A Turner Thanksgiving

I always get in a little over my head on projects.  This Thanksgiving was no exception.  We decided to invite the Turner family (Martin's parents and sister with her husband and daughter) to stay with us for a week and enjoy Thanksgiving in our new Austin home.  I grew up with tons of people always around, especially at holiday time, so this was not a new situation for me.  It did, however, remind me how small our house really is.  6 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 dogs...  All in all, it went well and everyone got along without any casualties.  And to make it a memorable and special Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook the entire meal.  I've never made a full Thanksgiving dinner by myself so I was excited and eager to give it a shot.  This was my moment to start my own family's yearly traditions and I wanted to make it wonderful.  The menu included: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, fennel with garlic, green beans with almonds, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, dinner rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and apple pie.  And I did it all from scratch including my pie crusts!  I did buy my rolls but I think that's acceptable.  The dinner was fantastic!  My turkey was a bit dry but still delicious.  The dishes that got the most compliments included the sweet potatoes, pecan pie, gravy and cranberries.  I have to admit, I was completely impressed with myself.  I love entertaining and this meal put my skills to the test.  Still, I missed my mom's cooking.  Nothing I did can compare to what she can do and I missed my family immensely.  But it was so awesome to have my in laws here and especially to have the little cousins together - Amelia and Tildyn.


Here are some photos from that week.

Cousin T & Amelia having fun!

Taking a walk with Grandma Leelee

Riding the Zilker Zephyr

Hugs!

Horns Thanksgiving

Looks good, right?

Back to normal.... sort of

I am happy to report that we are back at home and trying to get back to some normalcy.  Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers, well wishes and thoughts.  We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family!

The verdict on Amelia's illness: a virus.  Not exactly the most definitive answer but it is better than getting a really bad diagnosis.  All of her labs came back normal with the exception of two that indicated inflammation somewhere in her body but they were "non-specific" so it didn't give us much to go on.  In the end it's just a virus and she's better now.  We will be doing some follow-up with a specialist so we can monitor any other viruses that may occur in the near future.  But for now, we are trying to get back to a normal routine.  Unfortunately, Miss Amelia has taken a strong liking to having our undivided attention and having us bow to her every need.  And to endless amounts of t.v.  She got a rude awakening this week when we told her no more t.v.!  You would have thought the world was coming to an end.  She has been very clingy to mommy and keeps asking to sleep in my bed.  But we run a tight ship around here (not really) and we didn't give in.  She's back to sleeping in her bed which have converted into a daybed from a crib.  Now she can climb in and out as she pleases and she seems to like it a lot.  Today was her first day back to daycare and that didn't go as well as I had hoped.  She didn't want me to leave and I ended up having to pick her up early because they called saying she couldn't be consoled after her nap.  I think it will take some time to get her back to a completely normal routine.  There are some indicators, however that she is back to normal.  She started bossing us around right away and she is very demanding.  Once those traits popped up we knew she was on the mend. 

Remember that I mentioned she watched Toy Story over and over again in the hospital?  Well some of the lines from the movie have stuck with her.  Yesterday, I took her to Chic-fil-a for lunch and she yelled at me in the restaurant "YOU ARE A TOY!!!!!".  The people around us were laughing so hard and I couldn't help but laughing also.  Then last night, she came running out of her room, ran up to me while I was cleaning the kitchen and said "You wanna piece of me?".  It was the funniest thing and Martin and I were dying laughing.  She then kept repeating it me all night.  I think that line is from Toy Story also, but I'm not sure.  I should know the entire script, but I can't be sure. 

And not to leave out our newest Baby Turner that is still in the womb... Our baby girl is doing great!  I am 29 weeks now and feel pretty good.  I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable but no big complaints.  She moves around quite a bit which I love.  Amelia is warming up to the idea of a baby sister and likes to talk about her at school.  And if you ask Amelia, she'll tell you the name of her sister even though we've been trying to keep it a secret.  Goes to show, you can't trust a 2 year old with valuable information!

Weekend At The Hospital

Our sweet Amelia has had a rough few weeks.  It all started a few weeks ago, in mid-October, when she came down with a random virus that gave her high fevers for 7 days.  I don't know what's worse, having the doctor's tell you there's no answer as to why your kid is sick or having them actually give you a diagnosis.  I guess neither are good; the only good option is to have a healthy baby. So, we got through that 7 day virus episode fairly well and with only two trips to the pediatrician.  Amelia felt better for about a week and then all of a sudden around Halloween her sleep habits drastically changed.  She decided she no longer wanted to take a nap or go to sleep.  Normally she goes down without even a fuss, gives us a kiss, tells us "I love you" and "sweet dreams" and that's it - we're good for a nap or a whole nights worth of sleep.  When her habits changed, we were a bit worried that she might have another ear infection causing her to be uncomfortable.  Even though she did not have a fever or other symptoms, I took her to the doctor to be safe.  Everything came back fine and we chalked it up to either a growth spurt or two-year molars.  That was last week.  On Tuesday of this week she came down with a fever and it was a bit high - 102+ and it continued to spike every four hours that night.  On Wednesday morning I took her to see her pediatrician (again) to find out the cause.  This time he had a bit more concern since she had just recovered from the previous virus only a couple of weeks ago so he opted for more tests than normal.  Poor Amelia had to endure a catheter to check for a possible bladder infection and a finger prick to check her white blood cell count for signs of infection on top of the normal ear, nose and throat check.  Everything came back normal.  Our pediatrician told us to go home and monitor it and to call if anything changed or if the fever got high.  On Thursday night, Amelia's fever spiked to 105.5!  We had never seen a fever that high so we started to pack up the car ready to take her to the ER.  We called the pediatrician's office and spoke to the on-call doctor.  Since Amelia had already had a full panel of tests done at the doctor's office, the on-call doctor recommended to wait and see if the ibuprofen helped to lower her temperature within 45 minutes by at least two degrees.  If not, then to proceed to the ER.  Sure enough, about 40 minutes later, she was back down to 102 so we decided to stay at home.  In addition to all of that, she started complaining about headaches, neck pain and foot pain.  And after a Google search, I was concerned about meningitis.  First thing on Friday morning we called her pediatrician's office to talk about the night before and the continued spiking temperatures.  The nurse asked that we bring her in right away.  At the doctor's office, they decided to do another blood culture and to check for strep throat.  In the end, the doctor was uneasy about the duration of this virus with the continued spiking temperatures, the very high temp from the day before and the fact that the last virus was only two weeks prior.  Our doctor seemed fairly confident that meningitis was not the culprit for many reasons but was still bothered by all of the other issues.  And since it was now Friday, we would not have had easy access to the doctor's office on the weekend.  His recommendation was to admit her to the hospital for further testing and observation.  Not exactly the news any parent wants to hear, but there was some relief in the fact that we could be in a safe place in the event her fever went over 105 again.  After that doctor's visit, we went home to take care of the dogs and pack our things for at least a one night stay at Dell Children's Hospital.  


Friday was rough for our little monkey - she had to endure many doctors and nurses checking her vitals and the placement of an I.V. for blood draws and for fluids.  When we first got here, she walked into the hospital totally happy and being her usual charming self.  She made the admitting staff laugh and she talked to everyone on her way in.  All of the nurses on our floor were laughing at her little antics and how confidently she marched down the hall to her room.  She stopped to talk to everyone and tell them funny little things about herself or her toys.  It didn't stop once we got to the room either.  A team of doctors, nurses and interns came in to assess her condition and talk with us.  That became the "Amelia Show" and she had a full and captive audience.  Everyone was surprised to find out she only turned two a few months ago because of how well spoken she was.  That's my girl - the charmer!  Too bad the glamour of the hospital did not last long and soon she was not too happy with anyone who came close to her with even so much as a thermometer.  We were very lucky in one respect - we have a friend at the hospital!  It just so happens that the wife of one of Martin's co-workers is doing her pediatric residency here at Dell Children's.  And she just so happened to be working the graveyard shift on our first night.  What a lucky break for us!  She absolutely adores Amelia and the feeling is mutual.  Not only did she take charge of Amelia's care for the night, but she also made Amelia so happy.  She also made me happy by getting us a better bed so I could sleep in it with Amelia.  It's nice to have an inside connection at the hospital!  Thank you so much, Dr. Lori!  You are the absolute best!


It's now Saturday night and I'm posting this blog from the hospital room where we're still camped out at least for one more day.  The verdict is that we're waiting for more results on her lab work.  Some have come back with mostly negative results.  The only items concerning the doctors are two tests that show elevated levels indicating an unknown source of inflammation in her body.  It doesn't give them a lot to go on but it does show that something is happening inside of her.  We hope to have more results back tomorrow and hope to go home.  There is a small chance we'll have to see the infectious diseases team so they can lend their expertise to the situation.  In the end, we may have to settle for no definitive answer as to what this virus is.  No answer is way better than a bad one.


No one tells you that when you become a parent, you are also prepping for med school.  I've learned so much in the past two years and I'm definitely thankful for it.  So many little things that will continue to serve me well throughout my whole life.  Just call me, Dr. Liz:)

Right after she got her I.V. - notice how many sticker she has.  She was not very happy with us.

Amelia and her Lulu

Moments of happiness

Enjoying some streaming movies and Teddy Grahams.  Amelia is confined to her room and is hooked up to fluids, so we're not exactly mobile.  She has been allowed to watch endless amounts of t.v. and movies.  We've watched Toy Story part one and two at least 4 times each.

Halloween 2011

Maneki Neko - "Lucky Cat"

Halloween weekend was fun-filled and jam packed with events.  Friday night we went to a carnival at Amelia's future elementary school which was incredibly fun.  I know that my elementary school carnivals were not this elaborate.  This carnival had a live band, some food vendors (Amy's Ice Cream - always an Austin favorite), a haunted house, a bungee jumper meant for small people and various inflatable slides and obstacle courses.  The sheer number of people there was impressive.  We took Amelia and met up with our neighbors and their daughter.  Amelia was a little intimidated by the crowds at first but warmed up quickly.  She looked so adorable!  And after we had some ice cream, she was all fired up!

On our way to the carnival

With her buddy Piper!

Hugs!

She loves chocolate ice cream

And this is the after-effect of ice cream!  A runaway kitty.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for one of her class mates and they had a trampoline!  I think this will be on Amelia's Christmas list.  She loved it!  

With her school teacher, Jillian

Bought a new nail polish that she loves

Then we had Halloween on Monday night.  We went to a friends house for some pre-Trick-or-Treating fun and snacks.  Then we went out door to door in her neighborhood.  As I expected, Amelia didn't last long but we had a good time.  She went to each door and said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" when she got candy.  She wasn't greedy and only took one piece from each bowl unless the giver told her to go for more.  One funny moment was when the giver put the candy in Amelia's basket and Amelia decided she didn't want it.  She gave the candy back to the lady and said "No, I don't like that one."  We couldn't help but laugh.  I tried to convince Amelia that wasn't very nice and she needs to take it anyway, but no dice.  The lady was nice and didn't seem to mind too much.  Then we went to a house where one lady showed her "scary" mask face through the window and Amelia started crying.  For the rest of the night Amelia would talk about the "Scary Lady".  I spent the rest of the night trying to convince her the lady was just pretending to be scary but she was actually very nice.  We only lasted about one block and then she was done.  Everyone loved her costume and she enjoyed telling everyone she was a "Lucky Cat".


Here are some fun photos!

Scored some Milk Duds

Rejecting candy that she didn't like...

With her buddy Sophia