Where do I start?!

First, those that don't know, we've had some bad news about my Mom in the last month - stay updated at http://www.caringbridge.com/visit/jpatton as we fight this "pancreatic mass" and travel through this journey together.

We're at the beach right now on a little hiatus and we celebrated Taylor's 5th birthday yesterday - she is my little independence day baby and has a very special birthday. I have posted pictures up at picasa, http://picasaweb.google.com/jpclvrd/TaylorS5thBirthday?feat=directlink.

Hannah is a trip on the beach - we have to try to snap pictures in motion because she NEVER stops moving unless she is asleep. I have more videos, but am having trouble getting them up over this connection, so I will post them as I can. We're taking a break from the actual beach today to rest (it is SO humid!) and let Taylor spend some of her birthday money ($75!). Maybe she'll share it with us?!

We survived!

We made it through last week, which is nothing short of a miracle! We had dance recital practices Monday - Wednesday night, pictures on Thursday night, graduation on Friday night and recital on Saturday and Sunday. Whew! (Pictures are below) Taylor has grown so fast and I can't believe she starts Kindergarten this fall. She is going to summer camp next week, so this is her last week at Mt. Sylvan, which is very bittersweet. I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long - it just seems like the weeks have been so busy and flying by. We are in swim team season right now with practices every evening... There was a meet this past Saturday morning, but we missed Taylor's heat b/c Mom got a little turned around on the way there and then had trouble finding a place to park, but it was probably just as well since we'd missed practice all week b/c of recital stuff. Hope you all are doing well and I'll try to post soon about the antics of Miss Hannah.... sigh...

Here is a sample - she has an obsession with baby wipes...

must have gotten the compulsive cleaning gene from her father...

Easter!

Here is a quick pic from Easter - I'll post more later.

Oh, by the way, the anemone died - tried to swim up the filter intake and this time did a really good job. It was unrecognizable. We now have a beautiful torch coral and it seems to be doing well.

The Reef

We've had a salt-water tank for almost 3 years now - it was Taylor's birthday present when she turned 2, since she LOVED Nemo. It has been "fish only" until the last couple of weeks. We finally made the investment to convert it to a reef (a major investment!). So far we have added live rock, one small coral, and a bubble anemone. I'm hoping that the percula clowns (Nemo and Marlin) will come to love the new anemone - it will take them some time to make friends I guess. Watching this guy is amazing... we put him in the sand, but he started climbing the rocks last night and seemed to settle in a "nook" between two of them. This morning, however, he seemed to be moving through one of the rocks (it has a big hole in the middle), so I'm not sure where he'll be when we get home today. Here are some pictures that I took last night. They are very "blue" because the actinic lights were on when I took them. (The light fixture has 3 blue/actinic lights and 3 white/day lights... the actinics come on first to simulate dawn, then the whites for daytime, then the actinics again for dusk - dawn and dusk allow the corals to experience their natural growth cycles)

(removed pic due to broken link…)

Bring on the warm weather!

I love the winter, really I do - always been preferable to blazing hot summers, but THIS year has skewed my thoughts. I'm ready for some warm weather to kill all of these bugs that keep finding their way into our home. Taylor is finishing a round of antibiotics from ear infection #2, which was probably a mixed blessing b/c it kept her from getting the strep that made its way through her class at preschool.

I got sinus infection #2 a few weeks ago and went to my ENT - same sinus as in January, but I didn't want to go on a systemic antibiotic for fear of C-Diff again... We came up with a different plan of attack - sinus rinsing with antibiotic solution. Admittedly not fun, but SO much better than having to worry about c-diff and it cleared it up! Wahoo! I'm thankful to Dr. Ryan for being creative and letting me try that first - she is wonderful.

Work for me has been very busy - I never get to come up for air (so it seems) and I still haven't loaded pictures from Hannah's birthday. I'm taking my laptop home this weekend (on-call next week, YIKES!), so I'll try to get to it at some point. Brad's work is steady - I know that they keep him busy, but he doesn't complain, so I know he loves his job... Just for the record, I'm not complaining - I LOVE MY JOB (seriously, I'd NEVER find anything else that even comes close), I just feel much more "needed" these days. ;-)

Hope you all are doing well and I'll get some pics up on picasa soon. We're heading to the beach next weekend for St. Patrick's Day - N Myrtle (OD) has a great parade and street fair that the kids love. We found out last night that my nephew is coming too, so I'm sure Taylor will be talking about it all week - they are the same age and it is a constant party when they are together! They'll both end up exhausted after next weekend...

And on and on and on....

Hannah got a cold on 2/5/09, just in time for her 1st birthday party... This cold turned to a rough cough (of course I caught it too) and last week it got much worse. Thursday (2/12/09) was her 1 year check-up, so I held out until then to see the doctor - I was convinced she had pneumonia because she was running a fever and coughing (to the point of throwing up), she was lethargic and obviously very sick. The doctor (who WAS my favorite until now) basically brushed me off and did her exam, though we did skip the vaccinations due to her fever. She told me it was "just a virus". Well, the next morning, Hannah wouldn't wake up for more than a minute or two - I could bathe her and dry her hair without her ever waking up... lethargic doesn't even come close, she was nearly comatose. I called the doctor and demanded another visit - and my new favorite doctor actually listened to me and confirmed that my poor baby had pneumonia.

She is now doing better and while it is a very gradual improvement, at least she is awake and playing some. We've gotten past her daily throwing up only to have Taylor start with it - her cough started getting really bad Sunday night (2/15), so we're watching her for pneumonia as well as me. I think I'm going to move the family to a tropical location until summer if this mess doesn't stop soon! We're really at the end of our ropes, so please pray for us... We've cleaned up someone's throw up every day for a week and we're going to run the well dry from all the laundry soon. I will try to get birthday party pictures up soon.

The New Year came in with a bang!

Where do I start?! We finally got through round 2 of the stomach bug just in time for a little New Year's celebration. I must have jinxed myself in wishing for a healthier 2009, because we have already made 2 ER trips and it is only January!

Trip 1 was a bit of a scare... We had the kids in the bathtub together (our big one) and they were happily playing, so I thought I would finally change out of my work clothes. I asked Taylor to call me if anything happened and to not let Hannah's face get in the water, while I walked into the closet to hang my pants (it is in the BR). I didn't even get them on the rack when I heard sloshing and ran in to find Hannah under water. I got her up, turned her over and tried to get the water out. She initially couldn't cry, but finally got one out. I was in panic mode - her breathing was a little crazy - she'd take a couple shallow breaths then make this gurgling noise. When Brad finally came in, I got the phone and called the pediatrician, who said to check her every hour. I wasn't comfortable with that or her breathing, so off we went to the ER. At DUKE they did a chest x-ray (clear) and kept us for 8 hours observation. She is fine now and we all learned lessons from this. I know I will never turn my back, Brad will always come quick when we call him at bath, and Taylor will never lay Hannah on her back in the tub again, no matter how relaxing she thinks it will be...

That was a Tues night - Thursday morning, Hannah woke with a cold that she picked up from daycare, which she quickly passed to Mommy (then sister and Daddy). On Sunday, Mom had to get Omnicef for a sinus infection. That night, Hannah started with a barking cough.. Yep, she had croup! Wednesday, Mommy's tummy started feeling bad and got progressively worse throughout the day. I was up all night and at 6am on Thursday, I went to the emergency room. I am now on Flagyl, trying to rid myself of C-Diff, which is a nasty bacterial intestinal infection (caused by the Omnicef).. Go figure. I am semi-secluded from my babies and husband until this stuff goes away and have to be very careful so I don't share it.

Needless to say, our New Year has started in the most UNhealthy way possible! Nobody warns you that the 2nd child is sick for nearly their entire first year... Hopfully it will all end very soon, because Hannah's first birthday is right around the corner and we are going to celebrate this wonderful addition to our life! I will try to get out some pics from Christmas when things settle a bit. ;-) Much love!