Missing in action

What can I say? I have neglected our blog page for 5mths now. I know many of you are wondering what is happening in our lives so I am going to try my hardest to get going again.

Our family has been doing great with the exception of the common colds.Ben just turned 4 on August 24th. We had a great time at his party at the Fun Factory(Power Rangers theme). Brooke will be 18mths on the 28th. She is continuing to amaze us all. Continuing to pass all of her hearing and vision test. Only has PT once every 3mths now. Talking up a storm. Running all over the place. We will be heading out for the beach on Thursday afternoon so I probably will not post again until we get back. Pending on Hurricane Gustav our trip may be cut short. I have still been following everyones blog here and there. Here are a few pics so you can see how much the kids have grown and changed.

Recovering

This past week Brooke began coughing. Nothing bad. Then on Tuesday she began running a low grade fever. I just thought it was from teething. Anyway her fever continued and when I picked her up from daycare Wednesday they said she had been sluggish all afternoon. So I thought something is up. Early Thursday morning her fever spiked at 102 and her cough was getting much worse and she had "weak eyes". I took her to the MD Thursday morning. Dr. Dudgeon did a series of test (flu swab, chest x-ray, and labs). The final results was she had pneumonia and probably the flu. Although the flu swab came back negative. There is a 20-30% false negative with the rapid swabs. Dr. Dudgeon said she just looked and acted like a baby with the flu. She was given another Rocephin shot, the 2nd one in 2wks and started on antibiotics again. She is feeling much better today. Her appetite is starting to come back and she is playing more. She still has a terrible sounding cough but at least the vomiting has stopped from such violent coughing attacks. I just hope and pray Ben doesn't get it now.

Brooke's Party

This past Saturday we had Brooke's B'day Party. It could not have been a more beautiful day. She had a great time playing and visiting with everyone. She was not to sure about the cake though. She is not to sure about getting her hands dirty. We may have a little priss on our hands. Thanks to everyone for coming and making this a special and memorable party.

How sweet is that?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE

Today is Brooke's 1st birthday. It has been quit a year. Brooke has made remarkable strides considering we did not think she was going to make it the first 24-48hrs. She has gone from having PT twice a month to once a month now. She continues to pass her vision and hearing test. Her neurologist says "miracles do happen". He is right. Plus all the countless prayers. And most importantly GOD for answering those prayers.
Today was not the way I expected to spend her birthday though. She has had a cold and ear infection for the past 2wks and just finished antibiotics and she is back on them again. I took her back to the doctor today because she just couldn't kick her cold. her WBC was 18.0. So she got a shot and different RX's for her cold and ears. She also has the strongest gag reflex I have ever seen so she has been vomiting alot from the drainage. Anyway I am in hopes this round of medicines will do there job. This is the best I could do for a 1 year picture today. She hasn't felt the best. Also I have included some pictures from 1 yr ago so you can see how far she has come.
Happy Birthday Brooke. We Love You.

Brooke was only a few hours old. 4lbs. 15oz

1 wk old

2wks old

Back To Work and Daycare

The kids started back to daycare the 1st week of February. Boy was that a nightmare. Talk about some major separation anxiety. I started them a week before I started back to work. To give me some time to get the house in some kind of order. But that didn't happen I found myself out and about shopping and enjoying myself. Anyway back to the daycare issue. Ben and Brooke both cried when I dropped them off. It sure did make me question going back to work. But I know it is good for all of us. I am only working 3 days a week (Tu,W,Th) which I can't complain about my schedule. Finally this week I think they have gotten use to it. There was no crying any of the days.

Mardi Gras in Mobile

Tim & I finally made it back to Mardi Gras this year. We had gone every year since we started dating and because of having children had missed out on the last few years. We stayed with our friends Steve & Dyan in Daphne. As we always do. We rented a limo for the night. Which was wonderful. We were dropped off and picked up at the front door. We did not have to worry about parking and walking in the cold. We ended up in the ballroom where Fly By Radio was performing. They were great and we all had a great time. It was a very late night. I didn't know I could stay up that late anymore. Then on Saturday night we were more layed back and just had a nice meal out. Oh yeah, I finally got my raw oysters I had been craving. Boy were they good. Thanks Steve & Dyan for such a fun weekend. Thanks mom for keeping the kids for us.

Circus

Me, Tim, Mom, and Ben went to the circus back in January. It was Ben's first encounter. He had a absolutely great time. His favorite parts involved the motorcycles and the tigers. I myself had not been since I was a small child. I remembered things and the arena being so much bigger but that was not the case. Everything was a much smaller scale. We had a great time.