Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day we went to my parents for dinner, and ate way too much! My sisters were there with their families and my in-laws came, too. After dinner we went home to decorate our Chrismas tree, which Emilia thought was a blast. Before I knew it, the whole bottom 3 feet of the tree was packed with ornments, and the top 10 feet was quite bear! Then she was board with it, so Chris and I finished it up. I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got lots of great deals on Black Friday (I skipped it this year!)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Nathan Campbell

So earlier I had posted a request for prayer for a good friend and her family and I just wasn't ready to say more at that point. I met Caryn at work almost 4 years ago... we both worked night shift at the time. Caryn has been a nurse longer than me, so she taught me a lot in my 1st few years as a NICU nurse. Then we ended up pregnant together and were due a month apart. We had the same OB doc, and always ran into each other in the waiting room at his office. She already had 2 boys at the time, and we were both having girls. I always loved hearing stories of her kiddos because she always seemed like such a great mom and I, of course, was pregnant and cramming on the subject of parenting skills! She was due before me, but Emilia had different schedule in mind when I went into labor before her. Since Emilia was early, I was a bit nervous that she was not quite ready to be here... quite the understatement. When I got to the hospital, I called up to the NICU to see who was working because I wanted a NICU nurse at the delivery (NICU does not usually attend 36 week deliveries). I was so relieved when I found out she was working, and asked her if she would mind coming to my delivery. Talk about mother's intuition, because Emilia was quite naughty, and needed the whole NICU team in the delivery room. Tim was the neonatal nurse practitioner, Lisa, the respiratory therapist, and Caryn was the NICU nurse. Caryn held Emilia before I ever got to...Emilia was 6 days old the 1st time I held her. Twist to the story was that Caryn had her daughter the day before I took Emilia home from the hospital. As Chris and I were leaving the hospital, we stopped by Caryn's room so Catherine and Emilia could have their 1st play date, and they have been friends every since. Her nickname is Claffie, and there have been lots of previous postings in my blog of her and Emilia's play dates.

I could never repay Caryn for taking such great care of my daughter, but now Caryn has a sick child and the only thing I can do is pray, so I hope by posting this, the prayers will be multiplied and her family will find peace and healing. Nathan is her eldest son, now 9 years old and has been diagnosed with T4 cell ALL , (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). I have put a link to his Caring Bridge website under My Blog List: Nathan Campbell. Please keep him in your thoughts... he's such a special and sweet kid. Here's some photos of him last summer at the zoo with my niece, Hannah, and his little brother, Ryan.

303 THANK YOU'S

Thanksgiving is such an important time of year to acknowledge your blessings, and this year I have so much to be thankful for. For the sake of blogging, though, I am limiting it to 303 things I love and am thankful for... here goes...

1. My faith in God… a constant that has helped me through the most difficult times 2. My family 3. My sweet husband, Chris 4. My most beautiful Emilia 5. My parents… that’s how I got here! :) 6. My favorite sisters, Melissa and Heather 7. Their husbands, Markus and JB 8. Markus’s parents, Nanny and Grandpa Calahan 9. Markus’s sister, Michelle 10. JB’s parents, Nana and Granddad 11. JB’s brother, Peter 12. Tyler, my nephew 13. Hannah, my niece 14. Garrett, my nephew 15. Hudson, my nephew 16. Lily, my niece 17. Payton, my nephew 18. Erika, my niece and her hubby Tim 19. My mother and father in law, Pat and Ed 20. Chris’s Aunt Reva and Uncle Bill, Sam and Kyle 21. Chris’s grandma Bellis 22. Pam and Tom, my brother and sister in law 23. Danny, Chris’s brother and his new fiance, Gillian 24. My Uncle Danny Shore 25. Aunt Carol 26. Uncle Pat 27. Aunt Rhonna 28. Uncle Alan 29. Aunt Cheryl 30. Aunt Tammy 31. Uncle Shahdad 32. Aunt Sousan, Shahdad’s sister 33. Sahar, Shahdad’s sister 34. Siamac, Shahdad’s brother in law 35. Teyum, Shahdad’s niece… she’s so sweet 36. Sheram, Shahdad’s brother 37. Cousins… I have many! 38. Chris 39. Abby 40. Aaron 41. Andrew 42. Jennifer 43. Adam 44. Brian 45. Melinda 46. Melanie 47. Mindy 48. Scott and Kimberly and their kids 49. Mark and Kay 50. Brad 51. All my other extended family I have not mentioned! :) 52. Friends that know me and love me anyways… you know who you are! 53. Jenny… we are tattooed friends for life! 54. Samantha… we will never not be friends… you have too much dirt on me! 55. Coffee 56. Raw cookie dough 57. Emilia’s hugs 58. My husband does laundry… I’m not even kidding! 59. Chris doesn’t make me admit when I am wrong… a hug says it all! 60. Emilia calling me mama… so sweet 61. Grandma and Grandpa Crow… Emilia’s preschool. They not only take great care of her, but love her too! What’s not to love? 62. Ice cream with that chocolate that hardens… yummy 63. My 3 cats 64. Music 65. My new Christmas tree 66. Chipotle 67. Starbucks 68. Full moons 69. Smiles 70. Jp coffee 71. Muddys 72. Doozens Coffee 73. Having the most important job of being a mom! 74. Pam takes great care of Emilia… I never have to worry when she has her! 75. My husband can fix anything 76. If my husband can’t fix it, my dad can 77. If my dad cannot fix it, my father in law can! 78. Chris fixes my coffee every morning 79. Chris makes Emilia pancakes on the weekends 80. The deer that hang out in my yard… real ones, not the fake ones you left in my driveway, Aunt Tammy! Yes, I knew that was you! 81. My home 82. My daughter has my husband’s beautiful smile 83. The nurses I work with that have taught me so much! 84. My friends at work 85. DVR 86. Having a job I love… how many people can say that? 87. Paradise Park… Emilia and I have a blast there! 88. My niece, Hannah, sleeping over at my house 89. Sales 90. Snow skiing 91. Emilia has my feet… thank goodness! Have you ever seen Chris’s little toe? I’m just sayin’ 92. Surprise parties 93. Silly little girls… everybody should have one! 94. Having a healthy child 95. My sister in law, Pam, shares the best coupons with me! 96. Ice skating. I am not very good, but I love it. 97. Working weekends means I have more time home with Emilia during the week 98. My husband loves his job 99. Nice neighbors 100. Burt’s bees baby products 101. My fireplace 102. Painting 103. Mother’s Day 104. On the Border 105. Environmentally friendly cleaning products 106. Family living close 107. Chipmunks on my front porch that make Emilia giggle 108. Chocolate 109. Snuggling with Emilia every morning 110. Grey’s Anatomy 111. Lint rollers 112. Buttermilk ranch 113. Starfish 114. The smell of a baby 115. Ashley and Ryan 116. Thunder… quiet thunder… no tornadoes 117. Heather has my same weird sense of humor, which makes me not so weird, right? 118. Quoting movies… Bubbles! Bubbles! My Bubbles! (Finding Nemo) 119. Quoting movies with Heather… she always knows what movie I am quoting 120. The smell of lilacs 121. The ocean 122. Thanksgiving Day minus football 123. Kelly and Jamie 124. My mom’s roast 125. The Pittman family 126. Sushi 127. Fall leaves 128. Opportunities 129. Chris thinks I’m funny… sometimes 130. Medical advances 131. Funny books 132. Flip flops 133. Forgiveness 134. The Montgomery family 135. My health… not lately but usually it is pretty good 136. My huge bed comfortably fits 3… Chris, Emilia and me! 137. Karaoke 138. My partner in crime from nursing school, Randy Lopez 139. Randy’s dad’s tamales… yummy 140. Dancing in my kitchen with Emilia every morning 141. Trees 142. Flowers 143. Bubble baths alone 144. Bubble baths with Emilia 145. Huge white fluffy clouds 146. The Baker family 147. My brother in law, Markus’s advise… I swear he can solve the world’s problems over the phone! 148. Emilia has my hands, and I have my mom’s hands 149. Oden’s BBQ 150. Puppies 151. Organic food 152. The Cotterman family 153. Snowy days when I can stay at home 154. Sunrises 155. Sunsets 156. The entire Dahmer clan! 157. Emilia is so sweet 158. Longhorn Steakhouse’s ranch dressing 159. Butterflies 160. Feeding the ducks at my parent’s lake even though I am not supposed to 161. Warm coats 162. Chris’s cute grin 163. Fireworks and homemade ice cream on the 4th of July 164. Cable tv 165. Meteor showers 166. Mums in the fall… red ones 167. Matching gloves and scarves 168. Flannel jammies 169. Me and Melissa’s midnight shopping trips 170. 24 hour Hyvee 171. Atlanta Bread’s chicken enchilada soup 172. Remote controls 173. Snow angels 174. Warm slippers 175. Teachers 176. La Fuente 177. My new laptop 178. Cooking out in the summer 179. Cooking out in the winter… burrrr! 180. Jon and Kate + 8 181. Really big snowflakes 182. Super Nanny 183. Janie and Jack 184. The Wilcoxon family 185. Pizza… pineapple mushroom and onion 186. The cute freckle on Emilia’s ankle 187. Tennis shoes 188. My new landscaping 189. My husband not getting mad at me for tearing out our old

landscaping… bushes and trees :) 190. Air conditioning 191. Pumpkin pie 192. Friend’s accomplishments… yea Jenny for all your acting success! 193. Steve Lollis… a life long friend 194. Shooting stars 195. firemen 196. ER 197. Duct tape 198. Romeo, our old dog 199. Close parking spots 200. My mom’s hot water chocolate cake 201. Jalapenos 202. Facebook 203. Green traffic lights 204. Dr. Charochek and his wife 205. The fact that I know what to do when my husband passes out…

this happens more often than you would guess! (we donate blood frequently :) ) 206. Reese's pieces 207. Baseball caps 208. Christmas morning 209. Sign language 210. Blogging 211. My brother in law, Tom, is so cute with Emilia… when she was a baby he bought her a Texas Longhorn’s paci to watch the games with him! 212. My mom’s family pool pass 213. Being crazy aunt beth 214. Brian Mattingly, for introducing me to Chris 215. European trips 216. Easter 217. Memories 218. Kay’s beautiful photos of my family… priceless 219. Road trips 220. Purified water 221. Emilia helps me garden 222. 80’s music 223. Cordless phones 224. Leg warmers 225. NICU parent’s entrusting me with their most precious babies 226. My husband loves my quirks or at least pretends to 227. Cell phones 228. Emilia’s cute birthmark on the back of her neck 229. Sonicare toothbrushes 230. Call waiting 231. Photography 232. Scrap booking 233. Night lights 234. Police officers when they are not giving me tickets 235. Heather and I sound alike on the phone and can trick our husbands 236. Hand sanitizer 237. Town Center Plaza 238. My husband cleans my car 239. Disney movies 240. Egg nog 241. Chris Copeland... my bud 242. Starbuck’s drive thru 243. Baby shoes… totally unnecessary, but so cute 244. Emilia’s snoring… just like her daddy! 245. Reading books to Emilia 246. The Bahamas 247. Online shopping 248. Online classes 249. Long shorts 250. Magic eraser cleaner 251. Watching Ty play soccer 252. Donating blood 253. Winnie the Pooh… Emilia’s fav 254. Water slides 255. The United States Military 256. Singing…really loudly 257. Children laughing 258. Christmas Eve 259. Play dough 260. Christmas stockings 261. Fishing 262. Google 263. Sandy beaches 264. Ceiling fans 265. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 266. Wireless Internet 267. Indoor plumbing 268. Freedom 269. Baby noises 270. Fun socks 271. Fudge 272. The crackling of a fire 273. Having all my senses 274. Big closets 275. Pizza rolls with ranch 276. Rainbows 277. Sidewalk Chalk 278. Sun glasses 279. piano 280. Romance 281. Jeans 282. Velcro 283. My Dyson vacuum 284. The smell of worms and dirt after it rains 285. Having a nice boss 286. Caterpillars 287. Grilled cheese sandwiches 288. Sex… I’m just sayin. At least I am honest! 289. Caller ID 290. Papa John’s garlic butter sauce 291. Andes mints 292. Naps in Loose Park… when Chris and I were dating 293. Marina Grog and Galley 294. Emilia’s morning breath… is that weird? 295. Did I mention my husband does ALL the laundry? 296. Candles 297. Listening to the train whistle 298. Caffeine… the more the better 299. My Chi hair straightener 300. Starbucks is open on Thanksgiving 301. My new flat screen TVs 302. My new kitchen table 303. Living in the United States

I know I missed many, but the list is endless! I hope this Thanksgiving finds you counting your blessings... Happy Turkey Day!

MyFox Kansas City | Operation Greenlight Cuts Down Traffic Tie Ups

So my husband is now a TV star... since his debut on the news last night! Here's a link to the article and video. It was still kind of difficult for him to talk, since he still has the stiches in from his wisdom teeth being removed, but he was a trooper, and did a great job none the less! Go Green! :) MyFox Kansas City Operation Greenlight Cuts Down Traffic Tie Ups

The New Tree

No, I was not in fact eaten by a tree, but those are my legs hanging out! I never imagined a thirteen foot Christmas tree was so huge... but it is. I had told Chris I was getting a new one this year because the 6 ft one we had previously looked too small. There might have been a happy medium between 6 and 13 feet. I simply thought since Christmas is only once a year, the bigger the tree, the better. The thought did not cross my mind how wide the base of a 13 foot tree would be, not to mention that my living room furniture might not fit with the tree set up, which is kind of what happened! I also did all this while my husband was out of commission to to his recent removal of teeth... no heavy lifting! Thank goodness my brother in law and father saw humor in the situation and helped me set it up. The next day I decided I did not like where we had put it, and had to move the furniture and tree by myself. How do you move this large of a tree already put together? Pushing the base one inch at a time and praying to God it does not fall on you, meanwhile trying to avoid hitting the ceiling fan. Chris just watched and laughed. I love it though and Emilia was very excited about it after she got over the fact that we had rearranged the furniture. She tried and tried, very unsuccessfully to move the couch back to the original spot... that is until I showed her that she could push the buttons to turn the tree lights on. Instant distraction! Than she discovered that both of us (and probably my entire family) can fit under the tree. I guess Santa will have to bring bigger presents this year. Chris, you can put my new camera lens and iPOD in a really big box :) !

I cannot wait to decorate it on Thanksgiving!

Sweet Garrett and Lily

I had to post photos of the get well cards I received while I was sick. My 2 year old niece, Lily, made this one with a little help from my sister, Melissa. Melissa asked Lily what would make me feel better, and Lily replied, "ice cream" hence the ice cream cone! She knows me well! When Melissa asked my 5 year old nephew, Garrett, what would make me feel better, this is what he came up with.... So young, yet so wise! Anybody who knows me well knows the way to my heart is through my caffeinated friend, coffee. Who wouldn't feel better? What a sweet boy!

please pray

I have a good friend needing MUCH prayer tonight. Please pray for her, her son, and her family... for strength and healing.

Surgery

Chris has his wisdom teeth out today, and I was so nervous you would have thought I was the one going for surgery! He's never been under anesthesia before and I kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong. It didn't help that his surgeon came in and verbalized those fears... holes in the sinus cavities, permanent nerve damage, "adverse" anesthesia effects... never good. My confidence was not boosted when the surgeon missed the IV the 1st time. I have started IVs on babies weighing 1 lb, and he missed a hose like that? Lucky for the surgeon I knew him before today! The orthodontist office I used to work for referred surgery cases to him all the time, and he actually did my little nephew's surgery. Everything went well, though. It took 1 1/2 hours, and he said Chris would be quite sore due to the positioning of the teeth. Lucky for him he has his own private 24 hour nurse at home that makes killer milk shakes!

shot day

Emilia had an appointment today at her peds office for an immunization and weight check. We have chosen a delayed vaccination schedule with many shots split... for example we are doing the MMR in 3 separate preservative free shots. Today she went in for her 2nd "M" of the MMR. She has already received the mumps vaccine and today got the measles vaccine... rubella will be in January. She weighed 26 lbs, which is quite impressive considering she had lost weight when she was sick. Hopefully a couple more months on whole milk combined with the holidays will plump her up a bit more, although I have been a bit spoiled by carrying a lighter child around! Maybe I should start working out? :) After her appointment, we stopped by Starbucks and then headed to Paradise Park. I was a bit panicked when I pulled in the parking lot and saw no other cars, although it was only 945am. I did not want to be the one to tell her it was not open! Turns out we were just the first ones of the day, which was great because Emilia actually got the ball pit to herself. Sometimes it gets so packed that I am afraid she will get trampled, so we usually play in a different area. The other advantage to being the first ones there is that everything is so clean, which I love. They have a cleaning crew come round and clean everything in the morning before they open, so it is spotless. Even the balls in the ball pit are sanitized, which is great considering it is flu and RSV season. The fewer germs, the better! Emilia also loves the face painting station. She always picks a diferent animal she wants to be... it so cute. She paints on her own face for a bit, then chooses an animal for me to "make" her into... today she chose a mouse. She gets quite into it, and spent most the morning squeeking at me! Chris works right down the street, so Emilia and I played until lunch time, then Chris met us for lunch. There is a cute little cafe there with great wraps, pizza, and Emilia's fav... mac n cheese.

Chris is having his wisdom teeth out tomorrow, so wish him luck. From the looks of his xray, he will be SORE!

1st trip to the dentist

Emilia had her 1st trip to the dentist this afternoon, and it actually went really well. She was really excited about all the fun toys at the office, which made up for a few minutes in the chair. She wasn't too sure about the dentist at first, but was pretty easily swayed when he showed her his "blue's clues" light. She was a much better patient after that...she even held her mouth open for him. I was shocked! Then we went to Town Center for a bit before we went to my parent's for dinner. After we put her to bed last night, we kept hearing her door open and shut... which her new bedtime game. I think she honestly doesn't know we can hear her doing it! I finally went in her room and tucked her back in, but it was really funny because Chris and I just stood in the kitchen listening to her running across the floor. I am sure I won't find it quite so humorous when we take her bedroom gate down and she is roaming through my house at night, but in the mean time we had fun peaking down the hallway at her!

shingles...you've got to be kidding me!

Okay, so I went to the doctor Monday morning thinking my back pain was a kidney infection, and the bug bite on my stomach was totally unrelated, so when the dr asked me what was wrong I simply said I had a kidney infection and I was still getting over my cold from last week. She began pushing on my back and then wanted to push on my abdomen, and I said... oh I think I have a bugbite or something. She tried not to laugh at me as she told me I did not have a kidney infection or a bug bite, but instead shingles (I must have been sleeping that day in nursing school!). Yes, I know this chicken pox relative is more popular in the geriatric population, but I like to mix things up a bit. Anyways it sucks! The rash was nothing, but I could have done without the stabbing pains in my back and side. I spent most the week hopped up on pain and anti viral pills, hence the lack of blog postings... the week was kind of a blur. Luckily, Chris or my sisters were here to help me take care of Emilia! I am of course not allowed to work this weekend since a chicken pox outbreak in the NICU is frowned upon! :) Meanwhile I have been resting until today and I actually ventured out to Gymboree for some retail therapy and got home this evening feeling well accomplished! Anyways, I'll post more later!

Sick Saturday

I was bound to happen. After having Emilia coughing and rubbing her snotty nose on me last week, and after lack of sleep due to her being up at night... I discovered I am not invincible, but am instead sicker than a dog! I actually called in sick to work today because I was coughing so badly, and who wants a sick nurse taking care of their premature infant? I have horrible asthma, and this has definitely aggrivated it to the point my inhaler is my new best friend. Since my Saturdays off are so few and far between (I only get 4 days off a year with the weekend option position), I did not waste the day laying in bed. Emilia and I instead tried out our baking skills in the kitchen, and made pumpkin bread... my fav!

Here's some photos from Garrett's 5th birthday party last week that I thought I had already posted!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

independence

Emilia has felt quite the little streak of independence, much to my dismay :) Not only has she discovered she can get out of her toddler bed, but she has also discovered that if she drags her plastic step stool around, she can reach almost anything...light switches, things on the counter, whatever she wants! I knew the day would come eventually, but thought for some reason it would be later rather than sooner!

missing dog

Okay, I seriously spent the last hour and a half driving around the lake where my parents live looking for their dog. My mom was so upset... Ivy his her golden retriever and her 4th daughter (no offence mom ;)). Chris was doing bedtime with Emilia tonight, so when my sister called to tell me Ivy was missing... guess who got to go since we live 4 minutes away! ME!I looked like quite the idiot driving around at 5 MPH yelling for a dog who I wouldn't have been able to see anyways since I lost my glasses. I was more worried about yelling for her, and actually having her come running up to my car, then... crunch because I am practically blind at night. We finally found her in the neighbors yard... apparently the little girls found her and putt her in their back yard, so it was all good and she is home safe.

The Count Down

Four weeks left in classes... an end is in sight! Yesterday was chaos at work, which has been the trend lately. Then when I got home last night, my mid term was due at midnight, so I stayed up working on that. After submitting it, I checked my school email only to discover my instructor gave us a 2 day extension on our paper. Would have been nice to know before I stayed up so late! :) At least it's done, though. Emilia is back to her old self... she still has a bit of a cough, but no fever or runny nose. She's back to her busy self, though, which is so nice to see.

prayers

I found out this evening, before leaving work, that one of my coworker's sons was in a car accident and sustained extensive brain injuries. He was life flighted and his prognosis does not look good at this point. Please keep him and his family in your prayers... his name is Mark.

Not so happy halloween

Our Halloween was anything but riveting. We did have plans to go to my aunt and uncles house... all my family was going, but since Emilia wasn't feeling well, we decided to stay in. Chris had the brilliant idea to let her answer the doorbell when the tricker treaters came, which might have sounded good in his head until he opened the front door and a scary Godzilla was there. I am already anticipating therapy over that one... I have never seen such terror in a child's eyes. She screamed louder than I would have ever guessed she could. Then she kept saying she was scared of the monster. It was absolutely heart breaking, and then she was scared every time somebody rang the doorbell. I tried to explain to her the concept of a mask, but the Blues Clues Halloween episode did a better job... thank goodness for Blues Clues on Demand.( did I really just say that?) :) Anyway, needless to say, it was not too festive. The highlight of the evening was before the drama of tricker treaters, though. My mom stopped by with a goody bag for Emilia, and that was the happiest I had seen her all day. It had a banana, animal crackers, 2 suckers and M&Ms. She thought she was in heaven. That was the most she ate all day. Emilia is also in the midst of her 1st "real" illness and 1st set of antibiotics:( I had taken her to the peds office on Thursday for her cough, but they weren't too impressed since she didn't have a fever or anything... okay fine...Less than 12 hours later she had a fever and much more impressive cough. Yesterday she only got worse because she refused to eat or drink. She even turned down mac-n-cheese and chocolate milk... that's really bad. Then she woke up from her nap with green drainage from one of her eyes... lovely pink eye! Luckily her ped called in some eye drops for her without me having to take her back in. Then last night her cough was so horrible that she was gagging herself. It was so pathetic and I was so worried that I slept in her room on her floor until 3am, then had Chris take over because I hadn't yet fallen asleep and had to get up for work at 5am. Chris said she acted a bit perkier this morning, but still took her to urgent care, since she still had a fever and a nasty cough. Thank goodness her peds office has walk in 7 days a week! They went ahead and started her on antibiotics for her ears being so red, so hopefully she starts feeling better soon. I hate seeing her feel so badly. When her fever gets above 101, she just lays there... very pathetically. Hopefully she is on the mend, though. And hopefullly she'll start eating again soon, she's lost weight already... fully dressed she was 24.5 lbs today, and we already work hard enough trying to keep weight on her without being sick. In the meantime, though, I am having problems staying awake at work! I will be so happy to get that extra hour of sleep tonight, and hopefully it will be in my bed rather than on Emilia's floor.