Cream of Potato Soup

Ah, Christmas isn't Christmas without spending part of it in the hospital.

Yesterday afternoon, we all left for Erie and our Christmas celebrations. The plan was to attend the traditional Christmas Eve gathering at my grandma's, spend the night, and have Christmas Day with my mother and father at their respective homes. Little Evan had other ideas.

He'd had a runny nose and a cough all morning, but by the time we got to my Dad's at 2 he was listless and running a high fever. Mike and I debated for about half an hour before turning around and coming back home, stopping to pick up MTO's on the way (nothing says Christmas dinner like a chicken club).

I felt bad that I was missing the gathering at my grandma's--I don't think I've ever missed it, and I look forward to it every year. I am always in charge of passing out the presents and didn't want to shirk my duties. But Evan was just so sick, and we knew we had to take care of him first. So we spent the night in, talking on the phone to family and watching tv. Evan just laid on the couch like a wet rag, but he needed the rest so we just let him go.

We all went to bed around 11, and Ev slept with us so we could keep a closer eye on him. When we woke up at 3:30 to check on him, his 102 fever felt a lot hotter than it had. When we took his temp it was almost 105, and nothing was bringing it down after more than half an hour. So we all got dressed, bundled up, and headed down to the emergency room.

We were only there for about two hours, but the nurse was able to bring down his fever to an acceptable 101, and they checked his lungs and all that good stuff. We were sent home with instructions to keep him drinking, watch his breathing, and if he gets any worse to come back right away.

So the three of us tumbled back into bed about 6 am. We're still not all awake, and I don't know what today holds for us yet. I will say that life is never dull or predictable when you have kids. Merry Christmas.

Posted by jenny at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Say that to Ev and it's a guaranteed laugh. He thinks that is so funny.

It's Christmas Eve morning and Mike and Evan are still sleeping, but soon we will all be up and rushing to get ready for the day ahead. Note that yes, Evan is still sleeping, having gone to bed last night at a reasonable hour. Not only that, but it was his first night in his big boy bed. Evan got new Elmo sheets for his bed and we took off the side of the crib, so now it's officially a toddler bed. So far, so good.

I want to wish all of our loyal readers a very happy holiday. It's going to be so exciting to celebrate with Evan this year, I really think he's going to have a great time. I'm sure we'll post an update and pictures soon. Until then, all the best to you for a happy holiday with friends and family.

Posted by jenny at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been snowing here for the past few days, and as of last night we have over two feet on the ground. Today it's sunny though, so we feel a little more hopeful that some of this will melt and we'll see the ground again.

We took Evan outside yesterday afternoon because we were going stir crazy, and he could not believe his eyes. He's used to snow again, but he's never seen it piled up past his waist before! I could tell he wanted to go running through the yard, but he was too scared to dive into snow that high. He hung back with me on the shoveled sidewalk.

The weather is steadily improving now, and it's even supposed to get into the 40's the next few days. This is good, because a little elf told me Daddy has some Christmas shopping left to do! I'll feel better too if all of our holiday travel is not going to include plans for a raging blizzard. But then again, this is northwestern Pennsylvania--would we expect anything less?

Posted by jenny at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

has a very shiny rear....

Since yesterday morning, Ev has had a little bit of butt trouble. He's got some diarrhea, and it's making his skin very angry and red. Even on his privates, which Mike assures me would hurt pretty badly. He's not sick, no fever, no other symptoms, so I can only assume it's connected to some new teeth coming in. I know it makes no sense, but he always gets like this when he's cutting teeth (though usually not this bad).

So I'm doing my best not to upset him and to make diaper changes as easy as possible. He screams in horror if I even hint at wiping his butt, so I can only imagine the kind of agony he's in with this. I hope it clears up today--for now I'm just pushing clear liquids and trying to keep him comfy.

In other news, we got a load of snow overnight and schools are cancelled for today. That means we'll be staying in too. Ev's EI Christmas party was scheduled for this morning, and that's been cancelled as well. I'm a little disappointed, because it sounded like fun. The kids were going to get to play games, have snacks, and get a picture taken with Santa. I'll try to do something fun for Ev here at home to take the place of his party. I'm sure it will involve some of those little holiday M&M's he's grown so fond of.

Posted by jenny at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A week or so ago, Ev started getting a rash on the back of his leg. It didn't seem to bother him too badly, though he'd try to itch at it after his bath or when we were getting him dressed. We took him to the doctor, and they prescribed us some cream for it. It's getting smaller over time, but it seems to have spread, as he has bumpies, as I like to call them, on the bottom of his arms and his back. I don't know if we should call the doctor back, or change soaps as my mother suggested. It's not really bothering him at all, as fas as we can tell, so we're a bit stumped.

As we were giving him the star treatment last night after his bath (full lotion rubdown - he doesn't know how good he's got it), Jennifer summed up what we were both thinking.

"Evan, it's always something with you."

Posted by Mike at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've posted some pictures from the weekend, where we had our first decent snow of the winter season. Ev liked, I think, playing in the snow. I had fun, anyways.

Here's a link. Enjoy!

Posted by Mike at 07:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am so big into Christmas, you have no idea. The tree is up, the cards have been sent, the presents are already wrapped and under the tree. I just love this stuff. And it's even more fun this year because I can get Evan into it too. The whole holiday season is just so much fun, and such a great time to be with family and friends.

This afternoon, I've been getting together a playlist of all my Christmas music for Mike's radio show tomorrow night. I have a lot of Muppet stuff and Charlie Brown, and the Grinch. Some traditional stuff too, but I really like the stuff that takes me back to my childhood. Every year I have to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas (hilarious, every year), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Muppet Christmas Carol. Not to mention Rudolph and of course, the Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special (okay, maybe that one's a little off, but I watch it anyway). Confidential to my brothers: "Now, it's the Billy Baloney Christmas Special, starring me, Billy Baloney!"

It's fun to have all these little traditions, the holiday rituals performed each and every year. Hiding in Grandma's bedroom to wait for Santa, midnight Mass, the special ornaments on our tree. It's nice to pass these down to Evan as he grows up. I fear that some of them will go by the wayside as older members of our families pass away, as families are separated by more and more distance. I hope we can keep the traditions going as our parents did for us.

Now, back to the tunes. Don't forget to listen to Mike's show tomorrow night.

Posted by jenny at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After our puking episode last week, I was feeling pretty low. I was getting pretty fed up with everything therapy related, so we tried to take it easy for a few days. We had a pretty quiet weekend as Mike continues to work long hours to finish a project. We did get our Christmas shopping done and go to a birthday party though, so it wasn't all work and no play.

Last night we decided to pop some popcorn, and what do you know? Evan ate handfuls of the stuff, without even a hint of a reaction. The only thing we can figure is that since the other stuff was white cheddar popcorn--he either didn't like the feel of the cheese powder or he didn't like the taste. Who knows? Either way, we're safe to go to the movies again.

Evan and I have been spending time putting our Christmas tree up, and he is fascinated by it. He wants to touch all the lights, and feel the branches. He runs around it laughing and trailing garland behind him. I really think he's going to get a kick out of the holidays this year. Mike is convinced that Ev's going to pull the tree down on himself, and he probably will. I'll let you know when it happens.

Posted by jenny at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since Evan has been in therapy, I've felt like it's been a one step forward, two steps back process. He's making more vocalizations and catching on to some simple sign language, but still isn't saying many new words. He can build block towers and pick up grains of rice, but cannot seem to get over the texture problems he's been having.

Just a few minutes ago, I was reminded of his texture issue. I've known about the problem with bananas, PlayDoh, shaving cream, apples, pudding...but tonight I got to experience a new one. I was eating some popcorn and I offered Ev a piece. As soon as he took it in his hand, he began to gag, and then he threw up a tiny bit on the coffee table. I cleaned him up, then called Mike at work to tell him about it. As I was talking, I ate another piece of popcorn. Evan saw me do that from across the room and immediately started gagging again. I put the popcorn out of his sight, but by then it was too late. He crossed the room, still gagging, and climbed up on my lap. He then proceeded to barf up all his dinner on my shirt. I got off the phone in a hurry and came upstairs to clean him up. Now he's playing, and I'm writing this.

I don't know what to do for him anymore. It's getting frustrating--things don't seem to be improving and I feel terrible about it. Just thinking about this makes me want to cry. I thought he was getting better--why do I feel like we're back at square one?

Posted by jenny at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I took this picture on Thanksgiving night. I like it.

Jennifer took a great picture tonight of Ev for our Christmas Card. We're doing a test print tomorrow, and if it prints well, we'll get cards made and mailed out soon after.

Posted by Mike at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)