Christmas + New Years

I am struggling coming up with a word this year to describe our Christmas. I wish I could say it was perfect and that Jaxon ran out of his bedroom in anticipation of what was under the tree and blah blah blah... but it didn't happen. We celebrated the Tuesday morning before Christmas, as we knew it was our only chance since we were pretty certain Jaxon would be admitted to the hospital just hours later... turns out we were right. He was obviously not feeling good so 95% of the pictures I have of him, he is crying.

Here's the best one I got of the boys:
{yes, Jaxon is pulling Cohen's hair...}

Jaxon's favorite gifts... 3 little John Deere tractors! Of course they were also the smallest and cheapest of the gifts we got him, funny how that goes! :)

I am so thankful that Cohen remained healthy through all of it ... he brought me such joy in such sad times.

As you all know, Jax was in the hospital from Tuesday morning until late Thursday night, so we thought for sure we wouldn't be going home since we were supposed to leave Wednesday night/Thurs morning. Thankfully once we were released, Jaxon was back to his normal self. The morning after we got home he ate 2 pancakes, had no fever for 48 hours, and threw some ornaments across the living room from my tree.... yeah, he was back to normal. So we gave it one more day at home, made a few calls to the doctor to see what he thought, and left the next morning... Christmas morning.

15 hours later we were in Iowa. A trip that should have only taken about 13 hours took us 15... what can I say, when you have 2 small children every stop you make takes at least 35-40 minutes. Between 2 diaper changes, nursing Cohen, letting Jaxon run around, 2 potty breaks for us, and to fill up the gas tank... it all takes time. It might have been the longest day of my life, so we were very relieved to pull into Tyler's grandparents house in his home town.

The next day we headed to the other side of Tyler's family's Christmas gathering. We have never been able to attend this big get-together since we've been married {gasp!} so we were glad to be able to make it this year.

Later that day, we traveled another 2 1/2 hours {farther north} to my Inlaw's house. We were thankful to have a few days there as we were tired of driving and unloading our car! We had a great Christmas with them and it was amazing to be able to sit and relax for a few days. Jaxon had a blast playing with his Uncle Cooper again! As corny as it sounds, it made my heart leap with joy to hear my boy laughing so much... it was a great great feeling.

The cute personalized outdoor chairs my Mom-in-law got for the boys!

Jaxon, Cooper, Mason, and Cohen all decked out for the big Iowa/Mizzou game!

On Thursday morning we left for my parents house, another 5 hours {south} in the car. Luckily the road took us right through our hometown and my BFF Angie was home visiting her parents, so we finally got to see each other and she got to meet Cohen. I was so glad it worked out to see her and her family. How in the world did I not take any pictures of that!? Ugh!

My house where I grew up in Iowa... I took this pic while driving past it. Sniff sniff...

We arrived at my parents house Thursday evening and tears of joy ran down my face... I said to my Dad "I honestly thought I'd never see you". After the week we had it meant so much for us to be able to go home. We got right to it, as my Mom was anxious for us to open our gifts. Jaxon's favorite gift this year was this one... a portable Thomas the Train set! He has not stopped playing with it since.

As for me, I have 2 favorite gifts....

My Red TOMS... love love love!!!.... and,

A Pottery Barn throw blanket! They always look so amazing and soft in their magazines, and I'm here to tell you... they are :)

2nd favorite gift is a really cute outfit from my Sister. Love!

New Years Eve at my parents house is never dull... they had some friends over and I laughed so hard my stomach and jaw both hurt. A fun way to ring in the new year, although honestly I was in bed by 11:00 and when I woke up at midnight to nurse Cohen I did not even remember getting into bed an hour earlier, I was so tired.

Saturday morning my brother and his family arrived to my parents house!!! We haven't seen them since August when we left KC, so his wife and I both cried when we hugged! So fun to see them again and see Jaxon play with his cousins. Despite still trying to gain back all of his energy, he kept up with them pretty well! Saturday afternoon we went bowling and got home and ate pierogies and ham for dinner... yummm! So glad my Mom saved us some leftovers from what we missed out on the week before. :)

My family, plus 2 of my parents friends! Believe it or not, the lady that my Dad has his arm around (far left) is not my mom... lol

Sunday we left and headed back to Texas.... got home 12 1/2 hours later. It was a long trip, but we're glad to be home.

The only bad part about the trip? Our plans got cut 3-4 days short because of Jaxon's hospital stay, so we had to re-route our trip and didn't get to stop in Kansas City or Des Moines to see our friends/family. So sad we missed you all... :(

I'll be back soon with some New Years resolutions!

Cheers to blogging in 2011!

So happy.

We're home.

Doctor released us to go home at about 7pm last night. Jaxon has been without a fever for 36 hours now and is getting back to his normal 2-year-old tendencies. I never thought I would be so happy to see him being so naughty, ha! Him being naughty just means he's getting back to his old self. :)

The power of prayer is a strong strong thing. We serve an amazing God who still performs miracles today.

I am so thankful for all of my friends, "e-friends", and our amazing family. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Merry Christmas from the HEALTHY Keith family!!

Unexpected.

Sunday was the same kind of Sunday we've had for a while now. A great church service, a Sunday afternoon nap, and a wonderful group of friends at Life Group to close out the day. Towards the end of group, Jaxon was getting a little "needy" and wanted to be held. I didn't think anything of it, being it was 7:00 and getting close to his bed time. We got home, said our "na-nights" to him, and he fell sleep.

15 hours later, he was still sleeping. If you have a baby or child, you know how unheard of this is. He's a fairly early riser each morning, so when I woke up at 9:30 {yes, my husband kindly let me sleep in} I was shocked to see him still asleep when I looked at the monitor. At 10:45 I had enough and went in to his room to wake him up. Right away I could tell something was wrong, he did not want to drink anything and was very shaky. He felt warm to me, so I knew he was fighting some kind of bug. He sat around all morning in our laps and around noon, all the sudden he became hot to the touch. I took his temperature .... 105.5. When I told Tyler, he said "alright, lets go. I have no idea where we're going, to the ER or to the doctor, but we need to go somewhere." Our doctor saw us right away after arriving and it all began. A handful of tests, finger pricks, blood draws, all inconclusive. Despite not drinking anything all day, his electrolyte levels were actually decent, so we were able to go home.

As you can imagine, Monday night I did not get much rest. The constant worrying about him through the night and then going in to wake him every 4 hours to give Tylenol, PLUS having a newborn ... yeah. Tuesday morning we headed back to the doctor. Jax still was not any better and was still running a high fever - between 104 and 105 each time we checked. After more tests, more pokes, and more draws... the doctor admitted us to the childrens wing in the hospital. One of those memories that will forever be engraved in my brain, my helpless and extremely lethargic child in my arms as we walked into our room. Oh, and lets not even talk about having to strap his entire body down in order to get an IV put in. Worst.experience.ever.

Since then, they have found out that the infection started as pneumonia. What they can't figure out is why his fever is so high, why his fever won't drop, and why he's not responding {fighting} off the infection with the antibiotics. They've changed his meds a few times and are about to do it again in the next hour or two. Every test they run comes back negative, and it's just a mystery what kind of infection his poor little body is fighting. The doctor even told me yesterday that it's very possible we will leave here never knowing what it was he has/had.

We're exhausted. "Rest" at a hospital is a complete joke. I know it's their job, but with the nurses and aids coming in every 45 minutes to get vitals destroys any chance of Jaxon getting a good nights rest. I have stayed overnight with him, sleeping by his side either in his bed or in the recliner... and oh yeah, did you forget about Cohen who needs his mommy to nurse every 4 hours? Ahhh.... :)

This is not the Christmas we wanted or imagined. At this very moment, we should be just a few hours away from my parents house in Missouri. We should be just days away from being with Tyler's family in Iowa. But instead, we're in a hospital. We are not sure at this point if we'll be going home at all.

Believe it or not, I am handling this better than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, I've had my moments of sheer panic and misery as I sob in my husbands arms, but overall I am okay. I want to kick and scream and say a million times over again "It's not fair!" ... and it's not. But for whatever reason, this is the way it is. My poor child is sick. I am his mommy and can't kiss it all better. Pure heartbreak.

I am so ready for 2010 to be over. Hands down, this has been the hardest year of my life.

My friend stopped by yesterday, and as she was driving over, she said that God gave her this word to give to me... "Emmanuel", which means "God with us". As soon as she told me that, I had hot tears rolling down my face. What a perfect reminder, that no matter where we spend Christmas, no matter what worries we have, no matter what circumstances we're under, no matter what we're facing... God with us. Right here, in this hospital room.

Thank you to everyone who has sent a text, email, facebook message, and a word of hope to us during this week we've had. We are hopeful to be out of here soon... very soon. Praise the good Lord he's been without a fever since 5pm last night. We want out of here, but the doctor isn't so sure. And that's okay. I don't want to leave too early, only to end up right back where we started.

Even though this isn't the Christmas I wanted or asked for, I am certain of one thing. No matter where we are come Saturday, we are together. My son is alive. My little guy is smiling as if there's not a care in the world. I have my husbands hand to hold. And I have my Savior to praise and celebrate.

Praying you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. I'll update again when I can.

Blah.

I feel like my blog clearly reflects my mood, but not always in a direct way. Some weeks I'm posting daily and feel like I can explode full of topics to blog about. Then there's this week when I'm just "blah"... in a funk, emotionally, and also in the blog world.

This week though, there's a reason for it. 2 sick boys. And 2 sick boys = no sleep for mama. Jaxon has bronchiolitis, which is basically just bronchitis for babies. His cough rattles his chest and makes me want to cry. The thick green snot constantly pouring out of his nose and the tugging at his ears and whining ... oy vey... my poor mr man.

And Cohen? Well, we're not sure what he has. It started on Sunday when he started vomiting constantly. He's always been some-what of a "spitter-upper" {how's that for a scientific term?}- but never projectile vomits like he has been. All the sudden he started doing this after nursing and for hours even after he ate, making me wonder if there was literally anything left in his tummy. Then he'd seem hungry again, only to start the process all over. Caution: I'm about to talk about poop, for all you non-mommy's. The other symptom he had was foamy poop. Weirdest thing I've ever seen, but it literally looked like foam. Monday came and went, same thing. Tuesday I had enough and took him to the doctor... they are not sure if it's just an intestinal infection or if he could have a knot at the top of his stomach. There's an official term for it, but I can't remember it for the life of me. Basically it prevents food from going in his stomach correctly, and therefore causes the baby to have issues digesting it. The doctor put him on a med, hoping it's the intestinal infection... but if he's not better by Monday we'll be doing an ultrasound on his little bitty tummy to see if there's a blockage of some sort. At this point I don't want to think about what we'd do if there is something wrong, but I can only assume surgery of some kind.

As I was at the doctors office, I looked down to see this on my pants:

Yep, that's poop. I will admit I usually wear my jeans 2-3 times before washing them {assuming they're not dirty!} but I had no idea that was on my pants. Obviously sleep deprived... and the sad thing is, it could have been from either boy. Who knows.

On a happy note, we leave in exactly one week to head home to the Midwest for Christmas. Can't wait to pull into my Mom's driveway, hand her my boys, and go take a nap. Ha!

Appreciate your thoughts & prayers for my little guys, and for their Mama, who is so so so tired.

The Digital Story of the Nativity.

Stealing this from my friend Angie ...

So funny!