So, once again, it's been a long time since I last blogged. Shortly after the last post, (Oct. 31), we left for our annual trip north, to NY and PA. Greg goes up to hunt. I stay with family. This time of year, I would need to grow antlers out of my head to be noticed...haha...but it's okay. It's just for a couple weeks and it's the highlight of his year!

We were in NY/PA for about 2+ wks. It was a nice, relaxing time! I attended Twin Orchards Baptist Church (my home church for 28 yrs.) and it was good to see some "old" friends. The following Sunday, we went to my dad's church, Community Bible Church, and I even got the boys, all three (!), to sing with me, well...sort of! Carter sang out nicely. Lincoln (almost 2!), sang in his own language. Jackson, had his back towards the congregation and I had to take the microphone away because he was hitting it. But, it was a blast! I hope that singing in church is something they will develop and grow to love it too! I'll try not to project my dreams onto them! (haha)

Greg and I have been working on buying a house, so we decided to leave Jackson and Lincoln with my parents for 2 weeks so I could come home and clean out and re-organize. I did get a lot done, but we also took a few days to visit Greg's brother and his wife for Thanksgiving. We had a nice time and Beth and I managed to pull of a Thanksgiving dinner that was not only edible, but enjoyable!

Then, it seemed like we had appointments and things everyday for awhile, but I was still able to get more done than normal. Tuesday (the 9th), my mom and the boys flew into Orlando, and Taylor and I picked them up. It was SO good to see the boys. They did look more mature than I remember. That always seems to happen.

The next day, while wiping Taylor's nose (something that's been going on for about 2 wks), I decided to take her to the Dr. That turned out to be a good decision. He said she had an ear infection in her right ear. No problem...some antibiotics and she'll be good...but then...he listened to her lungs and heard wheezing. So, he had her do a breathing treatment at the office so he could see how she responded. She responded well and he was thinking we could probably treat her at home, but wanted to rule out pneumonia first, with a chest xray. So, we drove down to the clinic for the xray. We waited there for his phone call. He said she DID have pnuemonia in her right lobe. SO...because she also has CF, it's not just "send her home on meds and come back in a week." This is a trip to the hospital. We were there in July for pneumonia, as you probably remember, and that lasted 5 days. My mom was scheduled to leave in 2 days (Fri.).

I came home from the xray, packed up some things for the hospital, took the two older boys to Awana and to switch vehicles with Greg (he has a 2-seater truck and I drive an 8-seater van), and left Lincoln at home with my mom. Grabbed some dinner on the way, and Taylor was admitted by about 7pm.

They had to do all the initial lab work...blood tests, sputum cultures, nose swab, etc. She pulled out the first IV line they had put in her hand, so they put a new one in her foot and wrapped it with a soft splint and lots of tape! It did the trick and I think she was much more comfortable with it there. I was! =)

She was a trooper the ENTIRE time! All of the nurses loved working with her because she would just smile at them the whole time. She's such a sweetie. It was nice to know the other kids were being taken care of at home, with my mom and Greg and I could just focus on Taylor. It was hard though because I had just gotten Jackson and Lincoln back and then I left. Poor kids!

So, they let us go home on Friday with antibiotics and frequent breathing treaments with additional CPT (chest physio-therapy). The Dr. thinks that her pnuemonia is viral, so it will have to run it's course. She's on the antibiotics for her ear infection and as a preventative measure just incase the pnuemonia is bacterial. She did not culture pseudonomas (which anyone who deals with CF will know, this is wonderful!).

So, there you have it!

Oh, I should mention, that since my last post, Carter has turned 6, Jackson turned 4 and Lincoln will be 2 in 8 days! Taylor is now 10 months old!

Some Videos

I have recently posted some videos of the kids on facebook. Instead of uploading them here, I thought I'd just include the link that will allow you to view the video there. If you are unable to click on the link, simply copy and paste it into your web browser.

Here are two of them. I'll be adding more later and will let you know!

This one is of Carter singing a song he made up!

http://vupload.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=51194656072

This is Lincoln at 12 mos. old, "dancing" to Christmas music.

http://vupload.new.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=51333481072

It's been a month?

Wow...I didn't realize it had been a month since I last posted here. Life has been busy...but it's a "good" busy.

The kids have been doing well. But, it seems another round of colds have hit us.

It's cold here today...YEAH! Carter needed a sweatshirt to wear to school. I'm sure he doesn't need it by now, but it's SO nice for us to have those cold mornings. It's supposed to get down into the 40's by Wednesday. It's hard to believe that I get excited about that, but I have all these nice, cozy sweatshirts and pajamas, and I hardly ever get to use them. And socks! I'm wearing socks! haha

We're getting ready to head up north again for our annual trip. This seems to be one of two main focuses right now. This is Greg's yearly hunting trip, which is what keeps him going the rest of the 50 weeks a year, in Florida. The six months prior to the trip, he is planning, practicing and preparing to go. The six months post trip, is re-living the excitement of sitting in a tree, freezing cold, waiting...waiting...waiting. (Yes, that is called sarcasm.) For him, it's the highlight of his year. I don't pretend to understand it, but I do appreciate it for what it's worth to him and am glad he's able to go. The bonus to this, is that he hunts near my parents and brother and family (about an hour away). So, the kids and I get to spend time with them, while Greg is MIA. We also take some of that time to get down to PA to visit with Greg's parents and brother and family. I'm hoping to make some arrangements with both sets of Grandparents, so I can get some R&R of my own!

I am always glad to have a chance to visit my "home" church, Twin Orchards Baptist Church, in Vestal. This is the church that I attended since birth until Greg took his first youth pastor position in West Oneonta. Twenty-eight years at one church...with the same pastor throughout...what a blessing! There are still several families there that are "near and dear to my heart". I can't wait to see them!

I will also get to see one of my best friends, Melissa, and her "growing-like-a-weed" baby girl, who was born while we were traveling to NY last year! So, incase math isn't your strong suit, that means she'll be turning ONE YEAR OLD soon! Happy Birthday, Miracle! And, I'll get to introduce them to Taylor.

So...have you been curious? Would you like to know what our other focus is right now?

Well...I'm trying NOT to get my hopes up TOO high (though it may be too late for that), BUT...it looks like we will be putting an offer on a house, here in Lakeland, this week!!!

We found a house that is a 4 bedroom/2 bath house, 1800 sq. ft., with a nice back yard, a 2 car attached garage, with ALL tile flooring...in our price range! It was built in 2006. We don't want carpet because of the kids with CF. Carpet hangs on to bacteria, which can include mold, and these can be devasting for CF. Also, Carter is allergic to dustmites, so this will eliminate the majority of the problem for him. This is the first house we've seen with no carpeting. And, having a 4 bedroom house, would allow Taylor to have her own room and Lincoln will probably have his own room. Carter and Jackson have been sharing a room since just before Lincoln was born (about 2 yrs), and, they have a bunk bed, so that will most likely be the combination. The great thing about this, is that from things I've read, if you have more than one child with CF in the same house, they recommend separate rooms. This helps with picking up germs from each others bedding, or from spreading germs through coughing at night. I'm not sure if this will make much of a difference, but every little bit has to help some.

One of the best things about this house, is that it doesn't need any work to move in. Most of the houses we looked at, even the ones in really good condition, needed SOMETHING done...whether it was painting or shampooing the carpets, or ripping them up to put tile down, etc. So, this house, SEEMS to me, to be gift wrapped from God! The only thing we will want to do right away, is add fencing to one side of the property, for our dog. The other side already has a fence and the back is blocked off by the subdivision wall.

I am trying to be cautious in my enthusiasm, BUT, we have been living in a single-wide trailer for almost 3 years (in Jan.). When we started out here, we only had 2 kids. So we went from a family of four in a 3/2 trailer (not too bad), to a family of six (not that easy!). We've been praying about this for some time now and this seems to be the right timing. It is unfortunate for home owners and sellers how the market has turned, but for us, this is a blessing. If we wanted to buy this same house a year ago, it would have cost us anywhere from $60,000-$100,000 more. Can you imagine?

We would appreciate your prayers as we make this decision! We'll keep you posted!!!