RSV=Really Sad Virus

Getting comfort from Daddy.

The big brothers pay a visit.

Celebrating mommy's 36th birthday at the hospital.

Pretty flowers from Grandpa & Grandma Hawkes.

What a week! Our little sweetie, Chloe, was hospitalized for RSV and pneumonia. We were finally released to come home last night as long as we promised to keep her on oxygen while sleeping. The tanks and set up arrived shortly after we did. For well over a month now, our family has been battling bad coughs, sore throats, & occasional fevers. We thought we had it licked, when Caleb started coughing again. Within a few days Chloe also was severely coughing, running a fever and grunting ( a sign of struggling to breathe-which I learned at her birth). I took her to the Dr. and he sent us down to the hospital for chest x-rays, rsv swab test and some blood tests. On our way out to the car, the cell phone rang and it was our Dr. telling us to head in to the Pediatric unit to be admitted. They hooked her up to oxygen, suctioned her, started breathing treatments and an IV of antibiotics and re-hydration and waited for all the test results to come in. Her x-rays indicated something abnormal in her lungs-most likely pneumonia or severe RSV. Poor little lady. She was so lethargic and obviously very sick. She tested positve for RSV and stayed in the hospital until Thursday night. The day after being admitted was my 36th birthday. Not exactly the dream day. That night Bridger, Larry and the boys came by with a gift and cheesecake (thanks Laura), a big shiny balloon and we "celebrated". I loved hearing Larry tell me about waking Caleb up that morning. Caleb squinted, opened one eye, scrunched up his face and proclaimed, "Mom's 36!". What a cutie.
Well, we're happy to be home and anxious to see Chloe back to being herself. We are disappointed we didn't make it to Utah for Nate's wedding today. We wish them the best and would loved to have been there.

SA-WAD-DEE

I enjoy going out for dinner on the weekend. After a long week of trying to come up with nutritious, economical meals that my family will actually eat, and then shopping for, preparing and cleaning them up--I look forward to going out. However, I despise waiting for well over an hour to be poorly served an overpriced, mediocre meal. For some reason this is often the story at the big chain restaurants. I like finding the local places where the food is good, the silverware is clean, and the wait is short. The drawback is, this is kind of hard to find.
Every day I drive by Sa-wad-dee, a Thai restaurant in a strip mall near my house. I always wonder if this place is good or if I will be seeing an Available For Lease sign in the window any day. I have taken note that the parking lot is frequently full and the decor looks pretty good through the windows. So, tonight I gave it a try. Larry, not much of an Asian food fan, ate at home with the kids and then came along with me to try some dessert. He ordered the coconut ice cream with bananas fried in wonton papers and drizzled in chocolate and caramel. He liked it. I went for the Panang Curry with chicken. It was so delicious! When I was a nanny in Florida we would frequently go out for Thai; also, the dad liked to prepare exotic gourmet meals at home, often featuring a variation of Thai curry. Since living there, I have never tasted any curry like what I had there, until tonight. This stuff was awesome! We ran into some friends there (also their 1st time) who highly recommended the coconut seafood rice and the pineapple fried rice. I decided to go for the curry, but will be back to try their suggestions.

Time Capsule Answers

The Time Capsule

Carter made a time capsule on 2-21-98, when he was just 3 yrs. old and in Nursery. I was serving in the primary presidency at the time and was able to have him participate in the activity. This was in the day before home computers and clip art were readily available to the masses, so I would be in charge of drawing all the handouts, posters and in this case, the time capsule label. It was fun to have him open this 10 years later, and hard to believe it has already been that long! I remember helping him make it and telling him that when he opened it, he would be as old as Uncle Nate was (at that time), and he would be old enough to pass the sacrament. Inside he had a picture of him and Chase (our only kids), a Valentine Card he had just received from his Great Grandma Hawkes, a picture he had drawn, and the questionnaire I helped him fill out. Hopefully, you can see his answers in the photo. This was fun. I wish we had done one for Chase, but he would have just turned 1.

A Little Sweetheart

Coach Larry

All four boys have ages that qualify them to sign up for flag football this year, although it is the last year Carter will be eligible. Since Chase and Carter will be on the same team, Larry got volunteered to be their coach. This is very exciting for the boys, and has Larry a little nervous. For Valentine's Day I gave him a pair of stylin' football coach sunglasses, a whistle, and a book about how to coach youth football--aren't I a romantic? Anyhow, the boys have been questioning him about his football credentials, which prompted him to pull out some old photo albums and his game jersey from the all-star game he was selected to play in his senior year. Needless to say, this is extremely impressive to his sons. The jersey is a coveted item amongst them and has been worn by Caleb during the day and Chase through the night. I am so glad that I have a DECA club sweater to pass along to Chloe and tell her about my glory days as the Secretary in that super cool club. At least one of their parents was cool.
We'll keep the blog updated on how the flag football season goes for everyone!

Chase modeling Larry's jersey & Carter in his own.

Super Bowl Sunday

 

 

Caleb is all ready for the Super Bowl. He raided the hat basket and gathered up all the neck warmers and beanies to shove into his shirt as pads. He then took one of the hats and tucked it into his waistband as his hand towel because "quarterback's hands get greasy". He is definitely a QB with greasy hands. He has been sampling the Super Bowl bags of chips to make sure they are good enough for the game. You may notice a little red salsa stain on his jersey. I wonder if they will invent QB bibs to avoid things like that from happening. I'm going to look extra close at Eli and Tom's jerseys to see if it is a problem. GO GIANTS!!!