Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm up early this Christmas. I am waiting for my family to wake up. I am so thankful for my wonderful little family!

Update

I really don't like viruses. Especially the ones that leave your toddler all dizzy and scared.

Last week, Katie was running a fever. She seemed to get better, so we took her out. Then she got worse and we ended up at Children's Mercy South with a transfer to downtown about halfway through the day.

Saturday morning Katie woke up and was sick. I had to get everything cleaned up and then she couldn't walk. She was falling over and wasn't able to go in a straight line. We took her in to get checked out and the staff at CMHS couldn't figure out why she was so dizzy. They did a check for ear infection, strep, and bloodwork. Nothing. She rode in the ambulance to downtown just because it was safer and less of a liability for them to do it that way rather than us drive her. It turns out that it was a good thing because if CMH didn't know we were coming by transport, we would have been in the waiting room for a very long time. About the time we were arriving was the time they were treating the gunshot and stabbing traumas over the weekend.

So, they did some more tests. Katie had a CT scan, lumbar puncture and urinalysis. They wanted to rule out all the "big" things. Fortunately, all of those tests came back negative. I was upset they were doing so many tests, but relieved at the same time because they were looking for a problem. At one point the doctors told us that they may never know why and that would be ok. The main doctor treating her was saying that if she is still thinking about her case when she is driving home, then she knows she missed something. Better safe than sorry. The staff was very good to us and especially Katie. I am so thankful that we have such great resources so close by.

They finally sent us home about 10:30. Katie was still dizzy on Sunday, but was a lot better about it. It was almost funny because when she felt like she had enough strength to stand up, she would kind of wobble and say "whoa, sit here." She has been such a trooper.

We had her administered to and I could tell an immediate improvement. The power of prayer is an awesome thing.

She is over the dizziness, but has a cough now. We aren't completely out of the woods yet, but we are 1000% better than Saturday morning.

It is so nice to have our families in town when situation like this arise. I am thankful to be surrounded by so many supportive people in our congregation too.

Mommy, Katie funny too..haha

I just saw this. No wonder when Katie starts laughing, I do too. Every time someone laughs, she has to join in saying she is funny too. Cute kiddo.

Bear with me

Just because you are using the crosswalk, it doesn't mean you can step off the curb without looking. Didn't his mom teach him to look both ways? I mean, come on! I stopped and the person behind me almost hit me! Luckily I saw him in time, but he just darted in front of me like he owned the road. Sheesh! Moral of the story: Always look both directions and don't assume they will stop.

Which leads me to another rant: if you are driving and see someone waiting for the way to clear, give them a break and stop! I am so irritated when drivers look straight ahead and don't pay attention, or just plain ignore the crosswalks or stop signs directly in front of stores' doors.

Ok, end rant.

On a lighter note, Dr. Pepper is just the most wonderful soda ever.

So it's really tomorrow, but who cares?

I told you I would finish the life update yesterday, but I didn't get back to the 'ole blog til today. I'm sure you were at the edge of your seats waiting! :) Just kiddning, I'm not really like that.

So, for Ben's B-Day, we went to Texas Roadhouse. We've had better food in past visits, but the service we had that night was superb. It almost made up for the hour+ long wait. Ben was ok going to Old Chicago instead since they could seat us right away, but my dad had to run home at a specific time to take the two turkeys off the grill that he was cooking. The wait allowed him to join us just as they were seating us. So, all in all it worked out ok. Ada got to join us for dinner and cake too.

Sunday was a full day at church. First the service in the morning, then the potluck dinner and Christmas program in the evening. Katie didn't want to sit still during the program. She went back to sit with grandma then wanted grandpa again. Well, I don't think he knew she was comign because she got all the way to the front of the church before I realized what was going on. She just wanted to go sit on Micki's lap while she was reading the story. She is a silly little girl and I love her.

Work started again on Monday and that was that.

Wednesday I played my last concert for JC Winds. The group has disbanded. It is kind of bittersweet. I enjoy playing, but I wanted a break from the committment. I was feeling like I couldn't really take a break because we were so few numbers. So, the decision was made for me. We had a good concert, but it was a relief to have it over.

I have been knitting up a storm. I have several ideas for presents that I need to finish, and I think I will make it before Christmas! It will be close, but I think I can do it. I have 1/2 of one and 1 full one left, but it shouldn't be too bad. Then, some more creations are in the works that should be done by Christmas too. I know I'm pushing it close, but at least it gives me something to do!

When the holiday gift making is done, I think I will start designing more things to possibly sell. Nicole often has a booth at craft fairs and she has offered in the past to let me use some of her space. I might take her up on that this time around.

So now that I have posted for two days in a row, don't expect anything for awhile. But you never know, I may just surprise you.

So, what's new?

When did I last post? I don't even know. I could go look it up, but that takes some effort. I think it was some time before Thanksgiving. That was such a long time ago!

So, for Thanksgiving, we had our traditional feast of grilled turkey (beats oven turkey any day), mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, sweet potato stuff (it was very yummy) and various other delectable treats. We spent the day with my family and I even got a nap! That just doesn't happen often enough. We had a good time and were even home in time to catch Grey's Anatomy. Bonus!

The next day we headed over to Independence to spend time with Ben's family. We were split (women / men and children) most of the afternoon/evening, but it was still a good time. I don't get to spend time with Joy and Ada very often, so even though I felt a teeny bit guilty by not being with the whole family, some good shopping was done. Plus, since we were out and hungry, we got Red Robin for dinner. You just can't go wrong there.

I honestly do not remember what happened later in the weekend. I do know that it was great having four days off from full time work. Oh yea, I had to go in for a couple hours on Sat. and Sun., but I get paid for the overtime so it all works out. Which reminds me that Katie and I went shopping and had a good time.

More of the same work routine the next week, except for our snow days. Unfortunately I don't get to take off because of snow, but when I drove to work on Friday, the entire parking lot was cleared. That was really nice. Katie was so excited about the "no outside", she even got to play in it for like two minutes. She wasn't sure what to do, so maybe next time we will stay out a little longer. Of course Charlie loves the snow. She is just so cute with snow all over her big brown nose. Sorry, no photos, use your imagination!

Ben's birthday was Dec 2, so we had another full day. We went to my dad's work to see Santa in the morning. Katie did very well and didn't seemed too concerned about Santa. They really did a great job with the planning. There were several clowns making balloon animals, so Katie got a little ladybug. They had an area where you could decorate an ornament, and of course the cookies. They didn't look nearly as pretty as the ones Heidi makes, but they tasted yummy!

I will continue this update later today, so stay tuned!