Good news all around

The good news.....

1) Taylor's ear infection is gone and her chest is clear

2) Baby Amiayah came home today

3) Fast and Furious 4 comes to theaters on 04.03.09 - both Vin Diesel AND Paul Walker are in it - Happy days are here again!!

So I'll back up.....I took TP to the doctor last Thursday and we got a clean bill of health. Although she was feeling a whole lot better and back to being her little hungry hungry hippo self - it was suggested to me that I keep her home from day care for one more week just for the sake of the other kids - because of the RSV. No problem.....I've got a ton of vacation time that I am going to use and tomorrow Taylor is going to take a whole day field trip to Nana and Pop Pop's house! Thanks Scott & Leslie - much appreciated. :)

Our weekend was a lot of fun. Heather came over Friday night so she would be here bright and early in the morning for her day of fun with TP. Saturday was my mom's bday. After Jac saw the CAPS schedule a few months ago and there was a game on the 31st it was a no brainer as what to do for mom. Neither mom or dad had ever been to a hockey game so the 6 of us (the rents, Jac, Todd, Ben & I) headed downtown bright and early! We started off at Clyde's with a delicious brunch. Mom got a little crazy and had a Bloody Mary. Clearly I couldn't let her have one alone so I had one as well. One of the best ever (except for the ones Kim & Heather used to make me). After brunch we quickly walked over to the Verizon center and checked out the team store to kill time - then off to the Green Turtle (we had a lot of time if you haven't picked up on that)

The game was AWESOME!!! The CAPS beat the Red Wings 4-2! It was a fantastic bday present for mom. :)

We got home to find TP having tons of fun with Aunt Heather. Heather tried to get her to watch some Lifetime movies with her but Baby Einstein won that battle hands down. Hahahahaha! Antonio and Lauren came over that evening. It had been a while since we've seen them so it was nice to catch up. We watched a comedy special with Kevin Hart and I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Try to find him on Comedy Central - you won't be disappointed.

Sunday - Heather and I went to breakfast and then enjoyed the semi warm weather outside of Starbucks for a little bit. Nice break from being in the house most of the week before. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with TP. She's getting closer to crawling. She got herself up on hands & knees and rocked back and forth before moving herself backwards again. She got a little frustrated that she was going in the opposite direction of her toys and threw herself down on her belly. From there she ended up sitting herself up and we cheered like we had just won the lottery. She hasn't done it again but it's a moment I will not soon forget!

Then it was SUPER BOWL time! Seca is dog sitting here in Leesburg so she came over to hang out with us. I haven't seen her in sooooo long! We had a yummy dinner and cheered for the Cardinals (sorry Scott!). I have to admit - my favorite commercial was not the Doritos one that everyone loved or the E*trade baby that was singing....it was the preview for the Fast and Furious 4! New Model. Original Parts. BRILLIANT!! Only 56 more days until it is released! 04.03.09 - remember it people....cause you won't be able to find me that night! HA! Dear Crazy!

The best news of all today was Baby Amiayah came home! We're so excited for Melissa, Buck and Kiara! Apparently Kiara is handling it really well. She wants to hold and help feed her baby sister. AW so cute!! She is beautiful and I can't wait to meet my new little niece! Here are a few pics that Melissa sent....

Coming Home!

Kiara helping to feed Amiayah!

Sleeping Beauty!

That's it for this update! It's way past my bedtime........

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever is defined as is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, for an extended period.

I have not left the house since early Saturday morning when I went to get Taylors prescription filled so I think it's safe to say that I'm feeling this cabin fever. I am by no means complaining - I'm just wondering if I'm still going to know how to drive when I do finally get out! HA! Dear Crazy.....

The last few days have been "better". Taylor is slowly getting her appetite back and beginning to act like like her fun little self. I'm not having to force the liquids anymore and she hasn't had a fever since Saturday morning so we are definitely on the right path. It's been hard for Ben and I to see her so miserable but seeing the progress of the last day or so is helping. She just finished a full bottle and that was a huge VICTORY in my book!

We go back to the doctors tomorrow morning so they can recheck her ear so fingers crossed everything is clearing up. I'll let ya know!

Happy Hump Day!

Sick Baby

Well - It's been a long two days. It started EARLY Friday morning around 2:30am when Taylor woke us up in a screaming fit. Now - there have been many a night that she will wake up and talk to herself, blow raspberries, clap a few times and then go back to sleep. This was completely different. The scream itself was one that we hadn't really heard before and we could tell she was far from happy. I went in and took her temp (101) and gave her some Tylenol. Ben went in from there to try to calm her down and after a while in the room, some time spent on the couch and a little bottle - she finally went back to sleep. The next morning when we all woke up again, Taylor had a horrific cough. Not just your normal cold cough but a deep one. Between that and the fact that my little hungry hungry hippo wouldn't eat - a trip to the doctors was in order. Luckily - on Friday in the middle of winter - I was able to get an appt for that morning. After a complete check up - it was determined that Taylor had RSV. The doctor explained that this is a Virus that medication cannot help. We did try breathing treatment with a Nebulizer and that helped clear her up a little so we got a prescription to rent a machine and for the medicine to go with it. We were also told that with this virus - she would get worse before she gets better, she would lose her appetite and that we would have to make sure we kept plenty of fluids in her to avoid dehydration.

The rest of the morning and afternoon were pretty rough. Once we got home I took her temp again and it was 103 - I gave her some Motrin and made a bottle. She ate the bottle with no problems....that was until she was done. It wasn't more than 2 minutes later that it all came back up. Sorry - I didn't have any warning so you don't either. :0) I tried and tried throughout the day to take a bottle, try some water, Pedialyte - anything to get fluids in her. No luck.

Around 6pm she woke up from a nap and was burning up. Temp check - 104.7 = Kristen in full blown panic mode. I put in a call to the doctor while I packed up a few things to get ready to go to the ER. Doc confirmed that's what we needed to do and I actually felt pretty ok with it. We didn't' have to wait too long before getting taken back to get checked in. Normal stats were taken - temp was still high but it had gone down, BP was fine and her Oxygen levels were "perfect". Once we saw the doctor he explained that RSV does not cause as high of a temperature that she had so she had a strep test, flu test and they checked her ears. DING! Another ear infection! We also had a chest xray done and everything came back clear. So about 4 hours and few more tests/treatments later - we were on our way back home. She had a pretty good night and slept more than we thought she would. Today was long but there was progress. She definitely acted more like herself attitude wise but she still doesn't want anything to do with food/formula/water/juice - not even popsicles! So a little force was needed :0( but it got done. We're keeping our fingers crossed that tomorrow is a little easier but are also prepared for her to still get worse before better.....although I won't be upset if the doctor was wrong about that one.

Amiayah update - she had her MRI on Thrusday night and everything came back A-OK! She is still having a few problems taking to the bottle but it will come in time. As of now - still no time frame for a homecoming but the important thing is she is doing so well!!!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!
K

Amiayah is doing good!!

I just got off of the phone with Melissa. She called to let me know that Amiayah's doctors stopped the cooling process last night and began warming her. Everything went well - no problems at all. The doctors are very pleased with her continued activity, reaction to light and the lack of seizures. The EEG is coming off tomorrow morning and they are hoping to start Amiayah on a bottle for feeding. This is GREAT news all around! The MRI is still scheduled for the end of the week and Melissa is hoping once that is done they can start discussing when Amiayah might be able to come home so everyone keep your fingers crossed!
Melissa is home and doing well - just waiting patiently to see her daughter. When they go on Friday - they will be able to hold her for the 1st time. It's going to be a special day!! :0)

Hope you all had a nice long weekend (if today was a holiday for you)! Ours was pretty good. Not so good for our sports teams though - Maryland losing to Florida State in OT and the Eagles losing to the CARDINALS!?! Sad day!

Taylor is a trip! She's starting to try to get up on her knees while on her tummy and she ends up pushing herself backwards. Hahaha - I wish she found it as amusing as I do!

Until next time......

Melissa & Baby Amiayah

Baby girl Amiayah Kaylee Belle was born yesterday, January 15th at 5:38pm weighing in at 4 pounds 6 ounces!

Now here is the story....

Melissa called me around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. She was on her way to the hospital and told me that she was in a lot of pain. She was more concerned about Kiara and someone getting her from daycare and I told her not to worry - that I would do it! Even though I didn't have an extra car seat or know where day care was....but I remained calm. ;0) Luckily - Scott was able to bring home a car seat and directions so Leslie and Billy went to get her while I got Taylor and rushed over to the house.

While I was on my way to the Bradley's, talking to Leslie, she told me that Melissa had been admitted and was "screaming" for drugs! Ummmm......who in their right mind wouldn't be!?! Dear Crazy! They had done a sonogram shortly after she got there and everything looked to be ok so they wanted to monitor her for a little while.

We were getting little updates here and there but it was when Scott called to tell us that she had been rushed into an emergency C section because they thought the placenta had detached from the uterus and the baby was in stress due to the cord being wrapped around her neck a few times - my heart just sank. At that point I told Ben that I would be skipping bowling, made sure it was ok with Leslie, and I left to go to the Hospital to join Scott, Billy and 2 of Melissa's friends who were already there.

By the time I arrived the surgery was long over. The baby had been delivered - she was not breathing when they took her out but they were able to resuscitate her. Because of the placenta detaching from the uterus - Melissa had some bleeding they had to get under control while in surgery but that was taken care of as well by this point and she was in recovery. This is the point where I learned that Baby Amiayah was in the NICU being prepped for transport to Children's Hospital. After the initial shock left me - Scott explained that she was going to Children's because they have a "cooling unit" that the baby required to help bring down her body temperature. Apparently - during labor - both Melissa and the baby's blood pressure got pretty high - thus making the brain too warm. Melissa was not aware that her baby was being prepped for transport and ended up finding out by accident when a nurse called to ask her nurse to ask Melissa for permission for the transport. Obviously this didn't go over so well and Melissa was drugged and confused. She gave the permission and they promised they she would be able to see Amiayah before she left.

Once Melissa was out of recovery and had some time with Buck and Scott, myself and her two friends - Nicole and Carrie were able to go in and see her. Needless to say - she was not herself but was handling the situation very well. She's a STRONG one! Little by little - her and Buck's other friends and family came by to share their love. Around 8:30-8:45ish the Children's Hospital Transport Team (4 of them) brought Baby Amiayah to meet her mommy. She is PRECIOUS! It was too short of a visit - especially considering it was the first time Melissa had even seen her but it was special none the less. Carrie was able to get a few pictures.......

So this morning after working for a few hours - I headed back to the hospital. When I got there - Melissa had talked to a nurse at Children's and learned that Amiayah had been taken off the respirator and was breathing on her own! GREAT NEWS!!! She spoke to the doctor that was in charge of the cooling unit and that's when we learned what was explained above on why she was in it and would be for 3 days. Also - the APGAR test done at Reston was scored a 1 and when it was redone at Children's - she scored a 7 so they were very pleased with the progress over the night and early morning. I spent most of the day with her, Scott, Leslie and Billy. She's doing amazing! She's walked to and from the bathroom and those of you that have had a C section understand what an accomplishment that is. Once she was moved into her post partum room she was asking to walk around the hallways to help her start her recovery process.

Right before I left this afternoon - Melissa talked to Children's again to find out that Amiayah was very active! She has an EEG hooked to her to monitor brain activity and make sure she wasn't having any seizures -so far so good. Originally - she was told the baby would have to stay there 3-4 weeks but she was told that it was looking more like 1! YAHOOO! She is scheduled to have a Neuro scan and MRI at the end of her stay so we've got our fingers crossed she will be home sooner rather than later.

Melissa and Buck send their thanks along for everyones prayers and well wishes! I will post more updates as I get them.

K

Everybody clap your hands!

Cause that's what Taylor started doing this afternoon! OMG it is so cute! And she is SO proud of herself when she does it. Ben is convinced that she is cheering and clapping for the Eagles big win against the Giants today.....I'll let him believe it - he's in too good of a mood to burst his bubble! ;0)

Our weekend was a good one! It started Friday night with dinner at Jackson's with Jason and Sara! My 2nd time at the restaurant was just as delicious at the first! We had the deviled eggs again and tried the calamari as well. Both were great! As much as I loved the Lobster Roll that I got last time - I wanted to try something new. I got the Salmon with thin beans and potatoes as my side. AMAZING!! I can't say enough about this place except - GO!

As nice as the meal was - the company was better. We hadn't seen Jason & Sara in a long time and we had a special reason to get together and celebrate. I'm happy to announce that they are pregnant and engaged! CONGRATS guys!! We're so excited for you!

Saturday - Taylor and I met Amanda for lunch at Tortilla Factory in Herndon. I haven't been there in years and it is exactly the same. Yummy food in a nice casual environment. As always - it was great to catch up with Amanda and she enjoyed a little one on one time with Taylor and Taylor had fun trying to get Amanda's thumb in her mouth!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching football.

This morning I went to Williams Sonoma at Reston Town Center with my mom and sister for a cooking class. Today's class was on classic French food and the two items were French Onion Soup and Crepes. The soup was pretty good but the amount of work that went into it was not appealing to me. The instructor explained that she made her own broth and started it the night before and it simmered all night. She went on to tell us that we could make our own beef stock and could start with calling the local butcher to see if he had rib bones/knuckles etc to use to flavor the broth. Ummmm.....no thanks. I'm going to "Sandra Lee" the recipe and start with buying a nice box of broth to make my soup with. Already I've cut out hours of work. :0) We didn't get to try the crepes but I am looking forward to making my own. I'm thinking of going with a ham & cheese crepe - I'll keep you posted.

I got home in time to watch the 2nd half of the Eagles game. Needless to say - Ben was up and down - excited and frustrated until it was over. This is about the time that Taylor started clapping and being the little ham that she is! As happy as I was for Ben - I was clapping along with her because tonight is the premier of 24!!! YESSSS!! Jack Bauer is back!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

I'd like to buy a vowel....

So apparently we have the next Vanna White on our hands. Taylor LOVES Wheel of Fortune! Leslie (my mother in law) had told me that they would watch it when Taylor was over there but I had no idea that she was so fixated by it! So tonight - while I was making dinner - Ben and Taylor watched the show together. I peaked in on them and had to take a picture cause they were just too cute for words sitting together..........