Prayer Request

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I am completely and utterly exhausted these days. Life is absolutely wonderful at home, but when I walk out the door each morning, it turns to chaos, it seems. Work and school and homework just don’t seem to be on my priority list anymore, as all I want to do is spend time with my sweet girl and her daddy. We have lots of updates and pictures from Labor Day, Madelyn turning 5 months, eating veggies, visiting Lolly, the hot air balloon festival and just her being cute, in general, but those will have to come at a later date.

One thing I do want to update our family and friends on immediately, though, is a prayer request for our sweet girl. On Labor Day weekend I noticed a rash on Madelyn’s legs. The spots looked like pin pricks, and they were under her skin. My mother in law Kathy, who is a pediatric RN, mentioned that she probably just had a little virus that caused them. A week and a half later, the rash was still there. I googled and found out the “rash” was actually petechiae, something that the “online experts” say warrants an immediate call to the doctor. We saw the pediatrician last Wednesday evening, and he was stumped. She hasn’t been sick, she hasn’t been acting any differently, her appetite is normal – she’s our usual happy little baby. He doesn’t think it was or is being caused by a virus. I told him about my blood issues, so they ran a blood test on her, even though her blood test at birth came back normal. I can honestly say that that was the worst few minutes of my life. They pricked her finger, and it seemed like it took the nurse FOREVER to get enough blood for the tiny little vile. Combine that with the fact that it was nearly an hour past her bedtime and she didn’t nap well that day at daycare, and you get one pissed off baby girl. It took us a good 10 minutes to get her calmed down after the test. The doc came back and explained that her platelets were normal – in the high 170’s – and her white and red blood cells were all normal, so he wanted to confer with the head of pediatric hematology at Children’s Medical Center. The hematologist wants to see her, so we’re headed there tomorrow.

I normally tend to make a big deal out of things that aren’t such a big deal, but I am really scared right now. It didn’t really hit me until yesterday, and this morning I’m having a really hard time getting all the negative thoughts and “what if’s” out of my head. To me, Children's = really sick kids, and our girl doesn't belong there. There’s a long lists of what could be causing this “rash,” some things aren’t a big deal and some are – I just pray and pray and pray that it’s one of the “not such a big deal” things.

If you have a moment today, please say a little prayer for our sweet girl that everything will go well tomorrow. I found the following scripture on another blog this morning, and it seems oh-so-fitting for our situation:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. --Philippians 4:6

4-Month Pics

Last month, we had professional pics done, and I am so pleased at how they turned out. Here are a few of our faves.

Goodbye World

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. Three weeks ago I started back to school. I'm a little less than enthusiastic about being gone two nights a week because it means I pretty much don't get to see (well, see her awake anyway) my girl several days out of the week. I take her to daycare on my school days, but she's fast asleep by the time I get home (and she is usually still asleep when I leave for work the next morning). :( I hate that I have to miss out on those moments with her, but I know I will regret not finishing my degree if I quit now. I've put too much time and effort into it. Sooo, this semester I'm taking a diversity in organizations course and managerial accounting. After this semester, only 6 more classes! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! MBA, here I come!

For Dede

:)

A Few Videos

*disclaimer* The following videos are not the most exciting videos you've ever seen, I know. But I think my kid is the cutest kid on Earth, and I video just about everything she does. Smile. Oh, get the camera! She giggles. Oh, grab the camera, hurry! She toots. Wasn't that the funniest little toot?! Get the camera! So feel free to skip this post if you've already met your cute kid quota for the day (but I'm sure you haven't). :)

Madelyn has her own little language. She talks up a storm, and I can't help but laugh when she does this (and she does it often).


She's finally starting to grab at her toys, and she LOVES her little frog that Nick & Ella gave her.


She also is a little giggler nowadays. But she never wants to giggle when we put the camera in her face. She does like to copy us when we make faces at her, though.

My New Favorite Chew Toy

My finger. Just the one.

Gymboree

Two weekends ago Madelyn and I attended our first Gymboree class. In doing so, we helped support another local mommy who is raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training by running a marathon later this year. This organization is very near and dear to my heart, and I was honored to help our mommy friend raise money for such a great cause.

I had to wake Madelyn up from her nap when we got there, but she was so intrigued and amazed by all that was going on around her the entire time we were there. She was the youngest baby in the group, but she had so much fun nonetheless. I'm sure she'll enjoy it much more when she is mobile -- the kids who could crawl and run around all seemed to have a blast!

I took my camera but didn't even take it out of my bag. I had to borrow these from another mommy from the group.

Saying hi to our new friends


We're looking forward to many more fun classes with our new friends!