They used a different anesthesia for the previous scope and it took her a very long time to wake up so they opted to go back to what they had always used prior to that scope. I am glad they listened to my concerns and adjusted appropriately because she did great with the anesthesia this time. She was still a little groggy when we left the hospital so we took her to the room and let her sleep while Blair took the big girls swimming.
After a short swim I took Blair to eat lunch for her 18th birthday. Happy Birthday Auntie Blair!! Murders (Blair's boyfriend) surprised her with another present...an Ariel (you know The Little Mermaid) crown that I promised I would make her wear all day. Which I did, and I have pictures to prove it. Ok back to the day. She wanted to eat at the Cheesecake Factory so we shared an appetizer and then each got a slice of cheesecake. YUM! It was a fun sister's lunch. Then we picked up the rest of the family took a little drive looking around and went in a few stores. Okay, now it's time to end our day with a birthday dinner. Blair wanted Italian for her so where to we go? Yep, Maggiano's it is. So for the real reason we love it so much...Chef Karl. You heard me. Chef Karl. If you have allergies the chef comes to the table to discuss them and tell you what he can do for you. He has done this from the beginning and always remembers us. He may not always remember our names but he knows exactly where we sat the very first time we ate there. They prepare Ross' Fettuccine Alfredo from scratch to ensure nothing in it would make him sick, and Hannah was able to eat pasta with rice noodles so she was happy as a clam. For dessert Chef Karl sent a free Creme Brûlée and a plate of Lemon cookies to the table for Blair. After all it was her 18th birthday. Thanks Chef Karl, you made our day!

Sunday- Movie, Friends, & Food

Today was another day of fun. We started the day with Belgian waffles from the continental breakfast...yum...a great way to start the day. After breakfast we drove over the bridge into Kentucky to watch a movie. We all enjoyed watching Toy Story 3; poor Blair had already seen like 4 times, but it worked to our advantage when Abbz had to potty half way through. Ross nor I had to miss anything for a change ;). After the movie we grabbed a snack and headed to Mike and Ramona's. They were sweet to allow our whole family to infiltrate their home. Connor and Abigail always play well together, but this time was especially fun because they are both older and at the age where they can interact more. Plus with that many kids there couldn't possibly be a dull moment! Honestly they all played with one another better then I have seen four children play together. While we were there Mike made a bracelet for Ross' Medic Alert charm. It's more rugged then his last bracelet and more work appropriate. Plus, if we are in a pinch we have 12 feet of rope as long as Ross is wearing that bracelet! Thanks Mike, Ross really does like it a lot, and thank Mike and Mona for opening your home to us. We miss you guys already! We said our good byes and went back to the hotel to clean up a little before heading to Maggiano's for dinner. Maggiano's is our favorite restaurant in Cincinnati. Besides the fact that the food is delicious they are extremely conscientious about food allergies and more than willing to prepare something safe for you to eat. It doesn't get much better than ending the day with a little Italian food!

Saturday

Today was a relaxing day to recover. The kids slept in this morning which was a welcomed surprise. We got up around 10:30, got ready and headed to the hospital to show Mary Grace and Hannah where their little sister has all of her procedures. Abigail was so cute showing the girls around. Hannah told her to get off the stairs and she turned around and said, "This is my hospital." Then she started to cry because she wanted to in her words, "show them my room." Once we left the hospital we ate lunch at the mall where Blair had the privilege of trying Cincinnti chili from our chain of choice, Gold Star Chili.
We were planning on eating dinner at The Cheesecake Factory but the wait was going to be over an hour so we decided to take it back to the hotel. This turned out to be a great idea. We had a make-shift picnic, and when we were done Ross took the girls swimming while Blair and I fed Jonathan and got him ready for bed. Once the kids were in bed, Ross, Blair and I piled up in bed, ate cheesecake and chatted for a while until we all got tired. And so ends another day.

Trip to Cincy

Oh my! That's what I have to say about Friday. We left the house about 4:20 am and about 5 minutes outside of Siloam we heard a terrible noise coming from the front passenger side of the car, towards the wheel. The noise sound much like when you hit the ripple strip (you know the strip that tells you to wake up, you're running off the road), only the sound wasn't quit that loud. Ross pulled over and checked all of the tires but there didn't seem to be a problem so we started driving again. Everything seemed fine until we reached 65 mph. For some reason this was the magic speed for instigating the noise. Strangely if we slowed to 60 or sped up to 70 mph the noise went away. We pulled over for the second time at Wal Mart in Lowell (off the Pleasant Grove exit). We called my parents to see if Daddy had any ideas of what could be causing such a noise, and in his wisdom he suggested it could be weight. Of coarse none of believed that the van was overloaded with weight, but decided it could be the way it was distributed so there we were at 5:30 in the morning unpacking and rearranging the luggage in hopes that it would help. The one good thing about having to stop there is that by the time we were done Starbucks was open! It was really quite the sight. The "trunk" was pretty well loaded to the top of the backseat, two suitcases were shoved between Jonathan's seat and the door; you know the place where you step into the car to get to your seat. Needless to say every time we stopped we had to move the big suitcase to let the girls in and out of the backseats. It was a hassle but worth it because the redistribution of weight made the noise cease. The best part of the arrangement was what we lovingly referred to as the "Redneck Airbag," which was the foam mattress that fits in the bottom of the playpen. It was crammed between Blair's seat and the door. It really was quite a sight! After everything was re-situated we were on our way.
St. Louis is our halfway point so we stopped at the mall for lunch and headed to the Gateway Arch when we were done eating. You can see the Arch for miles before you actually get to it so I asked the girls if they wanted to get out and look at it up close and touch it. Hannah had the best response ever! She said (in her giggly voice), "No. I want to slide down it!" Only my Hannah girl. ;)
After spending a couple of hours eating, stretching, and sight seeing we were on our way...again. Other than having to make a few stops everything went well. We could not have asked for the kids to be any better. Especially considering it took 16 hours to get there. Normally it only takes about 12 hours but our difficult start and extended stop in St. Louis made it longer than normal.

Butter!!

I told you in a recent post that I have started buying raw milk from a local dairy. There are many products that can be rendered from raw milk, and butter is one of them. So today I thought I would be adventurous and attempt to make butter from the cream that I had previously skimmed from the top of the milk. My attempt ends in success. We have butter! Interested in making your own raw butter and learning more about raw milk? Click here.

A Blog Book?

Really? Did you know that you can print your blog in book form? I know it may be cheesy of me to say this, but I think that is great. All of those memories and pictures captured in a book. What a wonderful thing for a parent to have. Some of us would grab hold of that book and cherish those memories forever while others of us can pass them down to our children. I'm thinking at some point I am going to have to do it. Get a blog book. Am I the only nerd in the bunch or do others of you think that is a wonderful thing? Ok, maybe I don't need you to answer...I already know I'm a nerd, I don't need you all to confirm it. Ha! :) Oh, and if you don't believe me, just google it. The response is overwhelming. Have a GREAT day!

Hippie Lady

Yes, I am sure that I am soon to be called, "The Hippie Lady," or hey that's my "Hippie Friend", but that's okay with me! We are picking up our grass-fed beef this afternoon from Greener Pastures Farms, and I can't wait until Ross can eat it! We have also started buying organic produce from Old Soul Organics ; which is a home delivery service for the Northwest Arkansas area. We go one step further by buying fresh, unpasteurized unhomogenized milk from Rusk Farms just past the Arkansas/Oklahoma border. Being that we are small business owners, I'm all about supporting local business owners; and with our special food needs those small business tend to work out the best for us.

I am in the process of transitioning our family's diet from conventional foods to organic foods; or all natural at the least. We are eating very little foods from a box anymore. No more heavily processed foods, no additives, no artificial colorings or flavorings, no more high fructose corn syrup...people, we are going back to the basics. With the exception of Smarties of coarse!! :) My new philosophy is if they didn't eat it 100 years ago, we probably shouldn't be eating it today. Why are we doing this? First and foremost, because we have been told that EE patients tend to have a better chance of passing a food trial with food that has not been sprayed repeatedly with pesticides and herbicides or processed so much that there is virtually no nutritional value left. Secondly, plain and simple. It has to be better for us. Lastly, I am actually saving money. That's right. Saving money. I'm not buying junk food or many prepacked items anymore; which has helped my budget tremendously. Now, I'm certainly NOT saying we don't indulge once in a while. If we want ice cream, we get ice cream. And chocolate....is a must! Of coarse there will still be those days we swing by a fast food restaurant for a quick meal, but they are becoming fewer and farther between. I see more "hippie moments" for me in the future...butter, yogurt and heavy whipping cream from my fresh milk, homemade organic breads...the possibilities are endless!

Recycling. Yep. We are doing that too. Now, I decided we should do our part and we are starting out very small and simple. I have 4 recycling bins labeled, "Cans, Plastic, Paper, and Cardboard." I figure doing our part should be fairly easy since Abigail and Ross both have a tone of cans that their formula comes in and just as many cardboard boxes that hold those formula cans. Plastic was a no brainer for us too because we go through bottled water like crazy...again for making formula. Paper is pretty much filled with the girls school work and doodle sheets from them coloring at home. There you have it.

Now for those of you who can't or don't want to go organic or green, that is perfectly fine with me. We still love you! This is just what is working best for our family at the moment.

I Wonder...

Each new day that I look into the face of my precious baby boy, I wonder. Does the newness and uncertainty ever wear off? Will I ever feel confident in raising a son? I wonder, will he become the man of God I pray he will be? Will I be able to teach him to be that man of God? I wonder why God has chosen now to bless and entrust me with raising a son. If I have all of these questions and insecurities, I wonder what Mary must have wondered. I wonder if she questioned, "Why me? Who am I to carry such a sacred blessing?" I wonder how she felt knowing what her baby boy would endure. I wonder if she was scared.

The only thing I am counting on is that in each new day that the Lord brings, He will also bring insight into how I should raise my precious son. He will equip me with the tools I need at each milestone and season of life that comes our way. I trust that He will instill the confidence that I need in raising a son; as I have my in raising daughters. I am thankful that I did not have to enter into parenthood alone; because the Father has always been there to help me. In all of my fears and failures, He is there. And in my security and confidence, He is there. Am I the only mom with these questions, fears, and concerns that also cries out to the Lord for help and assurance with parenting? I wonder?

Hospitalized With RSV

You know it isn't a good sign when your child falls asleep during a breathing treatment at 5:00 in the afternoon. That is exactly what happened Friday evening, January 29th, when Abigail was getting what I thought to be a "normal" breathing treatment. After realizing that she had fallen asleep, I checked her forehead and sure enough she had fever. No biggie, we had had a few late nights so I thought she was just overly tired. I let her rest for a little while, got her up, did our nightly routine, and put all the kids to bed. She woke up early Saturday morning and crawled into bed with Ross and I and fell back asleep. This is where she stayed all day. In our bed. When I say all day, I literally mean all day long. I had to carry her to the bathroom to go potty; with her crying the whole time. She slept for hours at a time, and just when it would get to the point where I felt like we needed to take her somewhere she would wake up for a little while. She was only awake for about 20 minutes at a time, but at least we knew she was still responsive. Now you have to remember that because of all of the snow, all of the doctor's offices were closed; which meant if we did take her somewhere it would have to be the ER. Up until this point Abigail has never really been sick. Sick with EE, yes. Sick with a cold, yes, but really sick with an illness? No. I had listened to her lungs and they sounded clear and her temp wasn't terribly high; so we called it a night and all went to bed. Then Sunday arrived. Same thing. Won't get out of bed, won't drink her formula, won't talk, and temp is hanging out right around 103. The only good thing we had going at this point is that she had been drinking water so we knew she wasn't getting dehydrated. After giving her a bath, I noticed that her hands and feet were kind of gray in color. Thinking they were just cold, I tried warming them up. Then I had Ross try. While he was trying, I decided I needed to listen to her lungs. That is when I knew we needed to take her to the emergency room. At this point she wasn't wheezing, but she had significant crackles (indicative of pneumonia) in the bottom right lobe, and her lungs had been perfectly clear the day before. By the time we could get to the ER she was retracting at the trachea, indicating that her breathing was becoming more labored. Her pulse ox was 87 and dropping rapidly, even after a Xopenex updraft. She had two more breathing treatments and was placed on oxygen. After each of the breathing treatments, her pulse ox continually dropped, and she was admitted for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and viral pneumonia. She was on continual oxygen for five days straight. Just when they thought they could wean her down, they would have to up it again. Let me just say that it is very frustrating to see your child get weaned down to 1/4 of a liter of oxygen just to turn around a few hours later and see her back up to 2 1/2 liters. The oxygen levels continued going up and down until Friday morning when she woke up and was suddenly much better. After several hours off of the oxygen (including a nap without it) we were finally able to go home. We sure were glad to get home and finally be able to sleep in our own beds! Of coarse during this hospital stay, the other 3 kids ended up sick. We think Hannah must have been the original RSV culprit because she had what we thought to be "just a cold" the week before. So, she ended up with a secondary ear infection. Mary Grace and Jonathan both came down with RSV a couple of days after Abbz was in the hospital. Ross had the two sick big girls at home, and I had both sick babies with me in the hospital. At one point Ross asked me if they had family rooms at the hospital. :) Luckily, none of the other kiddos got it as badly as Abigail! Needless to say, if any of your kids get RSV, brace yourself and prepare for your entire family to end up with it. It's apparently highly contagious because we have never had all of the kids sick at one time before.

One Month Appointment

Jonathan is a growin' boy! He now weighs 9 pounds 7 ounces and is 22 inches long. This puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 100th for height. Taking after his two biggest sisters he is! Other than having a slight umbilical hernia that will correct on it's own, he is just perfect.

Photo by Amanda Dietz Scott

Jonathan Ross Green

Introducing Jonathan Ross Green. Born at 9:42 pm on December 10, 2009. He weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 1/2 in. long. As you can see from the first picture, he was a bit blue after birth and needed a little help. He stayed in the NICU for a brief time for observation and it was determined that he just didn't have time to squeeze all of the amniotic fluid from his lungs because he came down so quickly.

So I had to have a picture of all the "stuff" on him. It's actually sad when it feels normal to see your child with an IV. I told Ross that it just seemed to fit. If you have a child in the hospital, it's only fitting that there be an IV; right? Now, I know this is not normal especially for a newborn. I did tell him that he didn't have to try so hard to prove he was part of the family; we will keep him...healthy and all! ;) Abbz was really sweet. She kept touching the IV, saying I have one of those. I think it was a bonding experience for the two of them.


The Green kids! My sweet girls and little guy. Somehow they all look different, yet they all favor. As Mandy would say, they are definitely Green Babies!

Look what Santa left us under the tree. The best little Christmas present ever! Eight pounds of pure joy!!