Luke's incision from his heart surgery has once again become infected. It was tested and came back positive for Mercer (also known as MRSA), a very serious type of staph infection that is sometimes called a "superbug" because of its resistance to most antibiotics.
Bethany and Ed are in Charleston today to meet with the surgeon and have Luke's incision opened and cleaned. Luke will be admitted to the hospital (hopefully for just a couple of days) and put to sleep and given intravenous antibiotics. Please pray for Luke and his family. We hope that this procedure works and gets rid of Luke's infection for good.
To read more about Luke and his journey, please click here.
Today we tried out a new indoor family fun center called Kangarooz. It is only a couple of miles from our home. It has over 21,000 square feet of fun. They have 9 different bouncy inflatables, a cafe, dance stage, and a dedicated toddler area. Needless to say, Grace had a blast!
First, we played in the toddler area. Grace really enjoyed the playhouses.
Then she played on the slide for a while. That slide was FAST so she made sure to hold Daddy's hand each time. We saw other kids slide down so quickly that they flew right off the end and landed on their heads.
And Grace enjoyed climbing all over this turtle.
And the bird, too. She would put her feet on the water and say "Oh no! My feet got wet!" and then she'd squeal in pretend delight.
Then we finally convinced her to try the toddler bouncy.
Grace and Daddy had so much fun, I decided to climb in, too!
We had so much fun clambering around!
David took a break and squashed a mushroom.
It wasn't long before Grace was ready to explore the "big kids area."
She was distracted a few times by some large boxes. They contained the blowers that keep the bouncies inflated.
Soon, Grace was ready to tackle one of the big slides.
We stayed at Kangarooz for several hours. The biggest drawback was the noise. It was quite LOUD but maybe that was because not many people were there. All in all, it was a lot of fun and very affordable. We bought a punch card good for 7 visits for only $24. That's roughly $3.50 per visit. Oh, and adults get in for FREE. I can see us playing here a lot - especially on those cold rainy days.
We had a nice quiet New Year celebration this year. It was just us. We stayed up late and watched the fireworks from our balcony. Since our bedroom is on the 4th floor of our building, the fireworks were exploding at eye level. It was incredible! There are quite a few "firebugs" in our neighborhood. I didn't bother taking any pictures or videos of the displays this year. Instead, we just quietly enjoyed them as a family. Grace managed to stay up until 11pm or so before finally conking out. She lovedthe fireworks.
We had a great feast for New Year's Day.
I baked this fabulous ham with pineapple and then added the honey glaze. Mmmm...good!
And cornbread.
Not just any cornbread, but Mexican cornbread with cheddar cheese and onions. My mouth is watering.
And black eye peas, of course.
The best, however, was the pecan pie made with pecans we shelled ourselves. It wasscrumptious!
One of the presents we received for Christmas this year was a nut cracker.
We also received 13 gallons of pecans that Seth and my dad had picked.
So David went to work!
You place the nut in the cracker.
Pull the handle, and voila! The shell is cracked.
Then the real fun begins. You get to pick the nut out of the shell!
Grace and I really enjoyed it.
She was really good at it most of the time. After a while, she started tossing the shells and all in our "keep" bucket.
David helped pick them, too.
It was a lot of fun spending family time together cracking and shelling pecans. Now I just need to get baking. I plan to make pecan pie for New Year's. And banana pecan pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. And some type of nut bread this week. And maybe pecan crusted chicken for dinner. We have a LOT of pecans to use...I see lots of pies and breads in the future.
This morning I went in for a scheduled OB appointment and I took Grace with me. While we were waiting to be called back, she sat in my lap and let out a little gas. Then she giggled and said "Oops. My hiney said hell-whoa" (Oops. My hiney said hello.) Which was quickly followed by "It's uh steen-key hell-whoa." (It's a stinky hello.)
Overall, she was pretty amazing. Quiet and patient. I gave her a lollipop which kept her entertained for most of the appointment. The nurses even commented on how good she was and they gave her three Dora stickers that Grace loved.
Then the nurse finally called me back. She weighed me. I gained 2 pounds since my last visit on November 20. Then they took my blood pressure which was 116 over 72. Finally, after filling out some more paperwork regarding family medical history, the nurse took me and Grace to my room.
While waiting for the doctor, Grace played in the dressing area aka "tent." Then she looked at me and asked "You gonna get neck-ed, Momma?" (Are you going to get naked, Momma?) Um, no, Grace, I'm not. "Why not?" Well, because the doctor is just going to listen to Momma's tummy. "Oh-tay." (Okay.) Then she said "Here, Momma. Put you feet here" and pointed to the stir-ups. I guess she was remembering the ultrasound experience.
Finally, the doctor came in and we listened to the baby's heartbeat. It was nice and strong and loud. Then they took me back to the weighing station to take some blood. I held Grace while the nurse poked me. Grace was very still and quiet; just watching what was going on. Then the blood stopped flowing and I made the mistake of looking at the vial.
That's when it happened. I fainted! Really. I vaguely remember staring into space, feeling my hands and back get clammy. Then everything started slowing down. I felt the blood drain from my face. I could barely hear the nurses. I felt like I was wearing ear plugs because everyone sounded so far away. And then my vision started getting smaller and smaller until I couldn't see anything. The nurses were asking "Are you okay? Are you okay? I think we have a fainter!" Then someone handed me a glass of water and told me to drink it. Slowly the world shifted back onto its axis. And I was okay. A little shaky and still clammy, but okay. So I sat at the nurses station until everything was back to normal.
All this time, Grace just sat calmly in my lap and watched everything. After a while, the nurse came back and gave me a swine flu vaccine. Thankfully, I didn't faint this time. And Grace just said "You got boo-boos, Momma. I tiss it. All beh-er" (You got a boo-boo, Momma. I kiss it. All better). Finally, we were done and Grace said "I won doe home." (I want to go home.) So we did. Hopefully, our next visit will be less dramatic.
My mom had a small cake for me. Grace helped me blow out the candles.
The sweetest and most meaningful moment for me was when Grace just walked up and started singing Happy Birthday to me. She did it all by herself. No one prompted her. It almost brought tears to my eyes.
